* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Magic New Zealand * www.watson.co.nz/ezine.html * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Issue Number: #340 Date: Sunday 21st August 2005 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. International Brotherhood Of Magicians Convention Contest Winners, 2005 3. Jerry Lewis Telethon Magic 4. Lee Asher's Lecture Tour of New Zealand & Australia 5. Attention: iPoders And iTuners! 6. Stars Of Tomorrow - Hope Anderson On iPod/iTunes Interview 7. Appearing Ladder Rip-off 8. The Magic Circle Centenary Week At The Magic Castle 9. New Magic Café Opens In Melbourne 10. Magic In Ashburton New Zealand 11. A Dice Stacking Retrospective, Part 3 12. Dates For New Zealand Magicians To Remember 13. The Amazing Orchante Saga 14. e-zine Archives 15. Privacy Policy And Copyright Notice ------------------ 1. Editors Message ------------------- Message from Alan Watson - The Magic One I will be giving Jim King of Mak Magic the right of reply to Wayne Rogers' message about Mak Magic ripping off his Appearing Ladder. We will be publishing Jim's reply (if he replies) in next weeks e-zine, then the magic fraternity can make up their own minds. Refer item: 7 ----------------- Remember if you have any magic news drop me a line: AW@Alan-Watson.com ----------------- 2. International Brotherhood Of Magicians Convention Contest Winners, 2005 ----------------- Message from Jerry Schnepp (USA) Close-Up Contest - Youth Category First Place Trophy - Aaron Rabkin, Valencia, CA 2nd Place Award Of Merit Plaque - J.P. Wilson, Norman, OK Close-Up Contest - Adult Category First Place Trophy - Ivan Amodei, Somis, CA 2nd Place Award Of Merit Plaque - Jason Michaels, Gallatin, TN Finalists Awards 1) Rod Chow, Vancouver, B.C. Canada 2) Lou Abbatiello, Lancaster, PA 3) Michael Bairefoot, Myrtle Beach, SC 4) Chow Man Chung, Hong Kong 5) Ivan Amodei, Somis, CA 6) Jason Michaels, Gallatin, TN FFFF "Peoples Choice" Award - Chow Man Chung, Hong Kong Gold Cups International Award Of Excellence In Close-Up Performance - No Award Stage Contest - Youth Category First Place Trophy - Farrah Siegel, Sherman Oaks, CA 2nd Place Award Of Merit Plaque - Michael Platt, Dayton, OH Stage Contest - Adult Category First Place Trophy - Arthur Trace, Streamwood, IL 2nd Place Award Of Merit Plaque - Dan Sperry, Schaumburg, IL Finalists Awards 1) Farrah Siegel, Sherman Oaks, CA 2) Kelvin Chun, Honolulu, HA 3) John Pyka, Goodlettsville, TN 4) Pei Jan Wan, Taipei, Taiwan 5) Arthur Trace, Streamwood, IL 6) Dan Sperry, Schaumburg, IL People's Choice Award - Arthur Trace, Streamwood, IL Gold Medal International Award Of Excellence In Stage Performance - Arthur Trace, Streamwood, IL Karrell Fox Comedy AWARD - No Award ----------------- 3. Jerry Lewis Telethon Magic ----------------- Message from Steve Dacri (USA) Mind-Blowing, in your face, close-up magic. Comedy legend Jerry Lewis, National Chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association and star of its world-renowned Labor Day Telethon, announced that his 21-hour television special will move this year from CBS Television City in Los Angeles to the International Ballroom of The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jerry Lewis has invited Steve Dacri, "the fastest hands in the world" to join the parade of celebrity guests on the Muscular Dystrophy Telethon, broadcast worldwide on Labor Day weekend, live from Beverly Hills. (Sept. 4 & 5) Catch Steve, as he attempts to fool Jerry and the home audience via several cameras, including an over-the-head camera, with his amazing sleight of hand on the live broadcast. The show schedule is not yet set, but Steve will be performing sometime on the evening of Sept. 4. We will send out further details when the line-up is finalized. Steve urges all fans of magic and entertainment to watch, and to call in a pledge to help "Jerry's kids". See you on Labor Day weekend! For further information, Contact Steve's manager: Arnold Soloway, International Entertainment and Marketing Corp. 760-272-6694 ----------------- 4. Lee Asher's Lecture Tour of New Zealand & Australia ----------------- Message from Lee Asher (USA) How would you like to eliminate all uncertainty from your sleight of hand forever? My name is Lee Asher, and I'll be coming to lecture in your area in September. If you have any interest in magic, this lecture has a great deal to offer. I will reveal several sleight of hand techniques - I've tested these secrets in the real world hundreds of times in front of real audiences. I know they work. This magic will leave your audiences wanting more. But that's not all. After the lecture you'll be energized, ready to unleash your new magic on an unsuspecting and grateful public. When was the last time you felt this way about your magic? You probably have seen