Magic New Zealand® E-zine

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* Magic New Zealand®
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Issue Number: #1697
Date: Sunday 11th December 2022
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. Britain's Got Talent: The Ultimate Magician
3. Magic Castle - Chinese Spring Festival
4. The Magic Word Podcast - "Masters Of Illusion"
5. Magifest January 26-28, 2023
6. Jeff McBride's Magic & Mystery School Events
7. Maurice Fogel Brochure Called "Fogel The Facts"
8. Magic Museum Bellachini - Episode 13
9. No Stone Unturned - Paul Stone - Article #89
10. Tales From The Fantastic Magic Center - #22
11. Hands Off Oil & Water - John Carey #182
12. News From The Academy Of Illusions
13. Estates Of Magic's End Of Year Catalog
14. E-zine Archives
15. Privacy Policy And Copyright Notice

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1. Editor's Message
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IMPORTANT NOTICE:

READERS PLEASE NOTE: As we are going to Australia to visit family (first time since Covid) the last issue for the year the Magic New Zealand e-zine will be published on Friday 9th December New Zealand time. The next issue of Magic New Zealand for 2023 will be published around 14th January.

If you would like to read the Magic New Zealand e-zine in HTML format go to: http://www.magicnewzealand.com/ezine-archive/2022-Jan-to-Dec2022/1697-Dec11-2022.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. Britain's Got Talent: The Ultimate Magician
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Article forwarded by Peter Phillips (UK)

Planet Radio

Britain's Got Talent: The Ultimate Magician air date confirmed

It's a one-off special.

It's been in the making for months, and now ITV's Britain's Got Talent spin-off show, Britain's Got Talent: The Ultimate Magician, finally has a release date!

When is Britain's Got Talent: The Ultimate Magician on TV?

The special one-off show, which is hosted by Stephen Mulhern, will hit our screens on Sunday 18th December at 8pm.

Bosses confirmed the news on social media, writing: 'There's magic in the air!

'Join our host @stephenmulhern for a night of Spellbinding performances as our magicians from all around the globe battle it out to become The Ultimate Magician.

'Britain's Got Talent: The Ultimate Magician airs Sunday, 18th December at 8pm on @itv and @wearestv1' (sic)

What is Britain's Got Talent: The Ultimate Magician?

Britain's Got Talent: The Ultimate Magician is a spin-off show of hit entertainment show Britain's Got Talent, featuring 10 magic related acts.

The one-off special will see the best magicians from global Got Talent shows compete against each other to discover who is the best BGT magic act in the world.

Unlike the usual series, the winner of Britain's Got Talent: The Ultimate Magician will be chosen by a theatre audience.

What channel is it on?

Britain's Got Talent: The Ultimate Magician will air on ITV1 and ITVX.

Who is hosting the show?

The legend that is Stephen Mulhern will host the show, with usual BGT hosts Ant and Dec not involved with the special show.

Although Stephen is best known for presenting shows such as Catchphrase, Big Star's Little Star, and In For A Penny, the 45-year-old is a magician in his own right.

Who are the judges?

Usual Britain's Got Talent judges Alesha Dixon, David Walliams and Amanda Holden will all sit on the panel for Britain's Got Talent: The Ultimate Magician.

Although Simon Cowell is sitting this series out, the trio will be joined by Penn & Teller star Penn Jillette.

David announced his excitement about featuring the show, writing on social media: 'Britain's Got Talent: The Ultimate Magician is on Sunday 18th December at 8pm on @itv The show is hosted by @stephenmulhern and features special guest judge the legendary magician Penn Jillette @pennandtellerlive'. (sic)

What is the prize for winning?

The winner will not only take the crown of Britain's Got Talent's Ultimate Magician, they'll also receive a cash prize of £50,000.

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3. Magic Castle - Chinese Spring Festival
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Message from Dale Salwak

January 23-29, 2023

Palace Theater - 8:00, 10:00, 11:30
*Jinling Hu
*Rod Chow
*Juliana Chen

Palace Brunch - 12:15, 1:30, 2:45
*Rod Chow
*Wu Xuehui and Hongyun zhe
*Juliana Chen

Parlour - Early 7:15, 8:15, 9:15
*Jeffrey Wang

Parlour - Late 10:15, 11:15, 12:30am
*David Shao

Parlour Brunch - 11:30am, 12:15pm, 1:00, 2:15 Saturday & Sunday
*Will Zhang

Close-Up - Cocktail Hour 5:15, 5:45, 6:15 (Thursday-Sunday)
*Jason Tong

Close-Up - Early 7:00, 7:45, 8:30, 9:15 - (Monday thru Sunday)
*Dongjin Li

Close-Up - Late 10:00, 10:45, 11:30, 12:30am
*David Yee

Peller Theater - 8:00, 10:00, 11:30 (Thursday-Sunday)
*Alex Huang
*Byron Leung

Library Bar - 7:30 - 11:30 (Thursday-Sunday)
*Kemin Zhang

Friday Lunch - 12:00, 1:00, 2:00
*Will Zhang

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4. The Magic Word Podcast - "Masters Of Illusion"
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Message by Scott Wells, M.I.M.C. with Gold Star

