Posts
Newsletter of IBM Ring #170 The Bev Bergeron Ring
Next general meeting Wednesday, 11/15/2006 at 7:30 PM SHARP
Meeting theme: Christmas Magic
Marks Street Center, 99 Mark Street, downtown Orlando
If you visit with us and do not know the room we meet in , please be aware that some of the people in the office at the Senior Center may not be aware we are meeting there! At the last meeting one visitor asked where the "IBM" was meeting and the management apparently thought they were asking for the International Business Machines group! They said that there was no "IBM" on the schedule. So, if you have never been to our ring meeting , please say "magicians" or "FAME" and if that doesn't get the room location , just walk around looking for us. The Senior Center is a public building.
Lunch meetings every Tuesday at noon at Goodings (next to the food court)
Website: www.ring170.com
F. A. M. E. is the Florida Association of Magical Entertainers
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Directory
Harvey Brownlow, President - harvini@yahoo.com
James Songster, Vice President - JjTjMagic@aol.com
Dennis Phillips, Secretary - Dennis@alliedcostumes.com
Art Thomas, Treasurer- Art.Thomas@disney.com
Charlie Cox, Sgt. At Arms - charles_c2000@yahoo.com
Joe Vecciarelli, Director at Large - talkingmute@tampabay.rr.com
Stefan Bartelski, Editor Famulus - Famulus@illusioneer.com
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GET PUBLISHED!
Got an idea for an article to add to the next FAMULUS? Put it in the body of an email or in a Word document attached to an email. Send it to Famulus@illusioneer.com, and we will get you in print. Please, please, please, put Famulus in the subject of the email. Due to the high volumes of spam your messages are in danger of getting lost if you do not do so.
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Nov 06 - From the Editor
November is up on us, so hopefully our professional members have their calendars filling up.
I hope that those who were able to visit the Daytona Magic convention last weekend had a good time. Although is would be a little late, if anyone would like to write a review of the proceedings......
As many know my job takes me all over this great country of ours, and my current project has me visiting Denver. I would like to thank the Mile High Magicians for inviting me to their Bizarre Magic evening last month. It was a a thoroughly enjoyable evening with some excellent, but scary, magic.
Regards
Your Editor
I hope that those who were able to visit the Daytona Magic convention last weekend had a good time. Although is would be a little late, if anyone would like to write a review of the proceedings......
As many know my job takes me all over this great country of ours, and my current project has me visiting Denver. I would like to thank the Mile High Magicians for inviting me to their Bizarre Magic evening last month. It was a a thoroughly enjoyable evening with some excellent, but scary, magic.
Regards
Your Editor
Nov 06 - Ring Report
Ring Report Ring #170 The Bev Bergeron Ring
This Halloween season provided a great theme and fun meeting for the ring. Thirty members were present as President Harvey Brownlow brought the meeting to order.
We has two guests, Patrick Oliver and his fiancé, Ashley Fianse. In a generous gesture, Charlie Pfrogner made the announcement that he was donating video tapes of a number of classic magicians. Our Lecture Chairman, the hard working Craig Fennessey, announced a great lecture season is upcoming and he gave us a few names that will be lecturing to us in the future. The business meeting adjourned and Harvey was this month's MC for our ring show.
Ravelli lead off with an old favorite, the Chain Puzzle. Actually it is an old con game from the streets of a big city where a spectator can never guess where to put his finger in the loop of a chain. It is entertaining and a fooler. Charlie Pfrogner managed to create another trick for this month's meeting. We don't know how he does it!
This time he had a wonderful cure-all medicine elixir called "Icmag". It cleaned a table knife, restored hair, and dissolved all health troubles away. The bottle label even changed into "Magic" as it floated out of its box. Charlie enchanted us and left us guessing if medical insurance covered his new product.
