Magic New Zealand® E-zine

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* Magic New Zealand®
* Proudly sponsored by International Entertainment Ltd (New Zealand)
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Issue Number: #1623
Date: Sunday 13th June 2021
Editor: Alan Watson QSM
www.watson.co.nz
E-mail: editor@magicnewzealand.com
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Hi here is the latest news
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1. Editor's Message
2. Vanish Magic Magazine June 2021
3. Jon Allen On The Magic Word Podcast
4. Magical Women With Connie Boyd - Alexandra Duvivier
5. TAOM 2021
6. Pocket Prediction - John Carey #122
7. Patrick Kun Dropping Performance
8. Orlando Magic History And Collector's Conference
9. No Stone Unturned - Paul Stone - Article #15
10. The Orchante Saga - Beginnings
11. E-zine Archives
12. Privacy Policy and Copyright Notice

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1. Editor's Message
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If you would like to read the Magic New Zealand e-zine in HTML format
go to: http://www.magicnewzealand.com/ezine-archive/2021-Jan-to-Dec-2021/1623-Jun13-2021.html

If you would like to write a regular column for Magic New Zealand or have some magic news drop me a line:
Editor@MagicNewZealand.com

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2. Vanish Special Edition - Free To Download
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Message by Paul Romhany - Editor Vanish Magazine

Vanish special edition - free to download the mysterious book - Why Jim Steinmeyer has been writing the book that nobody will get to read.

I am proud to announce another free special edition of Vanish that everybody can enjoy. A few times a year I find a story that I feel deserves more space than the regular edition of Vanish will allow. This is one everybody can enjoy and features the remarkable Jim Steinmeyer. It has some great never seen before photos and will be of interest to everybody.

Regular subscribers of Vanish will receive this in their email -and you can download it from:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/44pwwgsfxst0ugr/Steinmeyer.pdf?dl=0

To subscribe to Vanish head here ... www.vanishmagazine.com

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3. Jon Allen On The Magic Word Podcast
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Message by Scott Wells, M.I.M.C. with Gold Star

The Magic Circle "Close-Up Magician of the Year" Jon Allen joins us this week for a chat on The Magic Word Podcast. Jon is the creator of "Silent Treatment" and "The Pain Game" as well as many other innovative magic effects that are in the repertoire of many working magicians around the world. Jon has appeared on many television shows including the U.K. version of "Penn & Teller Fool Us" from its earlier years.

You can listen wherever you get your podcasts, but for more content, please visit the website at: https://www.themagicwordpodcast.com/scottwellsmagic/616-jon-allen We also have this episode available on YouTube where you can subscribe and enjoy this and many other conversations with conjurors on The Magic Word.

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4. Magical Women With Connie Boyd - Alexandra Duvivier
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Message by Connie Boyd (USA)

Alexandra Duvivier fooled Penn & Teller on Fool Us on the CW network in 2018. She was the first French female magician to do so and she delightfully shares her experiences and insight in this Winner's Circle special series.

Alexandra Duvivier is the daughter of beloved and respected French magician, Dominique Duvivier. Growing up in a magic household, Alexandra had "inside access" and full emersion to the elite in the magic community.

She admits, "intensive exposure to all forms of magic from a young age gave me the opportunity to decide for myself what I personally enjoyed and what didn't appeal to me. I did this unconsciously and it reflects my personal taste. I developed and built my own character, magic skills, preferences, artistic choices and knowledge to become a version of myself as an artist."

Her father's performance at FISM in 1988 was the catalyst for fifteen-year-old Alexandra's decision to become a professional magician. She has great love and admiration for her father and looking back she realizes one of the reasons for her decision to become a magician was to be closer to her Dad.

Content:

00:00 - 1:03 - Introduction
1:04 - 5:16 - Winning a Penn & Teller Fool Us Award
5:16 - 6:57 - Preparing & Overcoming Nerves
6:57 - 7:10 - Call to Action
7:10 - 7:58 - the Secret is to Rehearse
7:58 - 10:20 - Magic for Stage & for Television
10:20 - 10:42 Call to Action

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5. TAOM 2021
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Last chance for Magicians to register for TAOM 2021 at $275

On June 30, 2021, the price for Magicians will increase to $300

Partner and Youth registrations are currently $250 and will increase to $275.

https://preview.mailerlite.com/x7c1m0/1703693794882360329/h7k0/

Last chance to enter the TAOM 2021 contests

Senior, Junior, Close up, Stage, etc

We have raised $1,000 in prize money for this year's contestants to win.
Oh, and they get a trophy too!

