* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Magic New Zealand * Proudly sponsored by International Entertainment * www.Alan-Watson.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Issue Number: #682 Date: Sunday 9th August 2009 Editor: Alan Watson www.magicianz.com e-mail: AW@Alan-Watson.com ================================ Hi here is the latest news ================================ 1. Editor's Message 2. FISM - The World Championships of Magic 3. Magic and Mentalism - Old Time Radio Shows 4. Sue-Anne Webster's FISM Competition Review #1 5. Remarkable Magic #4 - Nick Lewin 6. "Follow the Leader" - #130 - Kyle Peron 7. Cruising With Paul Romhany #80 8. FISM and the Year of Rip Off Artists 9. Let's Give Up On Learning Stage Deportment 10. Latest British Ring Convention News 11. Magic in the Park - Postponed 12. A Magical Night II 13. Clears Up The Tiger At Large In Las Vegas Story 14. e-zine Archives 15. Privacy Policy and Copyright Notice -------------------------------------------- 1. Editor's Message -------------------------------------------- I would like to thank International Entertainment for continuing their very generous sponsorship of Magic New Zealand for the next twelve months. Also Sue-Anne Webster (Australia) has done an excellent job on reviewing all the FISM competition acts which will be published over the next three issues of Magic New Zealand, first segment this week. Remember if you have any magic news drop me a line: AW@Alan-Watson.com -------------------------------------------- 2. FISM - The World Championships of Magic -------------------------------------------- Message from Tobias Beckwith (US) Jeff McBride teams up this week with Street of Cards TV for the first ever live reporting from FISM -- The World Championships of Magic, going on right now in Beijing. McBride is reporting using his tiny pocket camera, with instant uploads to the Street of Cards web site. If you're a magic fan and always wanted to visit the biggest event in magic, but couldn't make it in person -- now you can be there virtually! Go to http://streetofcards.tv/channel/27/jeff-mcbride/ now. We suggest keeping a window open -- the blasts come through periodically. Until the next one is live, you can watch the archived reports Jeff has already filed. I know we just sent you a Museletter earlier this week -- but we didn't want our friends and reader to miss out on this opportunity, which continues for just a couple of more days. We hope you'll enjoy experiencing the World Championships of Magic with Jeff! -------------------------------------------- 3. Magic and Mentalism - Old Time Radio Shows -------------------------------------------- Message by Barry Govan (Aust) Being a long time collector of old time radio shows, one of my contacts in the USA has put out a marvelous collection of magic and mentalism related radio shows. Some are fiction like Mandrake and Chandu but there are many other gems including most of the Dunninger radio programs from the thirties. The contact in case anyone is interested is: www.otrcat.com -------------------------------------------- 4. Sue-Anne Webster's FISM Competition Review #1 -------------------------------------------- Message by Sue-Anne Webster (Aust) Part 1 of 3 installments Stage Competition Day 1 1. Mayuko General Magic Japan Sponsor: Society of Japanese Magicians - Junichiro Sejima Alice in Wonderland theme. Nice routine, clean moves and easy to watch. School girl in tartan skirt, shirt and blazer with a plush toy white rabbit. Takes a white tea cup and pours tea from a tea pot into the cup, tips the cup upside-down and a white ball drops into her hand. Vanishes the ball - reappears between her hands. White ball production in a relaxed, measured and fluid fashion. One ball to four instantly as she turns around, then one ball to four in full view. One ball in each hand to 8 balls instantly. She turns to take off school coat - as the coat drops, instant costume change to blue Alice style dress with white apron. She looks into a silver hand mirror and pulls cards from it. Card production with single cards and card fans. Pulls a pink silk from the mirror and produces a card from the silk - silk is draped over card to produce a card fan - then two card fans. Card fan production and manipulation, proving all single cards. Pink silk over hand to produce a large card appearance - then a large card fan - then two card fans (real cards). One card fan vanishes the other, and then she vanishes the last one. Again, producing large cards - two large card fans, then multiplying cards between all fingers on both hands three times over. Pink cell phone rings, she answers, and then goes behind white curtain for a quick costume change back into her school uniform. Picks up the white rabbit and waves its paw goodbye. 2. Ernesto General Magic Italy Sponsor: Club Magico Italiano - Domenico Dante Neat dark gray suit. Latin style music. Energetic. Pulls out a four-colour silk with green, yellow, blue and red squares - and from it makes seven coloured umbrellas appear. Continues with a coloured umbrella production. Takes a red silk and produces more umbrellas. Then from the red silk, four red umbrellas and dances to the Latin beat for a while with his umbrellas. Change of music - 'music box' style. Pulls out a smaller yellow silk and produces a small yellow umbrella. Music change to Latin beat again - pulls out another large four-colour silk again. Which changes to four separate coloured silks all tied together, then changes to an umbrella that he spins upside down on his hand sending out sprays of green confetti up into the air. More confetti from his hands produces another umbrella with red confetti. From colour umbrella to more colour umbrellas to multi-colour umbrellas with silks attached to the outer prongs. He lights up the umbrella stick like a sparkler. Produces yet more umbrellas - to three multi-colour umbrellas - to six multi colour umbrellas. From one set of three umbrellas locked together, he produces a large multi-colour umbrella with silks hanging from the outer prongs - then two large umbrellas with silks. No, I didn't repeat myself - he finishes the act with umbrellas strewn everywhere! This act was the first of many that gave this FISM the reputation: 'Mess is More'. 3. Jae Hoon Lim General Magic Republic of Korea Sponsor: Korean Magic Society - Eun-Sun Chung Winner of 2008 FISM Asia Black outfit - white cravat. White silk flies around stage. On its return, it turns into a dove. A cane lights up with fire at the tip, which turns into a dove. Takes off white cravat with a black silk sheath in the other hand. Cravat to dove, then from black silk slowly produces another dove. Blows up a blue balloon. He bursts the blue balloon, leaving a fully blown white balloon in its place. At the same time, the burst blue balloon produced a blue dove. and in his other hand the white balloon shrank to produce a white dove. Took 'egg' from a dove and did white multiplying balls - then coloured multiplying balls. Colour silk - instant change back to colour balls and ball production, then confetti. Placed balls into slim medium sized paper screen box (black with a dove picture in white) and from it produces a dove. Then produces fake dove, to real dove, then two silks to multi-colour silks from each hand and produces a dove form each one of them. One dove turns to confetti. Different coloured doves in cage - cage falls apart, but doves all change into one long multi-colour silk that flies away into the stage wing. Timing was a bit off throughout the act, but had a couple of visually interesting dove productions. 4. Liu Mingya Manipulation China Sponsor: China Magic Art Society - Lin Jian Pigeon sounds in the darkness with Chinese style music. Curtains open. Traditional style modern clothing. Performs warrior moves with a sword on fire. Dove appears from the fire and flies back to its cage, which looked great. A balloon sits propped at the front of the stage. Liu jabs the balloon with his sword and upon bursting it, a dove appears, which also looked good. Red silk produces red candle. Lights candle - vanish it with silk. Produces an egg and breaks it into a brandy glass. Red silk produces cards - full 360 degree fans in both hands, then card and card fan productions. Card fan to glitter flowers. Produces another egg - breaks it into glass. Paper flash, fire into real egg - production and manipulation of three eggs - fourth egg from a black cloth with a picture of a chicken, which he breaks into the glass. More one-handed egg manipulation (drops one and it breaks, but replaces it with a spare) - then breaks all three into the glass to show they are real. Produces another egg from the air, breaks into glass. Takes a silver glitter cloth and does a quick fake dove zombie, which turns into a real dove. Produces a cage from the silver cloth. Then produces streamers form his hand and a very large green flag, waving it over the dove cage - cage falls apart and doves vanish. Then all the doves fly back to him from the stage wings, landing on performer and the outstretched flag pole. This was popular with the audience. The live dove work in this act was effective. 