* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Magic New Zealand e-zine * www.watson.co.nz/ezine.html * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Issue Number: #148 Date: 8th December 2002 Editor: Alan Watson www.magician.co.nz www.alan-watson.com e-mail: AW@Alan-Watson.com ================================ Hi here is the latest news ================================ 1. Editor’s Message 2. WizardZ At Universal - Closed 3. Marc Salem Visiting Melbourne 4. World Festival Of Magic Tour - NZ 5. Science World Vancouver 6. Flawless Bill Switch Ever!!! 7. Daytona Magic Festival Of Magic 8. Decided To Sell Off Most Of My Magic 9. Irish Convention - May 2003 10. Regal Princess - New Zealand And Australia 11. "Home and Away" - Magician 12. The Amazing ‘Orchante’ Saga - Page 137 13. Magic New Zealand e-zine archives 14. Subscription Management ------------------------------------ 1. Editor's Message ------------------------------------- Message from Alan Watson - The Magic One As mentioned in last weeks Magic New Zealand e-zine - Close up Magician and Assistant Illusionist to Chuck Jones, Reed Michael Lucas, producer and star of Magic as Interpreted by Reed Michael Lucas, Is going to make Auckland his home on Jan 15th 2003. This is great news to our magic community because he is an exceptional talent as I can assure you and we look forward to many late night jam sessions from this incredible magician. Reed started his career under the wing of such greats as Jerry Andrus and Paul David. He has performed all over the west coast from Washington to Southern California for many companies and celebrities. He has worked his magic at places like Wizardz and the Magic Castle. He has also trained with Chuck Jones on the art of illusion building. If you have seen Chucks show before you can appreciate the kind of craftsmanship involved in the realization of his baffling effects. Reed produced the first magic DVD in the world and started the trend for major companies to follow with his utilization of the available features of the DVD format. If you have not had a chance to see his DVD Magic as Interpreted by Reed Michael Lucas you can pick one up from him or at www.murphysmagicsupplies.com. We are excited to see him journey to the other side of the world and will welcome him with open arms. --------------------------------------------- International acclaimed  Mentalist Marc Salem will be performing in Auckland New Zealand in April 2003. ----------------------------------------------- Remember if you have any magic news drop me a line: AW@Alan-Watson.com ---------------------------------- 2. WizardZ At Universal - Closed ---------------------------------- Published with permission of Milt Larsen – Editor of the Magic Castle Newsletter WizardZ at Universal City's Citywalk has closed. That is very sad news. When the club first opened many people asked if we were concerned about such close competition. The answer was "no." WizardZ was not competition, it was a place that gave our magicians added employment and dealt with a different audience, tieless tourists and kids. WizardZ, under the guidance of Fred Wood and Jonathan Neal Brown, always worked to support the Castle and we constantly supported them. Many of our top magicians were able to afford to work the Castle thanks to added income by working WizardZ. When Magic Island opened in Newport Beach many years ago they bad mouthed the Magic Castle. "The Magic Castle is the Cadillac of Magic, we will be the Rolls Royce". "The Magic Castle is a hang out for amateurs and old magicians; we will be the club for professionals and the hip crowd." Because of those and other comments we never gave that club an inch of space or supported them in any way. It had a short life. That was not the case with WizardZ. We are sorry to see them go. Caesars Magical Empire closed on November 30th. What a pity! It was a great idea and I can say that because it was my conception. I sold Henry Gluck, the then Chairman of the Board of Ceasars World, on the idea that there was no place in Las Vegas where you could see the type of intimate magic that you could experience at the Magic Castle. He liked the idea and asked me to come up with something like the Castle but on a more commercial level. I came up with the hidden city, where Caesar entertained his most important guests idea. Henry loved it and green lighted the multimillion doors project. That was almost ten years ago and I worked for three years on the project. What went wrong? My idea of a place for intimate magic ended up with a gigantic flame effect in a 100 foot dome, the gas cannister for which took up the space I had carefully planned for proper magicians facilities backstage. Bum-mer! Their version of our seance was a disaster. But worst of all, their marketing of the Empire was so bad that even the thousands of employees of Ceasers had no clue of where or what it was! Again, it is now only a memory even though it could still have been the greatest magical attrac-tion in Las Vegas. Such is life. So we say "Aloha" to both WizardZ and Caesars Magic Empire. Dad always used "aloha" in his Genii obituaries, "Till we meet again". It's a nice thought. ------------------------------------ 3. Marc Salem Visiting Melbourne ------------------------------------- Message from Tim Ellis (Aust) Check MAGIC TIMES for info about Marc Salem visiting Melbourne and Sydney next year. www.magictimes.com/ DON'T MISS IT! --------------------------------- 4. World Festival Of Magic Tour - NZ ---------------------------------- Message from Mike Easterbrook (NZ) I took Matthew (15) to have a look at the Chuck Jones show yesterday at 5pm. I'd