many lectures, own shelves full of books and DVD's. Sure, you've heard it all before. I've been doing magic for over twenty years, so I too have a passion for new ideas and information. But this lecture offers more. Together, we will bridge the gap between new ideas and real application. You'll be able to use these ideas. They'll transform your magic. To see these results, you only have to attend one lecture. You only need to give two hours of your hard earned time. You have my word that the evening will be well worth the effort. You have never seen material this powerful or techniques this practical. I believe in my material and I'm excited to share my magic with you. I know you're probably sceptical. That's normal and healthy. But don't take my word for it, show up and find out for yourself. See you there. www.leeasher.com/tour.htm Lee Asher Ps. Please click the link to see the list of the venues I will be speaking at. Please bring a deck of cards and some coins. Be ready to learn. ----------------- 5. Attention: iPoders And iTuners! ----------------- Message from Maria Ibanez First Vice President the Society of American Magicians Dateline: Four Points of the Globe... The S.A.M. Convention Update, a dynamic new way to hear about new developments for the upcoming S.A.M. Convention is on the air! (Well, the web, anyway!) Attention: iPoders and iTuners! Paste this RSS link into your subscription window, and you'll get every update as it comes out! http://samconvention.audioblog.com/rss/new.xml To Listen Via Your Internet Browser: Simply click on (or paste) this link: http://www.samconvention.blogspot.com (The most recent S.A.M. Convention Updates will be just a click away). This first broadcast features Maria Ibanez, First Vice President, and Coordinator for the S.A.M. Sessions. We review the successes in Boston, and talk about great new ideas for Louisville in 2006! Up Next: Our interview with "Stars of Tomorrow" Producer and new Southwest Regional Vice President Hope Anderson! We'll take a behind-the-scenes look at how Stars of Tomorrow comes together, the acts, and the plans for 2006! ----------------- 6. Stars Of Tomorrow - Hope Anderson On iPod/iTunes Interview ----------------- Message from Michael Douglas (USA) Executive Director, S.A.M. Conventions Today's new S.A.M. Convention Update broadcast features Hope Anderson, Producer of the Stars of Tomorrow Show! Attention: iPoders and iTuners! Paste this RSS link into your subscription window, and you'll get every update as it comes out! http://samconvention.audioblog.com/rss/new.xml To Listen Via Your Internet Browser: Simply click on (or paste) this link: http://www.samconvention.blogspot.com ----------------- 7. Appearing Ladder Rip-off ----------------- Message from Wayne Rogers (NZ) Following my posting last week regarding my Appearing Ladder being ripped off by Mak Magic, I received a phone call from Jim King of Mak Magic. He explained his reasoning for making their version of the Ladder. I found his excuse to be completely unreasonable and did not alter the fact, that Mak Magic had copied the Ladder concept. After the phone conversation I emailed Jim the following letter: Jim, Thank you for phoning me this morning regarding what I consider to be a rip-off of my Appearing Ladder product. The basis of your argument for distributing the Appearing Ladder in Toolbox seems to be that because your ladder is produced from a tool box and not a briefcase, as in my original, then yours is a different trick. I maintain that the main prop, the Appearing Ladder, has been copied. Pulling it out of a different container does not change the basic trick. I believe that you should respond to my email that appeared in Alan Watson's E-zine, and explain your side of the story to everyone who read my letter, as to why Mak Magic believe they have the right to copy an existing prop. Then the magic fraternity can make up their own minds. I hope you will seriously consider doing this. At the moment, magicians have only heard one side of the story. You can write to Alan Watson at: alan@watson.co.nz sincerely, Wayne Rogers. Jim King did not reply. During the phone call, I pointed out all the similarities in my original Ladder and the rip-off version. Jim stated that he had not seen my Appearing Ladder. I find that hard to believe. At the SAM convention in 2000, I attended a reception hosted by Chuck Kirchner of Magic City. A "Jim" from Mak Magic was at that reception and he expressed an interest in manufacturing my Hot Video in the US to reduce the retail price. Representatives from Magic City and Mak magic visited my dealers stand at the convention and saw all my props. Chuck bought several sample items from me including an Appearing Ladder. 