Tag: Las Vegas

Latest Magic News, Magician Feature

Dirk Arthur with Close-Up Illusion Show is a Hit!

Inside Magic Image of Dirk Arthur and His Big CatsWe do not always agree with Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist / critic Mike Weatherford but we do respect his knowledge of magic and magicians.

We assume he enjoys our craft and has acquired his eye for good magic and talented magicians from years of seeing less than stellar performers in and around Las Vegas.

We were particularly interested to read his review of Dirk Arthur’s new show at O’Sheas on the Strip.

Mr. Arthur had a five year deal at the Tropicana at the other end of Las Vegas Boulevard. Mr. Weatherford attributes his move to the significantly smaller venue to “uncertainties” at the sad hotel and casino that is today’s Tropicana.

Mr. Weatherford describes the new venue as befitting a stand-up comic and certainly not a full illusion show.

But against the odds, Mr. Arthur succeeds in his smaller venue; thanks in part to the intimacy it provides and a Bengal tiger.

“When the Bengal tiger rears up on its hind legs, taller than the magician, your heart thumps and you hope Arthur could keep his grip on that cable leash if the tiger decided to come check us out.”

The theater, the proximity of the audience to the illusions and the tiger combine to give “a new point of view to an act that had become all too familiar. Everyone has basically a front-row seat, and the illusions hold up to scrutiny. Think it’s done with mirrors? Go ahead and try to spot them.

Mr. Weatherford notes there is a workmanlike quality to the performance, or as he puts it, “a lack of grandeur.” The illusions are presented without glitz, glamour, choreography or engaging patter but it still works.

We are happy to read Mr. Weatherford’s reassessment of Mr. Arthur. Many of the Las Vegas print and media critics panned his past shows. “The biggest knock on him is that he can’t tell a joke and doesn’t bring much personality of his own to the table; that he lets the tigers and contraptions do the talking.”

Continue reading “Dirk Arthur with Close-Up Illusion Show is a Hit!” →

Magic News

Variety: Chris Tucker to Star in “The Rabbit”

Mark Panner is a contributor to Inside Magic. Actually, he sends us articles just about every day. This one looked interesting and we should edit it first but we are running out of time. So here it is with all that Mark Panner specialness readers either love or hate. To read one of his classics, check out his review of Bob Sheets here.  – Editor —

Inside Magic Image of Melinda Saxe - First Lady of MagicWe were on the back lot sipping coffee with some of our closest friends in the world who just happen to be in Hollywood and just happen to be filming at Warner Brothers Studios.

These are true, blue non-fake friends who care about us as no one else could or would care about us.

How good of friends are these? Let’s put it this way, there are very few people in this world who would donate a spleen; even for a friend. One of our friends gave us a spleen yesterday.

Granted, we didn’t need the spleen but it is the thought that counts. He even showed us the freshly stitched wound evidencing a recent removal of the organ.

In fact, we could feel that it was about body temperature even though it was thoroughly wrapped in white paper — like from the butcher but probably more sanitary and durable.

We know that for a fact because they told us just that very thing yesterday whilst sipping coffee and waiting for the set to call them for the next shot. They’re in a movie about zombies who do surgery and that way they only need to eat their victim a little bit at a time. Until they hit the vital innards, the victim can go about their daily chores.

It is a good idea but not very realistic. Once you are bit by a zombie, you become a zombie. Everyone knows that. Our friends said that the movie explains away that objection. Because the zombie doctors take out the organs they want to eat, the organs aren’t attached to the victim at the time of biting.

We’ll have to think about that.

Anyway, we were talking there on the back lot at Warner and we learned the studio intends to come out with a new flick (movie talk for “film” and likely derived from the flicker of light seen in older movie projectors) called “The Rabbit” starring Chris Tucker.

We like Chris Tucker although we have never met him or received any organs from him in any type of packaging. He talks funny and he does goofy things with his hands and fingers that makes us laugh.