Paula Large and Jerry Darkey demonstrated Paula's art skills in a delightful quick sketch routine where she transforms off shapes drawn by a spectator into their cartoon portrait (click here to view the caricatures). Finally she showed a cartoon montage that included a a drawing of everyone present! James and Joe talked about their adventures in Ohio working the renaissance festival and visiting with Ken Klosterman and seeing his magic collection. James showed the latest Tenyo trick where a dollar bill is put into a small origami box and survives. Mark Fitzgerald turned a $1 into a $100 bill and concluded with a nice Linking Ring routine using the magic words, "Hocus Pocus Chicken Bones Choke us!" . Wallace Murphy used a Crystal Silk Cylinder to produce Halloween candy and then did a skilled sleight-of-hand routine with candy pumpkins. They moved from hand to hand and finally all vanished.
Dan Stapleton presented a Halloween "Living and Dead Test" where a dead person's name was selected from a grid chart and when a napkin was touched with a match the dead person's name mysteriously burned into the napkin. Closing out the show was J.C. Hiatt. He had a spectator select a card and it suddenly became the largest card in the deck. He finished with his Spooky Halloween version of the Professor's Nightmare.
Following the show many of us made our way to the local watering hole for more fellowship and others went off to Trick or Treat! Be with us for our regular monthly meeting. Good things are always happening in Ring #170.
Dennis Phillips
This Halloween season provided a great theme and fun meeting for the ring. Thirty members were present as President Harvey Brownlow brought the meeting to order.
We has two guests, Patrick Oliver and his fiancé, Ashley Fianse. In a generous gesture, Charlie Pfrogner made the announcement that he was donating video tapes of a number of classic magicians. Our Lecture Chairman, the hard working Craig Fennessey, announced a great lecture season is upcoming and he gave us a few names that will be lecturing to us in the future. The business meeting adjourned and Harvey was this month's MC for our ring show.
Ravelli lead off with an old favorite, the Chain Puzzle. Actually it is an old con game from the streets of a big city where a spectator can never guess where to put his finger in the loop of a chain. It is entertaining and a fooler. Charlie Pfrogner managed to create another trick for this month's meeting. We don't know how he does it!
This time he had a wonderful cure-all medicine elixir called "Icmag". It cleaned a table knife, restored hair, and dissolved all health troubles away. The bottle label even changed into "Magic" as it floated out of its box. Charlie enchanted us and left us guessing if medical insurance covered his new product.
Paula Large and Jerry Darkey demonstrated Paula's art skills in a delightful quick sketch routine where she transforms off shapes drawn by a spectator into their cartoon portrait (click here to view the caricatures). Finally she showed a cartoon montage that included a a drawing of everyone present! James and Joe talked about their adventures in Ohio working the renaissance festival and visiting with Ken Klosterman and seeing his magic collection. James showed the latest Tenyo trick where a dollar bill is put into a small origami box and survives. Mark Fitzgerald turned a $1 into a $100 bill and concluded with a nice Linking Ring routine using the magic words, "Hocus Pocus Chicken Bones Choke us!" . Wallace Murphy used a Crystal Silk Cylinder to produce Halloween candy and then did a skilled sleight-of-hand routine with candy pumpkins. They moved from hand to hand and finally all vanished.
Dan Stapleton presented a Halloween "Living and Dead Test" where a dead person's name was selected from a grid chart and when a napkin was touched with a match the dead person's name mysteriously burned into the napkin. Closing out the show was J.C. Hiatt. He had a spectator select a card and it suddenly became the largest card in the deck. He finished with his Spooky Halloween version of the Professor's Nightmare.
Following the show many of us made our way to the local watering hole for more fellowship and others went off to Trick or Treat! Be with us for our regular monthly meeting. Good things are always happening in Ring #170.
Dennis Phillips
Nov 06 - Support for a Harry Kellar Museum
I pose this question to you: Would the you and other friends of the magic community
be willing to endorse and support the concept of creating a Harry Kellar
Museum and Magic Hall of Fame in Erie Pennsyslvania,
Harry Kellar's birth place? I am NOT asking for any
financial donations. Just an expressed interest at
seeing this come to pass. If you would endorse this
idea, please email me privately. I am trying to
compile a large list of those in the magic community
that are in favor of this idea. If I can get a large
number of magicians supporting the concept over the
next couple of months, I will take their names to the
project organizer. He will then present it to those
the govenor, county executive and mayor. They will
then know there is a genuine interest in having this come
about. If they know that, then they will begin to
seriously consider giving seed money to make this
project a reality.