This week is the first of the two part series on the taping of season nine of "Masters of Illusion" (MOI) television series. Earlier this year the Magic Word Podcast was given unprecedented access back stage, behind the camera, in the audience, the hallways, offices and in the dressing rooms of many who helped make season nine of MOI. The Christmas Special will air in the U.S. on the CW network next Wednesday 14 December (check your lock listings) that will feature certain magicians performing holiday related tricks. But the actual series won't begin until February 2023. You will hear from some of the audience members, performers, the emcee (Dean Cain) and the Executive Producer, Gay Blackstone.

Part two of this podcast series will be released on December 15. Normally we don't announce upcoming episodes, but since the New Zealand e-zine will not be publishing during the holidays, we can tell you about the next couple of episodes that will close out the year.

On Thursday December 22 we will release our chat with David Goldrake who tells us his side of the story of the tragic accident with the double levitation that left his ex-wife a paraplegic. Then on Thursday December 29th we will broadcast our chat with Seth Kramer who will give us valuable advice from his decades as a successful professional trade show magician.

You can listen to this week's episode wherever you get your podcasts. But for more content, please visit the website at:
https://www.themagicwordpodcast.com/scottwellsmagic/727-masters-of-illusion-season-9-part-one

And as you celebrate this holiday season, please help The Magic Word Podcast with your Amazon.com purchases and a five star rating with nice comments on iTunes. Thank you, and Merry Christmas.

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5. Magifest January 26-28, 2023
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Message by Joshua Jay & Andi Gladwin (US)

One of the things we think makes Magifest so special is the size. It's large enough to attract the biggest names in magic as performers, but also its small enough that you can actually get to meet your heroes.

In the photo above, you can see our Youth Scholars, hanging out with Chris Ramsey. It was a highlight for them.

But it's not just in set ups like this, it's at the bar and in the lobby. You can pull up a chair next to legends of magic and get their advice, or just marvel at their skills. Or be sat with someone destined to be The Next Big Thing for breakfast. So many amazing magicians join us at Magifest and you'll get the chance to meet so many of them.

For decades, the best magicians in the world have been drawn to Columbus, Ohio in January. Some might think it is the amazing performers, some would argue is the perfectly-balanced schedule. Others would argue the extra workshops are the main attraction.

We believe we all brave the weather for one reason. Because Magifest is an incredible convention. This year, we want you to be part of it.

Join us in January

https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic-conventions/

We look forward to hanging out with you in 2023.

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6. Jeff McBride's Magic & Mystery School Events
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Message by Jeff McBride (US)

January 2023 - Magic & Mystery School Events

7, 14, 21 - Immersive Magic Theater with Jeff McBride - Live Online

28-29 - Magic & Mystery School Experience at Poe's Magic Academy with Dr. Dr. Larry Hass - Live, and Jeff McBride - Live Online

February 2023 - Magic & Mystery School Events

23 - Building Blocks 1: Essential Theater Skills for Magicians with Larry Hass - Live Online

March 2023 - Magic & Mystery School Events

2 & 9 - Building Blocks 1: Essential Theater Skills for Magicians with Larry Hass - Live Online

April 2023 - Magic & Mystery School Events

24-30 - 7-Day Masterclass - with Jeff McBride, Larry Hass, and Tobias Beckwith - Live In Las Vegas

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7. Maurice Fogel Brochure Called "Fogel The Facts"
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Message by Chris Woodward (UK)

Does anyone out there have a copy of a Maurice Fogel brochure called "Fogel The Facts" published c. 1949? And any other pre 1940 Fogel ephemera, letter headings etc.

Please be kind and search your cupboards it would be so appreciated!

c.d.a.woodward@gmail.com

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8. Magic Museum Bellachini - Episode 13
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Message by Wittus Witt (Germany)

The countdown is on: only 10 days until the opening. Among other things, I had announced that I would be receiving the famous magic box by the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe from the Düsseldorf Museum on loan for three months.

This deal almost fell through, because when the Goethe Museum sent me the contract, one of the questions was which system I would use for my alarm system. Oops. I don't have an alarm system at all. I never bothered about that. But now I had to take care of it. Luckily Hamburg is a big city and after a few phone calls I was able to find a company that will install the system for me until the opening. And again, a lot of money is going into the museum.

