* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Magic New Zealand * www.watson.co.nz/ezine.html * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Issue Number: #298 Date: Sunday 5 December 2004 Editor: Alan Watson www.magicianz.com www.Alan-Watson.com e-mail: AW@Alan-Watson.com ================================ Hi here is the latest news ================================   1. Editor’s Message   2. One Half Of Magical Duo "Penn & Teller" Gets Hitched   3. The Magician: DVD Petition (Bill Bixby Series 1973)   4. 2005 Houdini Days Magic Festival   5. Auction Will Be Ending This Sunday Evening (Dec. 5th)   6. More Magic Humor   7. I Need Help From Auckland Magicians - Bernard Reid   8. “De Larno” Lectures In Singapore   9. "Magical On 4th Street"   10. The History Behind MYI & The Youth Of The I.B.M   11. Exchange and Change - Jamie-G   12. The Amazing Orchante Saga   13. e-zine Archives   14. Subscription Management ------------------ 1. Editors Message ------------------- Message from Alan Watson - The Magic One Marjorie Stuart has Stroke Message from Richard J. Stuart I don't know if any of my magician friends have heard yet, but my mom, Marjorie Stuart wife of the late J. Marburger Stuart, suffered a stroke just before Thanksgiving. She is recovering in Winthrop University Hospital. She seems to be out of immediate danger, but her health is extremely poor. ----------------------------- For those who are attending the SAM Convention Boston 2005 and are making their bookings etc keep in mind that on July 10 a special 3pm performance of “Le Grand David” special buses will leave from convention hotel and tickets will be available at the Registration Desk. ------------------------------ Received a large number of messages about The Magician: DVD Petition (Bill Bixby Series 1973). I always give a credit to the first to send the message and this time it was Vanni Pule` from Malta. Refer item 3. -------------- Remember if you have any magic news drop me a line: AW@Alan-Watson.com ----------------- 2. One Half Of Magical Duo "Penn & Teller" Gets Hitched ----------------- Message from Peter Johnston (US) A Las Vegas headliner took time off last night to go get hitched. Penn Jillette, one half of Penn and Teller, married long-time girlfriend Emily Zolten in a private ceremony. Jillette had wanted to do the drive-thru ceremony, but he and his fiancé saw a sign outside of the Viva Las Vegas chapel advertising live streaming video of the wedding, so they opted for that. There will be no honeymoon, though. Penn rejoins his better half, Teller, tonight onstage during their nightly show at the Rio. ----------------- 3. The Magician: DVD Petition (Bill Bixby Series 1973) ----------------- Message from Tom Vorjohan forwarded on by Vanni Pule` (Malta) Hello friends in magic! I would love to see the series of "The Magician" with Bill Bixby from the 70's released on DVD. I vaguely remember seeing any of them in my youth, but as I understand magic on television, this was a pivotal moment for magic. The recent article in Genii was fabulous, and it has piqued my interest. With that said, this "online petition" was passed along to me, and I would like to pass it to you so that you will sign this petition. I looked at the other names on the petition, and it seems legit. There are names from all over the world..but only 217 of them when I signed. If we get several thousand names, I would think that Paramount would consider our request. Please click on the link below, sign it, and pass this along to your friends in magic to sign. Thanks! Tom Vorjohan ------------------------ www.petitiononline.com/TMDvD1/petition.html Would you please forward the petition to your friends and other magicians or fans or post a link at your website and/or forums you might belong to? You can see that Genii magazine and a few other respectable magician forums and websites are sharing the news, including: http://geniimagazine.com/forum/cgi bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=21&t=000236#000001 www.magictalk.com/cgibin/v_frame.cgi?review=209134 And, internationally: www.virtualmagie.com/actualites/ We need all the signatures we can get!!! Thank you for your time, interest and your signature. ----------------- 4. 