If you are in favor of this idea please email me back
so I can add your name to the list of current
supporters.
Thomas McLaren
Capt. Magic Enterprises
Erie, Pennsylavania
be willing to endorse and support the concept of creating a Harry Kellar
Museum and Magic Hall of Fame in Erie Pennsyslvania,
Harry Kellar's birth place? I am NOT asking for any
financial donations. Just an expressed interest at
seeing this come to pass. If you would endorse this
idea, please email me privately. I am trying to
compile a large list of those in the magic community
that are in favor of this idea. If I can get a large
number of magicians supporting the concept over the
next couple of months, I will take their names to the
project organizer. He will then present it to those
the govenor, county executive and mayor. They will
then know there is a genuine interest in having this come
about. If they know that, then they will begin to
seriously consider giving seed money to make this
project a reality.
If you are in favor of this idea please email me back
so I can add your name to the list of current
supporters.
Thomas McLaren
Capt. Magic Enterprises
Erie, Pennsylavania
Nov 06 - Request For Help Finding Roy Houston
I am trying to find our lost friend (Roy Houston).
When we moved from Orange County Calif. to Galveston Texas we lost track of him.
We met Roy at Abbotts Convension. We were assistants with the Ken Griffin Illusion Show. When Ken Griffins show folded we went with Phil Morris Wonderful World of fantasy Illusion Show in Canada. My Wife & I had a Juggling, Unicycle and Eccentric Dancing act. When the tour with Phil Morris ended we went with Roy's show in New England.
When Ken and Roberta Griffin passed away we lost track of everyone in the magic field.
If you know how to contact Roy PLEASE send us his Phone No, Address, Etc.
Contact us at
bdeholt@houston.rr.com
Jack & Betty DeHolt
1711 Ave. M.
Galveston, Texas 77550
Our Phone No. Is 409 763-4525
Sincerely
Jack DeHolt
[Editors note: Please contact Jack directly if you can help him, at the email address above. Sending me any information will only slow things down]
Nov 06 - Ring 175 December to Remember
DECEMBER 10th – Ring 175 HUGE GALA DINNER and MAGIC SHOW
Location: Lion's Eye Institute in Ybor City
1410 North 21st Street, Tampa
Festivities will begin with a Close-Up Magic Show at 5:00PM, followed by a catered dinner buffet from Latam Restaurant. After dinner everyone will be treated to a FANTASTIC Gala Magic Show. There will also be drawings for special prizes and a magic poster exhibit. WOW!
YOU MUST HAVE RESERVATIONS BEFORE THE EVENT TO ATTEND. Seating is LIMITED!
Cost is ONLY $15 per person (What a BARGAIN) and $7.50 for children 6-12.
CONTACT Ken Spanola for Reservations and/or Directions: 813-885-2449
Location: Lion's Eye Institute in Ybor City
1410 North 21st Street, Tampa
Festivities will begin with a Close-Up Magic Show at 5:00PM, followed by a catered dinner buffet from Latam Restaurant. After dinner everyone will be treated to a FANTASTIC Gala Magic Show. There will also be drawings for special prizes and a magic poster exhibit. WOW!
YOU MUST HAVE RESERVATIONS BEFORE THE EVENT TO ATTEND. Seating is LIMITED!
Cost is ONLY $15 per person (What a BARGAIN) and $7.50 for children 6-12.
CONTACT Ken Spanola for Reservations and/or Directions: 813-885-2449
Nov 06 - Book reviews
No Applause, Just Throw Money
In either Genii or Magic Magazine last fall (I can’t remember which), one of the columnists recommended a book on Vaudeville called, “No Applause, Just Throw Money” by Trav S. D. While it is not a book on magic it is a book on the history of show business and it was Vaudeville that gave rise to Houdini. Much of the book is dry but there are some very entertaining sections. From medieval times until the late 1800’s actors and entertainers were looked down on and shunned by respectable people. Shakespeare gives an unflattering image of a traveling entertainer, a mountebank, in “The Comedy of Errors” calling him a lean faced villain; a juggler; a living dead man; a conjurer.