5. Artyom Shchukin General Magic Russian Federation Sponsor: Russian Association of Magicians - Vladimir Rudnev Very short act. Neat black tails and white cravat. Cravat to cane, then produces a dove. Takes off black gloves, produces a dove which drops an 'egg' - vanish - then two eggs appear - ball manipulation. From a white and red silk comes two doves - white and red. From red dove to red silk to red plume to cascade of streamers to cards. Cards into a card fan which diminishes, then vanishes. Card fan productions and vanishes. Card fan manipulation. Card productions from hands. Four birds in cage - vanish to confetti under a shiny silver cloth. This was the start of many, many card - card fan - confetti production acts. 6. Cheffmagic General Magic Denmark Sponsor: Magisk Cirkel Danmark - Bo Thomsen 3rd Comedy Magic, FISM 2009 (recategorised by Jury) Light comedy/waiter routine. Chef in long white chef outfit. Extensive use of sound effects. Cracks his back and produces a wooden spoon from in front of his apron. Puts spoon in cooking pot on stove and it stirs by itself. Chef opens cook book - it catches fire. Drinks from Pepsi bottle and it floats between his hands - then straw and cup routine, straw goes through bottom of cup, business with cup and straw. Floating glass as liquid is poured into it. From a raw chicken he produces an egg - then egg production - eggs into pot. Squashes an egg on his forehead. Stretches the splattered egg and blows it into a balloon, bursts it with a knife and produces a mechanical comical toy chicken. Wooden spoon through head, then makes herbs grow in a pot next to stove. Farts - flash of fire from bottom, then walks behind set (pantry) for a costume change to waiter. Tastes food in pot with a metal spoon. Wipes spoon with white silk hanky, then produces from the silk, a candle holder and a candle. Wine into glass. Takes empty glass, waves silk, glass full of wine. Matches, lights candle. Fly buzzes, then falls into soup. Catches fly, squashes it into a card fan. Dunks cards, like crackers into the soup and eats them. Comedy card production with sound effects - gun sounds - card production - card to ball - manipulation with one ball to more sound effects. One ball to four - to eight instantly. Another fly - squashes it in to a larger card fan - more card productions, then produces a sign 'The End' and shoots a flash from his finger tip. Hmmm. slapstick comedy with a mediocre effect on the audience. 7. Jorge Luengo Mental Magic Spain Sponsor: Sociedad Espanola de Ilusionismo - Joaquin Rodriguez Flores Award for Invention, FISM 2009 Now, this effect/invention is clever! Crushes paper and throws into audience for a random volunteer. After paper is thrown to third person - if they speak English - is the volunteer. Volunteer told to stare into Jorge's eyes. Volunteer told to close eyes. Jorge gets three numbers written down by three audience members. He adds them up and writes on a small board, then asks volunteer to show his small whiteboard to audience and told to concentrate - volunteer has to write the number on a board of his own. But volunteer could not speak English, so starts to speak in his own language into the microphone. I found out later that the volunteer said he was so sorry that he could not speak English. SO. another volunteer ran up on stage to take over where the last one left off. Time was ticking. He looked at Jorge and concentrated, then wrote a number on his whiteboard. The number revealed was 1743... the same as Jorge had written on his whiteboard. But the volunteer also wrote 'PARIS'. Jorge revealed that inside his coat pocket was an air ticket to Paris. He opened the ticket so we could see the word 'PARIS' written on the back. Then, Jorge took out a little bag from his coat and asked the volunteer what was inside the bag. The volunteer responded, 'coin'. Jorge revealed that inside the bag was a present from his grandfather. which was a coin. It would have been more amazing if the coin was from Paris, dated 1743. 8. Jeff Lee General Magic Chinese Taipei Sponsor: Black Hat magic Association - Kai-Fu Wang Lighting problem at first. Interesting use of media. On a small screen, white light turns into a compact disc. Jeff reaches into the screen and pulls it out - changes to a triangle - to square - and back to CD, then colour disc production. Drops six colour discs into screen (three on top row - three on bottom row). He touches each disc and they light up to different musical sounds. He morphs them into one white disc again, which moves towards him and drops out of the screen. Jeff picks it up and changes it into a 'smiley face' disc. Another smiley face appears on screen - a girl - he puts his disc onto the screen, they move close to each other and fall in love. He pulls out a yellow disc, stretches it, a red light appears on it, he spins it - it floats. He produces a red silk and CD case. Disc appears in CD case - CD turns red in case. He takes it out, but part of the disc is missing. The part of the disc that's missing appears on the screen, which he takes to fix the CD. Multiplying disc production and manipulation. Some screen work with the disc, then large disc appears, he takes it off screen, makes it a small disc - into large card reading, 'The End' on the screen.. 9. Martino General Magic Greece Sponsor: Academy Of Magicians Of Greece - Gousis Christoforos Smoke as curtains open. 19th Century outfit. Top hat, tails, white cravat and black cloak with purple satin lining. Fire in hands production and manipulation - to fire sticks and vanish. Takes off cravat, cloak and gloves. Takes out wallet - fire - then large coin from wallet. Large coin production into hat - more coins - coin fan in fingers. Coin vanish to smoke and appearance (but timing was a little off). More coins - manipulation into hat. Newspaper from coat. Torn and restored newspaper - with piece missing that dropped to the floor earlier. Closes newspaper, missing piece was pressed into paper with smoke and fully restored. Huge fake coin from newspaper - large coin production (bit fiddly). Silk from coat pocket into cane and glitter fell from ceiling. 10. Hughes Protat Manipulation France Sponsor: Federation Francaise des Artistes Prestidigitateurs - Peter Din A crazy character dressed in black - curly boots like a jester - baggy pants like a genie, circus-like coat, a hat like Fagan from 'Oliver Twist' with a yellow plume in it - eyes wide open and mouth constantly talking (in silence). Fire to coin and into a black tin on a table - coin production into black tin - then sudden glitter from hands revealing a stash of cash. Takes a string and lights it - flashes into a chain of gold medals. then gold medal chain production - throws it all into an old black bag or leaves it on the floor. Takes an old brown scroll, unrolls it - rolls up again to produce more cash and plenty of glitter confetti. Shows hands empty - change in music to a heartbeat type sound - produces a coin which vanishes - then produces it again to the beat. Music beats up to coin production and manipulation. Last coin changes to yellow silk that he puts in his top coat pocket. More coin productions - coins into bucket, then cash production - vanishes to yellow silk that went missing from his pocket - puts it back into top pocket. Produce coins - fire flash to vanish more coins - throws coins into the air and catches them in one hand - repeats this over and over until coins turn to a stash of cash - then more coins and manipulation - another coin medal, then a big display of gold and silver glitter confetti shooting into the air. He picks up his hat (next to black tin) to leave, when lots of cash falls out over the stage. 11. Sami Matoshi General Magic Albania Sponsor: Artistic Society Hypnoses - Sami Matoshi Cancelled due to health issues. 