* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Magic New Zealand * www.watson.co.nz/ezine.html * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Issue Number: #189 Date: Sunday 3rd August 2003 Editor: Alan Watson www.magicianz.com www.alan-watson.com e-mail: AW@Alan-Watson.com ================================ Hi here is the latest news ================================   1. Editor’s Message   2. Guest On Steve Dacri’s Vegas Show   3. The Eye Of Horus Is Now Published   4. Dutch Magic Clubs   5. The Magic Circle Members Triumph At FISM   6. DVD And The Book Of The Flicking Fingers??   7. The Annual Italian Magic Congress - October   8. A look back At FISM 2003 - Sue-Anne Webster   9. For Fetter Or Worse - Peter Marucci   10. The Amazing ‘Orchante’ Saga - Vol. Two - The Australian Years       Magic New Zealand   11. e-zine archives   12. Subscription Management ------------------------------------ 1. Editor's Message ------------------------------------- Message from Alan Watson - The Magic One Check out Paul Daniels new website: www.pauldaniels.co.uk (it’s AWESOME) The Paul Daniels MasterClass Lecture and show is now confirmed for Auckland, New Zealand - Sunday 1st February 2004. For further information please contact me directly. ------------------------------------- A BIG THANK YOU! to Sue-Anne Webster from Melbourne, Australia who did a fantastic job in reviewing FISM 2003 - refer item 8 and Part Two of her report will be published next week. Check out Sue-Anne and Tim's website: www.MagicUnlimited.com ------------------------------------- Tommy Orchard - Orchante special column has returned I’m pleased to say after experiencing some bad health. Refer item 10 - his wife Veronica celebrated her 60th birthday last week (she still looks 21). ------------------------------------- I received a copy of the Regional MUMblings by Maria Ibanez who is the Regional Vice President SA States, Society of American Magicians. What a fabulous job she does with the Newsletter and I was pleased to read she will accept the challenge of running for the office of Second Vice President for the S.A.M. -------------------------------- Remember if you have any magic news drop me a line: AW@Alan-Watson.com ---------------------------------- 2. Guest On Steve Dacri’s Vegas Show ---------------------------------- Message from Tony Brook (US) Tony Brook and Charles Brook To Guest On Steve Dacri’s Vegas Show. Tony Brook and his son Charles Brook have been invited by Steve Dacri to perform at The Orleans Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. They will be the first International magicians to guest on his show. The all-new magic show is entitled, "Xtreme Close-Up Magic" and opens on August 4. Tony and Charles will perform from August 11 to August 15. The show is an all-new Close-Up Magic Show in Las Vegas and will star Steve Dacri, who has the distinction of being the fastest hands in magic. Showtimes are Mondays to Fridays at 7pm and a matinee on Tuesdays at 4pm. Each show will be limited to 100 seats for best viewing. A roving camera will project the show onto 17 screens around the room. Both Tony and Charles reside in Porto, Portugal. Both of them are members of The Magic Circle, The International Brotherhood of Magicians and The Society of American Magicians. Charles, at 21, has already several International magic awards and accolades to his credit. Tony is well known in the International magic community and was featured on the front cover of MUM - The Society of American Magicians monthly magazine. Together with Dan Garrett he is the Co-Host of World Class Magic which features FISM winners, Gold Medal and other top magicians, quite literally, from around the world. Tony Brook is also on The Panel of Advisors of The Magic Web Channel. Other guests from August 21st will be Mel Harvey from England, Ruairi Connor from Ireland and James Fortune. Further details on: http://cbrookmagic.proteres.com/press.htm and www. magicwebchannel.com ---------------------------------- 3. The Eye Of Horus Is Now Published ---------------------------------- Message from Dave Boyd (Aust) This months edition of The Eye of Horus is now published. Once again it is full of some great magic for the mentalist, paranormal & psychic magicians. I am now in the process of putting together the next issue. I would appreciate any input that your readers might be able to make. Be it in the way of an article on mentalism, an effect that they would be prepared to share with our readers, perhaps a review on a book, video, or prop that they have purchased. They may also advertise free of charge any items they have for sale, new or second hand. The only proviso being it must fit into the format of mentalism etc. The site can be found at http://horusmindmagic.homestead.com Be listed free in the world wide magician's data base http://magicianandclowndatabase.homestead.com Check out Web Page for International Entertainment available. Also Magicians can find a great range of magic for sale http://mountainmagicaustralia.homestead.com For entertainment on the Sapphire Coast New South Wales Australia http://entertainmentbega.homestead.com The Eye of Horus E-Zine for mentalists http://horusmindmagic.homestead.com ---------------------------------- 4. Dutch Magic Clubs ---------------------------------- Message from Rob Hahlen (Holland) Below you find the requested information about the Dutch magic clubs. The national magic organisation is the NMU (Nederlandse Magische Unie = Dutch Magic Association) and has its website at www.goochelen-nmu.nl. If you go to that website, click on the logo to get in. There are 23 clubs, with about 500 members in total. Some clubs have their own website. I checked the links yesterday, they are all working. Some of the clubs have their own youth-club. If I know there is one, I make mention of it. A little translation-aid: Broederschap   = brotherhood Goochel or goochelen = magic Goochelaar                 = magician Kring                      = ring Magische                   = magic(al) Vereniging                 = club The clubs, sorted by city, are: 1. ALKMAAR Goochelkring Alkmaar Chairman/contactperson: B. v/d Boogaard (+31 251-652350) Email: bernardvdboogaard@musicandmagic.nl 2. AMSTERDAM Goochelvereniging "Mysterium" secretary: D. Swierstra (+31 35 6236280) 3. AMSTERDAM Goochel- en Ontspanningsvereniging Amsterdam secretary: Wim de Jong (+31 20 6267330 or +31 20 