Continue reading “Variety: Chris Tucker to Star in “The Rabbit”” →

Latest Magic News, Magician Feature

Magician Aaron Radatz Opens New Family-Friendly Magic Show in Las Vegas

Inside Magic Image of Aaron Radatz Poster for New Show in Las VegasWe love Vegas.  We love the sights, sounds, smells and crowds.  However, we are over the age of majority and therefore have access to all that Vegas offers.

Of course, having “access” to a club or location is not the same thing as “being  permitted entry.”  As the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals  opined in our recent case, Tim Quinlan d/b/a Inside Magic v. Club Zing, 231 F.3d 1014, 1016 (10th Cir. 2010), “Petitioner (that’s us!)  is reminded that just because this night club cannot deny access on the basis of age, sex, race, or creed; it is well within their discretion to exclude Petitioner and his type.”

Elsewhere in the opinion, “his type” was defined as:

stuporous by breeding or choice, dressed in a manner evidencing the lack of mirrors in his home, excessively needy and seeking constantly the affirmation of the front-door staff (‘Do you think I am pretty?’), and apparently impecunious to the point of paying for apparently unnecessary additional drinks with “Inside Magic Bucks” or postage stamps.”

We digress.  Our point was only there is a dearth of things to do with kids in Las Vegas.  Once touted as a Family-Friendly City, it quickly returned to its wild natural state fit for a family, the Manson Family.

Aaron Radatz has what we call in the business, skills.  He is more than a nice guy with abounding energy and ideas, he has the ability to perform effects that seem virtually identical to real magic.  That is not just our opinion – Time Magazine called Aaron Radatz “the magical entertainer to see” and Mystic Hollow’s home team, the Detroit Tigers, raved, “You will have to see it to believe it.”

He has toured nearly all of the states in our union (45 out of 50), and brought the closest thing to real magic to 37 countries on six of the earth’s seven continents.

According to the local Vegas news outlets, he began is run at the Clarion Hotel, just east of Las Vegas Boulevard.  This is the perfect location for families who want to take a break from the Strip to see a great performer and some outstanding illusions.
Continue reading “Magician Aaron Radatz Opens New Family-Friendly Magic Show in Las Vegas” →

Latest Magic News, Magic in the Movies

Steve Carell to Star in Vegas Magician Flick

Image of Steve Carell - New Star of Magic-Themed Movie According to Variety, Steve  Carell of The Office, Bruce Almighty, and The 40 Year-Old Virgin fame, is bidding for the  ‘Burt Wonderstone’  role in a new magic-themed film.

The plot seems interesting: Burt Wonderstone is the typical Las Vegas magician working through some issues on his way back to the top.  Chief among those nagging concerns is his accidental killing of his partner.

Mr. Carell has cache and clout in Hollywood.  The script sat on shelves in New Line Cinema’s offices for four or five years looking for that special something to attract investors.

The film does not yet have a director, producer, key grip, best man, clapper-loader, caterer, or unit accountant but it has Steve Carrell.  Apparently the rest will follow in his footsteps.  Everyone likes a winner and Mr. Carrell’s film and television track record looks solid, bankable.

Continue reading “Steve Carell to Star in Vegas Magician Flick” →

Latest Magic News, Magician Feature

Ariann Black is Back and Reviewed

The Painfully Beautiful and Talented Ariann Black Performs in SecretsMike Weatherford is a straight-shooter — although we have no idea why one's sexual identity should matter, especially if you are using a gun or any firearm.

He stays up on the Magic scene in Las Vegas better than most.  He even knows the names of our illusions; which is disconcerting.  It kind of creeps us out when lay people know the jargon of our biz.

We much prefer audience members to talk about our "scarf trick" or "hanky trick" rather than "a really nice routine with a silk ball."

Of course, we take the audience as we find them and if they happen to know the jargon, we deal with it like a professional.  Still, we feel weird performing for closeted magicians who act like they don't know but they really do.  They take the force card because they think they are helping; and yes, while it is nice to pull off a Classic Force once in a while, we would much prefer to do it on our own.  We don't need charity — especially because most of our routine is based on screwing up the Classic Force.  We don't know what we would do if it worked.

Anyway, we digress.

