* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Magic New Zealand®
* Proudly sponsored by International Entertainment Ltd (New
Zealand)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Issue Number: #1685
Date: Sunday 18th September 2022
Editor: Alan Watson QSM
www.watson.co.nz
E-mail: editor@magicnewzealand.com
================================
Hi here is the latest news
================================
1.
Editor's Message
2. Two Magicians Made The Top 11 Finalists Of AGT
3. The Magic Word - Paul Stone
4. Magic Museum Bellachini - Episode No. 2
5. Magic & Mystery School Events
6. No Stone Unturned - Paul Stone - Article #77
7. Tales from the Fantastic Magic Center - #10
8. A Lady In Your Thoughts - John Carey #172
9. News From The Academy Of Illusions
10. Milbourne Christopher Awards 2022 Award Winners
11. E-zine Archives
12. Privacy Policy And Copyright Notice
--------------------------------------------
1. Editor's Message
--------------------------------------------
If
you would like to read the Magic New Zealand e-zine in HTML
format
go to:
If you would like to write a regular column for Magic New
Zealand or have some magic news drop me a line:
Editor@MagicNewZealand.com
--------------------------------------------
2. Two Magicians Made The Top 11 Finalists Of AGT
--------------------------------------------
Nicolas
Ribs Performs mesmerizing and Mind-Blowing Magic | AGT 2022
https://youtu.be/yQC6j-0B_hg
Yu
Hojin Shocks The Audience With Jaw-Dropping Magic | AGT
2022
https://youtu.be/ZE_EXG_Xvjg
--------------------------------------------
3. The Magic Word - Paul Stone
---------------------------------------------
Message by Scott Wells (USA)
Paul
Stone has been a mainstay in the world of magic without
gaining the true notoriety he deserves because of his work
behind the scenes. Paul is the driving force behind his
company, SHOWSTEALERS LLC. Paul is an experienced Producer
of hundreds of Corporate Events and Shows, amongst them
in the UK include shows at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane,
Her Majesty's Theatre and 18 shows at the world famous London
Palladium Theatre, including the widely acclaimed 'Tribute
to Siegfried & Roy at the London Palladium' in 2008.
Paul has produced Shows in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace,
Mirage, Harrahs, Orleans and the Suncoast Hotel & Casino.
The
working pros know him and go to him when they need help
producing a gala event. Not only a producer, Paul is also
a trade show performer and creator of magic tricks such
as "Overboard" which is a quality prop with endless
possibilities and is in my personal trade show.
https://www.themagicwordpodcast.com/scottwellsmagic/715-paul-stone
-------------------------------------
4. Magic Museum Bellachini - Episode No. 2
-------------------------------------
Message by Wittus Witt (Germany)
I had already thought so: The name Bellachini is almost
unknown outside Europe. Although there is probably no name
in the world of magic that has been copied more often. Evidence
shows that more than 30 magicians used this name to profit
from the success of the first, original Bellachini.
Bellachini
was not mentioned in either Milbourne Christopher Books
nor in Eddie Dawes "Great Illusionsts". There
was just one short notice in Sharpe's "Annals of Conjuring".
Even the German magic historian Alexander Adrion did not
mention Bellachini.
It
all started with Samuel Berlach, who was born in Poland
on May 1, 1827. From 1850 at the latest he called himself
Bellachini and became very famous. In 1864 he was appointed
court conjurer by the then German emperor. His tricks were
not described anywhere, but there are program notes on which
at least the names of the individual tricks were listed.
He performed hand tricks as well as magic devices. At the
end he played the harmonica.
There
is even a poster in my collection from 1850 on which he
presents his program with the addition: without apparatus.
Samuel Berlach obviously spoke only broken German, but his
charisma must have had an enormous effect on the audience,
otherwise he probably could not have achieved such fame.