2005 Houdini Days Magic Festival ----------------- Message from Chris Cochrane Please mark your calendars for the 2005 Houdini Days Magic Festival that will be held in Appleton, Wisconsin - Thursday, September 1st to Saturday, September 3rd, 2005. The website - www.houdinidays.com - will be updated with the following information very soon. Check the site often for the most updated info! Tentative Schedule Thursday, September 1, 2005: 9am-5pm: Magical Arts Institute (MAI) University (see below) 5:30pm-7:30pm: Reception and Silent Auction (Daryl, Whit Haydn, Jon Stetson, Bill Malone, Dan Fleshman, Doc Eason, Bob Sheets, Dan Harlan) 8pm-9:30pm: Cannon's Great Escapes Friday, September 2, 2005: 9am-5pm: Magical Arts Institute (MAI) University (see below) 7:30pm-9:30pm: Magic's Greatest Hits Show at the Fox Cities PAC (Jeff Bibik, Dana Daniels, Mitch Williams, Chris Linn, Dave Womach, David Seebach) Saturday, September 3, 2005: 10am-4pm: Festival's Outdoor Performances - Main Stage (Jeff Bibik, Glen Gerard, Chris Linn, Whit Haydn, Dana Daniels, Bob Sheets, David Seebach) - Children's Stage (Trixie Bond, David Ginn, Steve Taylor, Rondini) - Parlor Area (Jon Stetson, Bill Malone, Whit Haydn, Doc Eason, Dan Fleshman, Daryl, Dan Harlan, Mitch Williams) - Street Magic Area (Bob Sheets, Nate Nygren, Lou Lepore, Marv Roth, Bruce Hetzler) Magical Arts Institute (MAI) University: Thursday & Friday Tentative Schedule 9am-11am: David Ginn, Mark Cannon, Whit Haydn, Doc Eason 12:30pm-2:30pm: Trixie Bond, Daryl, Bob Sheets, Glen Gerard 3pm-5pm: Steve Taylor, Dan Fleshman, Dan Harlan, Mitch Williams Performers: Whit Haydn - www.whithaydn.com Daryl - www.foolerdoolers.com Bob Sheets - www.bobsheets.com Trixie Bond - www.trixiebond.com Dan Fleshman - www.danfleshmanmagic.com Mark Cannon - www.cannongreatescapes.com Mitch Williams - www.mitchwilliamsmagic.com David Ginn - www.ginnmagic.com Steve Taylor - www.peptox.com Dana Daniels - www.danadaniels.com Chris Linn - www.chrislinn.com Dave Womach - www.davewomach.com Dan Harlan - www.danharlan.com Jeff Bibik - www.bibik.com Glen Gerard - www.magic4you.com David Seebach - www.davidseebach.com Bill Malone - www.seebillmalone.com Jon Stetson - www.jonstetson.com Doc Eason - www.doceason.com Rondini - www.abramagic.com Nate Nygren - www.astonishment.org Lou Lepore - www.ldlmagic.com Bruce Hetzler - www.hetzlermagic.com Marv Roth - no website available The Comedy Magic of Mike & Chris - www.mikeandchrismagic.com I look forward to seeing you in Appleton in 2005! Tell your friends! Chris Cochrane Houdini Days Organizer www.houdinidays.com ----------------- 5. Auction Will Be Ending This Sunday Evening (Dec. 5th) ----------------- Message from Ted Bogusta (US) Good Morning, Just a quick email to let you know that we have listed a large collection of magic for auction at www.martinka.com/auction Some of the items are from the estate of Magician and Blackstone Sr. Assistant, George Johnstone. And some others are from the storage of the old Martinka - Flosso shop. There is a great variety of posters, books, apparatus and memorabilia. There are Okito and Houdini items and also some pieces from Milson Worth. And even more items are still being added. The auction will be ending this Sunday evening (Dec. 5th). In order to participate, if you have not already, please complete the simple registration at: www.martinka.com/register ----------------- 6. More Magic Humor ----------------- Message from Phil Schwartz Chic Canery has introduced the very latest and funniest collection of one-liners for magicians, masters of ceremonies and other performers: Chic Canery One-Liners for Performers, Volume 2. Chic Canery's Collections of one-liners are the largest selling collections of humor for magicians, speakers and other stage performers. Conveniently categorized by trick. All lines are audience tested. And they are available in convenient pdf files via email or on CD. Available now at www.chiccaneryoneliners.com ----------------- 7. I Need Help From Auckland Magicians - Bernard Reid ----------------- Message by Bernard Reid I have always prided myself on the fact that I always fulfil promises I make and I recently found out I unsuspectingly goofed on one. The last time I was in Auckland - which is about two years ago - I was at Tony and Mary Wilson's home and met a number of magicians. One magician whose name eludes me brought around an old Will Goldston book for me. He would not take any payment and so I asked if there was anything I could send him from the U.S. He told me of one thing he desperately needed for his act which was unobtainable in New Zealand and I promised to send a couple of dozen from the