To compete, TAOM 2021 must receive your application no later than July 2, 2021

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6. Pocket Prediction - John Carey #122
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Message by John Carey (UK)
http://www.johncareymagic.co.uk/

Pocket Prediction is my take on the classic triple prediction premise. It's mostly hands off, quite counter intuitive and there's not a sleight in sight. Ahead of time take out the Ace of Clubs, Four of Hearts and the Seven of Spades from a blue deck. Place the Ace in your left trousers pocket, the Four in your back pocket and the Seven in your right trousers pocket. Take a red deck and place those same three cards on top in Ace, Four, Seven order from the top down.

Bring out the red deck and execute a tabled riffle shuffle retaining the set up on top. "Life can be very chaotic at times. So many things to do, yet more to think of. Today, Barbara, you will create chaos with this deck of cards!" Cut off about half the deck and set it to the right of the other half.
Ask your spectator to turn that half face up and then riffle shuffle it into the face down half and then square up. Pick up the deck and hand to hand spread showing a mess before squaring up.

Cut the deck into four tabled packets, the target packet being the one to the far right of the tabled row. Ask your helper to pick up the left hand packet and flip it over and then drop that on top of the next packet. Next have them pick up that combined packet and flip it over and then drop
that on top of the next packet. Finally have them drop that combined packet on top of the remaining target packet and square up. "So now you've gone one step further and created even more chaos!"

You can do an optional centre Hindu shuffle here if you so wish, pulling out a section from the middle and shuffle it off showing both face up and face down cards. The illusion of chaos and total fairness in what your spectator has carried out is a particularly strong one. Turn the deck over and set it down. Shift the focus a few seconds, commenting on how they shuffled the cards, they created chaos and everything was under their control.

Pick up the deck and state you will try an experiment with a few of the cards from the deck they shuffled. Take off the first three face-down cards and drop them onto the table without disturbing their order. Then take three face-up cards and drop them on top. The face-down cards are
of course my target cards. We will now use a very simple, but deceptive Equivoque to force those face down cards. "Barbara, there's two groups of cards on the table. Face-up and face-down. Which group shall I take out?" If they say take out the face-up cards, I do just that, picking them up and dropping them onto the deck. If, however they say take out the
face-down cards I slide them out of the tabled spread and then discard the face up cards without fuss or guilt. Credit to John Bannon for this take out ambiguity.

Spread the three face-down cards into a row, them being in Ace, Four, Seven order from left to right. Ask your helper to point to one of them. If they point to the Ace, ask them to pop it sight unseen into their left pocket. If they point to the Seven I ask them to pop that into their right pocket. But if they point to the centre card I ask them to pop it into their back pocket.
Once that's done you simply repeat the above once more, directing them to place whatever they choose into the same side pocket as your secret prediction card. The remaining card is placed by them in whichever of the pockets that remain. It sounds complicated, but trust me it isn't!

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7. Patrick Kun Dropping Performance
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Message by Phillip Peterson (USA)

Magician Patrick Kun Delivers a Jaw-Dropping Performance - America's Got Talent 2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8Sm_nwrHgU

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8. Orlando Magic History And Collector's Conference
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Message by Dan Stapleton- (USA)

From the success for our last Conference in 2019, The Orlando Magic History & Collector's Conference returns this October 1-3 in Orlando, Florida.

We have a wonder line-up of Speakers and events including an auction (vintage magic) and flea market (ANY magic). Although the Dealers space is already sold out, we are taking reservations for the Flea Market and vintage/collectible auction items.

We return to the Holiday Inn Resort Orlando-Lake Buena Vista as our host hotel located just five minutes from Walt Disney World. Our first night will include a poolside Tiki Bar get-together followed by our first event, a "shown tell" of a favorite vintage lithograph/poster from your collection.

For more info see us on our Magicpalooza Facebook page or if you would like all the info, including updates, email Dan at magicdanstap4u@aol.com or Ben at bpmason1957@gmail.com.

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9. No Stone Unturned - Paul Stone - Article #15
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Message by Paul Stone (US)

Las Vegas is finally back open for business again! The Entertainment Capital of the World has woken from its slumbers and is once again packing visitors in on the famous Las Vegas Strip.

All the Casinos and Hotels are filled to 100% capacity and the Stars are once again performing in the Showrooms.

