Posts
Newsletter of IBM Ring #170
The Bev Bergeron Ring
Next general meeting Wednesday, 10/17/2007 at 7:30 PM SHARP
Board meeting at 6:30 pm
Meeting theme: lecture
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: http://www.ring170.com/
F. A. M. E. is the Florida Association of Magical Entertainers
*************************************************************
Directory
Craig J. Fennessy – President – CraigFennessy@gmail.com
Chris Dunn- Vice President – Youngdunns@yahoo.com
Art Thomas – Treasurer – Art.Thomas@Disney.com
Dennis Philips- Secretary – Dennis@alliedcostumes.com
James Songster- Director at Large, - JjTjMagic@aol.com
Joe Vecciarelli- Sgt at Arms - talkingmute@tampabay.rr.com
Stefan Bartelski – Editor of “Famulus”- Famulus@illusioneer.com
*************************************************************
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, use the above e-mail address, your messages are in danger of getting lost if you do not do so.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
2007-10 From the Editor
Thanks again to all the contributors of this month's newsletter, including a couple of items from a new contributor. I must admit that I am glad to see Dennis coming round to the magic world changing under our feet.
October is the start of the season for our professional members, things will be getting busy through the end of the year. Have you refreshed your act for this season, perhaps based on the trends in Dennis' article. You do not need to grow your hair, forget to shave, wear old clothes ...but you can modernize your act. Replace the older props with ones that are less Tarbell and more Angel.
Please keep those articles coming.
October is the start of the season for our professional members, things will be getting busy through the end of the year. Have you refreshed your act for this season, perhaps based on the trends in Dennis' article. You do not need to grow your hair, forget to shave, wear old clothes ...but you can modernize your act. Replace the older props with ones that are less Tarbell and more Angel.
Please keep those articles coming.
2007-10 Ring Report
Ring Report
Ring #170
The Bev Bergeron Ring
Our September meeting was on a rainy night just before the autumn solstice. We had three guests and twenty-six regulars. Guests were Anthony Arevelo and Jason and Debbie Atkins from Birmingham, England. Announcements were made about ring members performing magic around the Orlando, area. Kerry Pierce will again be presenting the Apopka area haunted house for Halloween.
Phil Schwartz ,our ring's nationally known Thayer magic expert and collector, began what we hope will be a continuing series on the history of magic. This first presentation was called 'Magic Moment #1' and featured a compact and fascinating talk about Floyd Thayer and his magic company and the succeeding company ,Owens. Phil also announced that he is collaborating with Dr. Robert Albo to do a two book series on Thayer. Phil also had a 1949 copy of Genii Magazine that had senior ring member Richard Berry on the cover. This was shortly before Berry went to work for Harry Blackstone, Sr.
With the business meeting concluded, President Craig Fennessey turned the meeting over the Mark Fitzgerald who emceed our monthly ring show. The theme was rings. Mark started out with a rapid and slick Ring and Rope routine. The ring was on and off the rope. First on was Professor Knox with a very clever and well done Coin Matrix assembly. He ended with his finger stabbing one of the coins! Mystana had a ring and ribbon effect. The rings came off a tied ribbon and became linked. Charlie Pfrogner brought a seldom seen classic . It is the clever "metal bands to shapes" effect. One metal hoop turned to a triangle. Another turned into a square and finally three were transformed into a giant hoop.
Dan Stapleton first showed a chain made of red plastic rings and by flipping the top end a single chain would cascade down. Dan then followed up with a spectator assisted card trick. A selected card was the same card that Dan had selected from another deck with a different color on the back. Mark Fitzgerald was back with the classic Linking Rings assisted by a spectator. Chris Dunn had a mental effect with small white cards with three different colored dots on each card but the same yellow colored dots on the back. Mysteriously a spectator was able to correctly locate each color. Wallace Murphy did a fine ring and rope routine with his own personal moves.
Dennis Phillips, presented Abbott's classic mental effect created by Bob Mason , Predicta Total. Nine numbered white discs are randomly placed on pegs on a board by three spectators. When the numbers are added, they match the predicted total. Dennis thanked Dan Stapleton for his advice and suggestions on developing the routine.Dennis provided a giant novelty calculator to the spectator to add the numbers and at the conclusion of the effect, JC Hiatt showed and impromptu calculator trick where a numbers seems to fall to the bottom of the display! Mark Fitzgerald put the finishing touches on the show with an effect with small rings. It was another fun night.
