* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Magic New Zealand * www.watson.co.nz/fezine.html * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Issue Number: #575 Date: Sunday 4th May Editor: Alan Watson www.magicianz.com www.Alan-Watson.com e-mail: AW@Alan-Watson.com ================================ Hi [first name] here is the latest news ================================ 1. Editor's Message 2. The World's First, Global Internet Magic Competition! 3. Major News On Cruise Industry For Guest Entertainers 4. A Terrific Letter From Ken Morrison 5. Problems With Costuming Children - Kyle Peron 6. A Tribute To Siegfried & Roy 7. Interviewed By The "My Cool Job" 8. I Have Cancelled The Nottingham Lecture 9. Fly Like A Bumblebee 10. Broken Wand - Marvelli and Michalski 11. Benefit Show - Redlands 12. David Ginn Presents His Kidbiz Live Workshop! 13. Tony Curtis And Janet Leigh 14. 29th New Zealand International Magicians Convention 2008 15. e-zine Archives 15. Privacy Policy And Copyright Notice -------------------------------------------- 1. Editor's Message -------------------------------------------- Magic New Zealand as of tonight has 13,527 subscribers worldwide. Remember [first name] if you have any magic news drop me a line: AW@Alan-Watson.com -------------------------------------------- 2. The World's First, Global Internet Magic Competition! -------------------------------------------- Message from Jeff Hobson (US) We are looking for the next Vegas Magic Star! Beginning May 1st, 2008, video submissions will be accepted on www.vegasmagicstar.com Any type of magic act will be accepted for submission. The chosen one will receive $1000.00 cash, round-trip airfare to Las Vegas, a one-week contract engagement in the World's Greatest Magic Show, a 3-day workshop at McBride's Magic & Mystery School and more from Tony Clark Magic. The Lecture Network, in association with TonyClarkMagic.com will broadcast LIVE from Las Vegas, The World's Greatest Magic Show and announce Vegas' Next Magic Star during the live performance on June 28th, 2008 at 7PM PST. To submit your video and application or to purchase tickets to view the world's first, live internet broadcast of The World's Greatest Magic Show are available at www.vegasmagicstar.com The Lecture Network www.TheLectureNetwork.com -------------------------------------------- 3. Major News On Cruise Industry For Guest Entertainers -------------------------------------------- Message from Paul Romhany Major News On Cruise Industry For Guest Entertainers Hi everybody, Natalie and I have been busy out at sea for the past few weeks and home for 2 weeks before heading out again. I have been speaking to several acts who tell me they just had months of work pulled out from under them. Lines involved are the Carnival line which includes Princess, Carnival, Holland America, Seaborne and Cunard. I know of at least two professional cruise magicians who have been with the company for years and lost all of their work. Apparently they have made MAJOR cut backs with 10% of current staff being reduced in EVERY department. Carnival is the largest cruise company in the business and employs A LOT of magicians. With all these cut backs it will make it harder for magicians to get on ships. Fortunately for us we have not lost any work, actually gained more as we work for other cruise lines. Chaplin Suite My wife and I were walking around Plymouth in the UK last week and were in the well known area called The Barbecon where The Mayflower left for America from England. While we were walking in an antique store I came across the most amazing discovery. In a glass cabinet was the very first Charlie Chaplin costume worn by Chaplin in his first movie as The Tramp character called "Kid Auto Races Venice" made in 1914. The story goes that Chaplin needed a costume for the movie and borrowed one from fellow actor Billie Ritchie. Billie was already doing a tramp like character with bowler hat, cane, large shoes, baggy pants, even a short moustache. Charlie went out, made the film as The Tramp and the rest is history. After the movie Chaplin gave the costume back to Billie. Sadly, Billie died a few years later after having an accident on a film where he was hit by an ostrich. Billie's wife kept his costume and in the 30s Chaplin actually ended up visiting the wife again and signing the cane. The original costume, complete with signed cane by Chaplin, boots, pants, vest, jacket and bowler hat went up for auction in 2005. The costume ended up going to Plymouth where it is currently being displayed. It was such an amazing thrill to actually see the original costume, all I wanted to do was to put it on and walk around like Charlie. Below is a photo of the costume and yours truly. By the way, it is for sale for a mere one hundred and fifty thousand pounds! For photos of the suit and our recent trip visit http://romhanyreport.blogspot.com Paul Romhany paul@chaplinmagic.com www.paulromhany.com www.chaplinmagic.com BLOG - http://romhanyreport.blogspot.com -------------------------------------------- 4. A Terrific Letter From Ken Morrison -------------------------------------------- Message from Gary Michaels What a terrific letter from Ken Morrison to Alessandra Chevchuk, the Executive Director of the