There is one difference though, the visitors are mostly from within the USA, as very few International tourists are either allowed or are yet willing to fly transatlantic. It will be next year before they'll be back. And they will surely be … in droves!

Magic is very much to the fore with David Copperfield, Penn & Teller, Shin Lim and Mat Franco headlining shows. Also now open and back in action are Nathan Burton, Piff, and Murray.

The big news, just released, is that Mac King, after twenty years performing his hilarious, award winning afternoon show at Harrah's, is moving to the Excalibur Hotel & Casino later this month.

Mac is going into the same Showroom that Hans Klok's Illusion Show was in for a few months before the pandemic hit. It should be a good fit for Mac as it is an intimate Showroom in a very family friendly hotel. Anyone who was fortunate enough to attend the Blackpool Convention last year will know what a wonderful entertainer Mac is. And he's a brilliant guy too.

In my continuing series focusing on important magical personalities from the past, this week I'm featuring a man whose name may not be quite so familiar to you as many of those I've talked about over the last few weeks.

His name was Franz Czeisler, and his stage name was Tihany. This name is hugely well known across the globe in the world of circus.

Tihany was born on June 29, 1916. He married his wife Illona in 1935. Tihany's life story is incredible and would have made a brilliant movie. Narrowly evading capture and certain death on a couple of occasions at the hands of the Nazis during the Second World War, Tihany not only survived, but from nothing he went on to build a circus dynasty that was unrivalled and admired across the globe.

Circus Tihany entertained millions of people throughout South America, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina. The name Tihany became synonymous with the highest quality circus shows ever seen. The calibre of the marquees, costumes, performers, and productions were legendary; he brought circus to a whole new level.

Tihany was also an excellent magician and Ring Master and featured spectacular illusions in many of his shows. His incredible shows featured several of the illusions seen in the Las Vegas productions of Siegfried & Roy and David Copperfield.

Many articles have been written about Tihany's life in the circus but few, if any, focus on Tihany the man. When I first met Tihany he had just turned ninety years of age. He was living in a spacious and luxurious apartment overlooking the Riviera Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

Franz was a true gentleman: kind, generous, and highly intelligent. Anyone visiting Tihany was always welcomed with a broad smile. He was a people person who was genuinely delighted to see his friends.

What first impressed me about him was that even at that stage of his life he spoke eight languages fluently and, no matter who called him on the telephone from anywhere in the world, he instantly knew who they were and seamlessly conversed with them in their language without missing a beat!

The fact that Franz was able to do this right up until the end of his life was remarkable. His total memory recall of specific events in his life, including exact dates, was unbelievable.

In the world of circus Tihany was renowned and revered. He travelled extensively, often to act as an international judge for many of the premier circus awards, including those in Monte Carlo, where he regularly rubbed shoulders with Prince Rainier, Prince Albert, and Princess Caroline. Although he enjoyed the company of royalty and international celebrities, he was also fiercely proud of his Hungarian heritage and loved spending time with members of the Hungarian community in Las Vegas.

In 2008, when I staged 'A Tribute to Siegfried & Roy at the London Palladium', Tihany, then at the ripe old age of 92, flew to London to attend this memorable show. Several major circus impresarios travelled from across Europe to meet this charismatic and legendary figure.

To celebrate Tihany's ninety-eighth birthday, I produced a 'Variety Live' show at the Orleans Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. It was an emotional occasion with an impressive line-up of talent on stage. The show included such luminaries as (retired!) master magician Lance Burton, illusionist Kevin James, and multi-award-winning juggler Kris Kremo.

The Orleans showroom was packed to capacity. Superstars Siegfried & Roy, Criss Angel, and virtually every professional performer in Las Vegas were there to honour Tihany. Video tributes were paid by David Copperfield and Italian clown David Larible.

Just four weeks before he died, which was sadly only three months before he would have celebrated his one hundredth Birthday, I had the opportunity to take Franz to see David Copperfield's show at the MGM Hotel & Casino.

We had a wonderful evening; David met us after the show and then Franz and I enjoyed an excellent Chinese meal. We chatted for a couple of hours; he was in great form and, as always, was laughing and sharing stories of his amazing life.

Franz Czeisler, Tihany, was a giant amongst men. His was a life truly well lived.

