Tag: Magicians

Latest Magic News

Magic Clickbait – What Magicians Don’t Want You to Know – Number 15 is Horrifying!

Inside Magic Image of IT StaffIn an effort to launch InsideMagic.com to the top of the charts, we have tried to copy or serve an homage to those captains of industry in the internet world.  We found the clickbait method of asking a question and then directing users to a page with answers seems to be working for some.

Here are some of the questions posed we have noticed:

Remember [Actress] in the 1980s? You should take a deep breath and see how she looks now.

Scientists won’t tell you when the end of the world is coming, here is the info they’ve been hiding.

How to spot a liar in one second – warning, this is a devastating power.

Remember [Thelma] from [Scoobie Doo]? Wait until you see her now, she’s beautiful.

Pain in your wrist? Learn the seven signs of [Illness] before it’s too late.

For each of these examples, we’ve corrected the spelling and omitted the real gross ones, like creatures that take up home in your body while you’re sleeping or how to tell if your child has rabies.  No need for that type of extreme.

Here is our tentative list of clickbait questions to drive readers to InsideMagic.com.

[We realize we don’t have advertisers on InsideMagic.com but that is more a function of our choosiness.  Daily, we receive offers to post ads from sources other than magicians or magic suppliers.  Just this morning we received two: BlitzDate – Faster than Tinder! and, FungiGone – to permanently remove nail fungus forever.  Both offered to pay us a percentage of the users derived from InsideMagic.com but we felt it would let our readers down.]

  1. What Magicians don’t want you to know (Number 7 will make you rethink your moral compass!)
  2. Magicians in Ancient Egypt – What did they know that can cure [Illness] even today! [Note: this will not include anything about fungi encrusted nails]
  3. What Nostradamus Predicted about Mentalists Performing B Wave – You’ll be shocked!
  4. How Magicians use Pheromones to Deceive Audiences with Smell – This explains so much!
  5. The Classic Pass is Possible says Noted Magician – but will not help securing dates!
  6. What David Copperfield, Criss Angel, David Blaine and Your Uncle All Have in Common – It’s not what you think!
  7. Why Starbucks Won’t Let Magician’s in their Stores – Seems unfair but makes sense!
  8. The Bullet Catch Trick – How Magicians practice this most dangerous trick without injury, usually.
  9. Is the Bill in Lemon Trick a Violation of US Currency Laws? – The answer will surprise you!
  10. Rabbits from Hats – You’ll be surprised at the type of animals pulled from hats over the last 200 years – Number four will have you gripped in fear.

Following the link to any of these bait lines would direct you to a microsite chocked full of ads for different approaches to: dating, fungus removal, disease detection, dating with an emphasis on finding the perfect magician match, colorized versions of war footage, colorized versions of fungal infections, and, IHop / Arbys.  IHop would be shown in the morning and Arbys for the rest of the day.

Magic News

Join Inside Magic’s Online Directory
Inside Magic Image of a Magic Show

Inside Magic has been online since 1992 or 1996 depending on what you mean by online.  We began as a monthly newsletter sent to subscribers obtained through Boys Life classifieds and converted to CompuServe,  Genii (the GE electronic service – not the magazine) and then the Internet. 

We advertised through Yahoo at a cost of $140.00 (1990s dollars) and later advertised through the new and unproven Google search service.  Much less cost but at the start, many less clicks. 

There were months when the clicks were three or five.  But it was cheap so we kept with it.  We advertised on magic websites – there were very few back in the early days but Meir Yedid was a dependable site.   People trusted him, they trusted his opinion on magic and enjoyed his very honest description of magic for sale or for viewing. 

They still do.  

In the old days, Inside Magic had a news side and a catalog side.  We would never review tricks we sold – because that seemed improper. 

Eventually the catalog side faded from existence.  We sold the bulk of our remaining inventory on eBay and Amazon and focused on the news and reviews side of the website.  We liked that.  Selling magic is a tough business.  The margins are tight, there are so many sites now selling effects, and we are softies.  We can’t stand to disappoint people.  We did what no sane magic seller does, we gave refunds – even if the trick came back beat up and without instructions.  It just seemed fair.

Bright we are not.  We love magic and want to do nothing that could or possibly could interfere with an individual’s enjoyment of this great art.  That doesn’t make us ethical or smart – just us.  Similarly we would never interview or review a performer or trick/act we didn’t like.  We want to be positive always.  Maybe we didn’t like the trick or the act or the performer but that didn’t mean it/he/she/they weren’t great in the eyes of others. 