5 years may have blurred Jim's memory. It hasn't blurred mine. Tim Ellis hosts a website called Magic Fakers and it now includes the Appearing Ladder rip-off. http://www.magicunlimited.com/magic_fakers.htm ) When Magic Makers brought out The Joker Tube and blatantly ripped off Mak Magic's Stratosphere effect, the magic fraternity rallied against the copy cat. Please, Mr Mak . . . how about giving me the same consideration with my Ladder. Wayne Rogers http://www.nzmagic.com/productpg.html ----------------- 8. The Magic Circle Centenary Week At The Magic Castle ----------------- Message from Terry Seabrooke All is completed for the terrific Magic Circle Centenary week at the Magic Castle. All performers are members of The Magic Circle. Performers as follow: Close-Up Early spot is Marc Oberon Late spot is Michael Vincent Parlour Early spot Terry Seabrooke Late spot Tim Shoesmith Palace of Mystery Alan Shaxon Romany Peter Wardell Fields Bar John Star Sunday Lecture Alan Shaxon Special host for the week - Billy McComb ----------------- 9. New Magic Café Opens In Melbourne ----------------- Message from Tim Ellis (Aust) Tammii Twister & Tim you have just opened what appears to be the world's first combined Magic Shop and Gourmet Café. 'Trick or Treat' is a new venture created with Tim's brother Brad (a gourmet chef) and his wife Erin. The venue includes an incredible magic shop, rehearsal room with mirrors, party room for kids birthdays or adult functions, gourmet café and catering service. The location is 239 Waterdale Rd, Ivanhoe, Victoria, Australia. Phone: (03) 9499 4706 You can read about the opening and see some shots of the hundreds of families who visited on opening day here http://magicunlimited.typepad.com/magic_unlimited_with_elli/2005/08/trick_or _treat_.html ----------------- 10. Magic In Ashburton New Zealand ----------------- Message from Russell Hendry (NZ) The Canterbury Society of Magicians and the South Canterbury Magicians Society are holding a get-together on Saturday the 3rd September 2005 in Ashburton. This informal and friendly event is open to other magicians and supporters who may be in the area at the time. Cost is $20 which includes refreshments and lunch. We will have presentations from members who have attended the Reno convention and the Magic Circle Centenary in London. There will be a sales table and a number of magic activities, concluding with an optional dinner in the evening. Anyone who would like to attend should contact the Secretary, Russell Hendry on r.hendry@xtra.co.nz, as soon as possible. ----------------- 11. A Dice Stacking Retrospective, Part 3 ----------------- Message from Tony L. Lewis (US) Hi fellow magic enthusiasts, At the end of my prior article in this series I said that I would justify my call that the inimitable Todd Strong is the world¹s best dice stacker. You are now about to become acquainted with one of the most impressive individuals I have encountered in my over fifty years of involvement with the art of magic. Although Todd classifies himself as a juggler, he is highly in tune with the art of magic as evidenced by a magic performance contained in his VHS/DVD entitled "The Dice stacking Video." In the early part of the year 2000 I was searching the WWW for the purpose of finding a leather dice stacking cup to replace the one that had faithfully served me since 1958. My search brought me to the web site of Todd Strong, Toddstrong.com. There, amidst a wealth of juggling info I found a link to the dice stacking section. I was amazed to find out that dice stacking was considered to be part of the world of juggling as well as that of magic. For 42 years I had been under the impression that dice stacking was a magic effect, period. I was so impressed with the purported contents of Todd¹s book and video on dice stacking that I decided to order the book. This was the first set of dice stacking instructions that I would read since I purchased Senator Crandall¹s renowned manuscript entitled "How to Stack Dice for Fun and No Profit" in 1958. I was not disappointed when I received the book. It was clearly the best one I had ever seen on the subject of dice stacking, and I had thumbed through several others in my various visits to magic stores, conventions, etc. Since Todd Strong¹s phone number was contained in the book, I called him forthwith to compliment him on his excellent piece of work. This was the beginning of a long series of phone calls and emails that have been continued until now. As a matter of fact we have exchanged several phone calls and emails in my preparation for this series of articles on dice stacking. At first I felt that I was talking to a professor, rather than a member of the world of entertainment. I was highly impressed by Todd¹s command of the English language and that is something that occurs rarely. I was equally fascinated by Todd¹s incredible career as a juggling guru. He has traveled all around