When John Jacob Astor purchased the Park Theatre in 1806 in NYC he outfitted it with special accommodations for hookers where gentlemen could meet them and set up their own appointments. Astor’s competitors all followed suite and for decades no theater was without such a facility. Show business was not for wives and families! The person that changed this and made entertainment acceptable was non other than P. T. Barnum.
In the 1840’s Barnum set up a “lecture room” on the second floor of his American Museum which he gradually transformed into a theater introducing the performing arts to a class of people who otherwise would never set foot in such a disreputable place. He found that if his “lectures” included juggling exhibitions, or magic or ventriloquism he would sell more tickets. But unlike the theaters of the day Barnum sold no liquor and objectionable people were thrown out. He promised “innocent amusements” and to attract women and children he offered the first matinees in town. This “lecture room” was the undeniable precursor to Vaudeville.
The book traces the rise and death of Vaudeville and the details the lives of both the “characters” that entertained as well as those that created and ran the thousands of venues. Oscar Hammerstein (grandfather of the song writer by the same name), a theater owner and promoter made a mint on an act that has gone down in theatrical lore as the most horrible ever seen on a vaudeville stage. Touted at the time as “The worst act in America”, the Cherry Sisters, as a sheer spectacle were on par with a boating accident. To make matters more entertaining they had no idea that they were that bad. Oscar’s son Willie invented the freak act, which included not only Rahja the snake charmer from Coney Island but tabloid headline acts like the “Shooting Stars” Ethel Conrad and Lillian Graham, so called because they’d actually shot a guy named Web Stokes.
Most vaudevillians dropped out of school at a young age yet George Jessel is said to have dazzled Cardinal Spellman with many biblical quotes. Spellman asked, “You’re a Jew, you never went to school. Where’d you learn all of that?” Jessel told him that in his vaudeville days while waiting in hotels for his nightly get together with a hooker, he’d thumb through the Gideon Bible!
While vaudeville died as movie houses grew, many of the stars lived on to star in movies, radio and television. Burns and Allen, Bob Hope, Cab Calloway, Jack Benny, Ed Wynn, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Will Rogers, the Marx Brother, the Three Stooges, Mae West, W.C. Fields, James Cagney, Cary Grant, Walter Pigeon, and Henry Fonda were all vaudevillians.
The book is a great story about our country’s only purely indigenous theatrical form.
The Vernon Touch
Dai Vernon wrote an article for Genii Magazine from September 1968 until December 1990. All of those articles are now in one book, “The Vernon Touch”. It is a fascinating read, all about magic and magicians during the last half of the last century. Vernon talks about many promising young magicians, who have now gone on to be greats. He also talks about many magicians, who I never had a chance to see or meet who are now no long with us.
Vernon also wrote about some Orlando club members. The March 1974 (that’s 32 years ago) article says. “At my age I should be contented to remain quietly here in Hollywood at the Magic Castle. However, when Bev Bergeron called me from Orlando, Florida and asked me to attend their convention, I simply could not refuse. The Langford Motel was an ideal place for the many activities. One of the events was a talk show conducted by Bev. He interviewed Inez Kitchen, Burling Hull, and yours truly. Before leaving Orlando, I spent time at the beautiful home of Ben Walters, He and Dick Randall drove me in style to catch my plane.”
Then in the April 1974 article Vernon wrote about Bev, “I was tickled to death to see the wonderful job he has done down there with Disneyworld. I think he’s set for life! Bev is certainly a hard industrious worker and deserves all the successes he is receiving. He did a great job on the convention. I had a wonderful time.”
There are many nuggets in the book, like the one above, and it is an interesting walk down a magical memory lane.