Samuel Berlach died January 24th, 1885 (see zauber-pedia:
http://www.zauber-pedia.de/index.php?title=Bellachini_(Samuel_Berlach))
and also magic-pedia: https://geniimagazine.com/wiki/index.php?title=Samuel_Bellachini
)
Five
years ago, a novel-like story about Samuel Berlach was published
under the title "The Magic Inkwell". It was written
by Natascha Würzbach, who found out that her great-grandfather
was this Bellachini. Mrs. Würzbach is an elderly lady
of 84 years. She was a professor of English literature at
the University of Cologne.
I
was able to meet her half a year ago and we became friends.
She has written a new biography about her great-grandfather
for my book series "ABC der Taschenspieler-Kunst",
which I will present in December, at the opening of the
museum. She herself has also announced her attendance at
the opening of the museum.
Until
the next time. It remains exciting.
Wittus
Witt
www.hamburger-museum.com
-------------------------------------
5. Magic & Mystery School Events
-------------------------------------
Message by Jeff McBride (US)
October
2022
4,
7, 11, 14, 18, 21, 25, 28 - Show & Business - The Pro
Class - with Tobias Beckwith & Jeff McBride - Live Online
14-16
- Weekend of Wisdom - with Jeff McBride, Larry Hass &
Tobias Beckwith - Live in Las Vegas
November
2022
10-13
- Master Class for Mentalism - with Jeff McBride, Larry
Hass & Ross Johnson - Live in Las Vegas SOLD OUT for
waiting list email abbimcb@gmail.com
https://shop.magicalwisdom.com/events
-------------------------------------
6. No Stone Unturned - Paul Stone - Article #77
-------------------------------------
Message by Paul Stone (US)
This
last week is one that I will never forget!
I
had stayed on for one extra day in Eastbourne after the
IBM British Ring Convention to present my memory talk to
the local Rotary Club before catching the train back up
to Liverpool.
The
following day, like millions of others in UK, I watched
the outgoing Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, travel up to
Balmoral in Scotland to meet the Queen to hand in his resignation,
to be shortly followed by Liz Truss, to be invited by the
Queen to be her new Prime Minister.
Two
days later I was due to lecture to my home city magic club,
the Liverpool Mahatma Magic Circle and, as I was setting
up, just an hour before my lecture, came the shock news
that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II had passed away.
Although
we were all aware that she was 96 years old and that her
health was failing a little, her death was a huge shock
because less than 48 hours earlier she had looked to be
in great spirits as she welcomed the new Prime Minister
to Balmoral.
We
had to make a fast decision on whether to cancel my lecture,
and it was decided that as several people were en-route
and couldn't be contacted, the lecture would go ahead. We
observed one minute's silence, and carried on. I'd like
to think that the Queen would have understood.
The
first thing that struck me the next morning was that we
now had a new monarch, King Charles III. For my whole life
there has only been one monarch, and she was the rock on
which the British way of life was built.
It
did bring to mind an occasion several years ago when Prince
Charles, then Prince of Wales, visited the Magic Circle
in London at their headquarters in Chenies Mews. He was
greeted by the President, Francis White, and I believe became
an honorary member or possibly Vice President. Prince Charles
had learned the Cups & Balls, which he performed very
competently.
Last
Sunday proved to be a time for reflection for me. I had
a spare day in London on my way back to Las Vegas, and I
decided to visit Buckingham Palace. I went deliberately
early at 8am.
This
was only a couple of days after the Queen's passing but
already there were crowds of people, who like me, had come
to pay their respects. The atmosphere was calm, and people
were there walking their dogs, and sharing with their families
this once in a lifetime occasion.
It
was particularly poignant because the date was Sunday 9th
September - 9/11. A date none of us will ever forget.
I
have never seen so many flowers in my life! They were carefully
moved from Buckingham Palace to Green Park which is across
the road from the Palace. I walked over to see them and
there were many thousands of flowers, notes of condolences
and several Paddington Bears too!
Every
tree was surrounded by flowers, and they were also spread
across the park for as far as the eye could see. An incredible
outpouring of love and respect for a monarch who had served
her country so faithfully and diligently for over 70 years.
I
am now back in Phoenix, Arizona, and I just watched the
TV coverage of the Queen's coffin being taken from Buckingham
Palace to Westminster Hall where she will be Lying in State
for four days before her funeral on Monday 19th September.