the world lecturing and holding workshops on various applications of the art of juggling. He rarely performs in front of an audience, but when he does his skill is most impressive. (I would witness that personally as you will see.) Since I was booked for a dice stacking lecture of my own for A local IBM ring, I convinced Todd to let me have some of his videos, books, and basic cup and dice sets on consignment for me to sell following the lecture. This was the first time I had ever indulged in such an activity. It turned out that the income I received from the sales of Todd¹s products far exceeded my modest lecture fee. Eureka! It would appear that I have consumed my quota of space for this article. In the next one I will tell you about the only time that Todd and I have ever met in person. It is a very memorable event in my life. Regards, Tony L. Lewis ---------------- 12. Dates For New Zealand Magicians To Remember ------------------ Friday 2nd September 2005 Chuck Hickok's Lecture - Auckland Time: 7.30pm Thursday 22nd September Lee Asher Lecture - Auckland Time: 7.30pm Friday 23rd September Lee Asher Lecture - Palmerston North Sunday 23 October 2005 Kiwi Magic Day Venue: Dolphin Theatre, Onehunga Auckland Registration form - go to: www.watson.co.nz/magic.html 20-23 October 2006 28th International New Zealand Convention of Magicians Palmerston North Convention website - go to: www.joel.co.nz/convention.htm ----------------- 13. The Amazing Orchante Saga ----------------- Message from Tommy Orchard (The Amazing Orchante)(UK ex-pat Kiwi) Page 62 Noumea - The 'Royal Touch' - Champagne above the clouds Following 'The Perfect Storm' calamity in Tahiti, my contract with Hubert Wayliff should have finished on December 22nd - leaving Tahiti on the 23rd and returning via a U.T.A. direct flight (French airlines) back home to New Zealand. According to the stamps in my passport, which doesn't lie, I actually left on Friday the 26th of December and landed at Nadi international airport, Fiji, on Saturday the 27th at 12:40pm, then transferred to a Flight that took me to New Caledonia, arriving there at 2:15pm - staying for four days before leaving on January 1st for home - New Zealand. I had forgotten that Hubert had slotted in three shows at the last minute to make up for the three that he had cancelled after 'The Perfect Storm' nightmare. He had also arranged, with GILBERT THONG, famous local entrepreneur in New Caledonia, for me to work two or three nights at Gilbert's nightclub, the 'Tahiti Cabaret' in Noumea, and one performance on New Year's Eve at the Chateau Royal, the finest hotel in New Caledonia. This came about partly because the story of the near-disastrous fishing fiasco in Tahiti had also hit the newspapers in New Caledonia because 'The Amazing Orchanté' was a well-known, regular visitor to New Caledonia during those years, working various club and theatre engagements etc for Gilbert (see pages 24/25). Previous arrangements had been made for me to stay at the Chateau Royal Hotel for the night of the 31st December/1st January, but someone had made a monumental cock-up. The entire hotel was completely booked out for that night's festivities. For the rich and famous of New Caledonia, 'The Chateau' was most definitely the place to be, and be seen in all your finery, on New Year's Eve! The management was highly embarrassed - their International 'Star' Entertainer was without a room and bed. The 'powers that be' huddled together in a corner and after much loud whispering in French, and a fair amount of arm and hand waving, the manager came up to me and said "we have a rather special room for you, please follow me". We walked out of the hotel foyer, along a path, until we came to another building a short distance from the hotel proper. The first thing that struck me was the front door - it was magnificent - must have cost a fortune - but it was nothing compared to what met my eyes when we got inside. The manager said, "This, Mr Orchard, is the Royal Suite, it is reserved for Royal Personages and visiting dignitaries such as the President of France - it is the only accommodation we have available to offer you, please enjoy the facilities, and please except my apologies". Enjoy he had said! WOW! Everything that was metallic was - Gold! The doorknobs, cupboard handles, anything that had a handle, were Gold. In the bathroom the taps on the washbasins (there were two), and bath were gold, as were all the fittings in the shower. The toilet roll holder, even the handle of the toilet brush, was gold. The toilet/lavatory was also gold! You have absolutely no idea how difficult it was to do 'The Necessary', into such opulence! The luxurious furnishings were richly comfortable, armchairs sumptuous beyond belief, as was the enormous four-poster bed. (The Chateau Royal was bought-out some