Secrets was the topic and coincidentally, secrets is the theme of Ariann Black's new show in Las Vegas.

Let us be very straight shooting here as well: Ariann Black is beautiful.  She is the kind of beautiful that you don't want to look at because you become nervous, paranoid, and incontinent.  Maybe that's just us.  But she is not bad looking for a woman. 

But we have never judged male magicians on their natural or enhanced beauty — except Darren Romeo and Lance Burton.  They are good looking guys, we suppose.

Mike Weatherford's take on the amazingly attractive Ariann Black's new show is luke-warm.  He appreciates her incredible skill set; ranging from close-up to big stage illusions.  But he wants more.

He riffs off one of Ariann Black's lines in the new show.  She reflects on her start in our art and recalls being told that "magic is for boys." 

Continue reading “Ariann Black is Back and Reviewed” →

Latest Magic News, Magic News

Heat Packing Angel Scares Beauty Contestants

Norm Clarke, Inside Magic Favorite Vegas Columnist from The Las Vegas Review-Journal , asks a valid question:

Should a pageant judge known for his public outbursts be allowed to pack heat to the Miss Universe finals?

The Miss Universe judge in question is magician Criss Angel.  The heat he is packing is a firearm, not Jim Pace's iconic (and often knocked-off) Electric Hot Leads. 

He has a license to carry.  By the way, the cool way to talk about concealed weapons is to not provide the noun.  So, one would say, "I have a permit to carry; you have a permit to carry; he,she,it have permits to carry." 

We don't know what type of weapon Criss Angel carries. We also don't know why he carries.  There were rumors a couple of years ago that because he was living at the Luxor whilst he worked on Believe! and his Mind Freak series, fans would have an opportunity to flock him. 

We have always been against shooting flocking fans.  In fact, Harper Lee confessed on an old Dick Cavett Show the original title of her Pulitzer Award winning novel was titled To Kill a Flocking Fan.  Apparently because lead character Atticus Finch had a heavy southern drawl, there was concern this line could pose censorship issues. 

Norm Clarke credits Richard Abowitz for bringing the issue to the fore.  You can read the blog post that got it all started at www.goldplateddoor.com.

Continue reading “Heat Packing Angel Scares Beauty Contestants” →

Latest Magic News, Magic News

Virtual Night Club – Opportunities Abound

Black and White Image of Beautiful Sally Rand and Her Fans

The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) broke the news — at least to us — that a night club in Las Vegas has implemented holographic technology to create a “virtual strip club.”

The dancing girls in Lolita’s Cantina and Tequila bar may look real enough, but in reality they’re conjured out of thin air using holographic technology. The entertainment in the bar, owned by veteran nightclub developer Eric DeBiasi, is created using the same technology used by Damon Albarn’s virtual band the Gorillaz and Live Earth Tokyo to project former US vice President Al Gore onto the stage.


No more dressing rooms, stench of flop-sweat, or real-world salaries.  The performer appears real but can be brought to the stage whenever the whim hits.

Digital Illusions, the company behind the technology, says that the DJ will have total control over both the music and the dancing, creating a seamless audiovisual performance that will look totally realistic to the audience.

“Imagine having a library of hundreds or thousands of clips of entertainers, magicians, comedians, dancers,” asked one of the Digital Illusions folks in a rhetorical fashion.

“Each one is ready to perform at a moment’s notice. Each one is surrounded by special effects and magical appearances and disappearances. But most importantly, each one looks totally real.”

Why the possibilities abound.  You could do six or seven birthday parties at one time.  Magic Club lectures could happen over and over and over — if such was the desire of the club.

Yes, the equipment to build a holographic stage is expensive but the price will drop.  Remember when calculators cost $17,200.00 and took up an entire room?  Remember how back in those days, you would have to literally turn the entire room of computer equipment upside down to show friends that the letters 9009 was a secret word produced by the calculator?

Continue reading “Virtual Night Club – Opportunities Abound” →

Magic News

Magicians = Creepy Anti-Hero?

The new trend in horror film stars are described by Cinematical today as “brooding, pale-skinned, sparkly, fangless, vegan vampires.”