Good things are always happening in ring 170.
Dennis Phillips
Ring #170
The Bev Bergeron Ring
Our September meeting was on a rainy night just before the autumn solstice. We had three guests and twenty-six regulars. Guests were Anthony Arevelo and Jason and Debbie Atkins from Birmingham, England. Announcements were made about ring members performing magic around the Orlando, area. Kerry Pierce will again be presenting the Apopka area haunted house for Halloween.
Phil Schwartz ,our ring's nationally known Thayer magic expert and collector, began what we hope will be a continuing series on the history of magic. This first presentation was called 'Magic Moment #1' and featured a compact and fascinating talk about Floyd Thayer and his magic company and the succeeding company ,Owens. Phil also announced that he is collaborating with Dr. Robert Albo to do a two book series on Thayer. Phil also had a 1949 copy of Genii Magazine that had senior ring member Richard Berry on the cover. This was shortly before Berry went to work for Harry Blackstone, Sr.
With the business meeting concluded, President Craig Fennessey turned the meeting over the Mark Fitzgerald who emceed our monthly ring show. The theme was rings. Mark started out with a rapid and slick Ring and Rope routine. The ring was on and off the rope. First on was Professor Knox with a very clever and well done Coin Matrix assembly. He ended with his finger stabbing one of the coins! Mystana had a ring and ribbon effect. The rings came off a tied ribbon and became linked. Charlie Pfrogner brought a seldom seen classic . It is the clever "metal bands to shapes" effect. One metal hoop turned to a triangle. Another turned into a square and finally three were transformed into a giant hoop.
Dan Stapleton first showed a chain made of red plastic rings and by flipping the top end a single chain would cascade down. Dan then followed up with a spectator assisted card trick. A selected card was the same card that Dan had selected from another deck with a different color on the back. Mark Fitzgerald was back with the classic Linking Rings assisted by a spectator. Chris Dunn had a mental effect with small white cards with three different colored dots on each card but the same yellow colored dots on the back. Mysteriously a spectator was able to correctly locate each color. Wallace Murphy did a fine ring and rope routine with his own personal moves.
Dennis Phillips, presented Abbott's classic mental effect created by Bob Mason , Predicta Total. Nine numbered white discs are randomly placed on pegs on a board by three spectators. When the numbers are added, they match the predicted total. Dennis thanked Dan Stapleton for his advice and suggestions on developing the routine.Dennis provided a giant novelty calculator to the spectator to add the numbers and at the conclusion of the effect, JC Hiatt showed and impromptu calculator trick where a numbers seems to fall to the bottom of the display! Mark Fitzgerald put the finishing touches on the show with an effect with small rings. It was another fun night.
Good things are always happening in ring 170.
Dennis Phillips
2007-10 Free lecture
Lecturing for FAME of Greater Orlando
IBM Ring 170
Presents
MAGIC IAN
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
7:30 – 9:15pm
ADMISSION: FREE to all Magicians
LOCATION: (Normal club meeting location)
* Marks Street Senior Center
(Corner of Magnolia and Mark St.)
For more lecture information go to www.Ring170.com or call Craig Fennessy, 407-947-1182
IBM Ring 170
Presents
MAGIC IAN
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
7:30 – 9:15pm
ADMISSION: FREE to all Magicians
LOCATION: (Normal club meeting location)
* Marks Street Senior Center
(Corner of Magnolia and Mark St.)
For more lecture information go to www.Ring170.com or call Craig Fennessy, 407-947-1182
2007-10 Magic Shop in Cocoa Village
These are two words that usually send chills down a woman's spine. But I find it quite enjoyable to ride over to Cocoa Village to Magic Dove Magic Shop. They are friendly this is usual for a magic shop. They are clean and easy to get to, and nicely displayed. Jerry Darkey takes me along and we have a great time talking to the owner and being able to get what we came for without it having to be ordered special. The store keeps a nice supply at a reasonable price amount of magic and makeup. They have expanded in size recently and have a back room for meetings and a shop to do embroidery.
