* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Magic New Zealand * www.watson.co.nz/ezine.html * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Issue Number: #357 Date: Sunday 9th October 2005 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. Audio Feed Available For Web Browsers, iPoders & iTuners! 3. Who Knew Milbourne Christopher? 4. Martinka Auction XVIII Ends This Sunday 5. Opening For Acclaimed Singing Group OCTOBER PROJECT 6. Panthers Evans Theatre 7. Taylor's Magic Shops 9th Weekend of Magic 8. Hurricane Katrina Benefit Show 9. A Dice Stacking Retrospective, Part 10 10. The Amazing Orchante Saga 11. e-zine Archives 12. Privacy Policy And Copyright Notice ------------------ 1. Editors Message ------------------- Message from Alan Watson - The Magic One This has been a very quiet week for news. Remember if you have any magic news drop me a line: AW@Alan-Watson.com ----------------- 2. Audio Feed Available For Web Browsers, iPoders & iTuners! ----------------- Message from Michael D. Douglass, P.N.P. Executive Director, S.A.M. Conventions The S.A.M. Convention Update, a dynamic new way to hear about new developments for the upcoming S.A.M. Convention, is on the air! (Well, the web, anyway!) To Listen via your Internet Browser: The most recent S.A.M. Convention Updates are just a click away: http://www.samconvention.blogspot.com For iPoders and iTuners: Paste this RSS link into your subscription window, and you'll get every update as it comes out! http://samconvention.audioblog.com/rss/new.xml The first broadcast featured Maria Ibanez, First Vice President, and Coordinator for the S.A.M. Sessions, reviewing the successes in Boston, and talking about great new ideas for Louisville in 2006! NOW PLAYING: Hear everything (almost...) you always wanted to know about the S.A.M. Convention, and what sets it apart from the competition! National First Vice President Bruce Kalver turns the tables and serves as the host for this week as he interviews Convention Executive Director Michael Douglass! ----------------- 3. Who Knew Milbourne Christopher? ----------------- Message from Jon Racherbaumer (US) Hello: Now that I'm back home and more or less into the "fray," I'm trying to catch up while avoiding post-Katrina "horror shows" on television. As New Orleans crawls and inches its way toward recovery, I 'm resuming writing projects. For one thing, I'm in the process of writing a lengthy, detailed piece on Milbourne Christopher, a magician-writer-collector from yesteryear. Those of my generation and earlier knew him; however, he is probably not that well-known to younger magicians. In my case, I certainly knew of him and had read many of his books and articles. I also saw a couple of his television specials and enjoyed reading his Panorama of Magic several times after it was published. Unfortunately I never met or saw him perform live-a handicap if one wants to accurately and responsibly write about both the man and the performer. At present I have most of the published material extant, plus access to surviving films. Of course, I will spend time with Maurine Christopher to get her personal take. Otherwise, I hope to contact others who knew Milbourne, saw him perform, or was somehow inspired or influenced by him (personally) by his works. Short takes and personal asides will all bring his persona into sharper focus.at least that's the goal. Therefore, I'm writing friends and colleagues (like you) on the off-chance that they may have something to say or write concerning Milbourne. This solicitation includes several magicians who were not around during Milbourne's hey-day and may know about him only via his contributions and books. So, if you have anything you may want to say, add, or celebrate-no matter how incidental or brief- regarding Milbourne Christopher and his contribution to magic, please send them to me. You may have a "story," a brief anecdote, or even have photographs or letters? If this solicitation meets with your approval and you have the time and incentive, send all or anything to: Jon Racherbaumer P.O. Box 741302 New Orleans, LA 70174-1302 Or simply e-mail me at: Joncards@aol.com VoxSite@aol.com Many thanks in advance. Sincerely, JR ----------------- 4. Martinka Auction XVIII Ends This Sunday ----------------- Message from Ted Bogusta (US) Martinka's 18th online auction of vintage and modern magic ends this Sunday, Oct. 9th. There are over 600 lots listed in all categories and price ranges. Some of the highlights include Doug Hennings Sword through Girl, A clock made by Robert-Houdin, Petrie Lewis items, Posters from Kellar, Goldin and much, much more. Everything can be viewed at: www.martinka.com/auction. Martinka & Co., Inc. 103 Godwin Ave. Midland Park, NJ 07432 (201) 444-7576 ----------------- 5. Opening For Acclaimed Singing Group OCTOBER PROJECT ----------------- Message from Ben Robinson (US) Ben Robinson reprises his role opening for acclaimed singing group OCTOBER PROJECT - 2 Shows!! October 14 & 15 Ben gears up for his repeat role as Opening act for the acclaimed singing act October Project. Tickets for these "Live at the Loft" concerts in a gorgeous art gallery in SoHo have been an underground sensation leaving audiences spellbound with great food served, open bar and Ben's magical opening set, followed by a special musical guest - different on both nights, check the website - and then OP with their angelic sounds. For $50 it is what New York Magazine calls a "best bet." These shows do sell out as seating is limited to 75 people. Go to: http://www.octoberproject.net to pay for tickets via Paypal. ----------------- 6. Panthers Evans Theatre ----------------- Message from Brendan Montanner (Aust) Magic show spectacular Dec 3rd Panthers Evans Theatre, dinner and show by Tony Laffan Brendan Montanner. ----------------- 7. Taylor's Magic Shops 9th Weekend of Magic ----------------- Message from Greg Britt (NZ) Taylor's Magic Shop, Sydney Australia host a Magic Weekend Annually. I have just returned from one of these weekends hosted by Sean & Dianne Taylor. This was nothing short of a 1st class magic event. Sean combined 3 top lecturers/performers and with an attendance of approx 125 there was something for all tastes and levels of magic. Alan Shaxon from the UK was a charming performer with classical magic, his routine in the lecture where a watch, ring, credit card and money vanish all to appear back on the performer was worth the registration. Lee Asher from the USA not only delivered much clever and original close-up but also worked comfortably and won his audience over on the large stage show. For my personal style of magic Duane & Mary Laflin from the USA were nothing short of superb, his workshop on magic with a message and his lecture mainly on silks and sponges introduced us to many colorful, stunning and simple tricks we could add to our repertoire. His dealers table was practically cleaned out and there was many a happy magician with their purchase. Lunches provided at the Magic Shop allowed us to catch up with fellow magicians and look at Sean's vast array of all the latest props. The evening show hosted by Sean combined 4 top Australian acts with the overseas guests, Soul Mystique who danced and did more fast costume changes than I could list had a slick, catchy and fantastic finish to the show, their last costume change where a load of tinsel fell on them and before it touched the ground another costume change caught us all of guard. Congratulations Sean & Dianna for hosting what has become one of magic's great events. ----------------- 8. A Dice Stacking Retrospective, Part 10 ----------------- Message from Tony L. Lewis (US) KC Card & Dice Company, #10 in the dice stacking series In the last article in the series, Clarke "The Senator" Crandall had given me some pointers about dice stacking, including the double stack of 8 dice (4 & 4). The next articles in the series will partly explore *one of the most fascinating aspects of magic*, cheating. Some Magicians demonstrate cheating at cards and dice in order to entertain their audiences. True cheats perfect these skills in order to fleece their victims. However, I knew one very accomplished magician who used to brag to my about how he and a confederate used their ability as card handlers to roam about California's poker rooms and make money cheating. On the other hand Martin Nash, who made his living demonstrating card cheating, confessed to me that he would never have the nerve to cheat in an actual card game. If you want to investigate cheating further try starting at http://tinyurl.com/eyvew . * * * I was still stacking with the original five dice that came with the "Dice stacking package" that I had purchased from Magic Inc. These dice were OK, but not even in the same league as precision dice. Some magicians at Magic, Inc. told me that there was a company located just south of the Chicago "Loop" that specialized in selling precision gambling equipment. Its name was KC Card & Dice CO. Therefore, I found myself several days later on S. Wabash Ave. in front of that infamous establishment. Why "Infamous"? You will see later on. When I entered the store I was confronted with display cases full of cards, dice, and other gaming equipment. I walked up to a gentleman standing behind a counter and told him I wanted some precision, inlaid dice. I showed him the ones that I had and he laughed. He said something like. "Throw that crap away, kid, and get yourself some real dice." I then asked him how much "real dice" would cost me. He in turn asked me how many pairs I wanted. I replied "Four." He took out a pencil and paper and did some fast calculating. (This was circa 1960, folks) He said "I'll tell you what I can do for you. I can give you four pairs of precision dice with your name embossed on each die for a total of eight dollars." Now, I was unemployed except for the weekly poker game that I ran in those days. I was paying $75 a month for a very decent one