The pageantry was impressive and very moving, and it was
carried out superbly as only the British can do it.
Today
is a day that I will remember for years to come too, partly
because of this unique ceremony, and partly because my eldest
son Danny is 40 today! So, I want to finish this article
by wishing Danny a very Happy Birthday!
--------------------------------------------
7. Tales from the Fantastic Magic Center - #10
--------------------------------------------
Message by Kent Cummins, Director (USA)
Louis
Berkie, proprietor of the Fun 'N Magic Shop in San Antonio,
Texas, became "King of the Wooden Nickels!"
I
told you about his "1,500,399 Tricks, Jokes, &
Novelties" last week, and he never gave up his retail
magic shop. Or his love for the Ball and Vase trick. But
selling souvenir wooden nickels eventually grew to be his
primary business.
In
1950, Berkie saw an ad in Billboard magazine that read,
"100 wooden nickels for $1.50". He responded to
the ad and, after some correspondence back and forth, the
man from the ad agreed to sell the business to Berkie for
$50.00. The acquisition of the Wooden Nickel business included
3,000 blank disks and two rubber stamps; one of a buffalo
design, the other of an American Indian. In the first year
Berkie produced 10,000 wooden nickels, all stamped by hand
(which he said put blisters on his hands).
After
the first year, Berkie purchased an 1885 Chandler and Price
Letter press and a type case to create custom stamps, and
started mass producing customized wooden nickels. By the
mid-1990's, he was producing over a million custom wooden
nickels each year.
Berkie
printed wooden nickels for every U.S. president, every state
of the Union, every endangered species animal, and tokens
for politicians, bars, pharmacies, service stations, centennials,
celebrations, anything. He even printed a few "X-rated"
wooden nickels with risqué advice on usages.
I
remained friends with Berkie throughout our lives, visiting
whenever I was able to be in San Antonio. Berkie became
ill and died on April 16, 1997, at the age of 84. I was
the Co-Executor of his estate. I have a big box full of
wooden nickels at my Fantastic Magic Center. The Fantastic
Magic Center is dedicated to preserving and sharing the
art of magic.
Check
out my free weekly podcast at:
www.FantasticMagicCenter.com
kent@magichotline.com
-------------------------------------------
8. Special Chapter: PSI FI - John Carey #172
-------------------------------------------
Message by John Carey (UK)
http://www.johncareymagic.co.uk/
We
now come to a special chapter that uses one concept that
you can truly create infinite Mentalism and Magic effects
with. You truly are only limited by your imagination. The
roots of this concept come from the classic Grey Elephants
in Denmark effect. In that effect you ask a
participant to quickly think of a simple shape like a Star
that they could draw in a second. The choices aren't that
many, but they won't realize. The shapes they will think
of after you mention Star as an example are:
Square
Circle
Triangle
Rectangle
All
these shapes very conveniently end in the letter E. In the
applications and effects that follow, we will exploit and
build upon this concept to create some very powerful routines.
I believe you will love adding some of these to your repertoires
and then creating your own effects too! So first up we have
...
--------------------------------------------
9. News From The Academy Of Illusions
---------------------------------------------
Message by Jay Scott Berry (Australia)
On
my 18th birthday, I started working at Hollywood Magic.
Not far from the Castle, it was LA's premiere magic store
and the mecca for all magicians, local and international.
On any given day, Dean Dill, Max Maven, Lorenzo Clark, Christopher
Hart, Mark Kalin, Dirk Arthur, Jonathan Yarborough (Pendragon)
and David Kotkin (Copperfield) would mingle with seasoned
pros like Johnny Thompson, Shimada, Jack Goldfinger, Eugene
Berger, Marvin Roy, Albert Goshman, Dai Vernon, Frank Garcia,
Kuda Bux, Johnny Platt, T.A. Waters, Paul Fidler, Siegfried,
Roy and many others. It was the closest thing to attending
a college of conjuring; a real life Hogwarts! For 8 hours
a day, 6 days a week, it was a total immersion into the
art of magic.
