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* Magic New Zealand®
* Proudly sponsored by International Entertainment Ltd (New Zealand)
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Issue Number: #1685
Date: Sunday 18th September 2022
Editor: Alan Watson QSM
www.watson.co.nz
E-mail: editor@magicnewzealand.com
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Hi here is the latest news
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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

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1. Editor's Message
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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

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2. Two Magicians Made The Top 11 Finalists Of AGT
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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

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3. The Magic Word - Paul Stone
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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

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4. Magic Museum Bellachini - Episode No. 2
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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

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5. Magic & Mystery School Events
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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

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6. No Stone Unturned - Paul Stone - Article #77
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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!

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7. Tales from the Fantastic Magic Center - #10
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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

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8. Special Chapter: PSI FI - John Carey #172
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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 ...

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9. News From The Academy Of Illusions
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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".

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10. Milbourne Christopher Awards 2022 Award Winners
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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.

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11.E-zine Archives
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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)

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12. Privacy Policy And Copyright Notice
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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


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 expressed therein are those of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of Magic New Zealand®. Neither Magic New Zealand® nor Alan Watson QSMvouch 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 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. 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.


Magic New Zealand® E-zine