visited earlier and left my card with one of the 'roadies who were setting up. They said Chuck would be there about 3 but I thought it a bad idea to speak to him before a show. It seemed to go well although I did not think the same 'energy' was in it as last time I saw him. It was good though and my son really enjoyed David Holder was not advertised on the leaflet we got. His straight jacket escape off the bike and with 2 spectators is really funny.. Great street act! The audience really enjoyed him. What a costume..A lady next to me said what about the body!! Chuck's interaction with helpers is very good and the last illusion a real blast! Matthew said to me...about Sylvester "he's a bit young!!" I think the audience was a little unsure of what to expect really... maybe they don't watch a lot of cartoons up here? I'm flat tack. ---------------------------------- 5. Science World Vancouver ---------------------------------- Message from Lon Mandrake (Canada) President SAM # 95 The Vancouver Society of American Magicians Assembly # 95 is performing at Science World from December 27 till January 5, 2003 with stage shows and walk around performers from 11 AM till 4PM. We have over 25 active magicians in our group so if you are in Vancouver, B. C. Canada over Christmas holidays please visit. ---------------------------------- 6. Flawless Bill Switch Ever!!! ---------------------------------- Message from Jack Poulter (Canada) You may find this of interest:  http://allmagic.com/magicshow/infantino/tvbillswitchinfantino.html ---------------------------------- 7. Daytona Magic Festival Of Magic ---------------------------------- Message from Harry Allen (US) Daytona Magic Festival Of Magic has dates of Oct 24-26 2003. Already Booked Daryl, Oscor Munoz, David Acer, Harry Allen and Frank Davis ---------------------------------- 8. Decided To Sell Off Most Of My Magic ---------------------------------- Message from Tom Zoss (US) I have decided to sell off most of my magic. I have a LOT of books, pamphlets, bound and loose periodicals, instruction sheets, and catalogs. I have some interesting collectible "paper" from my magic correspondence over the years, some tricks, tables, etc. At different times I was a columnist for The New TOPS ("This Business of Magic") and the reviewer for M-U-M, so I have interesting stuff and interesting files. When I was growing up in magic I was frustrated with the old-timers who had hoards of nice stuff that they never used. Well, I don't want to become one of them as I get older. I'm not using much of this material so it is time to turn it loose. Instead of sending e-mail attachments, I have created a simple web site to make it easy to view the list. You can also download a file for use in your word processor, as well as an Adobe Acrobat version for viewing or printing using your Acrobat Reader. Here's the web site: www.zoss.com/magicsale I send an e-mail notice when a new list is posted upon request - just write to me to be added to the distribution list at the sale e-mail address, which is magictom@zoss.com, and I'll add you to the notification list. Many items go quickly so please read the terms of the sale. Thank you very much for your interest. ---------------------------------- 9. Irish Convention - May 2003 ---------------------------------- Message from Peter J. Levins The address for the incomplete web pages for the Irish Convention to be held in May 2003 www.geocities.com/irishmagic2003 I hope this will be of some help to the many people who contacted me previously about same ---------------------------------- 10. Regal Princess - New Zealand And Australia ---------------------------------- Message from Paul Romhany (NZ) Natalie and I had a wonderful time in Rome ... I had three days off before heading down to the Caribbean where I joined the Sea Princess for a week sailing around Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Marteen, Tortola and other amazing ports. Then I joined the Dawn Princess for another week then flew to join the Sea again. On Thursday I fly out of Tortola to San Juan to Chicago to Sydney to Perth ... and hope my luggage arrives with me! ... where Natalie and I join the Regal Princess sailing around New Zealand and Australia for four months. Hope to catch up with friends in both countries when we are in port. ---------------------------------- 11. "Home and Away" - Magician ---------------------------------- Message from Fast Jimmy (Aust) In December’s issue of "Big Hit" magazine - (Page 42) Fast Jimmy - Close-up Magician is featured performing for some of Australia's favourite actors in the popular TV series "Home and Away". --------------------------------- 12. The Amazing ‘Orchante’ Saga – Page 137 ---------------------------------- Message from Tommy Orchard (The Amazing Orchante)(UK ex-pat Kiwi) --- THE DEREK METZGER STORY --- October of 1984 - I arrived back home (New Zealand) from Australia, to attend my mother's funeral - staying with my sister in law, Mary. During my two-week visit, I took the opportunity to catch up with some friends whom I hadn't seen a for quite some time, Sally Phillips being one of them. Mary very kindly offered to, ‘put on a lush dinner’, if I wanted to invite Sally over to her place. That was the first time I had the pleasure of meeting Derek. During the evening, the conversation somehow gravitated from singing, magic etc to - hypnotism. Derek, very politely (he doesn't swear) made it quite plain that as far as he was concerned, hypnotism was a ‘load of crap’! The whole thing was a con etc. When I offered to put him ‘under’, he was most indignant, as he wrongly thought that ‘hypnotists’ preyed