Additionally,  there are so many young performers and their first crack at getting publicity is through a review.  How terrible for the first review to be negative or mean.  We got our first review in a newspaper and it was horrible.  The trauma on a 12-year-old’s psyche is so significant.  We got later, more positive reviews but the first one stung and made getting back  on stage difficult.

All of this is coming to a point.

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Latest Magic News, Magic of India

Documentary Spotlights Magician Colony’s Disappearance

Inside Magic Photo of Raheja Phoenix Project Concept DrawingYears ago we wrote of a special Indian community where magicians and puppeteers flourished. The story captured our hearts and evoked a tremendous number of comments from Inside Magic readers.  We wondered what happened to the colony of formerly itinerant performers over the last decade.

We were happy to learn the story attracted the interest of documentary cinematographers who will soon release their project titled, Tomorrow We Disappear.

Part of the funding came via crowd sourcing on Kickstarter and the pledges quickly exceeded their goal of $40,000.00.  As of November 13, 2011, pledges exceeded $64,000.00.

The producers offered unique gifts to those who pledged funds.  $5.00 merited a high-five or chest bump, $10.00 got a magic ring from one of the performers in the film, and for $1,200 you would receive a custom made puppet from one of India’s foremost puppeteers.

Producer Jim Goldblum joined with Adam Weber, Joshua Cogan and Will Basanta to bring the story out of the vanishing slums and to western audiences.

The documentary tells the story of the Kathputli colony’s unique history and apparent imminent destruction. In the late 1950s, Kathputli became home for “traditionally itinerant performers — puppeteers, acrobats, magicians and fire-breathers.”

They settled in what was then a remote area bordering New Delhi.  The land – described as New Delhi’s “tinsel slum” – recently became the chosen site for the city’s first-ever skyscraper, The Raheja Phoenix.  The community belonged to one of society’s lower castes and it was not surprising the government chose to have them “resettled” to accommodate the building.

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eBay Items, Magic Stories

Crossroads in Columbia – The Hardys in South Carolina

Image of Clinging Psychopath Melanie Hardy from Waist DownFrom the upcoming 16-Part PBS Series, The Hardys in America. Teachers may request the classroom guide to help students better understand the series.

Introduction to The Hardys in South Carolina

South Carolina has a special place in the Hardy Family’s history. It was nice  to be back in the state responsible for many of the more important incidents and eras in America’s First Family of Psychic Entertainment. We were in Columbia, the state’s capitol for the South Carolina Association of Magicians convention and had a great time.

But our experience could not compare to those of our three relatives in the same town. Uncle Tubby, Aunt Melanie, and Aunt Sixtus came to Columbia for different reasons but all left profoundly affected by their stay.

Tubby Hardy – Little Big Man

Tubby was actually the ironic and hurtful nickname for our uncle Todd Hardy given to him by Tom Hardy Sr. to ridicule his unfortunate life-experience. He entered the Hardy business of magic after a career riding and then handicapping horses.

Jockeys, in his era, were expected to “make weight” for each race by being at least ten pounds lighter than the lowest weight allowance on the circuit. In 1959, the Chicago – Louisville – Lexington circuit required the riders to be no more than 93 pounds so that with their tack and fancy silks, riders added no more than 103 pounds to the back of the horses.

Tubby was able to make weight for his first two seasons. He was a gifted rider. He broke his maiden and lost his bug status at the end of his first year. Those are good things. Breaking one’s maiden means he won his first race. Losing his bug meant he was no longer considered an apprentice jock.

Coming off bug status made him less attractive to owners and trainers who were willing to hire the apprentice designated in racing forms with an asterisk (or a “bug”) by their name.

Bug riders were allowed extra weight allowances and could often enter a race with ten to fifteen pounds less than any horse in the field. This weight benefit was often crucial in the non-sprint events.

Once a rider lost his bug, he was forced to compete against the other jocks directly.

Tubby entered the 1959 season at Arlington Race Course outside of Chicago weighing exactly 93 pounds. He was able to pick up some mounts from kindly trainers but had little success with the less-than-promising horses. In 1958, his winnings topped $22,000 and made him the highest-earning bug rider on the circuit. In the first three months of 1959’s season, he struggled to make ends meet with just two rides in the money — and one coming because of a disqualification of the two horses well ahead of him.

He began to gain weight half-way through the season and by the time the circuit moved south to Louisville, he was just less than 140 pounds.

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