Gary Adams
Nov 06 - Caricatures by Paula Large
Jerry[Editor's note: I have not labeled any of the pictures, to leave you the fun of guessing the subject of each one]
Nov 06 - Hometown Heroes
Members of I.B.M. Ring #170 - The Bev Bergeron Ring, Ring #258 - The Lake County Magic Club and Central Florida World Clown Alley #158, combined forces to entertain over 1500 attendees at Habitat for Humanity's Hometown Heroes event at the T.D. Waterhouse Center on Wednesday evening October 25th.
The theme for the evening was "The Magic of Habitat". The table decor was black, white and red with black and white magician's top hats as center pieces.
Magicians from both Rings, including J.C. Hyatt, Nicholas Tangredi, Mark Fitzgerald, Bill Terry, Jim Moody & Lee Langer, worked the tables, doing close up magic, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. While Joe Veccarelli, James Songster and Roger Reid performed "stand up" magic on a small platform in front of the large crowd that gathered.
The Central Florida World Clowns provided both balloon sculpting and face painting in relays over the 3 hours of the event. Balloon sculpting duties were performed by Snickerdoodle, Diamond Jim, Handy Dandy, Charity, Candy Cane, and Twist. Face painting was done by Jingles, Kluts, Jackie, Pinkey, Toot, Tapper, Sasha, Bon Bon, Zaney and Glee.
All Magicians and Clowns were treated to dinner provided by
Outback Steakhouse, and received a "Magic of Habitat" T-Shirt, from event chairperson Denise Chernoff, as a "Thank You" for volunteering.
Roger Reid
The theme for the evening was "The Magic of Habitat". The table decor was black, white and red with black and white magician's top hats as center pieces.
Magicians from both Rings, including J.C. Hyatt, Nicholas Tangredi, Mark Fitzgerald, Bill Terry, Jim Moody & Lee Langer, worked the tables, doing close up magic, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. While Joe Veccarelli, James Songster and Roger Reid performed "stand up" magic on a small platform in front of the large crowd that gathered.
The Central Florida World Clowns provided both balloon sculpting and face painting in relays over the 3 hours of the event. Balloon sculpting duties were performed by Snickerdoodle, Diamond Jim, Handy Dandy, Charity, Candy Cane, and Twist. Face painting was done by Jingles, Kluts, Jackie, Pinkey, Toot, Tapper, Sasha, Bon Bon, Zaney and Glee.
All Magicians and Clowns were treated to dinner provided by
Outback Steakhouse, and received a "Magic of Habitat" T-Shirt, from event chairperson Denise Chernoff, as a "Thank You" for volunteering.
Roger Reid
Nov 06 -Dennis' Deliberations
Odd and ends from my "utter frustration" file...A recent phone call:
Dennis: Hello
Client: Mr.. Phillips, I am (name withheld for legal purposes) and I heard that you are a very good magician. We have a mutual friend who saw your act.
I have a luncheon for about 50 people and I want to find out what you would charge to do a 30 minute show and we would like for you to bring your girl assistant and maybe put her in a box and vanish her or something. What do you charge?
Dennis: Thank you for the compliment! May I ask where and what time this event is and who it is for?
Client: It is in (location ) and it is for the (lawyer's organization). I am an attorney in (city). The luncheon is Friday at Noon on the 27th of October.
Dennis: Oh in (city) ? ( A pretty good drive) And my daughter Sara and my wife Cindy are my assistants. We do a cute effect called , "The Indian Sword basket" It is one of the oldest illusions in the world. I will also do my nite club act. My fee would be $250. (okay, I considerably lowballed it because the reference he gave who saw my show is a good friend of my wife )
Client: Wow! that much?
Dennis: If you want to pay less, would you like to just have me come alone?
Client: No. It is just that...uhhh $250 for 30 minutes ? That is $500 an hour! I am a lawyer here and all I make is $105 an hour.
Dennis: You know ( name) when I was the highest paid lawyer in your town that is all I made too!
Client: You were an attorney here?
Dennis: You didn't get my joke?
Client: Oh! Sheez , a wise guy?
Dennis: Yes, an expensive one at that. $500 an hour! Catch ya later, Pal.... You can't afford me! (I slammed down the phone) CLICK!