6200448) 4. AMSTERDAM Magische Kring Amsterdam secretary: C.A.J. Faber (+31 20 6923877) youth club: www.homepages.hetnet.nl/~vembde/mkaj.html 5. ARNHEM Magische Ring Arnhem secretary: J.M.G. Gijsberts (+31 26 4951228) 6. BREDA Ring "Jules Ten I Chi" secretary: C.A. de Gouw (+31 76 5413596) 7. DEN HAAG Haagse Amateur-Goochelaarsclub "J.C.Burgersdijk" secretary: W.L. v/d Poel (+31 79 3211912) 8. DEN HAAG Magische Kring "Haaglanden" secretary: Arthur Dalm, email: dalm.vis@hccnet.nl 9. DORDRECHT Magische Kring Zuid Holland secretary: K.G. Linker (+31 78 6130408) 10. EINDHOVEN Goochelclub "Toi toi"  Eric van den Heuvel, Chairman (+31 40-2040435) Henk Linders , Treasurer (+31 77-3071226) Thijs Pouls, Secretary (+31 40-2520131) 11. GRONINGEN Vereniging van Amateur-Goochelaars "Passe Passe" With a youth-club. secretary: F.W.J. van Meeteren (+31 50 5032443) Email: meeteren@knmg.nl 12. HAARLEM Noordhollandse Bond van Goochelaars secretary: Eddy Opperdoes (+31 23 564 08 30) www.nbg-magic.nl Youth-club: http://communities.msn.nl/NBGjeugd 13. LEEUWARDEN Magische Ring Friesland secretary: P. Plantinga (+31 519 294827) 14. NIJMEGEN Goochelkring "Merlijn" secretary: M. Maas (+31 24 3446306) 15. RIJEN Amateur-Goochelaarsvereniging "Gonga" secretary: R. Popelier (+31 73 6414626) 16. ROTTERDAM Goochelclub Rotterdam (GCR) Secretary: R. Stoop (+31 70 385 42 95) Email:hr.stoop@wanadoo.nl www.goochelclubrotterdam.nl Youth-club 17. ROTTERDAM Magische Liga "52 Schakels" secretary: H. Op den Brouw (+31 78 6198268) Email: H.OpdenBrouw@kub.nltop 18. TWENTE (not a city, but a region in the Netherlands) Magische Kring Twente Information: Erwin Essink (+31 547 385080) e-mail: Fred-Ric Schrijvers: info@frentertainment.nl Youth-club NB: Hilbert Geerling, chairman of the NMU is a member. 19. UTRECHT Magische Kring Centraal Nederland secretary: T.F. Piso (+31 343 573828) www.freewebs.com/mkcn 20. VUGHT Broederschap van Goochelaars "Okito" secretary: P. Barneveld (+31 73 5117959) 21. ZWOLLE Goochelvereniging "Aladdin" secretary: H.F. Timmerman (+31 38 4543521) 22. ZWOLLE Magische Kring Zwolle secretary: H. Riphagen (+31 570 657505) Everywhere and .. Amateur-Goochelaarsvereniging "Hands Down" secretary: D.W. Swierstra (+31 35 6236280) This is a club of magic friends that has his meeting in the houses of the members. ---------------------------------- 5. The Magic Circle Members Triumph At FISM ---------------------------------- Message from David Beckley (UK) The Magic Circle are proud that four of its members triumphed at the recent FISM conference. Norbert Ferre not only won first prize for manipulation but also was awarded the Grand Prix for Stage Magic. In the Micro Magic category, Nicholas Einhorn was placed second equal. Etienne Pradier came third in the Card Magic competition and The Great Nardini (Paul and Marie Nardini) took away the Comedy Prize. All the competitions (as usual) were of an incredibly high standard and our members performed superbly to achieve the positions they did. Michael Bailey, President of The Magic Circle, says: 'We can be proud of all our members who competed and did so well. To them, and the others who appeared during the FISM Congress, I send my heartiest congratulations.' For further information contact: David Beckley, MIMC: Press Officer, The Magic Circle Tel: +44 (0)1483 408 430 Fax: +44 (0)1276 855 Email: david.beckley@hays.com ---------------------------------- 6. DVD And The Book Of The Flicking Fingers?? ---------------------------------- Message from Marcus Goddefroy (Aust) I am intrigued with the DVD and the book of the Flicking Fingers which was held here in Melbourne, at Dracula's theatre restaurant. Where can I purchase them from? And how much? Please e-mail me at: hunkydory@interworx.com.au ---------------------------------- 7. The Annual Italian Magic Congress - October ---------------------------------- Message from Tony Binarelli (Italy) The Annual Italian Magic Congress in October (16th, 17th , 18th and 19th) Abano Terme - organized by Domenico Dante, President of the C.M.I. Starring: Tiffany (Svizzera) / Bin Lin (China) / Axel (Germania) / Perplex (Svizzeria) / Shoot Ogawa (USA) / Johnny Lonn (Svezia) / Feldini (Svizzera) / Viktor Voitko (Ukranina) / Lee Eung Gyeol (Korea) / Etienne Pradier (Inghilterra) / John Allen (Inghilterra) / Yumy (Giappone) / Tony Binarelli (Italy) and many more! ---------------------------------- 8. A look back At FISM 2003 - Sue-Anne Webster ---------------------------------- Message from Sue-Anne Webster (Aust) A look back at FISM 2003 - Part 1 FISM 2003 July 21-26, 2003 Den Haag, The Netherlands By Sue-Anne Webster Den Haag was the destination for the 22nd World Championship of Magic and over 2500 magicians from all over the world gathered for this fantastic event. Australian representatives included Sean Taylor, Phil Cass and Philippa, Raymond Crowe, Anthony DeMasi, Simon Coronel, Steve Walker, Bill Walsh, Peter Rodgers, Charles Gauci, David Jones, Tim Ellis and Sue-Anne Webster and many others! Tim Ellis and I arrived at Amsterdam's Schipol Airport on Sunday July 20 and took the train to Den Haag. After a short taxi ride from the station to the Golden Tulip Bel Air Hotel (right next door to the Convention Centre) we freshened up and went to the Centre to check in. The place was beautifully decorated with FISM posters and logos, huge balloon tulips made by 'Twister', and a blue carpet with two inflatable rainbows leading up to the registration area. The FISM venue was fantastic, everything was under the one roof and, if you were staying on site at the Dorint Hotel, you didn't need to go outside at all for the entire week! They had two restaurants, bars, and five or six catering stands where you could buy hamburgers, hot dogs, tacos, gyros, sandwiches, ice creams and drinks. There was a free internet café for registrants, a "relaxation room", underground car parking, and plenty of space where you could just sit down and session with friends. The FISM team were astounding. They went out of their way to make sure that everything ran smoothly and everyone had a good time. They not only had a private 'FISM Team' control room near the foyer, but they also had a cafeteria backstage where meals and refreshments were provided while they worked on the stage events. All of the stage performers and competitors were even given their own dressing rooms and, I believe, able to make use of the backstage cafeteria as well. When