bedroom apartment, so $8 was not a trivial purchase for me. However, I knew that it would buy me eight dice made by a company famous for the quality of its products, so I agreed. I put down a $5 deposit and left. I could hardly wait to see what my new dice would look like. * * * In the next article, I get a crash education in crooked gaming equipment and marked cards! Regards, Tony L. Lewis ----------------- 9. The Amazing Orchante Saga ----------------- Message from Tommy Orchard (The Amazing Orchante)(UK ex-pat Kiwi) Page 70 Murphy's Law - if everything seems to be going well, you obviously don't know what the hell is going on. Certainly, everything seemed to be going well for a change, our car had been repaired - for free, well not exactly free - I had to swallow my sword to prove a point (unintentional pun) but that was a small price to pay and in the process another sceptic, the mechanic, had been converted. The time is now around 2:30pm in the afternoon - as we once again headed off to reach Tauranga - we should have been there in the early morning and sound asleep in a motel by this time; neither of us have had any sleep and we're feeling pretty rugged as we left Taupo and once again hit Highway One. 'Sailing' gaily along, we're just a few miles further on from where we last broke down - you wouldn't believe it, Bloody 'Murphy' struck yet again! (Strike nine) the radiator blew! My vocabulary dramatically expanded as I found new words to add to my second language - the atmosphere - the very air around my immediate vicinity turned, as I ranted and raved, a distinct shade of blue, - spreading as far as the distant horizon! If there had been a broken branch handy, I would have done a 'Basil Fawlty' (a la 'Faulty Towers') and given the car a good beating - it wasn't really the cars fault. Thankfully, at this time of the day, there was plenty of traffic on the road; we locked the car and thumbed a ride back into Taupo. Incidentally, the Kinleith Forest was still on our left, when the car's radiator had blown up - in a great imitation of a Rotorua geyser - and stopped, - the relevance of this statement will become clear shortly. Arriving in Taupo we went directly to the garage - the mechanic took one at us and said "oh no, not again". When we explained that the radiator was knackered, he said "well, there's no way I can fix that today but I'll tow your car back here and fix it tomorrow". When we got back to the car, we discovered that -'Murphy' had struck again (strike 10). One of the Forest Pine trees, that line the road as far as you can see, had fallen down - this time,' Murphy' had misjudged - the tree had missed our car by inches. The mechanic couldn't believe his eyes "are you sure" he said "that someone hasn't put a hex on you?" I was starting to wonder! By now the time was around at 4 p m. - we were due on stage in Tauranga at 8.45 - 9:00pm. Taupo is around 100 miles (165 kilometres) from Tauranga, driving time approximately two-and-a-half hours - a five hour round trip. I put a frantic call through to David McKee (the promoter) and explained the misfortunes that 'Murphy' had wrought upon us". Don't worry "he said, "I'll send a car right now to pick you up". As you can imagine, Veronica and I were absolutely shattered, with a two and a half hour trip still facing us and a 90 minute hypnotism show to perform when we got there - and 'they' say that show biz folk have an easy life of it - BUGGER OFF!!! Eventually, the car picked us up and we finally arrived in Tauranga at 8:45pm - we had 15 minutes to get ready and be on stage for a 9:00pm start. In that time I had a shave, a sponge bath from out of a hand basin, got dressed, made sure that the carpet had been placed on the stage and with 50 or so chairs set up in a semi-circle. With a big introduction the curtains open up and as usual the stage filled up with people when I called for volunteers. The hypnotic show got underway - I've got my subjects sitting in the chairs - they are right on the verge of going to sleep (I was green with envy) and then bloody 'Murphy', struck again! (Strike 11). The last pop band that had played in the first half of the show had shoved all their equipment into the wings of the stage; Bunny Walters, one of New Zealand's major pop stars of the time, had parked himself on the drummer's stool to watch the fun. He was the first to - 'go under'! When he toppled over he fell into the drummers cymbals - the almighty discordant clashing and crashing, woke the entire stage full subjects - dear God, I had to start all over! Is it any wonder then, that over the years, whenever I've met 'a Murphy' during our various tours of Ireland - and there's a lot of them - Murphy's that is, I got a glazed look in my eyes as I inquired if they had ever visited New Zealand during the early-Seventies. Not one has admitted, to this day, to having visited my home country ------- 'Bloody Murphy!' ---------------- 10. 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