After I hung up and cussed a little, I was angry that I had lowballed the guy, I don't need the grief about my fee from a lawyer that makes $105 an hour!
Here is a goodie from the Canada:
The Wikipedia Philosophy Towards Magic Exposure by Larry Thornton
Dennis told me about the blatant exposure of David Copperfield's Flying Illusion in Google's Video, http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5726537828765374451&q=David+Copperfield&hl=en complete with animated drawings. I decided to check out Wikipedias "exposures" of magic. Here are just ten that I found. There could possibly be dozens of such magic "spoiler warnings" (their term), or maybe hundreds. After ten, I quit looking.
Wikipedia tries to explain....
1) Copperfield's Statue of Liberty Vanish
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanishing_the_Statue_of_Liberty
3) Sawing a Woman in Half (various methods in illustrated form)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawing_a_woman_in_half
4) The King Rising Levitation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Rising_Levitation
5) Balducci Levitation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balducci_levitation
6) Elevator Levitation
This article "exposes" the trick only by rattling on about a "gimmick" being used, but essentially says nothing. There's even a video clip included of something called "Loughran's Elevator 2".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator_levitation
7) Paul Harris's Sooperman levitation, explained in one of his books and said to be a variation of the Balducci, and sold as a simplified version under the name of Wild Levitation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sooperman
8) A oddball (by my thinking) levitation called Mike Brent's Zero Gravity, said to be an offshoot of Balducci
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Bent%27s_Zero_Gravity
9) The Chinese Linking Rings (standard version with eight rings)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_linking_rings
10) The Cups and Balls
A long-winded "explanation", minus any illustrations, including an explanation of the Chop Cup, said to have been invented by Al Wheatley in 1954. What this sort of convoluted exposure is designed to accomplish, is anybody's guess.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cups_and_balls
THE INCREDIBLE IRONY IN ALL OF THIS, is that in a comprehensive article on the art of magic, the Wikipedia states:
Membership in professional magicians' organizations often requires an oath not to reveal the secrets of magic to non-magicians. This is known as the "Magician's Oath".
The Magician's Oath (though it may vary, 'The Oath' takes the following, or similar form):
"As a magician I promise to never reveal the secret of any illusion to a non-magician, without first swearing them to the Magician's Oath. I promise never to perform any illusion for any non-magician, without first practicing the effect until I can perform it well enough to maintain the illusion of magic".
The Wikipedia article then tells us:
Once sworn to The Oath, one is considered a magician, and is expected to live up to this promise. A magician who reveals a secret, either purposely or through insufficient practice, may typically find themselves without any magicians willing to teach them more secrets. - End of Quote The article then tells us (I'm paraphrasing here) that it is okay for a magician to reveal secrets to people with a sincere interest in magic who are most likely to become magicians themselves.
The "irony" lies in the bizarre fact that it is said magicians are asked (by their organizations) NOT to reveal secrets, and yet it's fair game for Wikipedia and any other non-magicians to reveal magic's secrets to the public at large. Journalists and columnists do it all the time. Sometimes these "exposures" (Wikipedia has examples) amount to little more than blatant guessing, as in the case of the Statue of Liberty vanish, but all too often magic's methods are 'stolen' directly from magic's own literature.
And speaking of "literature", Wikipedia further states [quote ] "The secrets of almost all tricks are available to the public through numerous books and magazines devoted to magic, available from the specialized magic trade."
Now there is a bit of a misnomer here: that almost all tricks are "available TO the public" even thought they come from books and magazines not officially released for public consumption. We have to ask the common-sense question: Do we see any or all of the magic books and magician's trade magazines out on public magazine or book store shelves? NO! Magic's literature is designed specifically and exclusively for "the specialized magic trade". That it can be accessed by a determined public that has to go to the bother of actually searching for it, is beside the point. Granted, many a street magic shop is open to the public and features such books and magazines, but it is a stretch to assert that just because a non-magician can get hold of such literature "if they have a mind to", then all of magic's secrets are in the public domain. Is this what makes them think that the exposure of magic online is no longer unethical? Perhaps it is a fine point, but I take strong objection to the oblique suggestion here, that because magic's literature makes it possible for a determined public to learn any secret, then that makes it perfectly okay to reveal the secrets in a wildly popular online encyclopedia such as Wikipedia.
