Tag: Kevin James

Inside Magic Image of Lance Burton, Master Magician
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Abbott’s Magic Get-Together is On – with Restrictions

Lance Burton the True Master Magician Performs in Happier TimesMaster Magician Lance Burton will be joined by the incredible Mac King, Jeff Hobson and Kevin James at this year’s Abbott’s Magic Get-Together.

Abbott’s owner, Greg Bordner, announced the good news in today’s Sturgis Journal.

But given the uncertainties in this time of a pandemic, nothing is certain.

“Probably the best quote you can put in the paper is, ‘we’re proceeding cautiously,’” Mr. Bordner said. “That’s how we’re approaching this and we’ll stay optimistic that we can go ahead and have the Get-Together this year.”

A big feature of the Get-Together are the big shows in the Colon High School gym but due to health and safety concerns, the seats available will be half of what they were in pre-pandemic times.

“It’s a different show every night, of course, but it’s the same people in the audience every night,” he said. “Where we used to sell tickets to any, some or all of the four different shows, this year we’re selling the tickets in four-night (packages).”

The price for the four nights is $300.  Considering the line-up, this looks to be a real deal.

“The shows will be of serious quality and they always have been, but nobody is working right now, so we have a great lineup of headline magicians that are dying to perform,” Mr. Bordner said.

Check out the full line-up at the Get-Together site here.

 

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Hollywood Press Ga-Ga Over the Illusionists

The IllusionistsOut here in the greater Hollywood environs, just about everyone gets The Wrap delivered throughout the day to their email address.

It is one of the industry news sources, along with The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, relied upon by those in power and those hoping to one day attain power.

The Wrap emails come as entertainment news breaks: a dependable Hollywood star loses funding on his next big movie, a venerable talent agency picks up a new five-star client, a disgruntled writer sues a studio for allegedly ripping off a script idea.  If Congress decided to declare war on Canada, it would not likely be in The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter or Variety unless it affected production on some film project in Toronto.

The big three also publish reviews of plays, movies, live shows and artistic endeavors.  The Hollywood reviewers are usually very knowledgeable and pragmatic in their evaluation of the shows.  They can also be brutal.

We were relieved, then, to read the glowing reviews of The Illusionists: Witness the Impossible in The Wrap.

The producers of that ill-fated “Houdini” musical starring Hugh Jackman can let out a collective sigh of relief that their star decided not to do the show. “The Illusionists: Witness the Impossible” opened Thursday at the Marquis Theatre and there’s no way a tuner based on the life of the world’s most famous illusionist could possibly be any more fun and awe-inspiring than this new magic show on Broadway.

The review describes the performers in glowing terms and with the enthusiasm normally found in a devotee rather than a jaded critic.

“Anyone who’s ever seen newsreels of Houdini performing this feat, or others like it, has wanted to go back in time to experience first-hand the cheesy excitement of seeing a brilliant stunt performer at work risking his life. Here’s your chance.”

The reviewer describes Inside Magic Favorite Dan Sperry’s performance as the most frightening.

The scariest moment in the show, however, involved a woman from out of town who really, really didn’t want to play a game of Russian roulette with the very Goth and genuinely weird Dan Sperry (The Anti-Conjuror). By the way, what is an anti-conjuror? Whatever, in addition to creeping people out, Sperry conjures up a whole menagerie of flying birds from his Count Dracula get-up. Truly amazing.

The Illusionists: Witness the Impossible runs through January 4 on Broadway before embarking on a multi-city tour of the United States.

Read The Wrap’s review here.

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The Illusionists Get Ready in Akron for Broadway Run

Inside Magic Image of IllusionistsAkron, Ohio is magic.

We have said it for years.  Usually it seems out of context but today, finally, it actually matches the rest of our message.

You may know Akron for its proud industrial history – The Rubber Capital of the World with B.F. Goodrich Tire, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Firestone Tire and General Tire all having a historic role in turning the former canal town into a global manufacturing hub.  Or you may know it for the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame, the All-American Soap Box Derby or even as the birth place of Alcoholics Anonymous, oatmeal and artificial fishing bait.

And now, Akron is home to The Illusionists – Witness the Impossible as it readies for its run on Broadway.  The cast and crew have been quartered in Akron perfecting the show before moving to New York City.  They will try it out for audience in Akron Wednesday and Thursday at the University of Akron’s E.J. Thomas Hall.

The show has had a 10-day pre-production schedule in preparation for its six-week Broadway run and 30-city U.S. tour.  The show may be new to Akron and Broadway but many of the magicians have been performing together in earlier iterations of the spectacle over the last two years in Australia, Mexico, Latin America, South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Who is in the cast?  Funny you should ask.  We have it on good authority that the seven magician are: Kevin James, Dan Sperry, Yu Ho-Jin, Andrew Basso, Aaron Crow and Jeff Hobson.

We love living in West Hollywood for its sunshine, proximity to places where they sell baked goods for domestic animals and The Magic Castle, but wish we were back in Mystic Hollow, Michigan for the short drive down to Akron.  Akron is always magic but this week will be even more so.

Visit their ticket site if you are in the Akron area.  There are just a few seats left.

Read more about their pre-Broadway prep in  The Akron Beacon-Journal here.

 

Magic News, Magic of UK, Magician Feature

Steve Truglia, The Card Shark Guides Us

Inside Magic Image of The Card Shark Show Promotional PictureOur rule of thumb is to never visit the underworld of real-life gamblers and card cheats unless escorted by a former member of the Special Forces or professional stuntman / stuntwoman. But that is just us. We like to be protected at all times and some may consider us excessive because we refuse to kiss without an American-made dental dam. And if we are going to kiss another person, we require even more.

Fortunately for us, Steve Truglia is not only a great card magician but is also a former member of Special Forces and was a record-breaking stuntman. Even more fortunately for us, Mr. Truglia brings his outstanding show The Card Shark to the beautiful theatre at the Five Star Mayfair Hotel on Stratton Street in London from December 15, 2012 through March 22, 2013. He will guide us safely through the shadowy realm of card sharpies and crooked gamblers (or the politically correct designation “advantaged gamers”) throughout the ages.

Inside Magic Image of the Spork of DeathMr. Truglia has, in a word, skills. He can kill a man with a spork whilst crashing through a plate glass window and performing a one-hand false shuffle. (Actually, we don’t know if he can kill someone with a spork but it seems like if anyone could, it would be a Special Forces person or an employee of Kentucky Fried Chicken®).

Take a few seconds to check out some of Mr. Truglia’s incredible stunts over on the Wikipedia web site.  Be sure to return to the rest of this article when you are done, though.

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