we arrived, the foyer was already filled with magicians registering and sharing a drink at the bar. Registration was easy and smooth and each registrant received a great black zip up folio embossed with the FISM logo. Inside, attached with wire to the ring binders, was a fabulous 76 page full colour programme, a deck of FISM playing cards, a FISM pen, an A4 FISM notebook, a FISM paperclip, and a handy FISM z-fold schedule. We also received our name-badges on a FISM lanyard and all of our tickets plus a coupon for a free gift. What was the gift? A little plastic trick? A ruler? No, a huge box of quality magic tricks produced and donated by the 'Hanky Panky' company especially for FISM. We felt like we'd gotten our money's worth already! Unfortunately, due to a British Airways baggage handlers strike at London's Heathrow Airport, some of our colleagues weren't quite as happy as us. Anthony DeMasi had no luggage (and didn't get it until Thursday), Phil Cass had his, but Philippa didn't have hers (and still didn't when we said goodbye on Saturday), an American competitor Richard Forget didn't have his either and it looked like British Airways had shot down his FISM dreams… thankfully his luggage arrived on Thursday night and his performance was rescheduled for Friday. Despite the lost luggage situation, which affected many of the registrants, this FISM already looked like being the best in a very long time… and it hadn't even officially started! DAY ONE MONDAY, JULY 21, 2003 8.00 am and we're having breakfast at the hotel. It's like a mini-convention already as we see Stan Allen, David Williamson, Guy Hollingworth, Johnny Thompson, Ton Onosaka, Paul Harris, Obie O'Brien, Wittus Witt, Johnny Lonn, … But it's time to head off and check out the products of the 98 Dealers. The Dealers had everything from speciality rubber bands at 1 Euro each, to electronic mind reading devices at 1900 Euros. There were many dealers carrying full scale illusions, some with posters and antique books, others with magic statues and paintings, and one of the most popular stands sold the 'Spider' portable backdrops. 'Spider', like many other dealers, had completely sold out by the end of the convention. Another interesting feature of this FISM was the 'FISM DAILY' everyone received each morning. This double sided A4 sheet contained news, program changes, and photos of the day before's events. What a great idea! At 11.00am we headed into the amazing 2100 seat Alexander Hall for the Opening Gala. On a stage set with an intense blue wash was a girl in a long, flowing white dress reciting the names of past FISM Grand Prix winners. As the show began, she started singing one of the two FISM theme songs accompanied by Franky Wilson. As she sang she was lifted high up into the air. From inside her skirt, came our host (that sounds really bad doesn't it. but it looked quite effective). Stilted characters also emerged playing musical instruments as a young boy came out and performed a floating ball. As he approached a wizard character the wizard levitated him and transformed him into an older magician. The whole scene was very well done and quite artistic. Next on the opening were speeches from the FISM President Hilbert Geerling and the Mayor of Den Haag. Hilbert explained that the Mayor would then have to perform a giant card trick with him, onto the stage came a man who must have been almost 8 feet tall! An even bigger deck of cards was revealed on stage and an odd version of 'Jumbo Sidekick' was performed which culminated in all of the FISM Representatives coming on stage with guns to help the Mayor find his card. Of course the card was found, then transformed into the FISM logo. Hilbert acknowledged Richard Ross and the other great magicians who had passed on since the last FISM, and this was followed by a montage of famous Dutch magicians who performed just 2 minutes each of their best material. Performers included: Tel Smit, Flip and Tommy Wonder.Lunch break. At 2.00pm, while others attended lectures by John Carney on presentation, Richard Sanders on close up, Amos Levkovitch on doves, and Michel on 'The Invisible Hand' holdout, the stage competition began! ___________________________________ 147 Contestants - Some competed in two categories simultaneously GM = General Magic (55) SI = Stage Illusions (10) MAN = Manipulation (24) PAR = Parlour Magic (7) MM = Mental Magic (6) IN = Invention (18) MIC = Micro Magic (19) CD = Cards (20) ____________________________________ 1: PRINCE OF ILLUSIONS - Netherlands - SI. The act seemed to begin with a dream sequence theme, but didn't end with a conclusion. Very effective bed illusion, like a horizontal sub-trunk, where the magician gets into bed and a woman instantly gets out just under the cover of a bed sheet. They also did a fire cage production, and the traditional 'Assistant's Revenge' where the rope was replaced by plastic tape which was cut away to release the magician at the end, a great idea! The prince brought a kid on stage and changed to kid's tiger doll into a girl using a crystal cabinet, and did an interesting large linking ring routine using the girl as a sort of fourth ring. Great stage presence by both principal performers, excellent timing, strong dance and movements, music and visuals stimulated a good audience response. The bed illusion was used again at the conclusion of the act for changing a woman into the magician and a young boy, who once again had his tiger doll. 2: CLIFF SELIM - Belgium - GM. Cliff began his act well attired and soon stripped off his top. This was possibly to show he had nothing up his sleeves, or maybe his ripped abdominals were a misdirectional ruse. He produced mechanical birds and odd bits and pieces, as well as manipulating CDs, musical notes, and performing the floating cane and cut and restored silk. He moved well. (After Cliff's performance Frank Wilson, who played music between each of the acts, had the audience in stitches as he improvised a song titled: "Cliff, I love your body"). 3: LEONY - Brazil - IN. Leony walked onto the stage as if he didn't want to be there even though Invention category doesn't require presentational skill. An odd contraption comprising a large "needle through balloon concept" using a sword. It looked like he accidentally exposed the method as a large sparkler penetrated the balloon at the conclusion of his presentation. 