Brazilian television show which is exposing magic (Magic New Zealand Issue #574, April 27, 2008). As discussed in your MNZ Issue #565 (March 23, 2008), it appears that Mr. or Ms. Chevchuk's Brazilian venture is based on the FOX television network's appalling series of shows which was called "Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed," and ran occasionally in the United States from 1997-98. I won't mention the masked "star" of that series, except by his birth name -- Leonard Monatono, per the Wikipedia entry about him (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val_Valentino). I only bring that up because, to me, his last name sounded a bit like a Latino version of the English-language word "monotone," which would certainly make sense for a one-trick pony such as he. In fact, I Googled "monatono Latino" and found a pretty funny --  or perhaps just sad -- post at: http://www.unsolvedmysteries.com/usm9160.html -- apparently Mr. Monatono still has one fan, and she's apparently gone WAY beyond the norm in trying to locate him. At any rate, the point of this note is to ask if Ken Morrison would provide the email (or "real" mail) address for Alessandra Chevchuk, so that more of us could share our thoughts on the Brazilian television show. Thanks as always, Alan, for the diligence and fine work that you do putting together your wonderful publication! Sincerely, Gary Michaels -------------------------------------------- 5. Problems With Costuming Children - Kyle Peron -------------------------------------------- Message from Kyle Peron (US) magic4u02@aol.com http://www.kyleandkellymagic.com If you are a children's performer, chances are at some point you have used hats or costuming in some way to dress up your helper. There are many great routines based on this idea used for entertaining children. But what happens if you have a child on stage who just does not want to wear the hat or take part in assisting you by wearing the costume? It is a tough situation to find yourself in but there are some ideas which may be of help. I have had this problem happen in the past and I came up with a great solution that started as just a way of saving the routine but ended up with the audience in hysterics. It saved the routine and then some. The first thing I do for any costumed routine is try and select a person from the audience ahead of time before the show even starts. I may look for an older kid or a child I feel will interact and cooperate well with me. However, if you have a child on stage and find that they do not want to wear the hat or costume and they keep throwing it off etc., then I immediately switch gears into my plan B approach. I do not want to send the child back to their seat as it sends the wrong message to the audience and can hurt the child's feelings. I also do not want to leave the child up there without any interaction with them. So what I do is simply switch it around and poke fun of myself. I will say something like, "Ok Timmy for this next hat I need your help. I have a choice for you to help make the magic happen. Either YOU (said funny voice) can wear the hat ORRRRR (and I start making an embarrassed face look) you can have me wear the hat. But I would look really really silly wearing a hat like this so think carefully." The kid will ALWAYS tell me to wear it. I then continue by saying, " ME!? You want me to wear the hat? Well ok but I better take a vote from the audience. Who wants me to wear this really silly hat? Oh wow a lot of you do. OK no problem I will wear the hat but you have to promise me no laughing or giggling when I put it on no matter what? Promise? (of course the kids are all just going to laugh and giggle their heads off as the hat goes on my own head.)" This just works really great and I get a wonderful reaction from the kids. It saves you from a really awkward situation and you still get to interact with the child on stage. If done well, the audience will not notice any difference and assume that it was all a part of your original idea all along. Try it out and I assure you that you will have fun with it and it may save you from situations like this. It is just one simple way of getting out of a potentially awkward problem. As always, I encourage you the readers to let me know your thoughts. So if you have any thoughts on my articles or suggestions or comments, please feel free to e-mail me directly at magic4u02@aol.com. I would love to hear from you. Kyle Peron Magician and Illusionist www.kyleandkellymagic.com Chair Suspension Ebook Author http://www.magicenhancer.com/ChairSuspension.html -------------------------------------------- 6. A Tribute To Siegfried & Roy -------------------------------------------- Message from Paul Stone Paul Stone emails to confirm that on Sunday 28th September 2008, he will be producing A Tribute To Siegfried & Roy at the London Palladium Theatre. The show will feature International Stars of Magic, Music and the Movies. Already confirmed to appear will be Luis de Matos from Portugal. Full details of this 'once in a lifetime' event and how to book tickets will be published shortly. -------------------------------------------- 7. Interviewed By The "My Cool Job" -------------------------------------------- Message from Wayne N. Kawamoto