years later by the 'Club Med' group, which, in my opinion, greatly lowered the tone of this once beautiful, elegant hotel of supreme excellence.). Later that evening, after my show had the finished, I headed for the bar and as usual, started my Close-Up Magic - the 'Show after the Show'. I wound-up with the U.T.A. flight crew, including the pilot and co-pilot (all French) of the aircraft that was flying out to New Zealand the following day; they had come down to see the New Year in. It wasn't long before someone asked me if I was staying in the hotel and when I said "well actually, I'm in the Royal Suite", it kind of stopped the conversation - there was stunned silence until somebody said, "BULLSHIT, let's take a look at it then"! Now, I'm well aware of the rules and regulations in regards to alcohol and flight crews, particularly pilots, but this was 1969/1st January 1970 - 31 years ago. Perhaps things were a bit more relaxed then, I wouldn't know, but the full complement of that U.T.A. flight finished up in my suite that night, along with God knows whom else. The party finished sometime after five in the morning! I was at the airport at 10 o'clock in the morning, checking in for my flight back home, take-off 11 am. When I got on board you wouldn't think that six hours earlier those air hostesses had been whooping it up, big-time, in my suite. They were all smiles, charm and grace with "hi Tommy, How's Tricks", in their delightful French accents; they sure looked a helluva lot better than I did, or felt. Page 63 About 30 minutes into the flight, one of the flight hostesses came up to me and said that the pilots wanted to know if I would like to join them on the flight deck - "yes please!" When I got up there, it was handshakes all round with a "loved 'your' room, great party - what are you drinking - does Champagne sound OK to you?" I've performed magic in some strange places, but spending the entire flight in the cockpit of a French Caravelle Airliner, the whole way from New Caledonia to New Zealand, sipping champagne and entertaining the pilots with close-up magic, and the flight crew who took turns to 'pop in' onto the Flight Deck, takes some beating. One of the most beautiful sights that I have seen in my lifetime was from the cockpit of that French airliner - as we approached the North Cape, top end of the north island of New Zealand. It was the most incredibly beautiful, intense velvety green, as far as you could see. That view, as seen from the cockpit of an aeroplane at 20,000 ft up, really is something: - Quite Magical! -Postscript - After coming perilously close to drowning at sea only two weeks previously, from which I was still recovering, the 'Royal Touch' and 'Mile High' Champagne (unfortunately, I didn't get to join 'The Club'), was just what a suffering soul needed - perhaps there really is an Omnipotent Being, after all! ---------------- 14. Magic New Zealand e-zine Archives ------------------ Back issues of the Magic New Zealand e-zine go to: www.watson.co.nz/fezine.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) ------------------- 15. Privacy Policy And Copyright Notice ------------------- Our subscriber list is NOT made available to any other companies or individuals. We value every subscriber and respect your privacy. You can subscribe to or unsubscribe from the Magic New Zealand® E-zine at www.watson.co.nz/ezine.html. Magic New Zealand® E-zine is published each Sunday. The opinions expressed therein are those of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of Magic New Zealand®. Neither Magic New Zealand® nor Alan Watson vouch for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, message, statement, or other information reported via Magic New Zealand® E-zine. Subscribers to this publication and authors who contribute to it by doing so agree they will not hold Magic New Zealand® or Alan Watson, jointly or individually liable or responsible in any way for the opinions expressed therein. Magic New Zealand® reserves the right to alter, correct or disregard any articles submitted. Readers are encouraged to submit timely articles or news items which may be of interest to subscribers. By submitting articles to this e-zine, the authors grant Magic New Zealand® the right to publish such articles and such authors confirm their copyright of the material submitted. All works published by Magic New Zealand® are protected by international copyright legislation and articles must not be published for profit by anyone other than the individual authors without the written permission of Magic New Zealand®. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this publication may be freely redistributed, but not sold, to other magicians if copied in its entirety, including the copyright notice below and the above disclaimer. © Copyright 2005 Alan Watson