4: THEO DARI - France - GM & IN. Great magic concept for lasers. Theo performed his entire act with a laser device in a futuristic suit. Some of the effects were fantastic. A laser beam was generated from the box he was standing on. He played with the light and actually held it in his hands so it seemed to have no source at all, but the best part was when he "snapped" the laser in two and played with it like a light saber from Star Wars. He suffered a little when the smoke on stage started to disperse, but at the finish his entire suit lit up as though he'd been electrified. Clever, but more scientific than magical. Great for rave parties! 5: JORGE BLASS - Spain - GM. A themed, three stage act in respect to past masters of magic who were displayed in picture frames as the magician performed the main apparatus for which they were known. Doves, cards and rings. This was essentially the same act he performed in 2000 at Lisbon with some tidying up, but the pictures were suspended instead of mounted on easels like last time. The subsequent wobbling and swinging of the pictures was a little distracting. A nicely structured act that ended with a dead bird that was brought back to life. 6: ANTOINE ALCIATI - France - GM. Spanish style act with doves and concluding with a double dog appearance. The magician experienced a few difficulties with three doves flying away but, along with his prominent assistant, didn't flinch at any problems, remaining true to their Spanish style. His assistant almost upstaged him with her flourishing skirt, but he maintained a stoney Antonio Banderas like facial expression throughout. 7: ALFONSO RIOS - Spain - GM. Another topless act with rose productions. Roses were thrown out to the audience, who threw them back. Floating rose effect, but unfortunately the lighting conditions exposed the thread. Alfonso stabbed himself (I'm unsure of his motivation, I think it had something to do with love, the audience found it funny though) and nearly burned himself when a flashpaper rose fell on to his face. The audience wasn't quite sure when the act was over. 8: KIM JUNG-KUK - Korea Republic - GM. An odd, but cute, Christmas act where a burglar who begins stealing from someone's home finds a Bible and realises that what he's doing is wrong. So, he decides to put everything back as well as producing an array of food and decorations for the owners of the home. The act concluded with the burglar lying on a table on his shoulders with his feet in the air, his back exposed with eyes drawn on it, and a Santa costume hanging from his bottom. The last piece of magic was performed upside down and backwards. It was a mouth coil but, as it wasn't exactly coming from his mouth, I really don't know what it should be called… 9: OLMAC - France - GM. Black light act. Well done and interesting, colourful with plenty of movement, some moments were magical but was it "magic"? 10: ALEXANDER MABROS - Germany - MAN. Alexander performed as a wonderful Robin Hood type character. His act was very themed as he performed with apples, sign posts, arrows, targets etc. He has a good presence on stage with nice expressions but the magic wasn't very strong. 11: THE GREAT NARDINI - Scotland - GM. Extremely funny act where the magic goes completely wrong. Fantastic expressions, particularly from the lady assistant. A sub trunk, (which was actually just a costume change) was performed, and this was as close to any actual "magic" in the act. The gags were fairly basic, but the timing expressions of these performers made them truly hilarious. The magician and his assistant worked very well together. Again, so very funny. 12: TIMBO - Belgium - GM. An act with small music CD's, some coloured CD's and some large CDs. Shiny objects are very hard to see on stage, therefore confusing to watch. He had an unusual ending to this act where, instead of the standard costume change, Timbo performed a sex change! 13: JULIUS FRACK - Germany - GM. Here's a weird coincidence, Julius Frack was also the 13th competitor at the last FISM in Lisbon. Again he performed his "mad tailor" act, probably the only act in the world than can be justified in using thimbles… AND they appear on his toes as well! He does zombie scissors, produces silks to create a dress with, and finally turns his mannequin into a fully dressed girl. Very well structured and acted. 14: JEAN GARIN - France - MAN. Jean appeared at first to be 'The Shadow', though this could have been simply a case of bad lighting. He manipulated with cards, balls, jumbo cards and primarily gloves that he tossed onto a board on the stage in the same manner as you toss socks onto a rough ceiling. His closing effect involved blending all of the gloves into one giant white glove… then splitting it to create a second giant black glove. Unfortunately he did drop and flash quite a lot. 15: CELCIUS - The Netherlands - SI. This act started off with a good premise where the couple entered a restaurant scene (with about six extras!) and the woman is complaining about being an assistant to her husband and his huge ego. Unfortunately, almost all of the tricks they did seemed to mess up: the mirror penetration had mysterious moving fingerprints, threads were visible throughout the act, a glass will failed to shatter by mind power alone was eventually smashed with a hammer (the hammer was obviously there as a back up… but why do a trick at FISM which fails so frequently you need a back up?) and when he (draped in a cape) secretly switched for her (draped in a cape) the draped figure visibly changed size. 16: LAURENT BERETTA - France - GM. Laurent produced lots of cards, but his angular style took away from the fluidity needed to make card manipulation look truly magical. Nevertheless he displayed high skill, only had a few drops, and the audience liked him. After a quick dinner break we headed into the Rembrandt Hall to present MagicSports. I acted as the host while Tim Ellis, Thomas Fraps and Gaston competed against Helge Thun, Ben Profane, Sean Taylor and Topas. We presented two shows, each very well attended with some FANTASTIC improvised scenes. One particularly memorable game involved creating a trick from a pack of TicTacs, a blindfold, and a bottle. Helge was introduced as the man with the all knowing tongue. He drank from the bottle constantly as he warmed up his tongue and Sean and Ben had a TicTac selected and signed. It was added into a bowl with three unsigned TicTacs and Helge was