12. Zhang Chao Manipulation China Sponsor: China Magic Art Society - Lin Jian Act opens on an interesting scene. Two bamboo arrangements beside a temple prop. Traditional music. UV lights up an old traditional man with long white hair and a long white beard, dressed in white traditional Chinese robes. Produces fire in hands to white confetti. Produces cash, then two cash fans. Produces a big white flag - waves it over himself - costume change to more modern black patterned Chinese clothes. Confetti to green silk and wipes his front to produce a green tie already in place. Cash production and manipulation of cash with fingers. More cash - balanced on arm, then 360 degree cash fans, tosses into the air (like confetti). Now modern music. Green silk to red silk - produces sun glasses. Red silk changes tie to red. Produces red card fan with white confetti. Produces money from fan - vanish card fan. Produces cash - cash manipulation with lots of confetti. Takes off sunglasses - puts in pocket. Magically draws money from the ground up towards himself. 13. Hyun-Joon Kim Manipulation Republic of Korea Sponsor: Korean Magic Society - Eun-Sun Chung Hat on small table. Black outfit. Produces card fan - then single cards and card fan production - then colour cards, then normal cards again and 360 degree card fans. Tosses into the air. More cards and confetti - some make it into his hat. Then card fountain from hat. Produces card in his hand, then a white ball - back to card - then ball again which vanishes in a white flash. White ball to colour ball - to four colour ball routine. Ball to confetti. From the confetti, he pulls a white ball - to red ball - red and white ball production, then two white balls to four, then ball manipulation. Balls into hat. Ball to card - to red card with confetti to green card - to yellow card - vanish. Card appearance to white glove. 14. Latko General Magic Argentina Sponsor: Entidad Magica Argentina - Ray Francas Competed FISM 2006 with a similar act. Something different. I like acts that you can remember, like this one. Smoke and sound effects in the dark of a motor accident. Lights come up on the scene of a motorbike accident. The biker, in full biker outfit, is upset - his motor bike has been smashed to pieces. Takes off his gloves and strikes a match on his shoes. When he sees two flames in his hands, he gets an idea - with fire, he will restore his bike. Appearing canes (and additions) become the handle bars. Produces the gears from fire. Fire sticks make spokes for the front wheel, puts wheel back on his bike. Produces bike indicators. Lights the back wheel on fire, which fully restores its spokes and he attaches it to the back of the bike. Produces two side bike lights from fire flashes - picks up main front light and makes it shine, levitates it and it flies over to the bike, attaching itself in position to the bike. Produces a large bike flag - waves it over the bike and the paint job restores. He picks up front bike shield and covers his face for a second, revealing helmet fully in place on his head. Gets on the bike - blackout - bike lights come up and bike moves forward. Stage lights come back up and Latko jumps off bike to take a bow. Great lateral thinking and use of magic by Latko. 15. Serge Fergini Manipulation Russian Federation Sponsor: Russian Association of Magicians - Vladimir Rudnev Black suit. Two false starts due to his music starting too soon. Shows empty hand - closes it - then a lot of open and closing of hands before he finally produces a red ball. His hands moved like quick spider legs - or fast moving crabs to his jazz music, doing ball manipulation - then cards - and back and forth from balls to cards. Much of his performance was done with his back to the audience, stumbling through his movements. Then he just walks off stage with his fingers manipulating a red ball. Hmmm. weird. 16. Bo Wen Stage Illusions China Sponsor: China Magic Art Society - Lin Jian Huge painted tree backdrop, wooden hut prop and palms in pots. Traditional Chinese music. Five beautiful girls in wonderfully colourful Chinese costumes. Bo walks on in traditional costume, playing a flute. This looks to be a promising act until Bo draws an image of a large goldfish on a drawing board and pulls it off the page - a real one - on a hook - and puts it in a bowl of water looking a little worse for wear (it's still alive). He covers a small water tank, then reveals smaller live goldfish. He covers it again with the shiny cloth, carries it forward and vanishes the tank with water and fish. He takes a large shiny, rusty colour cloth and drags the first large goldfish with hook out of the bowl and puts it into a larger fish tank. He covers the tank, then uncovers it to reveal a girl in the water. She gets out while the other girls wave about some wooden water buckets, splashing water, then tipping them upside down to throw confetti everywhere. Bo gets chained up to bamboo restraints and gets into the largest tank - lid on and covers with a cloth. He's shown trying to escape - then covered again. Pretty girls dancing and posing. Then cloth is lifted to show Bo has vanished. Cloth covers tank again, then lifted to reveal two crocodiles (fake ones). Bo appears at the back of the theatre - all wet and serenely walks towards the stage playing the flute. Girls dance gently. Bo gestures and the cloth covers the tank - then comes off to reveal crocs have turned into two girls wearing goggles in the tank.. and leaves them there. in the water. I was concerned about their oxygen. Day 2 17. Wang Qimo Stage Illusions China Sponsor: China Magic Art Society - Lin Jian This was a totally weird act that went nowhere. Back screen projects a picture of the universe. Wang appears on screen, walking in the universe, then 'jumps off screen' and is lowered to the stage from top the rafters. Wang meekly walks forward, with his shoulders slightly hunched, and does the lean. He gestures to the screen and the scene changes to a cartoon picture of a bridge over water with cars driving on it. He tries to do something, like sit on air - but it didn't work. Then we wait while he gestures about the stage and at the screen. We finally figure out that he's trying to hitchhike. He makes a car on the animated screen stop with his 'magical powers' (with a click of his fingers) and 'pulls it off screen' (the car just drives onto the stage). Wang offers money to the driver, but the driver refuses to give Wang a lift and drives back off the stage. Wang brings a helicopter from the screen to the stage. A lady gets out and gives him a lift, so they climb into the very big toy-like helicopter and it takes off and 'flies into the screen'. Wang comes back from the audience to the stage, waving and slouching as he did throughout the performance. His white satin shirt hadn't been ironed. He climbs the stairs back onto the stage to a small burst of glitter confetti from the wing. Big ideas that don't deliver. 18. Siebensinn General Magic Germany Sponsor: Magic Ring Austria - Rudolf Heuer 3rd General Magic, FISM 2009 A lot of thought went into this act. This performance was a story about mastering your own 'puzzle of life'. The performer does this by firstly telling the spooky story of Fletcher Robinson - implying he was the real author of the Sherlock Holmes detective stories. He told the story of the way he died. and the way Arthur Conan Doyle - referred to as Arty - died. He starts with a wine glass smashing in his hands, then shows his fob watch, which vanishes as we go back in time to 1896. He uses a cloth to produce another wine glass that fills with liquid of its own accord. As he talks, smoke fills his hand, a picture of Fletcher Robinson is taken from its frame, crushed, but returns back in the frame. He takes out the picture again and burns it up, but it returns and cracks. His next story is about life and love, being poetic - the puzzle of life. Shows a wooden puzzle in a frame. He takes away the frame and rearranges the puzzle in a different order, then adds a couple of extra pieces, but it all goes back together - again in a different order, but still fits within the original frame. All costuming and props were properly themed for the act. 19. Roman Burenkov Comedy Magic Russian Federation Sponsor: Russian Association of Magicians - Vladimir Rudnev An exceptionally neat and tidy chef in a gold, shiny outfit who dons an apron dotted with fruit pictures, and a chef hat lined with hearts. The performer's stage skills were very good, but this was a children's act with elementary magic. Cracks an egg into a glass. Shows a cookery magazine, folds it and throws in the egg, lights it, opens the magazine and shows a rubber fried egg. He takes out an apple from a paper bag before doing a vanishing bottle trick. Takes a red silk, polishes a tea pot, puts part of the red cloth in the pot, pours water in the pot, lights a fire under the pot to boil the water and then pours the now red liquid into a glass. He takes out the silk, which is now half red and half white (because the dye ran out into the water), then proceeds to do a dove pan cooking routine that ends up producing a string of rubber bagels. 