Magic New Zealand® E-zine

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* Magic New Zealand®
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Issue Number: #1716
Date: Sunday 21st May 2023
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. Penn & Teller: Fool Us: Season 10
3. The Magic Word Podcast Backlog
4. The New Mexico Magic Festival
5. The Wonder Store Lecture Series
6. No Stone Unturned - Paul Stone - Article #108
7. Magic Museum Bellachini - Episode 31
8. Tales From The Fantastic Magic Center - #41
9. Beneath The Trapdoor With Bronson Chadwick #9
10. Scattered! John Carey #199
11. E-zine Archives
12. Privacy Policy And Copyright Notice

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1. Editor's Message
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As of this issue of Magic New Zealand ezine circulation to over 17,000 magicians worldwide!

Can't believe it will be soon coming up to 24 years ago when the first issue came out. Thank you for your fantastic support dear readers.

If you would like to read the Magic New Zealand e-zine in HTML format go to:

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. Penn & Teller: Fool Us: Season 10
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Article forwarded by Peter Phillips (US)

Penn & Teller: Fool Us: Season 10; CW Renews Magic Competition Series with New Host
A CW show will be celebrating an anniversary. Penn & Teller: Fool Us has been renewed for a 10th anniversary season on the network. However, the show will have a new host.

A magic competition series, the Penn & Teller: Fool Us TV show is currently hosted by Alyson Hannigan and is judged by comedic illusionists Penn Jillette and Teller. In each episode, aspiring magicians are invited to perform their best trick to try and fool the world-famous team. Anyone who succeeds wins the right to perform with Penn and Teller in their celebrated show at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Balance of article go to:

https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/penn-teller-season-10-cw-renews-magic-competition-series-with-new-host/

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3. The Magic Word Podcast Backlog
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Message by Scott Wells, M.I.M.C. with Gold Star (US)

We are in the middle of the early part of the convention season. For me, it's five down and ten more to go for this year. As such, it's hard to keep up with letting everyone know about the daily convention reports when I post them. The best way to keep up is to subscribe to the podcast and the podletter. But here is a little catch-up.

On May 9-11 I attended the Magic Collectors Expo in Cleveland, Ohio. This group of dedicated collectors totaled about 180 registrants as we were all treated to arguably what is the second best exhibit of magic in a gallery/museum in the world outside of the one owned by David Copperfield. Dr. Bruce Averbook opened his 10, 000 square foot, private museum to the group during this convention. The bus also took us to see the automaton museum of Tim LaGanke. Both were spectacular and awe-inspiring. Here is a link to the website for the reports on this convention:

Day One and Two:
https://www.themagicwordpodcast.com/scottwellsmagic/759-magic-collector-expo-2023-days-one-and-two

Day Three:
https://www.themagicwordpodcast.com/scottwellsmagic/760-magic-collector-expo-2023-day-three

This week we are between conventions (we will attend Pebblepalooza next weekend in Dallas) so we have posted the episode featuring the Gentleman of Magic, Dale Salwak. Dale was a student (and now teacher) of the Chavez Studio of Magic having befriended Ben and Marian Chavez as well as Neil Foster. He has a lot of stories to tell not only about the Chavez school but also about his work producing magic show, branding, and development of a world class act. You can listen wherever you get your podcasts. But for videos, photos, read the blog, listen online, and get more information, please visit: https://www.themagicwordpodcast.com/scottwellsmagic/761-dale-salwak

And when buying anything from Amazon, please remember to go through the link on the website at the bottom of the page of The Magic Word Podcast. Thank you.

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4. The New Mexico Magic Festival
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Message by Bronson Chadwick (US)

The New Mexico Magic Festival is coming to Albuquerque, September 23-24, 2023. Our two-day magic convention, sponsored by The Wonder Store, is a non-stop action-packed magic event for close-up and stage magicians alike. Join Nick Lewin, Dan Rodriguez, The Guide, Bruce Chadwick, and others for amazing magic of all kinds.

We will have several dealers, five lectures, a bonus workshop and two shows. Registration starts at only $75. As an added bonus, our convention hotel The Drury Inn and Suites North Hotel is giving us a discounted room rate for that Saturday night of $167 and that includes FREE happy hour bar drinks, snacks, and breakfast in the hotel restaurant the next morning.

Learn more at www.TheWonder.Store/new-mexico

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5. The Wonder Store Lecture Series
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Message by Bronson Chadwick (US)

The Wonder Store Lecture Series - Join us online for a brand-new lecture series full of FREE magical information for the working magician. Our next event will be on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, at 7pm central standard time hosted by Bronson Chadwick where we'll be doing a presentation of How to Book Paid Magic Gigs with Retirement and Hospitality Groups.

