Latest Magic News

New Magic Prison Drama Close to Reality

Inside Magic Image of CellmateWe are very excited to announce that we are close to wrapping a new deal with an online video service for our series about magicians stuck in a women’s prison.  Black is the New Black will follow the life behind bars of four, formally dressed magicians who are housed in a medium security prison for crimes they likely committed but did for good reasons.

Like Orange is the New Black, Black is the New Black will feature a varied cast of characters designed to touch on the many personalities one can expect to encounter in a women’s prison.  There will be humor, drama and great close-up card routines.

We say we are close to wrapping up the deal because we have a friend who does independent contracting work for one of the big on-line video businesses who said our idea has the interest of some of the people he knows from that company.  Yes, we still need to work out the contractual details but that is the lawyer’s problem.  We are busy working on the pilot episode of what we hope will be a 13 episode purchase.

We need to work out minor concept details such as why four tuxedo-wearing magicians would be imprisoned in a correctional facility that exclusively houses female prisoners who wear prison uniforms.  We also need to develop all of the characters but here is a sneak preview of what we have so far:

The Magicians:

Lord Magique – the putative leader of the four magicians.  Always proper and slightly British with a wry smile and mischievous eye.  He has a rejoinder for every comment and is a master of card tricks.  We see the pilot opening with him enduring the 21-Card Trick as performed by one of the female cellmates and then establishing his dominant role on the prison wing with a devastating Ace Assembly into an Omni Deck.  The Omni Deck will be a bar of soap because glass bricks are forbidden in prisons according to our extensive research.  We’re keeping it real.

Deedle – Lord Magique’s former assistant and now a performer in his own right.  He is subservient but wily.  On the outside, he worked as a street performer and gained internet cred by escaping from dry cleaning bags that were certified as being unsafe for children.  He is a small man with big dreams.

Tray Langston – a descendent of magic royalty.  The fifth in a long-line of great, globe-trotting magicians.  He performs as silent act and maintains his silence even in prison.  His work with doves brings joy, amazement and nourishment to his fellow cellmates.

Vingus the Dingus – on the outside he was a con-artist and on the inside he is no better.  He keeps the crew stocked in the essential supplies that are tough to get in prison; such as cigarettes, thimbles, dice, billiard balls, playing cards, balloons and Oxycontin.  He is the one to know but so tough to know well.

The Guards:

Teresa “The Hun” Hunsucker – tough enough to chew nails and spit the nails made smaller and sharper by her razor sharp teeth.  She is not bright but makes up for it in her no-nonsense spirit.  Her motto, “Take No Prisoners” is both ironic and prophetic.

Wilhelmina “Mena” Schultz – is petite but potent.  She knows what convicts think because she was one herself – for 20 years.  Through a quirk in her work-release, she now guards the women (and magic men) she once lived among.  Nothing gets past her.  She exemplifies Tough Love but without much love.

Flora Fontana – the new girl on the guard’s team.  Flora is fresh out of an ivy-league college with a heart full of hope and a head full of crazy notions.  She had to decide between working with her father’s Wall Street hedge fund or becoming a guard – she choose to follow her dreams.  She falls for some of the oldest tricks in the book – literally – but shows the kind of naïve innocence that is sadly lacking in most modern-day depictions of female prison guards.

Warden P. Neal – to be played by a Paul Lynde type, Warden Neal will be a perfect example of why our prison system is broken.  Vain, egoistic and socially challenged, he will also serve as the perfect comic foil for inmate and wise-cracking guards alike.  Will probably have a really bad toupee too!

Inmates:

Darla Jean – former swimsuit model and now serving time for making illegal copies of Sports Illustrated to send to her extended family.  She is the girl next door if you lived next to the Playboy Mansion.  Not a stereotypical “dumb blonde” because, as she notes, “I am a brunette.”

Wilma Rubble – a former (?) gang member being held as much for her own protection as society’s.  She ratted out her gang’s leader and now she needs to hide among the general population while she does her time.  Each tattooed tear drop on her otherwise angelic face tells a story – some of them hilarious!

Vivian “The Viv” Vandersleet – a debutante with a weakness for formally dressed men and Oxycontin.  She has more in common with Flora than she cares to admit and envies her freedom.  She makes escape attempts each week that would put Houdini to shame.  Need to resolve costuming issues related to her preference for the “preppy perp” look.

Maggie O’Hara – salt of the earth girl with a smile for everyone she meets – likely because of her head injury in a botched prison escape attempt.  She is clumsy, awkward and could come into enormous money upon her release thanks to the life insurance policy she took out on her recently departed husband.