I was able to experience another joy last week. A fellow magician offered me three very beautiful, old magic apparatuses from the Bartl company, which I could still integrate into the exhibition.

The basic rule for the museum is: don't show EVERYTHING you have, but present selected pieces that apply to a specific area in the history of magic. So according to the motto: less is more. This is often the fault of exhibitions, that the showcases are simply overloaded. I don't need to show all 2,000 magic boxes I own. Perhaps only 10 or at most 20 are enough to document the history of the development of these boxes.

At the moment there are about 150 exhibits in my museum Bellachini.

On 16 December I will give a press conference at 10:00 in the morning and then the opening will take place on 18 December at 12:00 noon.

As this is the last message this year on this great forum, I ask you to visit the homepage of the museum every now and then, there is always news there now.

https://hamburger-zaubermuseum.com/Willkommen.html

There is also always news about the museum on my YouTube channel. Here you can find a video about the last work before I put up the exhibits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKn07BbP3KQ

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you.

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9. No Stone Unturned - Paul Stone - Article #89
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Message by Paul Stone (US)

It's hard to believe, but it will be Christmas in less than three weeks' time. This year seems to have flown by. Christmas is of course historically a busy time for magicians and children's entertainers, with parties and events taking place daily throughout December.

I started out in this business performing at kid's parties in my home city of Liverpool, and during the month of December I regularly booked five different parties a day. It's frightening to think that it was over 50 years ago, and I get tired just thinking about it. I definitely had a lot more stamina in those days!

Penn & Teller's 'Fool Us' is now in its ninth season, and has been shown all over the world, and I was involved right at the start. I remember it well, as the pilot show was filmed in London in the week before Christmas in 2010.

When Penn & Teller first had the idea for the show, and it was decided to film the pilot show in London, Johnny Thompson, who was already such a major influence on their stage show at the Rio, also became magic consultant for this TV Show.

The show needed 10 acts to take part and compete to fool Penn & Teller and win a chance to appear in their show in Las Vegas.

Johnny was responsible for selecting the acts, but didn't know any performers in England, and so he asked me to join him as magic consultant and help identify suitable performers.

This wasn't an easy task for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the show was due to be filmed on the last Saturday before Christmas, probably the busiest day of the year for all magicians and a day when even the most average magician would be working.

And secondly, it was really hard to find enough acts with sufficient talent who were available, and, more importantly, who also wanted to be in the show. Because in those days Penn & Teller still had something of a reputation amongst many people in magic as being the 'bad boys of magic'.

The whole premise of the show was to try and fool Penn & Teller but, in the event that the performer would fail to do so, then they were worried that they ran the risk of being humiliated on live TV. So, it was a real challenge initially to find and persuade suitable performers to take part.

At the same time, we had to work with Penn to find a way that he could let the performer know that they had been busted, without any secrets being divulged to the viewing public.

We had a couple of rehearsals with a few local magicians on stage at Penn & Teller's theater at the Rio, where to his credit, Penn very quickly and cleverly found the best way to do this.

Next week, I'll tell you what happened in London, and how I ended up sleeping overnight on the floor of London's Gatwick Airport!

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10. Tales From The Fantastic Magic Center - #22
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Message by Kent Cummins, Director (US)

Illusions: U.F. Grant

Where would young magicians be without Ulysses Frederick Grant? Most of us would not have been illusionists, since we couldn't afford Owen Magic Supreme. But we could afford U.F. Grant!

Last week I talked about my Burling Hull Dream Levitation, but it took somewhat elaborate staging. For shopping centers, libraries and birthday parties, I used Grant's Flying Carpet. The idea was brilliant! I could put a child on the carpet, take away the screen, and pass a Hula Hoop over them as they rotated in space. It was a great photo opportunity.

I also got U.F. Grant's Six Modern Levitations book, but I didn't use any of those ideas. For a fun description of the "Up Daddy" Levitation, listen to my podcast.)

I told you about my love affair with a guillotine in Episode #13 in this newsletter. I was just a college student, but I could afford Grant's French Guillotine.

And of course, I made use of U.F. Grant's Victory Carton Illusions! The Victory Girl Production was sold separately, but I got the book and tried everything inside.

"Victory" referred to the fact that illusions could be built without using lumber or metal that were needed for the war effort during World War II. "Carton" referred to the cardboard cartons that were substituted for plywood. And "Illusions" meant, of course, the Big Stuff.