This virtual workshop is a must for those magicians who want to learn how to book gigs Monday - Thursday during the daytime; an otherwise slow section of time on the calendar for the working pro. Visit www.TheWonder.Store/lecture to sign up. Fill out the form to get access to the workshop.

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6. No Stone Unturned - Paul Stone - Article #108
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Message by Paul Stone (US)

With all the excitement of the Coronation of King Charles now firmly behind us, it got me thinking about my own brush with Royalty.

Over the course of many years producing major charity fundraising events, I have been fortunate to meet a few members of the Royal Family, but the lady I'm going to tell you about today isn't officially royalty as such, but did make her living, and an extremely lucrative one at that, as the double for H.M.Queen Elizabeth.

I am of course referring to Jeanette Charles. There were several Queen 'lookalikes' during Her Majesty's long reign, but Jeanette was by far and away the best and most realistic.

She famously appeared in several movies including The Naked Gun, National Lampoon's European Vacation, and Austin Powers.

To say that she lived the part would be an understatement! She genuinely thought she was Royalty and insisted on being treated that way! I first came into contact with her in 1977, thanks to my friend, top TV Producer John Fisher.

I had an idea for a comedy act to enter the IBM British Ring Convention Shield Competition, and it revolved around H.M Queen Elizabeth. John kindly provided me with the introduction to Jeanette, and a few months later I, together with a great deal of help from Jeanette, won both the IBM Comedy and Originality trophies.

We went on to appear at Ron McMillan's International Magic Convention in London, and also at a Jack Hughes Wizard Weekend Convention put on by Jack's son, Bernard Hughes.

The ending of the act involved two 'Beefeaters' in full costume marching me off stage. The highlight for me was when one of my true magic heroes, Jay Marshall, asked if he could be one of the Beefeaters! I vividly remember Jay getting dressed for the part, putting on his pink tights amid howls of laughter!

Billed as 'one of the better, cheaper acts', Jay was a wonderful performer whose timing was second to none. His hand vent (puppet?) 'Lefty' was a classic piece of entertainment. He played all the major theatres including the London Palladium, and also appeared on the iconic 'Ed Sullivan' Show.

The magic world knew him and his wife Frances best, as the owners of Magic Inc in Chicago. Jay was always great fun to spend time with and a font of knowledge.

Returning for a moment to Jeanette Charles who is still going strong, although now 94 years old, and happily retired.

One of my favourite (I make no apology for the British spelling!) memories, was at one of the big Charity Variety Shows that I produced at the London Palladium Theatre.

To start the show, eight Fanfare Trumpeters marched out onto the stage in front of the main curtain and played a Royal Fanfare salute. At the same time, we put a spotlight on the Royal Box, and Jeanette Charles walked out, in full regalia, giving the Royal wave.

At least half of the audience of 2,500 stood up, genuinely thinking that it was the real Queen. After a few more bars of the Fanfare, the trumpeters broke into a lively jazz number, with Jeanette, a huge smile on her face, furiously conducting them!

It was a great moment and received a huge reaction from the packed audience! They were indeed great days!

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7. Magic Museum Bellachini - Episode 31
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Message by Wittus Witt (Germany)

As already mentioned, I was able to enter into a very successful cooperation with the City Museum in Münster with my Museum Bellachini. There a big exhibition about Alexander Heimbürger is shown until September 10th. Heimbürger was as "Herr Alexander" in the 19th century the most famous German magician with sensational successes especially in North and South America. Heimbürger was born and died in Münster. Shortly before his death he was visited by Harry Houdini when he was on a European tour. Houdini reported about it in his magazine "The Conjurer's Monthly Magazine".

The exhibition also features Heimbürger's Original diaries for the first time to the public. Since in the meantime all diaries were transferred into the German written language, one can call them up on-line and leaf through them. I was able to obtain permission from the owner of the diaries at the time to have all the diaries transcribed.

A special highlight of the exhibition, however, is the "replica" of a piece of magic that one has heard about from time to time, but has never been able to see. We are talking about the performance trick Heimbürger showed, which he had obviously taken over from Ludwig Döbler: with one pistol shot, 100 candles ignite in quick succession on the stage. The museum has recreated a similar effect in the museum. The visitor himself can operate an "old" pistol and thus also cause 100 candles to burn. This has a very magical effect, even though in modern times the feat is performed with electronics.

I captured this moment in my Thursday video:

https://youtu.be/ypj6vCTWhsw

All for now.
Wittus
www.hamburger-zaubermuseum.com

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8. Tales From The Fantastic Magic Center - #41
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Message by Kent Cummins, Director (US)

JSPR: the Junior Society for Psychical Research

I was in high school, and had been reading about the British Society for Psychical Research…and the American Society for Psychical Research. So, I decided, "Why not have a JUNIOR Society for Psychical Research?