The on-line movie site longs for the days of real horror icons.  Cinematical wants real vampires, real, carnivorous creepy types trolling the earth for victims, not lovers.

Take, for instance, the 1980’s classic Fright Night.  There were no pale, blotchy, moribund slivers of human flesh to be found in the film.  The men were men and the women were victims and  usually half-naked, according to the author.

To provide artistic balance to the wimpy, dysthymic, translucent-skinned, after-picture-for-a-weight-loss-plan-marketed-to-anorexics, boys and girls made fashionable by the ponderous paper-doll dramatis personae of Twilight, Hollywood is producing a remake of Fright Night.

The producers wanted a creepy, scary anti-hero and determined the best fit would be a Las Vegas magician.

David Tennant of Doctor Who fame will play Peter Vincent, a Vegas illusionist known for his horror-themed stage shows, who presumably overcomes his fear of vampires to become their worst enemy.

In an earlier piece on the pre-production gossip, Cinematical offered its hope for remake’s choice of characters.

The only concern with the new plot information is that the remake may stray too far from the original. The addition of Charley’s Chriss Angel mentor proves that even if our hero lives in a cozy abode off The Strip, we’ll eventually find ourselves under the Vegas lights . A straight remake was never the answer, but let’s hope (script writer) Noxon doesn’t push this too far.

We could see a Criss Angel type playing a vampire and a vampire hunter but think it would be so much better to have Lance Burton for either role. Lance Burton is classy, healthy, and has the beguiling smile sufficient to hide the horrific fears and emotions felt by the Vincent character. Or, maybe if they want to go contrary to all stereotype, why not use Carrot-Top?

Latest Magic News, Magician Feature

Vegas Celebrates Mac King Day


Photograph by Steve Spatafore from Las Vegas Sun


After Memorial Day, one may wear white pants and white shoes. After Mac King Day, plaid jackets may be adorned with impunity.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman declared yesterday, May 4th to be “Mac King Day.”

In our book, everyday is Mac King Day except for October 31st, held for our solemn observation of Houdini’s death.

“Growing up in a family of magicians, magic has been my life,” Mac said. “I am truly honored to be celebrating 10 years with my show at Harrah’s Las Vegas. This is an exciting time for me, and I can’t wait to celebrate with the audience this afternoon.”

Mac King performed 5,200 shows for more than 1 million people at the main showroom at Harrah’s. He told Robin Leach of the Las Vegas Sun “that translates into 2,600 days of wearing his trademark plaid suits; 15,600 feet of rope used for his rope trick; 270,400 playing cards; 15,600 magically appearing Fig Newtons; and 26,000 audience volunteers pulled up onstage.”

The nice man and great magician comes from a family of magicians — both grandfathers were performers. He fell in love with the craft after checking out a library book — presumably about magic.

Check out Robin Leach’s complete article on Mac and his life in the spotlight at The Las Vegas Sun.

Magic News

Master Magician Lance Burton Starts Final 5 Months

Master Magician Lance Burton will end his historic run at Monte Carlo September 4, 2010.

The final performance follows 14 years of captivating audiences at the resort’s Lance Burton Theatre.

Beloved by fans worldwide  and named the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s “Best Magician” for a dozen years running, Burton has been with Monte Carlo since its opening day on June 21, 1996.

“It has been an honor and a pleasure to have Lance Burton headline at Monte Carlo for the last 14 years,” said Monte Carlo President & COO Anton Nikodemus.  “We are proud to have called Lance a member of the MGM MIRAGE family and wish him nothing but the best as he pursues a new chapter in his legendary career.”

Known for his astounding illusions and mesmerizing sleight-of-hand, Burton will continue to delight audiences at Monte Carlo through Labor Day Weekend, celebrating one of the longest and most fruitful partnerships in the history of Las Vegas entertainment.

“Performing at Monte Carlo and introducing over five million people to the world of magic has been a fantastic experience for me,” said Burton.  “I have loved every minute of this historic run and look forward to turning my attention to new opportunities.”

Visit the website of our craft’s finest at LanceBurton.com