Besides
the steady stream of customers, I was very fortunate to
work alongside some other amazing magicians, like Earl Nelson,
Jonathan Neal and Ray Pierce. What I learned from each of
them left an indelible impression on my developing skills
and style. Earl was the first one I ever saw do Ring &
Ribbon, which inspired me to develop my own moves and routines.
With cards, his calm, impeccable style was the epitome of
sleight-of-hand artistry. Ray was dynamic and innovative.
At night, he was performing on the street across from the
shop. I followed his lead and was soon one of the busiest
magicians on Hollywood Blvd. Jonathan was like a big brother,
teaching me everything from product demos and sleight-of-hand
fundamentals to a greater understanding of the Art. I vividly
recall him lending me his copy of Neo Magic by S.H. Sharpe,
which I still count among my favorite books.
Bruce
Lee coined the phrase "Jeet Kune Do" referring
to a Martial Arts Style in which you take the best from
all systems to create your own, unique system. That's basically
what I did, by watching and learning from all these amazing
magicians. A few years later, I was performing in Europe,
where I met, and learned from, many other greats like Richard
Ross, Pavel, Finn Jonn, Ali Bongo and Patrick Page. Looking
back, I was inspired and influenced by all of them.
When
I talk about standing upon the shoulders of giants, it isn't
just rhetorical. I'm incredibly lucky to have walked alongside
some of the greatest magicians of the last century. As each
of them leaves us, I feel a deep sense of the torch being
passed. With that comes the responsibility to share and
teach all that I've learned. The continuum of magic stretches
back into the mists of time, and forward into the distant
future. It's not about what we take from it, but what we
give back. The impression we leave on this continuum is
like the quote from The Gladiator, "What we do in Life,
echoes in Eternity".
--------------------------------------------
10. Milbourne Christopher Awards 2022 Award Winners
--------------------------------------------
Message by David Haversat (US)
Illusionist
Award - Terry Evanswood
Close - Up Award - Jeki Yoo
Ambassador of Magic Award - Bruce Kalver
Literary Award - David Ginn
Masters Award - Joe Eddie & Betty Fairchild
Lifetime Achievement Award - Greg Bordner
To
be held at 6:00 pm on October 1, 2022 at the Garde Arts
Center - 325 State Street, New London, Connecticut. The
evening begins with a reception featuring fine hors d'oeuvres,
complimentary wine, cash bar followed by the presentation
of the 2022 Christopher Foundation Awards. Festivities continue
with a performance by The Magic of Lyn Dillies.
If
you have not done so, please RSVP with David Haversat -
Haversat@gmail.com - Checks made to: The Milbourne Christopher
Foundation - Mail to David Haversat - PO Box 487 - Oxford,
CT 06478 $20.00 Per Person.
--------------------------------------------
11.E-zine Archives
---------------------------------------------
Back issues of the Magic New Zealand e- zine go to:
www.magicnewzealand.com
Click
on the red button centre right "Archives"
When you enter the archive the e- zines are in issue order
in folders for each year and are Coded, e.g. 001 Nov06 1999.txt
first three numbers (001) denote issue number, then the
date (Nov06) and the last figures the year (1999)
--------------------------------------------
12. 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.magicnewzealand.com
Magic New Zealand® E-zine is published each Sunday.
The opinions and statements expressed therein are those
of the individual contributors and not necessarily those
of Magic New Zealand®. Neither Magic New Zealand®
nor Alan Watson QSM 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 QSM, jointly or individually liable or responsible
in any way for the opinions or statements contained 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. By submitting
articles to this e- zine, the authors grant Magic New Zealand®
the right to publish such articles and such authors confirm
their copyright of the material submitted.
All works published by Magic New Zealand® are protected
by international copyright legislation and articles must
not be published for profit by anyone other than the individual
authors without the written permission of Magic New Zealand®.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, 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 2022 Alan Watson QSM
www.magicnewzealand.com
http://twitter.com/#!/magicnewzealand
www.watson.co.nz
www.balloon-twister.co.nz