20. Trond Hagen Manipulation Norway Sponsor: Magic Circle of Norway - Henning Warloe Disqualified for performing at a level way below FISM standard. 21. Rescheduled to perform on Day 4 22. Jiang Qiwei General Magic China-Macau Sponsor: China Magic Art Society - Lin Jian This was a colourful, but awfully unrehearsed act lacking any sense of magic. Lady in a dress, holding a basket. Takes red head band silk and changes it to a flower for her hair. Pulls feather flowers out of her sleeve. Takes earrings, turning them to paper flowers and confetti.  Plucks a couple of leaves off prop plant, turning them to flowers.  Did some sort of paddle move with a leaf, then pulls out a vase full of paper flowers from the plant. Takes a mirror, brushes her hair and tries to pull out paper flowers from the back of her neck, fumbling. Mirror to paper flowers and throws them in the air with confetti. Cuts out a paper butterfly, stands awkwardly close to her fence prop so lots of paper butterflies could fly into the air. Pulls out a big yellow flower from her dress. Plucks yellow flowers from plant, so new red ones could 'miraculously' bloom. Reaches for her basket and tips it towards her so lots of paper flowers spring forward like a flower fountain. She then does a really slow costume change behind a large cloth that also strangely changes its pattern, then reveals her new outfit and a new tree. Produces flowers for her ears and lets go of a few wind-up paper butterflies. 23. Tony Montana Mental Magic Argentina Sponsor: Red de Magos Solidarios - Jose Luis Bory 3rd Mental Magic, FISM 2009 Two volunteers, pre-selected by jury, each had to wear a sign - their names and favourite number. "Ellis 22" and "Eric 6". Ellis drops a magazine on the floor to a random page advertising a watch. Eric opens the prediction to show the selected page. The volunteers are given two sets of three different large photos of the performer in different poses. All the photos are put into envelopes and sealed. Each volunteer shuffles their set of three envelopes - and each volunteer is told to drop two envelopes, of their choice, to the floor, leaving Ellis and Eric with one envelope each. They open their envelopes and they are the same images of the performer with a cigar in his mouth. Then a prediction in a glass tube reveals a message "Thanks to Eelis 22 and Eric 6". It would have been even better if "Ellis" was spelled correctly. 24. The Tramp General Magic Switzerland Sponsor: Mrs Magische Ring Schweiz - Sven Bolliger Competed FISM 2000 with a similar act. A potentially effective piece. Bit slow to start. Backdrop of city landscape. Sound effects of birds and cars. Fog. Tramp lies on a park bench near a light pole and a bin full of rubbish. Tramp wakes up, sits up, pulls out a string, lights it - flame to watch. Pours a drink from his thermos, levitating his cup. Puts tobacco in his mouth, then small paper, spits out a cigarette and lights it, coughs and stubs it out. He finds one bill in his old bag, then shakes his bag to reveal a load of bills filling it up and falling out. Picks out a banana skin and black tape from the bin before picking out bits of newspaper - restores it, showing pieces stuck together by black tape. Picks out a beer bottle, opens it with his teeth, nothing in it so he rolls up paper and crushes the bottle. Takes light bulb from lamp, bulb lights up in his hand. Zombie light bulb. then he had technical problems and couldn't finish the act. 25. Avon Lee General Magic China-Hong Kong Sponsor: Magicians Association of Hong Kong - Albert Tam A clone of Eun Gyeol Lee, but his timing was off through most of his act. Upbeat music. Flame to silk to fire sticks - produces dove, but dove flew away into the rafters. White rose to confetti, flash to dove, white silk to candle (drops one), then two candles and dove. White ball, then small magnifying glass to large magnifying glass that he uses to heat up the 'egg' to explode into a bigger egg with a dove inside. Cane to fire string, confetti to steel ring set alight to produce a dove. Yellow silk to yellow dove to yellow confetti. Sets cage on fire and doves disappears. Produces a couple of bird cages from a burst of smoke, then a dove. 26. Yo Kato Manipulation Japan Sponsor: Junichiro Sejima, Juno Kim, Pairuch Trarasansombat Equal 1st Manipulation, FISM 2009 - with Han Seol - Hui Smart shiny black suit, red tie and wand. Skilful and relaxed performance, nice to watch. Colour changing wands - manipulation and juggling. Wand to streamer. White thimble routine with wand tips - manipulation. Colour changing thimbles red/green. and thimbles and wands. Then elegant colour changing thimble routine, then colour changing wands again - productions and manipulation. White silk to tie. He received a standing ovation. 27. Liao Xiaorun General Magic China Sponsor: China Magic Art Society - Lin Jian Traditional colourful warrior outfit on an elegant lady - purple with red cape. Bow weapon and multiplying arrows. Produces a sword and a shield, then did a mask changing act. Produces a flag and does an awkward costume change behind a screen to a yellow and green elegant dress. Feather flowers from head dress. Trouble with loads. Mirror and comb from silk. Combs hair, throws out flowers. Takes a red fan - colour change. Produces flowers and puts them on her shoes. Red card production, including a tassel for her dress, then more cards and card flinging, changing the set design through her act. Yellow to red flower, produces lanterns with obvious loading. Another costume change to red outfit with head dress and umbrella. 28. Nicolai Friedrich Mental Magic Germany Sponsor: Magischer Zirkel von Deutschland - Wolfgang Sommer Equal 2nd Mental Magic, FISM 2009 - with Rob & Emiel Competed FISM 2006 with a different act. 3rd Place Mental Magic FISM 2000 with a different act. Talks about how photography captures and holds living memories. Images hold emotional value. A lady volunteer has a picture with personal meaning - of a loved one. Photo is placed in an envelope and mixed with other envelopes. Another volunteer shuffles the envelopes again and gets audience members to pick an envelope. They are told to stand and hide the envelopes behind their backs. Lady writes what the picture is about on paper, folds paper and is asked to concentrate on what she wrote. Nicolai describes the look of the person, names them and tries to 'channel' their date of birth and mentions they were creative with origami. This was a clever effect; however Nicolai exposes his 'channelling' technique. He then tells the standing audience members, one by one, to tear up their envelope, leaving two audience members standing. Lady volunteer gets the last choice in which of the envelopes to keep safe. The envelope she chose was the right one and the picture survived. 29. Jeimin Stage Illusions Republic of Korea Sponsor: International Brotherhood of Magicians - Joan Caesar An act with a bit of abuse thrown in to spice it up. White Elvis Presley style outfit. A cage illusion is brought on stage and a cheeky cartoon girl with a mask appears from it. JeiMin hits her over the head and she leaves the stage. Another girl appears in the cage. She is 'normal' and pleasing to the eye, so was spared a slap to the head. JeiMin does a floating guitar illusion. He puts on a plastic Elvis wig and gyrates to 'Twist Again', by Chubby Checker. Cartoon girl comes on to dance with him, but JeiMin hits her over the head again - she exits. Pretty girl enters with a guitar. They dance. Girl leans on the guitar. JeiMin hits her in the head with his wig to 'put her to sleep' and does a levitation with her on the guitar. More dancing and gyrating. A large flimsy cage is brought on and covered with a pink cloth. A box appears inside the cage and out comes the cartoon girl again. JeiMin hypnotises her to take off her mask, but the girl is revealed to be a man. Cartoon girl puts her mask back on. Another large flimsy cage is brought on. Cartoon girl gets into the cage, the door is closed and opened. Cartoon girl gets out again, but when the mask is taken off, it is revealed to be the girl in the costume. He levitates her without any props - just himself, the girl and the stage. I'd slap JeiMin in the head, if he dared to slap me like that! 30. Alan Manipulation Chinese Taipei Sponsor: Society of Japanese Magicians - Junichiro Sejima Cards, confetti, fans and silks were produced and manipulated in a red and white colour theme - along with the prop table and clothing trim. As these items were produced and manipulated, they slowly all turned to blue and white - along with the prop table, costume and table set. The act ends with a blue and red theme. Blue and red confetti to end performance. Obvious loads. 