I wrote up organizing documents, and even got a rubber stamp. We were legit!

My uncle, the Reverend Vernon R Cummins, was the Founder and Lifetime President of the American Spiritualist Alliance, so I wrote to him for advice. He told me to keep an open mind, and suggested a few books to read.

Meanwhile, my high school friends and I started flipping pennies and keeping track of the results. There were no computers available to us in 1960, so we did the math the hard way. After thousands of recorded results, we were satisfied that each flip was a random, 50-50 event.

I was also able to buy a deck of Zenner ESP cards from Duke university. I learned that the five symbols represented the numbers one through five, and that there were five of each card in the deck.

We had earlier tried to do some telepathy experiments with an ordinary deck of cards, but that seemed too much like a card trick. And there were far too many possibilities with 52 cards plus a joker. With the ESP cards, each event was a one-in-five chance.

We did lots of experiments, and learned a lot about the relatively new discipline of Parapsychology, but nothing very amazing ever happened. I guess none of us had the psychic "gift!"

Next week I will tell you about our investigation of the mysterious "Gonzales Light" in Southern Louisiana.

The Fantastic Magic Center is dedicated to preserving and sharing the art of magic. But I can't do it without your help. My Patreon account is the same place as my free weekly podcast:
www.FantasticMagicCenter.com

kent@magichotline.com

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9. Beneath The Trapdoor With Bronson Chadwick #9
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Message by Bronson Chadwick (US)

Disneyworld an Experiment at the TAOM Convention

Downtown Orlando, Florida certainly has a mouse problem, and nobody seems to mind! One of the Disney parks in Orlando is Downtown Disney. At night, Disney fans from all over the city mingle with Disney tourists from around the world. Each evening there is one major novelty of Disneyworld that brings out some VERY excited fans: Disney Pins. These shiny enamel pins feature characters and themes from Disney, Star Wars, Marvel and other mousy affiliates. Wearing your pins on a lanyard at Disney allows you to connect with other fans and likeminded tourists. It also makes you something of a target in the gift shops but that's another story. These pins help visitors to strike up conversations in the (very) long lines for restaurants and rides. There's a reason people break out in song on the streets of the Disney parks with perfect strangers, and these pins help pave the way.

Last year I finished my term as the 2022/2023 President of the Texas Association of Magicians. One of the key responsibilities of the TAOM President is to execute the annual convention. Our convention was in Fort Worth at a modest hotel which we packed it full of lectures, contests, shows, and a number of other activities. What I've learned from this experience is that, just like in a magic show, NOTHING ever goes quite according to plan.

Every TAOM president I've spoken with has a list of accomplishments and a list of things they wish would have been done differently. For a list of funny stories and things I wish I would have done differently, send me an email to bronsonchadwick@gmail.com. For the REALLY good stories come find me in person because those stories aren't going into print!

But for now, I want to explain to you one of the activities that seemed to go over marvellously that was inspired by my first trip to Disney many years prior.

The experiment was called the Interest Badge System. I created twelve different icons (stickers), each with a different color-coded design representing some common interests in the magic world. Conventioneers had full-color badges on a lanyard. Each badge had three blank circles at the bottom of the badge. On Friday night, conventioneers were tasked with choosing three different stickers that best represented their current interests in magic.

There were also large signs printed with a legend showing the meaning behind each icon sticker. All of these publications were made possible by magician and graphic wizard Bernie Trowbridge with Maxam Graphics in Dallas.

The icons we chose were as follows:

Cards
Children's
Comedy
Coins and Money
General Close-up
Gospel
History and Collecting
Manipulation and Sleight-of-Hand
Mentalism
Silk Handkerchiefs
Stage Illusions
Walk-around Magic

This turned out to be great thing! While some magicians were hesitant to participate at first, the trend caught on after a few minutes and some very interesting conversations began to take place! "I didn't know you enjoyed children's magic!?" I heard one magician say to another across the room. Soon magicians were connecting with each other in new ways.

First-time visitors to TAOM were able to feel more welcome by being able to have conversations with other magicians who would have otherwise continued to be perfect strangers. Much to the relief of some stage magicians, hotel lobby finger flingers were hesitant to perform card tricks for those whose badge only had the Children's, Stage, and Comedy icons on their badge!