blindfolded by Topas as four volunteers came up on to the stage. Each volunteer chose a TicTac and placed it into their mouth. Helge intended to kiss each volunteer and "taste" whether they had the signed TicTac. The first girl was particularly enthusiastic however, and used her tongue to thrust the TicTac into Helge's mouth. The next girl assumed that was what Helge wanted… and did the same. The third volunteer was a man, and Helge seemed to instinctively know that he didn't have the signed TicTac. After kissing the final volunteer Helge found the signed TicTac and proceeded to magically spit it across the stage and into the sealed bottle. In the Van Gogh Hall the Close Up Gala was taking place. Alexandra Duvivier was MC (filling in for an ill Aldo Colombini) and she introduced performances by Dan LeFay, Carlos Vaquera, Jean Pierre Vallarino, Joshua Jay, Imam, Manuel Muerte, and David Williamson. As I was hosting MagicSports I was unable to see this show, but I heard it was excellent. Also that night was an official Reception for FISM Presidents, and Bar Magic downstairs with Bob Sheets, Doc Eason, Eric Mead, John Stetson and last minute addition Armando Lucero who performed all over the place throughout the convention. Another unexpected treat was free gelati from a singing ice-cream vendor, and the very well done "Magical Labyrinth": a haunted house type of maze where you met up with strange and horrifying creatures (Dutch magicians) who told spooky stories and performed effective tricks. DAY TWO TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2003 If you didn't want to watch the competition or visit the dealers, there were plenty of lectures to attend including: Twister with balloons, Mahka Tendo on manipulation, Boris Wild on close up, and a workshop 'Magic into Gold' with George Parker. 17: STEPHAN VON KOLLER - Germany - SI. Stephan appeared from a big base pressed up against the back curtain, then produced a girl and tied her to a chair and did a combination spirit cabinet and sub trunk. They performed a stripper cabinet and finished with a shadow box using the same base he appeared from at the start. Stephan vanished, reappearing in the audience. He and his lady assistant worked hard, but unfortunately the act went nowhere and little strength in the movements. 18: ANDY GONZALEZ - Spain - GM. Andy showed us modern music and CDs vs classical music and string instrument. You could see some of the CDs as they were coloured, and he had a coin ladder designed to fit CDs. It was like the weirdest CD storage system ever. Splitting, multiplying and changing the colour of CDs just doesn't seem magically very strong. He also did some violin productions and produced a viola as his finale. Unfortunately, there wasn't consistency throughout the act. 19: CHRIS JOKER - Germany - PAR. A good act in the style of a television game show - but surely too big to be parlour. Chris used an audience volunteer as he performed an effect very similar to Gary Kurtz mental knife routine which he presented as 'Who Wants To Be A Lefthander?' He had a good presence and was great with the audience volunteer. Other magic included an instant costume change, a beer production, and the appearance of a magnum of champagne for the volunteer. Chris used very well timed video interaction and was colourful and energetic. 20: MASK - France - GM. Mask presented his Beauty and the Beast act. A very artistic, beautiful and entertaining piece. A story about love. A masked character woos a young maid who relents in the end. Beautiful costumes and beautiful movement. The levitation of the maid was smooth and well performed, and the finale where the shadows of the two lovers morphed into doves and flew away was superb, lessened only by the return of the two to take their final bows. 21: KARIM - Spain - MAN. Karim was a likeable magician who performed a fairly good card manipulation act and actually made the cards look like they were magically appearing. He also produced bottles and used the caps as thimbles, but the act had no real structure. The ending was nice where a card floated and the magician clicked his fingers as he left the stage, causing the card to fall to the ground. 22: JASON LATIMER - USA - MAN. Jason was very energetic and well choreographed as he used a single silver ring to cause cards, balls and silks to appear from. Some nice manipulation, very few flashes, and some genuinely baffling moves that improved towards the end when the ring split into two. Refreshingly modern. 23: MAGIC WAVE - The Netherlands - GM. Quite a surprising, energetic, fun, and original act. It began as a friendly duel between a surfie and a skateboarder that concluded with the two being good friends. The act included costume changes, a levitation, exploding headphones, bottle productions and juggling, a seagull (played by a dove) and a really weird moment at the end with twins. Great use of the torn and restored paper, although I would have like to have seen more done with it. The best piece was the never-ending sand production from their hands. Brilliant teamwork. 24: MAGIC P - Swizerland - MAN. Some standard manipulation, presented with style, but the highlight was a chair which walked around on stage! It was brilliant! But did it belong in that act? Who cares, it stole the show! One or two other surprises as he manipulated with cards, silks and light globes. Not wonderful stage clothing. 25: JAN DITGEN - Germany - MM. A very novel, unusual and entertaining act. The alien mind reader was a little hard to understand, probably due to the mask and the voice distortion used to make the magician sound alien. He presented a very large and very effective mental epic type board, followed by a card trick using a randomly chosen card from over 14,000 cards poured into a shopping trolley! The trick was so good everyone swore it had to be a stooge. 26: JEAN-MARIE LE ROYER - France - SI. Another black light act. Colourful with some novel touches (like riding a broom) but no magic. Movement was not well choreographed. 27: KRISTINE HJULSTAD - Norway - GM. An act themed around "The Legend of Zorro". It featured the production of roses, rings, a card sword. Story, magic and movement were not very strong. Kristine's voice was very stilted and the magic was too standard, but it was a nice attempt at theming. 