We will, of course, keep you up to date on the progress we make on this sure thing.  It is going to be big and we will be incredibly wealthy, powerful and bejeweled.  We cannot wait.

Latest Magic News, Magic of UK

Jamie Allan Kicks of iMagician Tour with Escape

Inside Magic Image of Jamie AllanMagician Jamie Allan received wonderful press in today’s edition of The South Wales Evening Post.

How do we know that?

Our Welsh neighbor does not wake until noon and when he does, he hardly seems interested in the goings-on of his native land.

That is why we are so familiar with the writing in Evening Post newspaper.  He gets it delivered each morning at 5:30.  We are able to read it with leisure, enjoy our morning Diet Coke (without lime, thank you) and low fat generic pastry strudel fresh from the toaster oven.  We re-assemble it and place it back in front of his apartment door and no one is the wiser.

Usually, the paper has little or no magic news.  But today there was a big write-up about magician Jamie Allan and his perilous escape attempt.  We were hooked and were almost caught when our neighbor woke early – likely because his probation officer was doing an announced visit or one of the many cats he has adopted got into a louder than normal hairball expulsion – and opened the door just as we were dropping the paper.  He looked at us with bleary eyes, seemed relieved that we were not who he feared, took the paper and stepped quickly back into his cat harem of mess and disquiet.

Mr. Allan recently appeared on the UK’s television show “Get Your Act Together” and as a treat for the Evening Post‘s readers, agreed to perform a special escape just for them.  The paper described the stunt as a “death-defying version of Harry Houdini’s lethal but rarely seen water tank routine.”  It is to be performed at the beautiful Gwyn Hall in Neath.

We need to check with John Cox on the history of the escape but the paper claims it has been performed by only a handful of top illusionists since it was invented by the legendary Houdini in 1911.  It is now part of Mr. Allan’s new show, iMagician: The Evolution of Magic.

Mr. Allan told the Evening Post that he had a couple of near-misses during rehearsals but is certain that he is ready to perform it live. “For this particular illusion, it has to be dangerous for it to be exciting. That is what Houdini intended and we have to stick by his principles. So I’m afraid there’s no health and safety rules for me in this act.”

His partner is not excited about him performing the effect and worries for his safety.

“But we can’t remove every element of danger completely which is why it’s such a great favourite with audiences.  But it’s also why it’s rarely performed.”

Assuming he survives the escape, it is a great start to his new UK tour in Yorkshire.

His show includes magic and escapes.  He proudly touts his Virtual Assistant routine wherein a woman “passes in and out of a digital world.”

We hope he and his assistant remain safe within this world and wish him the best of luck on the new tour.

For those of you who do not receive the Evening Post in paper form, you can read more about Mr. Allan at their website here.

Be sure to check out Mr. Allan’s very cool website here: http://www.magicjamie.com.

We have imbedded the YouTube video of his escape below:

Latest Magic News

Updated: Copperfield to Settle Labor Dispute

Inside Magic Image of World Famous Magician David CopperfieldThe industry news source The Wrap is reporting magician David Copperfield has reached a settlement in the lawsuit brought by former and current employees of his show at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Mr. Copperfield’s people correctly observed, “There are two sides to every story, and even the settlement agreement states that there was no wrong doing.  The Copperfield team settled because they prefer the employees benefit from the money rather than a three year fight where the only people that win are the lawyers.”

We know because we wear the dual hats of magician and lawyer.

A federal judge in Las Vegas provided preliminary approval of a settlement where Mr. Copperfield, Chris Kenner, Diappearing Inc. and other defendants would pay just over $550,000,00.

Fifteen named plaintiffs filed suit just about a year ago claiming they were denied overtime pay that was due to them.

According to The Wrap, the suit accused Copperfield of “consciously implement[ing] a system of coercion and deception aimed at denying employees their rights to overtime pay.”

The settlement would cover the 15 named plaintiffs as well as all “non-exempt present and former employees” who worked with the show between January 2012 and December 2013.

Under the proposed settlement, the defendants — who, in addition to Copperfield, include Chris Kenner, David Copperfield’s Disappearing Inc., Backstage Employment and Referral Inc., and Imagine Nation Company — “continue to deny liability under any of the Plaintiff’s claims.”

If the settlement goes through, class members of the suit would receive “on average $6,355.84 in overtime pay and liquidated damages,” which is “very significant when compared to similar collective action cases,” the motion for preliminary approval of the settlement says.

A fairness hearing for the proposed settlement is scheduled for May 26.