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10. The Orchante Saga - Beginnings
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Written by the late Tommy Orchard (The Amazing Orchante)

Derek Metzger
"The Biggest Talent and The Littlest Ego"

So wrote one very respected actress about Derek! I wholeheartedly agree with her sentiments! Derek is one of the quietest, most unassuming men I know, who is very modest about his achievements. Case in point; the other week I was on the telephone to Sally (his wife) and Derek in Sydney Australia, having a very extended chat, and Sally was telling me about an award that Derek had been nominated for in Australia when, down the line came this cry of anguish and embarrassment as Derek, listening in on the extension, howled - "Awwww, SALLY"!!! I'm quite sure that if we'd both had a videophone set up, the screen would have gone a lovely shade of - 'Blush'!

Derek was born in Invercargill, New Zealand in 1962 but spent most of his early years in Dunedin, the economic and cultural capital of the South Island. Dunedin lies in Otago harbour, a
natural harbour reaching far inland, surrounded by hills and mountains. Dun Edin is the Gaelic name for Edinburgh: the name is a reminder that the city was founded by Scottish immigrants, who originally thought of calling it: New Edinburgh. It is amazing that Derek doesn't roll his 'R's, the custom of Dunedin - ites!

He first came to national attention when he won a television talent quest called 'The Entertainers'; unfortunately Derek, only 15 years old, was too young to take the major part of the prize, which was representing New Zealand at the Asian Song Festival. So the following year, when another contest: 'The Singer For Asia' was run on television, again looking for a representative from New Zealand, he entered, and won! This time as the winner, and being the 'Ripe Old Age Of 16' (old enough to go), he went to Hong Kong, and was the runner-up.

After that, Derek appeared on every light entertainment TV show in New Zealand and was asked to join Howard Morrison and Co., to tour the USA, representing the New Zealand governments' tourism drive. Sir Howard (as he is now) was the leader of New Zealand's most famous Quartet during the late Fifties and Early Sixties - 'The Howard Morrison Quartet'. They disbanded around the 1965/66.

I am holding in my hands a record album that was recorded live at the Christchurch town hall, on the 17th August, 1975. It is entitled: 'The Howard Morrison Quartet - Return of a legend'. The
occasion was to celebrate Howard Morrison's 40th birthday and 20 years in show business. There are two cover notes on the back cover; one is written by John Berry, who was, for more years than I care remember, the Entertainment Columnist for the Zealand Herald. This is what he wrote in the first paragraph. Quote: "In an industry like Show Business in which wildly exaggerated claims abound, it is difficult to express in simple terms the unique place the Howard Morrison Quartet held in New Zealand Entertainment. Certainly, it would not be possible to exaggerate the strength of their drawing power or the public impact they achieved" Unquote. It came as a shock when I realised that Howard turned 67 in August of this year, 2002. I first worked with the 'Boys' at the Xmas/New Year concerts of 1960/61 at the Mount Maunganui Soundshell, performing hypnotism. I was just 'sweet' ahem, 17yrs of age!

After that 'little' interlude, it's back to Derek. When he returned to New Zealand from the USA, he was given his own one-hour TV special called: 'Derek and Friends'. By this time,
not surprisingly, he was a household name and a move up to Auckland city, the hub of N.Z. entertainment, was inevitable. Derek was 18 years old, and the year was 1980 when he arrived at
the Auckland airport, where he was met by Sally Phillips, who was working for 'Fullers Entertainment Bureau'. Little did he know that he had just met his future wife, and that six years later, they would be married in London, England!

With Lew Pryme as his personal manager, Derek became part of the 'Fullers Family', which included a select group of other well-known performers at the time. One of them was female
vocalist, Tina Cross. She and Derek performed a duet at the Pacific Song Contest in Canada, where they won the 'Outstanding Performance Award'. Derek was also voted 'N.Z.'s Rising Star' by NEOA ( New Zealand Entertainment Operator's Association) in the same year - 1980; a busy year for a young chap with a wonderful voice, who was starting to climb his way up the ladder of international success. Continues next week -

PS: Derek was entertaining on the Queen Mary 2, which has just berthed in Sydney!

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11. E-zine Archives
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Back issues of the Magic New Zealand e- zine go to:
www.magicnewzealand.com

Click on the red button centre right "Archives"

When you enter the archive the e- zines are in issue order in folders for each year and are Coded, e.g. 001 Nov06 1999.txt first three numbers (001) denote issue number, then the date (Nov06) and the last figures the year (1999)

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12. Privacy Policy and Copyright Notice
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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.magicnewzealand.com

Magic New Zealand® E-zine is published each Sunday.

The opinions and statements expressed therein are those of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of Magic New Zealand®. Neither Magic New Zealand® nor Alan Watson QSM 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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