States. I always write these things down, but the slip of paper it was written on was inside a diary and I did not find it till a couple of months ago. HOWEVER..the name of the magician was NOT THERE!! As I will be spending the next seven months on the Sapphire Princess I have a number of visits to Auckland - my first being on December 16th - and the first thing I packed in my luggage were the supplies requested. Hopefully, the magician concerned will read this and know what the supplies are. If he, or anyone else can help please contact Tony Wilson directly and he can contact me and the supplies can be (belatedly) delivered. Thanks for any help anyone can give. ----------------- 8. “De Larno” Lectures In Singapore ----------------- Message from John Teo (Singapore) Robert Burns (aka De Larno) from Christchurch, New Zealand was touring Thailand (Bangkok) and Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) and he stopped over in Singapore from 23rd to 29th November 2004. He gave the members of IBM Singapore Ring 115 a lecture on the evening of 25th November 2004. Throughout the lecture, the performing experience of De Larno was evident in his handling of both spectators and props. The magic of De Larno had something for everyone. His lecture comprised Colour Changing Silks with sucker explanation, an improved Torn and Restored Newspapers based on Slydini’s method, a children’s presentation for Professor’s Nightmare, an eight-rings Linking Ring routine, and several card tricks suitable for close-up as well as platform. The card tricks consisted of a comedy selected card on spectator’s back, card in mouse-trap, “Out-Of-This-World”, 2 versions of “You Do As I Do” and an interesting spectator finds 3 chosen cards from shuffled deck! De Larno’s lecture notes were specially prepared for this occasion. They were nicely written up and copiously illustrated. De Larno also brought along several tricks for sale. Brisk sales was observed after the lecture. Members of Ring 115 Management Committee hosted De Larno to a dinner on 28th November 2004 at the Cheng Du Chinese Restaurant. There, we had time to discuss and perform magic. Of much interest to us were the many anecdotes that De Larno related of his encounters with famous magicians as he traveled around the world performing magic. While in Singapore, De Larno enjoyed visiting and shopping at Chinatown and Little India. He also visited the tourist island of Sentosa and its many attractions. We trust that De Larno enjoyed his stay in Singapore as much as we enjoyed the company of this friendly and enormously generous gentleman. ----------------- 9. "Magical On 4th Street" ----------------- Message from Geoff Williams 4th Street Theatre, St. Paul, MN USA The Twin Cities Best Variety Acts - family-friendly entertainment featuring magic, mime and mayhem! Wednesdays– Sundays throughout December (opening night: Thursday, Dec 2) 7:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. matinees $12 in advance (CALL 612-302-9252), $15 at door, $10 students/seniors. Shows featuring: Magicians: Geoff Williams Toby Travis David Harris MagicBrad Mooremagic Physical Comics: Dean Hatton Mikael Rudolph (Performer schedule and directions on website: www.magical4thstreet.com) ----------------- 10. The History Behind MYI & The Youth Of The I.B.M ----------------- Message from Tony Wilson - IBM International President 2004 - 2005 This following was taken from the I.B.M.’s website and was compiled by Steve Burton in 1999. (Check out www.magicyouth.com for references.) The concept of having a club of young magicians started in 1955 in Chicago, Illinois with two teenagers. As discussed in the May ’04 issue of Top Hat, the goal was to encourage members to write letters to each other to share ideas and experiences. They started a newsletter called “PIPS” in January 1956 and turned it over to Jess James in 1959. MYI grew & clubs or “chapters” were formed in several cities. This continued until 1964 when two other groups began to get a lot of attention in the world of young magicians. When Steve Kelley was 15 years old he thought it would be fun to start a magic club. He was inspired by a fellow who also lived in home state of Indiana named Dale Salwak. Dale was the president of the Magic Club of America (MCA) and also the editor of a magazine called Magic Carpet. Steve Kelley was a member #27 of MCA and he convinced his neighbour, Greg Heeter, to help him start a new teenage magic