Magic Castle News

Brian Gillis, Magic Castle and Honor

The Magic CastleThe obscure philosopher and scion of the Hardy magic family, Thomas “Big Tom” Hardy, wrote, “we take our honor where we find it.”

We never understood what he meant by that and think it may have been used in the closing argument in one of the many trespassing prosecutions he faced over his life.  But, it resonated with us Friday as we ventured back into the Magic Castle after too long a time away.

Hollywood was inflamed with Oscar preparations.  The streets were crowded with famous, nearly famous and gawkers walking at a virtually identical pace with the vehicular traffic coursing along Sunset and Hollywood boulevards.   No one was moving quickly but all seemed to be enjoying their journeys.

We have been away from the Castle for about three weeks for unimportant reasons – none of which have to do with anything you may have read on certain Chinese-language blogs published out of Hong Kong.  Plus, if you look carefully at the video those blogs tout, you can see we were at least an unwilling participant in what may or may not have been an unfortunate turn of events, at worst, or a miscommunication with fellow travelers stuck in a chilly airport terminal facing a lengthy flight delay.  We should note that the goat was not ours but was part of the Chinese New Year’s celebration and was certainly well-behaved until the 11:02 mark of the video when all heck broke loose.

Regardless, that is, as the investigating officer said ironically, behind us.

We went back to the Castle Friday night.  Did we say that already?

It was so nice to see old friends and even meet some new people with whom we hope to establish friendships.  Dinner was wonderful as always and the entertainment offerings were befitting a star-studded awards weekend.  Bruce Gold was in the Palace of Mystery, Derek Hughes was in the Parlor of Prestidigitation and Pop Haydn was working the Close-Up Gallery like the boss he is.

In between shows, we ventured downstairs to the amateur rooms and performed a couple of sets.  We had two new effects on which we have been working.  You may be different but we find that no matter how much we rehearse – and we do rehearse a lot – we really have no feel for the pacing of the effect until we actually perform for real people.  By our third set, we had some comfort with the tricks, their presentation and the swelling seemed to abate.

We were getting ready to perform another set – undeterred by the fact that we did not have an audience, not a soul – when who should enter the room but Brian Gillis.  We find it hard to shake the star-struck wonder when we meet celebrities or heroes.  For instance, we are still unable to speak in coherent sentences when we talk with Pop Haydn or Mark Wilson.

Mr. Gillis asked if we were going to do a set and we may have nodded and giggled and twirled our hair (which at our advanced age is not only embarrassing but also tough to do).  He noted that there was not an audience for whom to perform.  We likely nodded again.  At some point, we volunteered to get him an audience.  He said he did not want to impose.  He offered to wait until after we performed.  We declined his generous offer and set about inviting folks downstairs to watch Mr. Gillis.

Within minutes the room was packed.  We do not credit our audience-wrangling skills – the crowd came because we told everyone we met that Brian Gillis would be performing shortly.

Mr. Gillis was on and on fire.  He had people cussing with disbelief at his ability to make the impossible happen so naturally, so easily.  His signed bill to a volunteer-selected sugar packet evoked screams from the packed room.  It was an honor to be in the same room with such an amazing performer.

We were then ready to start our set but saw Handsome Jack enter the room.  He asked if we were going to perform and we again deferred to the better magician and said we would love to watch – which, ironically, was precisely what we intended to say in the Hong Kong airport video.  Mr. Lovick performed a bit of the routine he will do this week in the Close-Up Gallery at the Castle.  It was fantastic.  The audience loved it and we were genuinely fooled by his work.  He, like Mr. Gillis, works so smoothly and so naturally.

Again, it was an honor to be able to tell our grandchildren – one day – that we performed after such amazing magicians.  We finally did our last set of the night and the crowds were pretty well dissipated.  That was okay by us.  We weren’t anxious to provide such a stark contrast between our plebeian skills and those of the two previous masters.  We felt no shame in our lesser abilities but basked in the honor they unknowingly bestowed on a true fan of great magic.

We caught Pop Haydn’s final show of the night and were again in awe of how well magic can be presented.  He is the complete package.  A master of difficult sleights, audiences and entertaining performance.  There is much to be learned and we feel blessed that we are always ready to learn.  We may be star-struck but at least we are always open to the lessons.

Latest Magic News

Eric DeCamps in ‘Pure Magic’ Homage to Rene Lavand

Eric DeCampsThe New Jersey Herald reports sleight of hand master Eric DeCamps will be performing his Pure Magic — A Performance of Contemporary Conjuring this Saturday at the Sparta Avenue Stage.