Editor, Magic.About.com I was recently interviewed by the "My Cool Job" blog to talk about my job as a magician. You can read the story at: http://jimsmuse.wordpress.com/2008/04/25/magician/ -------------------------------------------- 8. I Have Cancelled The Nottingham Lecture -------------------------------------------- Message from John Carney (US) So sorry for this correction, so soon after I sent the first announcement. It was unavoidable. I have cancelled the Nottingham lecture. Please make a note in any future announcements. Very sorry for the inconvenience. The updated schedule is below. Thank you, Carney John Carney Lectures in the UK For updated schedule information and lecture details, visit http://www.carneymagic.com/seminars/index.html Check out Carney on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=carneymagic June 4 Edinburgh 7:30pm Costa Coffee 1 Hanover Street, Edinburgh EH2 2DL Map to Costa Coffee from Waverley Station, walk west along Princes Street, turn right onto Hanover Street, and enter via the Costa entrance £15 at the door - No advance tickets June 6 Glasgow 7:30pm Scottish Mask and Puppet Center 8-10 Balcarres Avenue Kelvindale Glasgow, G12 OQF 01 41 339 6185 Map to Scottish Mask and Puppet Ctr £15 at the door - No advance tickets June 8 Newcastle 7:30pm Ouseburn Farm Ouseburn Road (off Lime Street) Ouseburn Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 2PA By road from New Bridge Street down Crawhall road, then Stepney Bank. From Byker Bank go along Lime Street. From City Road go onto Byker bank then Lime Street. On street parking and car parks available in the surrounding area. £15 at the door - No advance tickets Nottingham (June 10) *********** Cancelled ********* June 11 Watford 7:30pm 18th Bushey and Oxhey Scout Hut Little Bushey Lane Bushey Herts WD23 4JS Map to Little Bushey Lane http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=514885&y=194711&z=0&sv=wd234js&st=2&pc=wd23+4js&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf%20%3Chttp://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=514885&y=194711&z=0&sv=wd234js&a £15 at the door - No advance tickets -------------------------------------------- 9. Fly Like A Bumblebee -------------------------------------------- Message from Bob Klamm New stage play showcases magic! Is there anyone out there who is into Community Theater, and would be interested in doing a quality, full-length play, which has a strong relationship to magic? The play, which I (R W Klamm) have written, is called "Fly Like a Bumblebee," memoirs of a blind Kansas City magician. It has just received a professional reading at a regional theater here to great success. It is powerful enough that during the first rehearsals, this author was rewarded with the performers (several were seasoned Actor's Equity) weeping or laughing, appropriate to the mood of the play at the time. The action of the play utilizes several standard magical effects, and includes some audience participation. The book from which the play was taken was also written by me, and has received two national awards, been recorded by Library of Congress Talking Books, and been made into a Braille book. For further information, and to read the first few scenes of the play and/or book: klammbooks.com. Bob Klamm -------------------------------------------- 10. Broken Wand - Marvelli and Michalski -------------------------------------------- Message from Peter Glass (Germany) I“m sad to inform you, that Marvelli Jun died on 21st of April in Munich/Germany. In the 70s and 80s he was a great performer and did 3 TV-Specials which are the best German magic specials until today. His performing and also his speech was marvellous and always with a twinkle in his eyes. Also a second magician passed away - Martin Michalsky. He also lived in Germany wrote many books for children (magic beginners) and worked out many magic boxes for children in connection with the Ravensburger factory. This is well known for games like Piatnik in Austria. -------------------------------------------- 11. Benefit Show - Redlands -------------------------------------------- Message from Chuck Hey Fellow Magic Lovers, I have included friends of our club as well as the members. We have a benefit show coming up on May 9th in Redlands for the Clement Middle School Music Department. This is a dinner show as they are serving spaghetti. Please let me know if you are interested in attending and I will have tickets waiting at the door. Here are the final details for the show: The first dinner time is at 5:30 p.m. We will have walk around magic leading up to the show. Everybody who is performing should get there at least by 5:00 p.m. I will be getting there at about 4:30 p.m. The second seating is at 7:45 p.m. which would put the second show starting at about 8:30 or 8:45 p.m. The stage performers consist of: Paul Locke-Master of Ceremonies Suds Tim Wallace Peter Winch Anybody interested in walk around magic would be much appreciated. We have Al Doty, Vern, and Christian committed so far in addition to the stage performers. Here is the address of Clement Middle School 501 East Pennsylvania Avenue Redlands, CA 92374 Ticket prices are $10 per person or $20 for a family of 4. Pre-sale tickets are $8.00 per person. If