28: EBERHARD BAUR - Germany - MAN. Eberhard began by producing a pot of smoke… that's different. He did billiard ball manipulation, poorly executed, but what saved his act was a nice floating ball where the string was hidden behind a stream of glitter pouring down from above (like the floating glass effect). He spent too much time fiddling under his coat during the act, but the audience liked his big balls. Poor magic act with no theme and no stage presence. 29: SERGI BUKA - Spain - GM. Interesting act with use of video screen that played big as he took things off and put things into the screen. His timing wasn't perfect as, often, he waited before sliding his hand "into" the screen. The animation on the screen was very well done, including a funny moment where a giant dove was thinking, though most of the "magic" occurred on the screen. Sergi was a little rough with his doves. 30: AARON - Belgium - MM. Now this was one crazy act. The magician, dressed in a vibrant blue velvet jacket, used three volunteers to hold various objects, a bag of sand, plank of wood and a watermelon. He proceeded to blind himself by pouring molten wax from a candle onto his eyes, wrapping tape over the wax, and aluminum foil over his whole head. Then, blindfolded, he stabbed the bag of sand with a dagger, bashed the wood in half with nunchuks and split the watermelon in two with a samurai sword. Not a bad act, actually. Genuinely terrifying. 31: JORG ALEXANDER - Germany - PAR. A beautifully presented act about time. Jorg was impeccably attired. The story was clear and the magic well presented using a time piece and cards. He began by using matches, a candle and a watch to travel back in time, then concluded with his amazing ten card trick. 32: TORA - Turkey - MM. A complete shocker of an act. Embarrassing use of an audience member. When he got her up on stage his mind must have wandered as he said "In the mean time, I will touch you. err. tell you. what we are doing." Nothing more to be said. He was the first act to be disqualified by more than 70% of the judges pressing their buttons and causing the red light on stage to light up and signal the end of the act. 33: NORBERT FERRE - France - MAN. A truly brilliant piece of magic using very clear fluorescent yellow and pink balls and cards. The magician changes from a funny, cute character to the incredibly talented magician with sharp, confident and choreographed moves. There is a surprise in the box that is first introduced at the beginning of his act. The magician tap dances at one stage in the act, performs the magic, then reveals that the surprise in the box is his shoes that he doesn't have on anymore. Very clever using the tap dancing to remind us that he had shoes on in the first place. A well deserved standing ovation from the audience. LUNCH BREAK After lunch some people attended lectures including: Jon Allen on close up and stand up, Jay Sankey on comedy, Michel on 'The Invisible Hand', and The Fred Kaps Lecture which was a biographical presentation on this great Dutch magician. 34: WINIFRED & ANGELIQUE - The Netherlands - SI. An energetic show with lots of dancing and few illusions. The first two minutes were wasted as we watched their dancers then, after a fire cage appearance, a clear assistant's revenge, and a geometric/sword basket combo with big flags and a flash paper front which burned away, we had another two minutes of dancing at the end of the act. 35: MIRKO CALLACI - Argentina - GM. A beautiful magical bubble act that ends in a costume change into a clown. The bubbles blown would bounce on the magician's hands, and burst into silks and doves. Some bubbles were even filled with smoke and changed into all manner of things when they burst. The costumes would magically appear on the magician piece by piece. The act concluded with a bunch of balloons from side stage floating toward Mirko the clown. Once Mirko took the balloons he was lifted off the ground and received a half standing ovation. 36: JOEL BROOCK - USA - GM. In a fluoro yellow trimmed leather outit, Joel smashed a mirror and did razorblade eating with the broken pieces. He then used the mirror frame for a series of silk through ring moves and did ball manipulation with fairly obvious sleeving. A very average act that involved a juggling finale. 37: EL MAGA JULIO - Chile - GM. A big guy came out, walked about, made glasses appear (I guess he needed them), then he went behind a screen and got changed and came out much smaller. He couldn't get his multiplying candles to light, no matter how hard he tried… and he kept trying! And I was worried that he might trip over the thread that was suspended across the full length of the stage. Unrehearsed. Fumbly. No magic. Disqualified. 38: LEE JEI-MEN - Korea Republic - SI. You know the start of Star Wars, where the words float through space and the narrator reads them? This act did the same, but with ten times the amount of words in less than a quarter of the time as the narrator read out something completely different. It got a lot of unintentional laughs. It was a story of love, jealousy and anger. However the illusions were hard to see due to the choreography, staging and technique involved. They did a mirror production box, slow costume changes, a blade box, and a vanish in almost total darkness. 39: HIKARI - Japan - GM. Beautiful movements and delightful to watch. Use of rings and ribbon. Perhaps too much time spent on the rings, but this was followed by a silk production sequence done to 'Riverdance' music that the audience really got into. 40: DIE ZAUDERER - Germany - COM. Another epic tale as three knights are chosen to guard 'The Silk of Power'… which is subsequently snatched by a snake in a basket which turns out to be an evil vacuum cleaner. The first half of the act was filled with extremely funny sight gags, some actually quite magical too, but the energy and creativity seemed to peter out in the last few minutes. 41: LEE EUN-GYEOL - Korea Republic - GM. Extremely sharp magic act using cards, candles, doves, silks, fire and smoke. His act is very well rehearsed and timed impeccably to his music. Objects dissolve into smoke, each production and vanish leads smoothly into the next. A great talent and the audience rewarded him with another half standing ovation. 