Mr. DeCamps will perform at 7:00 and 9:00 pm dedicated to Argentinian close-up maestro Rene Lavand.  Mr. Levand was a guest on the Ed Sullivan Show and Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show and a true legend in our business.  He passed away last week.

Mr. DeCamps has serious skills as well.  He was The Society of American Magicians’ Magician of the Year and only the second person to receive the Society’s prestigious Gold Medal of Excellence for Close Up Magic.

Mr. Levand was a mentor to Mr. DeCamps.

“He was an inspiration to so many in and out of the world of magic. I admired his artistry, respected him as a person and cherished his advice, friendship and mentorship. I am adding an additional performance piece inspired by Rene’s work. The piece is not part of the original show program. It is one that Rene and I spoke about over the phone. However, much to my sorrow, I never had the opportunity to actually show him the finished piece in performance.”

Pure Magic — A Performance of Contemporary Conjuring is a special Valentine evening edition of the Sparta Avenue Stage’s Friday Night Magic Series. Admission is $20 and  you can learn more about the event at the Sparta Avenue Stage’s website here: http://www.spartastage.com.

Visit Mr. DeCamps’ website here.

 

Latest Magic News

Lance Burton Teen Seminar Set for Jacksonville Convention

IBM Jacksonville Convention LogoEugene Burger and Larry Hass will be facilitating the Lance Burton Teen Seminar at the 87th Annual I.B.M. Convention in Jacksonville, FL on July 13-15, 2015. The McBride Magic and Mystery School has been facilitating Lance Burton’s young magician’s events since its inception in 2003.

Along with Eugene and Larry we are expecting participation from I.B.M. International President, Shawn Farquhar and Oscar Munoz.  This event is being sponsored by the I.B.M. Endowment and Development Fund and is open to all magicians ages 13-19 that are registered for the I.B.M. Convention at NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE. Stay tuned for future announcements about the event!

If you haven’t registered yet – don’t wait any longer – register today!! Registration fees increase on March 1, 2015!!!

To register go to http://www.magician.org/convention/upcoming-convention.

Magic News

David Ben Advises Canadian Museum on Houdini Collection

Houdini Buried AliveMagician David Ben is in the news today as Montreal’s McCord Museum announced it has acquired a collection of 600 posters, 200 rare books and 200 documents documenting magic in the 19th to early 20th centuries.  The acquisition cost approximately $3,000,000.00 but sounds priceless.

Mr. Ben is  the Artistic Director of Magicana – an organization dedicated to the study of magic – and was a key adviser to the museum.

“It’s the second-largest collection of Houdini material held in a public institution,” Mr. Ben told reporters today.

The US Library of Congress houses the largest collection.

The materials will be made available for scholars and will be the subject of a 2017 exhibition at the museum.

The artifacts trace Houdini’s beginnings as a magician in eastern Canada, but also the rise of spiritualism – the belief that the dead can communicate with the living. It also “tracks the social history of advertising” through the use of lithography and its posters, Ben said.

The acquisition is the gift of the Emmanuelle Gattuso Foundation.  Ms. Gattuso is the wife Standard Broadcasting’s Allan Slaight.  Before becoming a major media mogul, Mr. Slaight was a professional magician and mind reader.

We will keep you advised on public opportunities to view the collection.  We cannot wait.

Read more in The Montreal Gazette.

Latest Magic News

Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz Bring The Grim Game to Light

Inside Magic Image of The Grim Game PosterWe wrote last week of Turner Classic Movies’ plans to present Houdini’s film The Grim Game.  It was a major find and we knew there had to be more to the story.  Fortunately, Inside Magic Favorite magicians Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz, from the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, wrote to fill us in.  By the way, we heard that Ms. Dietrich was just elected President of Assembly 160 of the Society of American Magicians for Scranton.  Congratulations to an outstanding performer and great person.

Houdini made the film in 1919 but it was considered lost until recently.  Mr. Brookz writes that the “only complete copy of the film was hidden in the collection of juggler Larry Weeks who got it from Houdini’s wife after Houdini died.  I have known Larry since I was in my early teens.  Larry trusted us and knew we would never do anything that was not in his best interest. He knew with us involved it would be done in a proper way to protect his legacy.  We even put together and host his web site” http://larryweeks.info.”

Mr. Brookz said the juggler had a different perspective on his keeping the film out of circulation.  “Over the years Larry invited us to see the film on two occasions. He found it odd and incomprehensible when I told him that some magicians berated him for hoarding the movie that he preserved over the years at great personal cost.”