I produced my girlfriend using the Victory Girl Production. I painted the cardboard cartons bright colors on the outside and flat black on the inside, wanting it to look like a "real" stage illusion. In my spook shows, I produced the Frankenstein Monster from a decorated cardboard Haunted House before the blackout.

(The Sawing in Half didn't work, but that's a different story!)

The Fantastic Magic Center is dedicated to preserving and sharing the art of magic. Check out my free weekly podcast at:

www.FantasticMagicCenter.com
kent@magichotline.com

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11. Hands Off Oil & Water - John Carey #182
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Message by John Carey (UK)
http://www.johncareymagic.co.uk/

Oil and Water has a love/hate relationship amongst magicians. I've always enjoyed the plot, providing it doesn't go on forever. What I offer here is simply an approach that appears hands off
and extremely fair. One little displacement at the start and then it's pure effect.

Remove four red-spot cards and four black-spot cards. Make them mixed suits and middle ranging values. With the packet face-up have the red cards on the face followed by the blacks. Introduce the theme of oil and water as you casually spread the face-up packet in the hands, stating that the red cards represent water and the black cards oil. Square up the packet, getting a left pinky break above the bottom two black cards.

The right hand comes over the packet palm down from above and lifts away all the cards above the break. Use the left edge of the right hands packet to flip the left hand's cards face-down. Flip the right hand's packet of six cards face-down on top. As a result of the above casual displacement, the cards will now be from the top down in BBRRRRBB order.

Spread off four cards into the palm-up right hand and square them.

Mention you will give a pair of each colour to a few spectators. Casually turn both hands palm-down as you say this, flashing a red card on the face of one packet and a black card on the face of the other. The right fingers curl in under its packet and push the cards to your left in a reverse spread. Allow the bottom card of this packet to drop face-down to the table and then immediately push off and drop the top card of the left hand packet on top of this card.

Repeat the above three more times as you make a left to right row of four supposed red and black mixed pairs. Have a spectator on your left pick up the pair on the far left and mix them face-down. Have the next pair on your left picked up for mixing. Then have those two pairs assembled and tabled face-down. Repeat this sequence with the two remaining pairs of cards and have that assembled packet dropped on top of the tabled packet.

Comment on how the cards were out of your hands as the colours were mixed. Make the moment over the tabled packet and reach over and take the top card and turn it face-up to disclose a black card. Repeat this three more times to disclose the other three black cards have risen to the summit too. To conclude the effect, turn the remaining tabled cards face-up to show all red and your job is done.

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12. News From The Academy Of Illusions
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Message by Jay Scott Berry (Australia)

Over the years, I've been developing a Comprehensive System for Powerful, Visual Magic. This has taken place over thousands of shows, from Close-up to Stage, under real world conditions. The repertoire of effects pack small, play big and are adaptable for all ages, from kids to corporate.

One of the many inspirations along my journey was Francis Tabary. In the '80's, I was performing my Fire, Fog and Light shows across Europe. As such, I was often the opening act on Gala Shows. The act that followed me needed to play in front of the curtains, so I could clear the stage. I recall the first time working with Francis on a run of Gala shows. I opened the show and he followed me.

My set up required dry ice, flash paper, flash powders and containers of boiling water as Fog Machines. Add to that the many smaller Fire, Fog & Light Gimmicks, Doves, Silks, Canes, plus an elaborate costume with multiple reel systems. Setting up alongside Francis was quite a contrast, as all he had were a few ropes. And yet, he was able to follow me and receive a comparable reaction, in a large theater, mind you. As the run of shows progressed, I went around front to see what this clever Frenchman was doing.

Watching him was a revelation. His minimalistic magic with ropes was simply impeccable. It dawned on me that the amount of wonder, applause, and even pay, were not directly relative to the size or number of props. This was a priceless lesson. I was already doing minimalistic close-up routines, such as the Ring and Ribbon. I realized that these could be developed and upscaled for stage.

With 20/20 hindsight, it's easy to look back and understand the myriad of steps that were necessary to develop the System that I'm now performing and teaching. This week, I welcomed a talented young student who happened to mention that two of his first Instructional DVDs were by, guess who? The Grandmaster of Ropes, Francis Tabary! Another giant, upon whose shoulders, I am proud to stand.

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13. Estates Of Magic's End Of Year Catalog
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Message by Steve Varro (US)

It's Here Estates Of Magic's end of year catalog.

The items within have not been in our previous catalogs.

Just go to this link to access this month's catalog.

https://estatesofmagic.com/illusions/catalog-2022-end-of-year/

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14. 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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15. 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.

Subscribers to this publication and authors who contribute to it by doing so agree they will not hold Magic New Zealand® or Alan Watson QSM, jointly or individually liable or responsible in any way for the opinions or statements contained 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.

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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.