Any possible legal issues are beyond the scope of this article and knowledge of its author, but I would just like to present this much of the argument as "food for thought". I encourage any constructive feedback. You can send your comments to mail@wizardlarry.com if you have anything pertinent to say on the matter.
- Larry Thornton (Calgary, Alberta, CANADA)
Larry and I ponder over the future of the magical arts as we know them when a few clicks on the Internet will reveal any magic secret you want to know. Moreover, psychologically sick people who resent or are jealous of the popularity of a magical artist will set up websites revealing methods for everything that is done.
Many of David Blaine's effects from his early shows are explained on this site http://www.vkmag.com/media/david_blaines_magic_revealed.pdf .
Please don't E-Mail me and tell me that I am a hypocrite. This newsletter is distributed only to people that are interested in magic. I find it interesting that a magician can walk into a brick and mortar magic shop and be confronted with far more secrecy than is faced by anyone merely typing into Google!
As Kurt Vonnegut often said in Slaughterhouse Five, "And so it goes".
Dennis Phillips
Dennis: Hello
Client: Mr.. Phillips, I am (name withheld for legal purposes) and I heard that you are a very good magician. We have a mutual friend who saw your act.
I have a luncheon for about 50 people and I want to find out what you would charge to do a 30 minute show and we would like for you to bring your girl assistant and maybe put her in a box and vanish her or something. What do you charge?
Dennis: Thank you for the compliment! May I ask where and what time this event is and who it is for?
Client: It is in (location ) and it is for the (lawyer's organization). I am an attorney in (city). The luncheon is Friday at Noon on the 27th of October.
Dennis: Oh in (city) ? ( A pretty good drive) And my daughter Sara and my wife Cindy are my assistants. We do a cute effect called , "The Indian Sword basket" It is one of the oldest illusions in the world. I will also do my nite club act. My fee would be $250. (okay, I considerably lowballed it because the reference he gave who saw my show is a good friend of my wife )
Client: Wow! that much?
Dennis: If you want to pay less, would you like to just have me come alone?
Client: No. It is just that...uhhh $250 for 30 minutes ? That is $500 an hour! I am a lawyer here and all I make is $105 an hour.
Dennis: You know ( name) when I was the highest paid lawyer in your town that is all I made too!
Client: You were an attorney here?
Dennis: You didn't get my joke?
Client: Oh! Sheez , a wise guy?
Dennis: Yes, an expensive one at that. $500 an hour! Catch ya later, Pal.... You can't afford me! (I slammed down the phone) CLICK!
After I hung up and cussed a little, I was angry that I had lowballed the guy, I don't need the grief about my fee from a lawyer that makes $105 an hour!
Here is a goodie from the Canada:
The Wikipedia Philosophy Towards Magic Exposure by Larry Thornton
Dennis told me about the blatant exposure of David Copperfield's Flying Illusion in Google's Video, http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5726537828765374451&q=David+Copperfield&hl=en complete with animated drawings. I decided to check out Wikipedias "exposures" of magic. Here are just ten that I found. There could possibly be dozens of such magic "spoiler warnings" (their term), or maybe hundreds. After ten, I quit looking.
Wikipedia tries to explain....