31. Berk Eratay Mental Magic Turkey Sponsor: International Brotherhood of Magicians - Joan Caesar Winner of Turkey's version of 'Phenomenon - The Next Uri Geller' A 'freak' from the forest, chained and clothed in a white restraint type suit, is brought on stage by an old professor. Volunteer, separated from the 'freak' by a screen, is told to stick large pins in a rag doll representing the 'freak' - voodoo style. The 'freak' starts bleeding supposedly where the pins are stuck in the doll. but, the wounds did not match where the pins were stuck. The act could have some sort of potential. except for the fact they use an electric chair on the volunteer! I WAS THE VOLUNTEER WHO GOT SNAPPED IN THE BUTT BY ELECTRICITY. AGAIN!!! (see close-up reviews). ** Intermission ** I want to pause here to tell anyone who uses one these stupid electric chairs, that it's INHUMANE!! It HURTS!! You are HURTING your guest on stage who is good enough to play along with your act to help you look good! People don't like creatures being hurt. so, WHY HURT A HUMAN??!! People disguise their hurt through humour. The volunteer might laugh it off for the time being, but it hurts both men and women. I will tell you how it hurt me. I have a good sense of humour, I can laugh at myself and I can take a bit of teasing. but, when I am electrified without knowing it will happen to me, I will finish my job on stage, leave and sit quietly - because my mind goes blank. I can't think about anything. I begin to realise I was abused. I feel humiliated. I feel used and discarded for the entertainment pleasure of the performer and the audience who do not know what actually happened to me (non magicians do not know chairs are electrified). The pain stays for hours. It may not be the result of the physical electric slashing across my backside that I feel for hours afterwards, but I still feel a stinging sensation, which reminds me of the abuse and humiliation I endured on stage. Then, when I have a private moment to myself, I cry. How do know this does not happen to your other lady volunteers? How do you feel now, that you know? Will you still use that 'nice' little implement of torture you thought would enhance you and your act after knowing you have hurt and humiliated somebody? What if it was your loving wife, girlfriend, mother, grandmother, aunty or daughter that some thoughtless performer zapped and abused? Your volunteer has a right to choose whether they will participate in anything that will harm them before they help you. Some people asked me why I didn't walk off stage, kick the chair, hit the performer and sue him. Well, I didn't think to do that at the time, especially when I was trying to help a FISM competitor do their best. but, I warn you, I will do all of those things if it happens to me again. I have a solution to zapping. Cue your audience members. I do! I secretly ask them to pretend the seat is hot. Simple. It works every time. the audience love it. and your volunteer is happy to be involved with you on stage. You make them look good and feel good. and in turn, they will make you look good! The electric chair should be banned from FISM. I've been informed that FISM rules are changing to disqualify any performer who hurts a living creature. ******* 32. P J Wen General Magic Chinese Taipei Sponsor: Black Hat Magic Association - Kai-Fu Wang Dressed in a black suit, yellow tie, and yellow glasses he began with colour changing light bulbs. He gets a phone call to meet a girl. He does a costume change to a white suit. He takes a silk and changes it into ink underpants. Flower appears from another silk. Flower to silk sequence. Gets a phone call - the girl has been caught in a big traffic jam so he makes uses a huge silk to make her appear holding the steering wheel of her now abandoned car. Next week - Part 2 of the FISM competition reviews by Sue-Anne Webster -------------------------------------------- 5. Remarkable Magic #4 - Nick Lewin -------------------------------------------- Message from Nick Lewin (US) The First 30 seconds: Getting it right. The first 30 seconds of your act is the most important. That means that the way you look and the manner in which you walk onstage are vital. If you really mean business you had better get that down immediately. Wear a good-looking outfit that works for the image you want to project to the audience. If you want to do a Mac King act then don't dress like Lance Burton and visa versa. Always take the time to realize the way you actually look instead of the way you think you look. What music are you going to use for your entrance? Why are you using it? It is my belief that the most important use of that music is to get you in the mood to perform. Use a piece that you enjoy listening to and can move to in a graceful manner. By the time you begin your show your persona is pretty much established in the audience's subconscious mind. Unless you plan some kind of nifty switcheroo in your character then you had better establish it quickly and effortlessly. It is an old fashioned notion but I am a great believer in the idea of doing some deep, slow breathing in the wings. Just slow your breathing down and exhale more air than usual. If you concentrate on the sensation of your feet on the ground and this will literally ground you.? I go a couple of steps beyond this and an hour or so before the show I do some breath work. There is a marvelous app for the iPhone called 'Breath Pacer' that allows you too easily and systematically take your breathing from where it is to where you want it to be. Always remember your entire performance is fueled with your breath, you might as well get it right. It is a lot more important to your show than your double lift and you probably spent a whole hunk of time working on that. I also have a pre-show 'warm-up' playlist on my iPod that I like to sing along with (in a private spot of course, dear God) as I like to work on the upper and lower range of my voice. I like to add lots of texture and tones to my delivery because it can really punch up your show in a big way. Sometimes the difference between a chuckle, a laugh or a round of applause is in the mechanics of the way you deliver the line. It is useful to know how long it will take you to walk briskly to the center of the stage. This can help you tailor exactly how long your intro should be. This is especially true if you have live musicians playing charts for you. Nothing looks better than having your intro music? end exactly as you hit the microphone stand The great British actor John Mills performed a one-man show well into his last years. One thing the audience probably never realized is that he was almost totally blind. They could never have guessed it from the way he walked quickly and confidently to the waiting microphone at the center of the stage. Mills would arrive early at the venue and count exactly how many steps and the exact orientation of his path. The rest was easy. Well, this was a few ideas and suggestions that you may not be familiar with. They will help in getting you to the center of the stage ready to perform. That doesn't sound like much but don't forget that these are the most vital moments in your show. Watch the way that a professional magician begins his show and then watch a non-pro do the same thing. I am totally fixed in my total rejection of the concept of the semi-pro. They don't exist in the real world only in magic clubs. Even if you don't want to be a pro you might as well learn how to behave like one. Be kind to your audience! Check out my new now magic blog on my website at http://www.nicklewin.com -------------------------------------------- 6. "Follow the Leader" - #130 - Kyle Peron -------------------------------------------- Message by