you let me know you want to attend, I can have your tickets waiting at the door. If you get lost, please call my cell at 909-648-5428. Here are some basic directions: Take the 10 FWY east into Redlands, exit at Orange St. At the end of the off ramp, keep going straight through the first stop sign, then turn left at Orange street. Next, turn right at Pennsylvania Avenue. Clement will be on your left side. The Multi Purpose room is in the front of the school. If you are coming into Redlands on the 10 Westbound, exit at 6th street, and turn right off the off ramp. Next, turn left on Colton Street and then right on Orange Street. Finally, turn right at Pennsylvania Avenue. Clement will be on your left side. The Multi Purpose room is in the front of the school. Magically Yours, Paul -------------------------------------------- 12. David Ginn Presents His Kidbiz Live Workshop! -------------------------------------------- Message from David Ginn (US) He's Coming Your Way Only Once This Year! David Ginn presents his Kidbiz Live Workshop! 3 Hours of Comedy, Magic & Fun for Kidshow & Family Entertainers Saturday, May 17. 5 - 8 pm. Kansas City! US TOY MAGIC, 2008 West 103 Terrace, Leawood MO Contact: Barron Stringfellow 785-486-2253 Saturday, May 31 .10 am - 2:30 pm . Sulphur LA area Westlake First Penecostal Church, 1208 Sampson St, Westlake LA Contact: George Mullican, home 337-625-8284 Sunday, June 1 . 2 - 5:30 pm . Jackson MS area Colonial Heights Baptist, 625 S. Pear Orchard Rd, Ridgeland MS 39157 IBM Ring 98 Contact: DORIAN LaChance 601-940-9930 Saturday, June 21.10 am - 2:30 pm . Charlotte NC Location in progress. Contact: Eddy Wade 704-263-0336 Sunday, June 22 . 2 - 5:30 pm . Greenville SC College Park Worship Center, 8211 White Horse Rd, Greenville SC 29617 Contact: Tim Sonefelt 864-231-8933 Registration: $35 advance or $45 at the door.Only one person registers per family attending. Spouses & children FREE. Each registrant receives a FREE book, three FREE tricks, and a FREE David Ginn Magic Kit Plus three hours of magical show & tell. Credit Card Registrations: Contact David Ginn at 770-466-8421, line #1 or Email: Ginnshow@comcast.net. Give name, phone #, location you wish to attend, number attending, and your credit card number with expiration date. This new workshop will never be repeated in your area. Make plans to attend - to have fun and learn plenty! And Please Tell Other magicians & clowns! -------------------------------------------- 13. Tony Curtis And Janet Leigh -------------------------------------------- Message from Richard Walls (NZ) Fascinating to read that Jon Zealando took inspiration and creative ideas from the 1953 movie Houdini. At the time they starred in Houdini in 1953, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh were two years into a marriage that sadly ended in 1962. The best known of their two children is Jamie Lee Curtis. Curtis at 83 is still active and lives in Henderson, Nevada - a long established city near Las Vegas - also home to my youngest daughter. Not that June and I have seen Mr. Curtis on any of our visits there although we did "run into him" once on an escalator in one of the beachfront hotels in the late 80's when holidaying in the 90's at Waikiki, Hawaii. And yes - as seemingly always - he had a most attractive companion on his arm! And why not? There's nothing wrong with being a good old-fashioned romantic, Jon! Many think it "magical"!! -------------------------------------------- 14. 29th New Zealand International Magicians Convention 2008 -------------------------------------------- The 29th New Zealand International Magicians Convention will be held in Auckland, New Zealand from the night of December 27th 2008 to January 1st 2009, 1.00am. The venue will be the Waipuna Hotel and Conference Centre in Mount Wellington where we last ran a successful Convention in 2001-2002. Bookings can be made for convention accommodation by contacting: Waipuna Hotel & Conference Centre, 58 Waipuna Road, Mt.Wellington, PO Box 14 164, Panmure, Auckland, New Zealand. Phone: +64 9 526 3000 Fax: +64 9 527 1937 Toll Free Reservations (NZ): 0800 924 786. http://www.waipunahotel.co.nz/ We have been able to secure a very attractive room rate of $NZ110 per night (Incl GST) for single or double rooms with registrants being able to book direct with the hotel. *************************** PLEASE NOTE that 75% of the ALLOCATED rooms have already been booked by conventioneers. If you are planning to attend best to book NOW! This convention will be a SELL OUT! *************************** Six Confirmed Headliners John Shryock (USA), Marty and Brenda Hahne (USA), Ross Skiffington (Aust), George Schindler (USA) and Steve Walker (Aust). The official registration form for the convention can be downloaded from: http://www.ibmring160.com/ If you don't have internet web access contact Ross Harlick, Secretary, 91 Panapa Drive, Meadowbank, Auckland 1072, New Zealand Or by: Phone: +64 (09) 521 3327 Fax: +64 (09) 521 3327 -------------------------------------------- 15. 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) -------------------------------------------- 16. 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/fezine.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 2008 Alan Watson