1) Copperfield's Statue of Liberty Vanish
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanishing_the_Statue_of_Liberty
3) Sawing a Woman in Half (various methods in illustrated form)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawing_a_woman_in_half
4) The King Rising Levitation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Rising_Levitation
5) Balducci Levitation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balducci_levitation
6) Elevator Levitation
This article "exposes" the trick only by rattling on about a "gimmick" being used, but essentially says nothing. There's even a video clip included of something called "Loughran's Elevator 2".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator_levitation
7) Paul Harris's Sooperman levitation, explained in one of his books and said to be a variation of the Balducci, and sold as a simplified version under the name of Wild Levitation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sooperman
8) A oddball (by my thinking) levitation called Mike Brent's Zero Gravity, said to be an offshoot of Balducci
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Bent%27s_Zero_Gravity
9) The Chinese Linking Rings (standard version with eight rings)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_linking_rings
10) The Cups and Balls
A long-winded "explanation", minus any illustrations, including an explanation of the Chop Cup, said to have been invented by Al Wheatley in 1954. What this sort of convoluted exposure is designed to accomplish, is anybody's guess.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cups_and_balls
THE INCREDIBLE IRONY IN ALL OF THIS, is that in a comprehensive article on the art of magic, the Wikipedia states:
Membership in professional magicians' organizations often requires an oath not to reveal the secrets of magic to non-magicians. This is known as the "Magician's Oath".
The Magician's Oath (though it may vary, 'The Oath' takes the following, or similar form):
"As a magician I promise to never reveal the secret of any illusion to a non-magician, without first swearing them to the Magician's Oath. I promise never to perform any illusion for any non-magician, without first practicing the effect until I can perform it well enough to maintain the illusion of magic".
The Wikipedia article then tells us:
Once sworn to The Oath, one is considered a magician, and is expected to live up to this promise. A magician who reveals a secret, either purposely or through insufficient practice, may typically find themselves without any magicians willing to teach them more secrets. - End of Quote The article then tells us (I'm paraphrasing here) that it is okay for a magician to reveal secrets to people with a sincere interest in magic who are most likely to become magicians themselves.
The "irony" lies in the bizarre fact that it is said magicians are asked (by their organizations) NOT to reveal secrets, and yet it's fair game for Wikipedia and any other non-magicians to reveal magic's secrets to the public at large. Journalists and columnists do it all the time. Sometimes these "exposures" (Wikipedia has examples) amount to little more than blatant guessing, as in the case of the Statue of Liberty vanish, but all too often magic's methods are 'stolen' directly from magic's own literature.
And speaking of "literature", Wikipedia further states [quote ] "The secrets of almost all tricks are available to the public through numerous books and magazines devoted to magic, available from the specialized magic trade."
Now there is a bit of a misnomer here: that almost all tricks are "available TO the public" even thought they come from books and magazines not officially released for public consumption. We have to ask the common-sense question: Do we see any or all of the magic books and magician's trade magazines out on public magazine or book store shelves? NO! Magic's literature is designed specifically and exclusively for "the specialized magic trade". That it can be accessed by a determined public that has to go to the bother of actually searching for it, is beside the point. Granted, many a street magic shop is open to the public and features such books and magazines, but it is a stretch to assert that just because a non-magician can get hold of such literature "if they have a mind to", then all of magic's secrets are in the public domain. Is this what makes them think that the exposure of magic online is no longer unethical? Perhaps it is a fine point, but I take strong objection to the oblique suggestion here, that because magic's literature makes it possible for a determined public to learn any secret, then that makes it perfectly okay to reveal the secrets in a wildly popular online encyclopedia such as Wikipedia.
Any possible legal issues are beyond the scope of this article and knowledge of its author, but I would just like to present this much of the argument as "food for thought". I encourage any constructive feedback. You can send your comments to mail@wizardlarry.com if you have anything pertinent to say on the matter.
- Larry Thornton (Calgary, Alberta, CANADA)
Larry and I ponder over the future of the magical arts as we know them when a few clicks on the Internet will reveal any magic secret you want to know. Moreover, psychologically sick people who resent or are jealous of the popularity of a magical artist will set up websites revealing methods for everything that is done.
Many of David Blaine's effects from his early shows are explained on this site http://www.vkmag.com/media/david_blaines_magic_revealed.pdf .
Please don't E-Mail me and tell me that I am a hypocrite. This newsletter is distributed only to people that are interested in magic. I find it interesting that a magician can walk into a brick and mortar magic shop and be confronted with far more secrecy than is faced by anyone merely typing into Google!
As Kurt Vonnegut often said in Slaughterhouse Five, "And so it goes".
Dennis Phillips
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