Ms. Dietrich and Mr. Brookz brought in their well-connect friend, Rick Schmidlin, to work as a go-between with Mr. Weeks and TCM.  Mr. Weeks passed away on October 13, 2014.

The restored film will have an musical score composed by Brane Zivkovic an award winning film, television, and theatre composer. This was all done with financial help from Turner Classic Movies, who will premiere it at the 2015 TCM Classic Film Festival held Thursday, March 26 – Sunday, March 29, 2015, in Hollywood.

“We are so proud to have accomplished this,” said Ms. Dietrich.  “To know that essentially every magician in the world big and small, will get the thrill of viewing this wonderful Houdini movie because of us. This includes future magicians for all time, as well as millions of non-magicians. It was our goal to get this to someone who would release it to the public and not hoard in their cellar or a back room somewhere.”

We owe Ms. Dietrich and Mr. Brookz for their work in bringing this classic back.  If you have not visited The Houdini Museum, you need to make plans to do so immediately.  It is a wonderful experience, expertly presented by Ms. Dietrich and Mr. Brookz.  Visit their incredible site here: houdini.org

Magic in the Movies

Houdini’s Classic Film The Grim Game Restored

Inside Magic Image of The Grim Game PosterTurner Classic Movies will air its restoration of the previously considered lost Houdini film The Grim Game at its TCM Classic Film Festival in March.

Like all magic enthusiasts, we have seen the movie poster for The Grim Game and perhaps some stills or clips but never the entire film.

In fact, we were speaking with Magic Castle Librarian Lisa Cousins just a couple of weeks ago and she shared a rumor that the only remaining print might become available in the near future.  She, like the Oracle at Delphi, offered nothing more; indicating but not revealing.

We are loyal TCM watchers and love learning about movies – and surprisingly do not miss the constant commercial interruptions that accompany films shown on other networks – and cannot wait to learn more about TCM’s involvement in this project.

Houdini produced this film in 1919 and stars as Harvey Hanford (see how the character’s initials are HH just like Houdini’s — we don’t think that is a coincidence), a young man framed for murder.  Houdini was apparently not afraid of being type-cast as an athletic escape artist as the movie shows him escaping, leaping, fighting and other daring do.  TCM relates that the film captures a mid-air collision between two airplanes that was a real accident caught on film.  The filmmakers used the amazing footage in the story.  We read somewhere that Houdini claimed to have been on one of the two planes even though he was safely on the ground at the time of the incident.

Surprisingly, there was only one surviving complete copy of the film, owned by Larry Weeks, a 95-year-old retired juggler.  Mr. Weeks got the film from the Houdini estate in 1947 and was never willing to sell it.

“Harry Houdini is an compelling cultural icon, but most people don’t know about his movie career,” said Charles Tabesh, SVP Programming at TCM.  “He made several films, but The Grim Game was his first feature, considered his best.  It’s fascinating to see Houdini as an actor.  It’s really fun to watch [the film] that even the most hardcore fans haven’t had a chance to see.”

TCM will screen the film in Hollywood and has booked composer Brane Zivkovic to conduct a live performance of his new score written just for the movie.  TCM will air the restored classic on its channel later this year.

Latest Magic News

Terrorist Beheaded Magician for Performing Magic

Sad BunnyWhen we read reports on Twitter of a Syrian magician’s beheading at the hands of terrorists, we hoped it was not true.

Unfortunately, it appears the horrible event happened last Wednesday, January 14th.

According to The International Business Times:

“A street magician in Syria beloved by children was beheaded by Islamic State group militants after his performances were deemed to be insulting to God.  The murder of the magician, who was known as ‘Sorcerer,’ was called ‘barbarism and butchery’ by a Syrian activist who knew him but fled to safety in nearby Turkey.”

The Daily Mirror had the original story:

“The magician was a popular man who entertained people with little tricks on the street like making coins or a phone disappear.  He was just called Sorcerer by people, and children loved him. He was doing nothing anti-Islamic, but he paid for it with his life.”

According to the Mirror, the terrorists considered the magician’s tricks anti-Islamic because they were performed through “illusions and falsehood.”  They claimed that their holy scripture forbid the performance of such tricks because it took time better spent by going to a mosque.

Apparently the performer was well-known to the residents of Raqqa, the Syrian city where the terrorist organization is based.  He was taken during a performance and later beheaded in a public square.

We try to keep things light here on Inside Magic.  Usually that is not tough to do.  Today, however, it seems impossible.

The unnamed magician, his family, friends and those whom his magic touched are in our prayers.