Kyle Peron (US) magic4u02@aol.com http://www.kyleandkellymagic.com Have you ever played the game Follow the Leader? I am sure we all have at some point in our childhood. It is that universal game where by the follower mimics and does whatever the leader does no matter how fun or silly it may become. As a game, it is a fun time and a great way to let loose for a little while. I mention this game as it is the perfect analogy to a performance situation that happens to many magicians from time to time. The problem is that most magicians either are blinded to seeing it or simply think that it is a natural thing they have to put up with. As entertainers, we often get into this false sense that certain situations cannot be changed, so we just accept them. Let me give you a perfect example of this "Follow the Leader" situation at work. You are at a library and you get there and often the chairs are set up in the back and an area in front of the stage is for the children. The children come in and take their seats and the adults sit in the chairs behind them. I think it is also safe to say many of you have seen this set up before and are familiar with it. Well what is the potential problem here? For starters, the parents' feel obliged to place their child on the floor as they take their chair. This is perfectly fine if the child is around age 4 and above. The problem starts to happen with children that are younger than 4. The parent feels that they are following rules by placing their young child on the floor with the rest of the kids and probably do not foresee any potential problems. However, when the show starts, what tends to happen is that the younger children (aged 3 and under) lose interest fast. This has nothing to do with your show and more to do with simple psychology. Even a great show with a great performer, will have this happen. As the child loses interest they start to wander, talk, cry or simply distract the other children. All it takes is one child to do this before the other young children "follow the leader". One young child will want to mimic another one and before you know it, all the younger children starts to create this distraction level that impairs the older children from engaging with you at the level you want. Now you maybe thinking to yourself that it is up to the parent to fix this problem. You would be right in thinking this. However, it simply does not happen a lot and does not happen as fast as it should. There are many reasons why this is the case. Understanding why a parent may not address their child helps one to come up with a better way to handle the problem from happening in their shows. In many cases a parent may not come up and take control of their younger child because: -          They are embarrassed and do not want anyone seeing that it is their child that is causing a distraction. -          They feel that getting up and walking towards the stage area will be a hindrance and impolite to you as the performer. -          They may feel that it is up to you as the performer to handle and address any issues of kids watching your show. -          They may simply be blind to the fact that their child is doing anything wrong. All of these are logical reasons and I am sure there are many more. This gives you a general idea of why it does take place and the thinking that may enter into the parents mind. When we understand the problem, then one can start to come up with solutions. One of the things I try and do is to simply educate the client ahead of time. This takes place in our emails to each other, on the phone or even in a contract that goes out to them. In most cases, clients are looking for you to be the professional. You know more about handling an event then they do. With this in mind, I simply state that if the room is being set up as mentioned above, that they keep the children 3 and younger with the parents at their chair. If explained in a calm and reasonable manner, they will completely understand. You may also want to mention it when you get to the event as a reminder prior to folks coming and sitting down. A simple verbal announcement as folks are taking their seats can also be a big help to ensure the younger kids are with their parents. To help if this situation arises in your show, I also try and find 2 adults that can help out by sitting with the children on each side. They are there to see any potential problem and help address it for you so that it does not become a bigger distraction and allows you to stay in character and keeps the show flowing. I hope these simple ideas can make you aware of this common problem and give you the tools to address it in your own performances. As always, I encourage you the readers to let me know your thoughts. So if you have any thoughts on my articles or suggestions or comments, please feel free to e-mail me directly at magic4u02@aol.com. I would love to hear from you. - I would like to let everyone know that I just released a NEW book and E-Book to the magic Community. "Blue and Gold! The Complete Guide to Working the Scout Market!" is now available as a soft cover printed book as well as an eBook download. - "Encore! Creativity in the Art of Magic" Ebook. Order online now at: http://www.magicenhancer.com/Encore.html - "Tips and Techniques on the Chair Suspension" Ebook. Order online now at: http://www.magicenhancer.com/ChairSuspension.html -------------------------------------------- 7. Cruising With Paul Romhany #80 -------------------------------------------- Message from Paul Romhany (NZ) Just released in the international news. Princess Cruises hit by Swine Flu!! The captain of the Ruby Princess, operated by Princess Cruises, asked doctors working with the Greek government to inspect the vessel after it arrived in the port of Piraeus from Turkey. Health Ministry officials say the five cases were found among the 3,393 passengers and 1,196 crew members aboard the ship. The cruise ship Ruby Princess, operated by Princess Cruises, is docked at the port of Piraeus The cruise ship Ruby Princess - packed with British tourists - docked at the port of Piraeus, Greece, yesterday, after five of its' passengers were hit by swine flu The sick people were kept in their cabins, but everyone else was allowed to disembark. Officials used the case to announce that cruise ship schedules will not be affected this summer because of swine flu, but that state doctors will be available to check passengers for flu symptoms - either at a captain's request or the government's. The Ruby Princess is scheduled to leave for Venice, Italy, on Friday evening. -------------------------------------------- 8. FISM and The Year Of Rip Off Artists -------------------------------------------- Message from Jim McDonald For those who have not been following FISM you must be living under a rock. It's all over the Internet. I was fortunate enough to attend FISM in China and had an amazing time. Talk about all nighters. I must admit, it was a bit of magic overload by the end. I just returned home and had many emails from friends wanting a run down on the Convention. I told them all to sign in to this ezine. However, one thing did disturb me and it's a serious issue. When I think of FISM this always comes to mind. Rip Offs at FISM. This is very disturbing but at least FISM tried to do something about it. There were so many rip off magic tricks it wasn't funny - there was even an Origami illusion at a dealers stand for five days that was a rip off. I do give the Committee credit for getting the dealers to sign forms saying this will not sell rip offs. I was there when Rocco went around looking at the rip off D'lights!! I hope Blackpool will follow suit and do something about this unethical business that some dealers seem to be involved with. Also, taking video and photos of other acts was not controlled enough. Everywhere I looked people were filming, almost constantly! I would hate to be an act and have somebody film it and put it on YouTube without permission. This is just WRONG. Finally, it's great news that FISM will be held in Blackpool - let's hope FISM takes the idea of theft in magic more seriously. -------------------------------------------- 9. Let's Give Up On Learning Stage Deportment -------------------------------------------- Message by Bev Bergeron (US) Joanie Spina comments in #689 New Zealand e-magazine tells of helping the magic act with direction in her "Magic Magazine" column, lectures and viewing video tapes. In the same issue of the e-magazine Dan Stapleton made nice