42: JORGOS KATSAROS - Germany - GM. Another act from the last FISM. An original and extremely creative act. Jorgos enters the stage as a midget, then he grows. He uses a text book to theme his act which is based entirely on the scales of size and weight. The finale sees him growing almost ten feet tall. 43: D RETES - Spain - SI. D opened with a very long mirror/shadowbox routine. He did a girl through mirror and his uncovered Interlude illusion was deceptive and well received. Good use of white costuming and props on black background. Very clear. The act concluded with a surprise production of a large white dog. 44: MARTIN MATTHIAS - Germany - GM. A magical Harry Potter style piece which included a wizard, a witch and a young apprentice boy. Funny and delightful with some nice surprises. The production of the boy was very strong! The young apprentice then learned to vanish silks and perform the cups and balls with fruit as final loads. Some tricks were obvious, while others very baffling. The flying broomstick was obvious at first, then it looked great as the kid flew above the castle… until it appeared to crash dive with the boy still on it. 45: ILKAY- Turkey - MAN. Ilkay was dressed in leather and began by producing a lot of Jay Scott Berry's laser lites. He also did card manipulation with a card flying at conclusion. However, he had a self confidence and way of posing that the audience did not warm to. 46: NA NA - Japan - GM. A lady magician, who began as a witch then changed into top hat, tails and no pants. Average magic including canes, glasses of wine, billiard balls, streamers and silks performed with clear, crisp movements and just a few mistakes. 47: (F)LINKE FINGER - Germany - GM. Pirate themed act with some good moments. Nice scenery and props. Torn and restored map, vanishing treasure, appearing skeleton, costume changes, lots of fight sequences and running about. Some effects didn't work as well as they could have, but there were a lot of ideas. They did a sub trunk with a very fast change covered just by a pirate flag, but as they didn't show the trunk it might as well just have had a big hole in the back of it. The act concluded with the pirates running off stage and into audience. 48: REN WEIDONG - China - GM. Ren did an interesting "classic" act with watches and clocks, some steals obvious, others clean. A great finish where his table became a grandfather clock and a girl. 49: KENJI MINEMURA - Japan - MAN. Very clever, creative and interesting act. Themed around an artist using an art book. He drew and then produced the objects: glasses, rose, paints, brushes and vase. These objects were arranged into a still life that vanished and appeared on the art paper as the magician's still life painting. Very original ideas, some tricks were WOW! but others a little too obvious. 50: STONKEL - Germany - GM. Unusual act. Funny. Interesting with just a touch of magic. Magician stands at one end of his backdrop and reaches through it to the other side as his arm appears to stretch. His backdrop curtain opens and closes with him stepping behind and in front of the curtain, impossibly changing costumes and appearing simultaneously at either end of backdrop. One great gag involved a pom-pom pole that became ten feet long. At one point he even lifted the entire theatre up to disprove any hidden assistants. Stonkel proceeded to get more and more stoned, and things got weirder and weirder. After a quick dinner break we headed back into the Rembrandt Hall to present another night of MagicSports, while the Close Up Gala was again performed in the Van Gogh Hall. From 10.00 pm Bar Magic took place downstairs and, in addition, the Dutch magicians presented a stage show. Article © Magic Unlimited 2003 A look back at FISM 2003 - Part 2 Day 3 next week --------------------------------- 9. For Fetter Or Worse - Peter Marucci ---------------------------------- Message from Peter Marucci (Canada) The Pop-Up Tie has been a standby of children's performers, clowns, emcees, and the like for years. Not too long ago, another tie gag appeared on the scene -- one where the performer's tie rolls up, like a window blind. This is a dealer item but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the working -- after all, there's very little magic involved. It's simply a piece of metal, like a wide strip of tape measure about six or eight inches long. The thing, whatever it's called, was popular among pre-teens a few years back. They used it as a bracelet: You hold the straightened strip over your wrist, slap it down, and it curls around the wrist like a bracelet. For magicians, insert the straightened strip in the lining of a tie, press the end of the tie (and the metal strip) and it curls up like a window blind. As I said, there's no great magic here but kids think it's hilarious when the magi's tie rolls up and he struggles to straighten it out, only to have it roll up again -- and again -- and again. For kids, this gets funnier each time. But I was looking for some way to work this into an adult act -- and came up with the following string of bad gags and worse puns, all to do with a tie: FOR FETTER OR WORSE By Peter Marucci Effect: The magician talks about the tie he is wearing, when suddenly the tie rolls up like a window blind. This is repeated several times to gags that are real groaners: "Do you like my tie? I got it when I worked for Amtrak (VIA Rail in Canada). I guess you could call it a railroad tie." First groan! "It was made in the Far East, where the workers earn a few pennies for each one of these that they make. And, at the end of the week, they get their Taipei (tie pay)." Second groan! "Trouble is, there seems to be a spot on this tie. Here, Spot! Here, Spot! Roll over, Spot!" Magi touches the tie and it rolls up. "This is a well trained tie -- after all, I said I got it when I worked for Amtrak." Third (and maybe fourth) groan! "I don't always wear this tie, though. I've got another at home that I bought when I was in Bangkok. I call it my Thai tie." (Tie rolls up again.) Another groan! "And then there's the one I got in Rome. I call it my Eyetie." (Tie rolls up again.) Another groan! "And I got one in Honolulu, too. It was a Mai Tai -- but it drank that one." (Tie rolls up again.) Yet another groan! "When it keeps doing that (rolling up), it's a little hard to tie. But I think this is close to a Windsor knot. I call it a Detroit knot. Well, Detroit is close to Windsor." (Tie rolls up again.) Final groan -- because you've already tormented the audience long enough. Second Thoughts: This routine, of course, could work equally well with the Pop-Up Tie or even just a regular tie, if you wanted