on weak willed imbeciles and, apart from that, not only would I be wasting my time, but his as well! A few minutes later, Derek was sleeping soundly in his chair; Sally was aghast! Although she had seen me work my hypnotism show before, she just couldn't believe that Derek had gone ‘into trance’ so fast. “How the bloody hell”, she asked, “Could you put him to sleep so quickly with his contemptuous attitude towards Hypnosis?” “Well Sally”, I said, “Derek is a very intelligent young man, who has a powerful imagination as well - exactly the right combination for near instantaneous hypnosis!” Anyway, what chance did he have? After all, it was a forgone conclusion, what with me being yet another - ‘The Worlds Greatest…’etc. etc. What a load of … ‘Baloney’! After I woke him up, he utterly refused to believe that he had been hypnotised. Nothing we said, not even the ‘love of his life’, Sally, could convince him otherwise. Fortunately, I had a video camera, not like today's little miracles, this was a massive semi pro’ job that sat on your shoulder; you felt like you were doing a Cecil B. De Mille production! Having previously placed the suggestion into his subconscious mind that he would in future, go ‘to sleep’ at the mere click of my fingers, I popped him off again, filming him as I did so. Then I gave him various suggestions; for instance, I told him that Sally was the ugliest woman he had ever seen, and that she had the ‘HOTS’ for him. Not only that, but she had terrible body odour as well, then gradually it would dawn on him that the ‘smell’ was coming from his socks and that somehow, he had to surreptitiously get rid of them. At this stage, I have to tell you that Sally is an exceptionally beautiful lady (and she does not suffer from ‘BO’) and Derek was – still is, madly in love with her! Derek, by his very nature, is an absolute gentleman, and will go out of his way not to offend anyone, no matter what. That, by the way, does not mean that he won’t stand up for himself! His antics in trying, very politely, to keep this (in his imagination), apparently very ugly, and smelly woman at arms length was an absolute hoot, as was his desperate attempts to get rid of his ‘offending socks’! The best part was after I had woken him up. He immediately carried on as if nothing had happened, still protesting that it was all - ‘A load of bull’ and, ‘When was I going to start to try to hypnotise him’, ha ha. THAT’S WHEN WE PLAYED THE VIDEO, WITH HIMSELF IN THE STARRING ROLE! That Night Was The First Time That Anyone Had ‘Hypnotised’ Derek! Sixteen years later (year 2000), Derek said: “I have always enjoyed my ‘hypnotic’ experiences with Tommy…” Following title roles in ‘Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’, ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ and ‘Hans Christian Anderson’, Derek and Sally decided he should travel to England to try his luck there - Sally would stay on in New Zealand until Derek had settled down in London; she would then fly over to join him when Derek was sure that doors were going to open for him He arrived in January of 1986. How nice (I am jesting), leaving New Zealand’s beautiful blue skies and summer weather, for the grey, damp, bone – chilling, wintry conditions of ‘Cheery Old Britain’! At the time, Veronica, her sister Mary (my sister in law) and I were living in Edinburgh, Scotland, having arrived ourselves only a few months earlier - in 1985, from Brisbane in tropical Queensland, Australia (that was one hellava cultural shock for me!). Derek came and stayed with us for a couple of weeks, getting himself acclimatised, and settling down a bit before he headed off for the big smoke, London, to crack open the door of the theatre scene. Those two weeks, indeed our own arrival in this country, is a story in itself, which I’ll relate when I start The Great Britain side of my Saga. -CONTINUES ------------------------------------- 13. Magic New Zealand e-zine archives ------------------------------------- Back issues of the Magic New Zealand e-zine go to: www.watson.co.nz/ezine.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) Both the User Name and Password MUST be entered in lower case to gain access. ------------------------------------- 14. Subscription Management ------------------------------------- Our subscriber list is NOT made available to other companies or individuals. We value every subscriber and respect your privacy. To subscribe or unsubscribe from the Magic New Zealand e-zine: www.watson.co.nz/ezine.html Magic New Zealand e-zine is published weekly, on Sunday. The opinions expressed in this e-zine are those of the individual contributors and not those of Magic New Zealand. Neither Magic New Zealand or Alan Watson can 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 that they will not hold Magic New Zealand and/or Alan Watson liable or responsible in any way for the opinions expressed herein. We reserve the right to edit, correct or, in our discretion, choose not to publish any submissions provided to Magic New Zealand for potential publication. Magic New Zealand welcomes readers to submit timely articles or news items which appear to be of interest to our readers. Those submitting to this e-zine agree that we have permission to publish their submissions and that they have the full copyright to the material submitted. All works published by Magic New Zealand are fully protected by international copyright as provided by law, and articles cannot be published for profit by anyone other than the individual author without the written permission of Magic New Zealand. 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 2002 Alan Watson