comments about my attempts at our local Ring meeting to get our members to improve their performances by not doing certain things. As Dan pointed out: Later in the program, two people did what I was saying as just bad stage deportment. My effort to improve the way magic is presented is just a continuation of a long battle by many before me. If you would do some reading in magic magazines and books of over 100 years ago, you would discover that many have fought this path. I can remember Okito Bamberg giving a lecture in 1951, in Austin, Texas, pointing out the proper way of standing on a stage with other theatrical tips. My first lecture of this type was in 1955 also in Austin to the local Ring on "How to Use a Microphone." I even went to the trouble to borrow a sound system and used my large reel-to-reel audio tape recorder to allow the members to practice. There was little interest from the group in working with a mike. Most of the members of the Ring proclaimed that they did not need a microphone when performing: "They could be heard by everyone." This was the story that I encountered the more I traveled about the world in the 1950s. As I have written in my "Cutting Up Jackpots" column in the "Linking Ring," I have made many attempts to help others move forward in their performances - others besides magicians. In 1960 on our network TV series "The Magic Land of Allakazam" Bobby "Torchy" Towner was brought in to join our writing/creating team. Bobby was a graduate of the Lee Strasburg, The Actor's Studios in New York, which had a worldwide recognition. He and I had our hands full with Mark Wilson and our director, Andy Sidaris in getting them both to use better stage methods. Andy won Emmys with his sports coverage, but did not know where Stage Left, Stage Right or Down Stage was. During that time I worked with the Hollywood version of the Strasburg class and produced/wrote/directed a play for the Stanislavsky acting group. In 1969 at the Hollywood Cavalcade, I gave a lecture what later became known as "Bev Says" a short version was first published in my three year series in the M.U.M. and in all my seven plus lecture notes plus in book form by Bill Severn and in the "Laugh Magazine." When I finish the lecture in 1969 Jay Marshall, who was in the audience, came up and said that it was the best lecture on the subject of magic that he had ever heard, but bet me there were not three people in the audience who understood it. I said to him: "You are one - who are the other two?" After seeing two magicians perform at our meeting in Hollywood I was asked by a full time professional friend why I acted the way I did to the two performers. The very bad one I smiled as I said that I was proud of what they had done. The other performer, who was far better, I took aside and pointed out his many mistakes. My professional friend standing by questioned why I praised the very poor performer and jumped all over the better one. I said that the poor one just performed for the magic club and did not have the talent of doing better, but the better one had raw talent that could be exploited and made into a better performer without BSing him. Few have paid attend to what has been said in the past in scores of books, articles, lectures and now DVDs have been written on the subject of stage presentation. To just mention some that you - if you wish to improve your performance should read and study: "Our Magic" by Maskelyne and Devant and the other Fleming Magic Classics Series, The Fitzkee Trilogy, "Magic & Showmanship" by Henning Nelms, "Showmanship and Presentation" by Edward Maurice and the many that followed. I've come to the conclusion that all the years of my trying to upgrade the performance level of the amateur magician was a waste, and there is nothing wrong with that --- as long as the non-professional magician does not go out and do shows. I don't care if the shows are for free - the non-professional should not perform in front of the public as it hurts the professional entertainer unless they raise their standards. If someone wants to "teach" or help a brother magician to improve his performance, then it should be done one on one. I've come to the conclusion that is the only way to get results in a person's act - practice and being told how to improve it. It takes a person with the mind and attitude to want to improve. Don't know why so many entertainers - not just magicians, but other fields of entertainment are so resentful of taking good stage direction. In sports: Tiger Woods is continually talking golf instructions, champion boxers return to their corners to be told how to win, timeout is called in a championship basketball games so the million dollars a year players can be told how to make a point. Wake up magicians - if you want to entertain people, learn how to do it - it does not come in a box. You might consider sending a video to Joanie Spina. -------------------------------------------- 10. Latest British Ring Convention News -------------------------------------------- Message by Bob Hayden PRO to the British Ring Here is another name that has been added to those appearing at Southport - Tony Rix. In his field Tony is widely acknowledged as a talented entertainer. He never fails to amaze and amuse whatever the occasion. Whether you think he is a comedy magician or a magical comedian is of no consequence. His sole aim is to entertain. But be prepared to expect the unexpected. Tony is a top first class entertainer with an individual style. His wit and repartee are guaranteed to raise a smile. Tony is an ideal host or compere and when he hosts the Late Late Gala any sagging eyelids in the audience will be quickly rejuvenated and the right atmosphere created for you to enjoy the acts of Brando & Silvana, Peki, Pavel, and Soma. This is what Carolyn Armstrong; Director of the Headland Hotel Co. Ltd had to say: "Your efforts combined with your personality have helped to make the New Year so successful.. Your name was mentioned on the comments slips in a very flattering way". Influenced by his father Leslie Tony took an interest in magic from the age of 5 and one of his earliest memories is of being excited when he was given a Stripper Deck and realising the miracles he could perform with it. For decades Tony has been a staunch supporter of the British Ring being the time-keeper for the Shield Competition and volunteering to perform in the special venue shows. What many of you may not know is that Tony is not a full time professional magical entertainer being a qualified engineer. Don't make the mistake that Tony is just a keen amateur. Shortly he will be entertaining on the luxury cruise liner the Oriana, something he has done on many occasions. He just loves entertaining and for him comedy is of prime importance to compliment his magic. He rightly claims that to be a comedy entertainer there are two critical factors, to be seen and be heard. To achieve these two elements he always carries two sound systems in case one malfunctions. He also uses a portable stage and spider backcloth and curtain. To enable him to get a feel for the audience whist waiting to go on he prefers to sit behind the spider rather than being in a dressing room. What a professional approach and one that could well be emulated by some self acclaimed professionals. So far the illusionists who are appearing at Southport have not been profiled. It is always a pleasure to have Guy Barrett perform at our Convention. We haven't seen him since 2005. Guy comes from a show business family background, his father being the acclaimed circus ringmaster Norman Barrett and his mother Sally a former professional ice skater. He developed an interest in magic at a very early age and began performing when he was just nine years old. Guy has always had an interest in illusions and started performing them in 1992 in a show called the 'Magic Water Spectacular' on a stage in the middle of the Blackpool Tower Circus's world famous water show. Since then Guy has worked in numerous theatres in variety and production shows around England and Europe alongside some of the UK's leading variety stars. More recently Guy has formed the Guy Barrett Dancers who work closely in the illusions and production numbers not necessarily linked to the magic. His appearances in Television shows extend to Dubai, Qatar, Germany, France and of course the United Kingdom. In the corporate world Guy has worked for companies such as Nokia, Emirates Computing, Dell Computers, Honda, Mercedes, Toyota, and Dubal to name just