organisation. The called it the “International Club of Magic” (ICM) and they named their magazine, Top Hat. The premiere issue of Top Hat came out in January 1963 and Dale Salwak was one of its first contributors. This publication broke new ground in teen magic magazines because of its size and content. To help grow the organisation, Steve sent complimentary copies of Top Hat to all the members of MYI and MCA. This really helped the new club grow. In the fall of 1966, Steve was accepted into the University of Colorado and after three years of running ICM he knew he couldn’t continue once he went into college. But he didn’t want to see his club disappear into thin air. It was finally decided that to preserve the club and keep the members happy it would be best to merge ICM with one of the other youth groups. At this time MYI was not doing as well as it was in the past. Jess James had worked for more than 10 years to keep MYI active but it was hard with the increased competition from the other youth magic organisations. Steve decided it would be best for the groups to merge into one thus saving both at the same time. There was some discussion amongst the leaders of the two groups and an agreement was finally struck. The end result was to call it Magical Youth International with the magazine called Top Hat. MYI was given a new life with the members of ICM joining the group. In doing this MYI became the third largest magic organisation in the USA. Steve Kelley returned from college to become the leader, once again of MYI. Dale Salwak and Steve became life long friends and dale agreed to merge the Magic Club of America into MYI as well. With that, MYI was both the largest and the longest running youth magic club in the world. The group had several hundred members located around the world. Top Hat was a quality publication for young readers. The major organisations – the IBM and SAM – recognised the importance of young members. A young man named Richard Mossey so impressed the leaders of the I.B.M. when he was 14 that he was allowed to join the organisation provided he did not vote or hold office. He was the first “junior” member of the I.B.M. (who later went on to become International President!). He now holds the I.B.M.’s prestigious Medal of Honor and is a good example of how a young member can shape an organisation comprised mainly of adults. The Junior category was formally adopted and the age lowered (under the leadership of Intl. President Jep Hostetler) to age 12. Our sister organisation, the SAM, meanwhile kicked off a youth program called SYM; the I.B.M. had no such group until 1998 when John R Browne III became the International President. Mr Browne believed the I.B.M. should create a new program to support the efforts, education and artistic developments of the young members of the I.B.M. To do this, he asked Steve Burton, a professional magician and editor of Volume 8 of the Tarbell Course, to become the chairman of the Youth Committee. Steve Burton knew about MYI but thought it had “gone out of business”. Dale Salwak informed him that MYI was still doing fine under the continued leadership of Steve Kelly although its membership wasn’t what it was in its heyday. Burton contacted Kelley with the help of dale Salwak and eventually the idea was born, “Why not bring the oldest youth magic group into the largest magic organisation in the world?” The idea was presented to the I.B.M.’s Board of Trustees in January 1999. The leaders of the I.B.M. approved the plan, and an agreement was finalised in April 1999. As part of the agreement, Steve Burton became the editor of Top Hat and published its first issue as an I.B.M. publication in June 1999. All the current members of MYI were asked to join the I.B.M. Thus, the merger transformed into a Junior program for young magicians of the I.B.M. So this, in a nutshell, is the history of where we are now. You can see it took the imagination and dedication of a lot of people to form the program now known as Magic Youth International. But this history is still being written. It is up to the current group of young magicians to carry MYI forward. MYI will continue to be a source of inspiration for young magicians all over the world. This was taken from the I.B.M.’s website and was compiled by Steve Burton in 1999. (Check out www.magicyouth.com for references.) ----------------- 11. Exchange and Change - Jamie-G ----------------- Message from Jamie-G (Canada) Effect: Magician shows a coin in one hand and nothing in the other. And in one solid movement the magician changes the coin into a see threw crystal and gives the crystal out to the spectator as a magical give away. Props: You will need a silver coin and you will need a see threw crystal. (you can get these crystals at most dollar stores.) Method: You start out with this effect with the crystal palmed in your left hand in the bottom of your last two fingers. Also in the same hand (left hand) you are showing the silver coin with your first two fingers and thumb. Note: When showing the silver coin in this method in doing it like this the spectator seeing the silver coin in the left hand thinks that there is nothing else in the left hand and that it would be empty. Set-Up: Crystal is palmed in left hand bottom (last) two fingers. Know at this point you are going to pass the silver coin from the left hand to the right one. This is done as if you are just showing off the silver coin. (Silver coin is now in right hand and crystal is palmed in the left bottom two fingers. Now we are ready for the change. The silver coin in the right hand is going to go into a thumb pinch at the same time the right hand is going to open up and cover the left one. Once you slowly remove your right hand from the left one the silver coin had changed into the crystal. At this point you hand out the crystal as a magical gift. Note: This is a very quick and very easy move to perform once you have got it down. It should only take you a couple times of practice to start to get the idea of the exchange and change. This is a very powerful weapon for the magician and it is also great for young and old spectators. Give it a try and you will see what I'm talking about..JAMIE-G (www.jamiegmagic@yahoo.com) ----------------- 12. The Amazing Orchante Saga ----------------- Message from Tommy Orchard (The Amazing Orchante)(UK ex-pat Kiwi) Interlude Page 30 During my very early years, my parents, and others were constantly bombarding me about how fire-eaters, magicians, etc., were ‘Two a Penny’, and ‘A load of rubbish’! That they were nothing more than ‘scruffy, sideshow rogues and layabouts’, swindling the public with there Cheap Sideshow Stunts! Maybe they were right in many respects, but instead of ‘putting me off’; all their comments did was make me even more determined to succeed in developing my then ‘hobbies’. After spending all of my childhood and early youth in study and practice, it seemed quite logical to me when I ‘Became of Age’, to want to enter ‘Show Business’ as a fulltime career. Unfortunately, my parents didn’t see it that way, for all of the above reasons, so I received no help whatsoever in advancing myself. I was still going to school when I first started performing at local functions i.e. weddings, 21st birthday parties, kids shows etc (I was still damn near one myself). Oh yes, when I got a little older, my dad DID take me to the Licensed Night Club Restaurants ‘Jobs’ (that I was getting through two booking entertainment agencies), moaning about what a ‘Pain in the Arse’ I was (although he did seem to enjoy himself once we got there). Let’s face it, I didn’t have a driving licence, let alone have the money to buy my own car at that stage, so I had to rely on him. And I had to try and cope with getting a constant ‘earful’ about what a waste of time it all was and – ‘…About bloody time you got yourself a proper job…’! It’s not the easiest thing in the world, when you finally arrive at a venue, feeling totally demoralised after the constant barrage I had endured whilst getting there, and greet the owners - showing a face full of smiles and apparent joy; raring to go and entertain their patrons. GET YOURSELF A PROPER JOB? THAT WAS IT – THE FINAL INSULT! I transformed those ‘CHEAP STUNTS’ into ‘An Unrivalled-Artistic-Spectacular’ - a Theatrical Experience’ - from which I have performed excerpts on various Television shows, many times, around the globe. ‘The Amazing ‘ORCHANTÉ SHOW’ has entertained and fascinated NOT ONLY natives in Tin Sheds on remote Pacific Islands, but also the most sophisticated and discerning of audiences in the Finest of Venues and World Stages around the globe, and – IN THE PRESENCE OF ROYALTY! ------------------ 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) ------------------- 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 nor 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 2004 Alan Watson