to forego the pop-up/roll-up feature. It also makes a good tie-in (you should excuse the expression) with an article of mine here not so long ago, using the Gag Bag and the late Sid Lorraine's joke: "For our anniversary this year, my wife didn't know whether to get me a new TV set or a new VCR, so it ended in a tie -- this one!" There are probably about a million more awful gags that would fit this routine. Dig them up, create them, play with them, use them, have fun with them -- but most of all, entertain with them! Peter Marucci 270 St. Andrew St. East Fergus, Ontario Canada N1M 1R1 Fax (519) 787-2373 e-mail: showtimecol@aol.com --------------------------------- 10. The Amazing ‘Orchante’ Saga - Page 131 ---------------------------------- Message from Tommy Orchard (The Amazing Orchante)(UK ex-pat Kiwi) Page - 13 Parrots and Cockatoos Via a detour back to New Zealand I’ve always had a strong empathy with birds. Yeah okay, go on, have a good laugh; I’m talking about the feathered kind, with wings. We have always wanted a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo but could never afford one in New Zealand - they cost a bloody fortune. So a few months after we had arrived in Australia, we bought one, they are quite cheap there - but let me start from the beginning, a very good place to kick off; the middle is too muddling and the end is going backwards (Dementia)? Back in New Zealand, my first pet bird was a magpie that I named ‘Jacky’. It must have been in 1964 because I do recall that he was with me in the upstairs flat of a large house in Auckland that I was sharing with my old mate Murray Hobson, and a bunch of other guys, also with rooms in the house. For the life of me I can’t remember how I acquired Jacky, but he sure was a character. He had a thing about shoelaces - woe-betide all those who came to visit wearing shoes with laces. Jacky would sneak around and very carefully peck and pull the laces undone - take them right off your shoes and, you wouldn’t feel a thing! He would have made one hell of a pickpocket. It wasn’t that he was small or insignificant - he was a full size, ‘In Your Face’ bird! Nothing stopped him, not even if there was a party happening with several people present - he was a right bugger! His wings weren’t clipped so he had full flying capabilities. Every morning I would open the large window that faced out from the back of the house; he would take-off whenever he felt like it, usually heading for a large tree way off in the distance. He had total freedom and would come and go as he wished. Then came the day when he just didn’t return. I guess he found himself another mate, one with feathers - of the female variety, who was far more attractive to him than I was. Can’t blame him really. The next bird (feathered) that entered my life was sometime after I had met Veronica (un-feathered), a female cockatiel that we named ‘Brigitte’. Birds, like most family pets, seem to pick a ‘favourite’ from the family, even if that family is comprised of two only and, as far as Brigitte was concerned, I was IT! Veronica summed it up thus; “That bird thinks the sun shines out of your fundamental orifice, even on a filthy day”! She was right. I couldn’t move without Brigitte flying over and perching herself on my shoulder or on top of my head. We used to take her with us when going to gigs - she just loved going out in the car and she certainly knew the sound of the car and, she could recognize it. Veronica was amazed when late one afternoon, Brigitte started making a hell of a racket. We were living in Wanganui at the time, and had a flat upstairs on the main road, right in the centre of town, opposite the radio station. At that time in the afternoon the traffic was very busy and noisy, horns tooting etc. and I was way down the road heading home, yet somehow Brigitte heard the car above all the clamour and, according to Veronica, as my car hove into sight, Brigitte, who by now was sitting on the windowsill, went totally mental as she recognized the car among all the traffic. She spotted me before Veronica did. Amazing! There are two other incidents that I will always remember her by. September 9th, we are on our way from Rotorua, where we had done a show the night before (and had attended a party that hadn’t finished until the wee small hours) for Napier where I was to attempt to break the world record for the amount of weight you could hold whilst lying on a bed of nails. Not surprisingly, I was feeling a little shattered. Brigitte is sitting on the steering wheel, her favourite position - as I’m driving along, fluttering her wings to stay right on top as I turn the wheel. Then she decides to get affectionate and leaps onto my shirtfront, which was half unbuttoned, to snuggle up inside. DEAR GOD! I’m yelling my head off in agony as her sharp little claws dig into my skin. Veronica thought it was a hell of a joke - there I was screaming over Brigitte’s little needle-like claws, and I’m on my way to break a world record on a bed of very sharp nails that afternoon. It was a little incongruous I guess. Then there was the episode when Brigitte threw a wobbly in Queenstown. By the way, I BROKE THE RECORD! -Continues - ------------------------------------- 11. Magic New Zealand e-zine archives ------------------------------------- Back issues of the Magic New Zealand e-zine go to: www.watson.co.nz/ezine.html Both the User Name and Password MUST be entered in lower case to gain access. User Name: magic Password: kiwi When you enter the archive the e-zines are in issue order and are coded. Eg 001 Nov06 1999.txt first three numbers (001) denote issue number, then the date (Nov06) and the last figures the year (1999) ------------------------------------- 12. Subscription Management ------------------------------------- Our subscriber list is NOT made available to other companies or individuals. We value every subscriber and respect your privacy. To subscribe or unsubscribe from the Magic New Zealand e-zine: www.watson.co.nz/ezine.html Magic New Zealand e-zine is published weekly, on Sunday. The opinions expressed in this e-zine are those of the individual contributors and not those of Magic New Zealand. Neither Magic New Zealand or Alan Watson can vouch for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, message, statement, or other information reported via Magic New Zealand e-zine. 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