a few. Many of these shows incorporated specially purpose made illusions designed and built by Guy Barrett Illusions Designs. This is a company set up by Guy in the early nineties that specializes in creating and building illusions for other magicians and shows. Guy Barrett has won many awards for his work one of which is the British Ring Shield in 1996. So once again we will be treated to some stunning illusions each superbly choreographed presented by the man with the most infectious smile. Sean Heydon has been performing magic professionally for 9 years in some of Europe's largest and prestigious theatres and venues being a favourite headline act. Sean is regularly hired to perform at corporate events, product launches and theatre/television shows, At one time he only specialised in close-up magic but over the last three years has successfully extended his range of work to performing fast paced illusions each with his own unique twist which has made him one of the most innovative magicians around. His inspiration to perform illusions came after seeing the work of America's Kevin James. Starting modestly with his version of Robert Harbin's chair suspension recently he has made a Ferrari vanish and an icecream van appear. If you were watching the Paul O'Grady Show on the May Bank Holiday Monday you will have seen Sean perform an illusion using his assistant's head in place of the ball and a bucket for the customary cup in an uproarious interpretation of the Cups & Balls alongside Paul's other guests Robert Powell and Sandi Toksvig. His appearance on the show came about when fortunately for Sean his act was seen by the show's producer. Even better news for Sean is that he has been asked to act as the shows resident magician starting in October. If you live in the Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Coventry or Warwickshire you can listen to Sean doing magic on three radio stations on a regular basis. At the recent Trevor George Entertainer of the Year awards attended by cruise directors, entertainment journalists and industry specialist event bookers Sean was awarded Speciality Act of the Year 2009. It is fitting that Sean should be making his debut at a British Ring Convention in Southport for it is the town where he was born and went to school and where he attended his first magic Convention. We are all looking forward to seeing and meeting Sean Heydon. So here are three more profiles of magicians for you to see and what makes it worth your while to be at Southport September 23rd to 27th. Four days of continuous and varied magic for £125 (£100 if you are a British Ring member or their partner) makes it excellent value. Don't procrastinate any longer. Make your registration today. You can do it from this website. Every year a loyal band of members voluntarily give up some of their enjoyment of the Convention to act as Stewards. Two of these are Bob and Wendy Loomis. This year they are doing even more. They are members of the Wembley National Trust Centre and each year a group from the Centre holiday in various parts of the country. For the past ten years Wendy has made the travel arrangements for the group. This year their destination is Southport and its surrounding area leaving Wembley on 22nd September. It is not surprising remembering that Bob being the President, Treasurer and Secretary of the Association of International Magical Spectators (AIMS), that the final item on their itinerary on the Saturday night is a visit to the Southport Theatre for the International Magic Show. We hope that many more non-magicians will be joining the 40 enthusiasts who have travelled from Wembley for the magic. -------------------------------------------- 11. Magic in the Park - Postponed -------------------------------------------- Message by Ethan Silverman I owe a great deal of thanks to those of you who have embraced my efforts to honor and bring further recognition to Abraham Hurwitz and shared your very personal connections to him with me. A tribute to Abe "Doc" Hurwitz, aka "Peter Pan the Magic Man", is both well deserving and long overdue, given the enormous impact he had on so many people's lives both as an educator at Yeshiva University and as the "Official Magician" for the City of New York. While my passion and drive to bring Magic in the Park to the City of New York has neither diminished nor waned, I must postpone my August 23rd show in Central Park until I have raised more awareness and funding. As I embarked on this journey well over a year ago, I never imagined that I would encounter all of you - magic and entertainment royalty, devoted family members and friends, participants in the Peter Pan Magic Club and Future American Magical Entertainers, and so many more committed to preserving Abraham Hurwitz's name and the art of what I call "Everything Magic" related Magic in the Park will take place! So that the date does not pass entirely in vain, I will be at the Central Park Bandshell (mid-park at 72nd street) on Sunday, August 23rd from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm should anyone like to share more stories, photos, or tricks of Abe's. If you would like to get involved in the creation of a Magic in the Park Board of Directors, as well as fundraising/sponsorship efforts, please contact me at the either: emanproductions@nyc.rr.com or 917-687-2978 -------------------------------------------- 12. A Magical Night II -------------------------------------------- Message by Jessica Davis Don't know if you're aware of the project that we just completed, called "A Magical Night II", a charity magic show that I produced at the Magic Castle. The magicians that volunteered to work volunteered at no pay and we SPARK is the charity that we did it for which was a charity for cancer victims and their families that my daughter, Wendie Jo started 10 years ago (www.wespark.org). Unfortunately she is no longer with us to continue the shows that she used to do so we ended up doing these magic shows. Enclosed also, please find a link to the ABC coverage of the event. Magic Castle opens doors for fundraiser. -------------------------------------------- 13 Clears Up The Tiger At Large In Las Vegas Story -------------------------------------------- Message by Robert Clarkson From Fredomhaters.com website; Allegedly a submission by the PR manager for the Fercos Bros in Las Vegas clears up the tiger at large in Las Vegas story details.... "The brothers, Tony and Ferdinand, as you can see from their web site, www.fercos.com, have been around for a long time and have performed their show all over the world. The Fercos came to America about the same time Siegfried and Roy did and started out in Las Vegas (originally they are from Europe) performing at The Dunes, with their family act, the "Flying Fercos" in the widely acclaimed Frederic Apcar Production, "Casino de Paris." After starting out as acrobats and jugglers (you can see some of the old stuff on the youtube channel, "fercosmarketing") Tony and Ferdinand started their magic show and acquired their first big cats more than 25 years ago. They have a great record of taking excellent care of the animals and an excellent reputation for safety. The big cat causing all the commotion is the white tiger "Picasso" (pictured at http://fercos.com/cats/picasso01a.jpg) and is a big sweetie. Picasso was recovering from surgery and was up and about a little too quickly! Needless to say the surgery was a success and Picasso is doing fine. It was just one of those things, but you can be sure that the Fercos will take all steps possible to make sure that it doesn't happen again." -------------------------------------------- 14. Magic New Zealand e-zine Archives -------------------------------------------- Back issues of the Magic New Zealand e-zine go to: www.watson.co.nz/fezine.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) -------------------------------------------- 15. Privacy Policy and Copyright Notice -------------------------------------------- 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.Alan-Watson.com Magic New Zealand® E-zine is published each Sunday. The opinions expressed therein are those of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of Magic New Zealand®. Neither Magic New Zealand® nor Alan Watson 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, jointly or individually liable or responsible in any way for the opinions expressed 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. 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