Another reason for this experiment was to benefit dealers and visitors to the dealer's room. When a convention guest approached a magic dealer with their name badge on, that dealer would immediately know when magic effects to demonstrate and which to avoid, based on the interest stickers of the visitor. For your curiosity, here is the data from our convention. Please keep in mind that there were a small handful of people who did not participate in this activity. The jerks. There were 250 magicians registered for the convention plus a few extra registrations floating around for spouses, magic assistants, etc. for non-magicians. Here is the same list as before, along with the statistics, in order by interest:

Interests in Order by Popularity:

Coins and Money - 94 people, 39% of convention registrants
Mentalism - 91 people, 38% of convention registrants
Children's Magic - 76 people, 32% of convention registrants
Comedy Magic - 73 people, 31% of convention registrants
Cards - 70 people, 29% of convention registrants (this surprised me)
General Close-up - 58 people, 24% of convention registrants
Stage Magic and Stage Illusions - 54 people, 23% of convention registrants
Walk-around/Table-hopping Magic - 44 people, 18% of convention registrants
Manipulation and Sleight-of-Hand - 44 people, 18% of convention registrants
Gospel Magic - 41 people, 17% of convention registrants
Silk Handkerchief Magic - 37 people, 15% of registrants
History and Collecting - 36 people, 15% of registrants

Totals:

718 total stickers used

239 total approximate participants of the 250 magicians

"Wow! You mean coin magic and mentalism are where it's at these days?" Yes. These numbers surprised me by far. I expected card magic to be in first place and for history/collecting to have ranked much higher, but then again there's a reason you won't find me at the race track.

I encourage anyone hosting a magic convention or even a club meeting to try this experiment. I'm talking to you, Stan. Keep in mind that these numbers are going to be a little different for each group of magicians. TAOM is considered to be a general magic convention and therefore the numbers would be different at events like FFFF, the PEA conference, the SAM convention, and so-on where you have a different population and demographic of magic enthusiast.

For some neat pictures from this experiment please visit my website at www.BronsonChadwick.com/trapdoor. You can see a sample of our name badges, the colored stickers, and a chart showing convention guests and works the explanation to each symbol. What are your three interests?

Email me that and your thoughts to bronsonchadwick@gmail.com

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10. Scattered! John Carey #199
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Message by John Carey (UK)
http://www.johncareymagic.co.uk/

Sometimes the impact of an effect far outweighs the simple method employed. My kind of magic! Scattered uses simple, direct Equivoque and a very simple pre-set. Manage the Queen of Clubs to the top of the deck and the Queen of Hearts to the bottom of the deck. The Queen of Spades is inside your right pocket and the Queen of Diamonds is in the card box. When I perform this as a stand-alone card effect, the Queen of Diamonds is on top of the deck inside the card box. I squeeze the sides of the box and hold back this Queen with my right index finger as I remove the Deck and place the box aside.

We will now indulge in some Equivoque to force the Queens using ideas from Sean Walters and Josh Jay. The deck is removed leaving the Queen of Diamonds inside the box as explained above. Execute an in the hands riffle shuffle retaining the Queen on the top and bottom of the deck. Hand the deck to a spectator and walk and talk them through the Jay Ose triple false cut. The deck is left tabled.

"Shannon I want you to imagine you have a deck of cards in your hands. Now imagine dividing that imaginary deck into two groups, the number cards in your left hand and the pictures in your right hand. Which ones do you want to give to me? The number cards? Fine. We will set them aside. So in your imagination you are holding the picture cards. That's the Jacks, Kings and Queens, or more specifically, the males and females. Which group do you want to take out? Ok take out the females and throw the rest away. Now I want you to extend your vivid imagination and take out the Queen of Clubs and throw that piece of imagination towards the top of the deck on the table.

Would you now remove the Queen of Hearts and throw that under the deck? Excellent throw! Continuing this little game of make believe, would you remove the Queen of Spades and throw that towards my pocket. Got it! Finally in your imagination you are holding the Queen of Diamonds. I'd like you to throw that imaginary card towards the box. As the famous magician Teller once said though, when does make believe stop and reality kick in? Turn over the top card of the deck. The Queen of Clubs has arrived! Now turn the deck over. There's the Queen of Hearts.

Please reach inside my pocket and remove the contents. That's the Queen of Spades! There's a very old saying that there's no place like home. Pick up the card box and see what you find? Impossible!"

Method:

The first part of the Equivoque is where they hand you either the imaginary picture cards or number cards. If they hand you the number cards you set them aside without fuss. If they hand you the picture cards you simply ask them to imagine throwing the number cards away. This lovely gambit I learnt from Sean Walters. The second part of the Equivoque comes from Josh Jay and his wonderful effect Inferno.

Josh had the truly brilliant idea of categorizing the picture cards into males and females. This really is a breakthrough as it cuts out any further procedure. If they say they want to take out the females you are of course golden. If however they say they want to take out the males, this is interpreted as taking out to remove/ get rid of. Tip of the hat to John Bannon for the take out ruse.

All that's left is to direct your spectator to throw each imaginary Queen to a different location in the classic CHaSeD order, revealing a Queen on top, another on the bottom, one in your pocket and the final Queen in the box.

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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.

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