The shop is open Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 12pm-5pm, 639 Brevard Avenue, Cocoa, FL.32922, ph 321-433-1130.
They are having a Trick and Treat Magical Halloween Celebration. They have turned the back room into a haunted party room featuring the largest magic wand in Florida.Saturday October 27, 2007 10 am—5 pm.They also have magic classes for those that are interested. I only repeat this information because it is a nice place to go and I wish them continued business. We go over and have lunch at one of the many bistros, stroll the art galleries, and shops, the magic shop included. We are both happy and then can go watch the waves and sit on the beach. So if you are looking for a place you and your partner can have fun go to Cocoa Village, and stop by the Black Dog Gallery some of my artwork is there if it has not sold out. Then go on down to the Magic Shop. For a bite to eat I recommend Ryan's Pizza Shop by the park. The village has a lot of events on their calendar. Jerry Darkey and I have entertained at some. A couple of times we saw James Songster- Director at Large, and Joe Vecciarelli- Sgt at Arms performing in the park.They have a great Christmas program. In October during the day I will be performing to help raise awareness and money for animal at the Gazebo in the middle of the grand walk of shops.
by Paula Large
The shop is open Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 12pm-5pm, 639 Brevard Avenue, Cocoa, FL.32922, ph 321-433-1130.
They are having a Trick and Treat Magical Halloween Celebration. They have turned the back room into a haunted party room featuring the largest magic wand in Florida.Saturday October 27, 2007 10 am—5 pm.They also have magic classes for those that are interested. I only repeat this information because it is a nice place to go and I wish them continued business. We go over and have lunch at one of the many bistros, stroll the art galleries, and shops, the magic shop included. We are both happy and then can go watch the waves and sit on the beach. So if you are looking for a place you and your partner can have fun go to Cocoa Village, and stop by the Black Dog Gallery some of my artwork is there if it has not sold out. Then go on down to the Magic Shop. For a bite to eat I recommend Ryan's Pizza Shop by the park. The village has a lot of events on their calendar. Jerry Darkey and I have entertained at some. A couple of times we saw James Songster- Director at Large, and Joe Vecciarelli- Sgt at Arms performing in the park.They have a great Christmas program. In October during the day I will be performing to help raise awareness and money for animal at the Gazebo in the middle of the grand walk of shops.
by Paula Large
2007-10 Magic in Orlando
Magic comes and Magic goes. So many magicians and their show have come and gone. Well there is one in town now that is worth seeing. It is on International Drive at Wonder Works the upside down building by The Point Orlando. Quite a deal pizza all you can eat and beer, wine, soda all you can drink plus and this is the BIG PLUS Magic Show. Fred and Adina Moore put on a fantastic show. We a lucky having two such talented people in town performing for us. Worth watching over and over again and taking friends and family to be entertained.
the end
by Paula Large'
the end
by Paula Large'
2007-10 Fla. Magic Convention warning!!!
Only 35 convention registrations left before being sold out.
Just added...Doc Eason (in place of John Mendoza). Only 75 seats left for the evening show (Sat. Nov. 3...8:00pm...Kevin James, Johnny Thompson, Dan Stapleton, ventriloquist Peter Hefty and MC Harry Allen)
(I have 10 seats left to sell if anyone needs one).
Dan Stapleton
(407) 491-3287
Just added...Doc Eason (in place of John Mendoza). Only 75 seats left for the evening show (Sat. Nov. 3...8:00pm...Kevin James, Johnny Thompson, Dan Stapleton, ventriloquist Peter Hefty and MC Harry Allen)
(I have 10 seats left to sell if anyone needs one).
Dan Stapleton
(407) 491-3287
2007-10 Product Review
Confetti Wand by Miracle Magic (Made in India)
I picked up a "Confetti Wand" at a recent Ring 258 flea market. I use many different wands in my children's shows and hoped to add one more to my repertoire. WOW, what a find!
"Confetti Wand" consists simply of a hollow magic wand and specially die cut
bundles of tissue paper. The tissue paper, in five bright colors, Purple, Turquoise, Green, Yellow and Orange, is die cut in 1/2" x 1 3/4" oblongs and 1/2" x 1/2" squares.
Tear off a few packets of colored tissue (easily done) from the various colored bundles. Push any where from one to six packets into one end of the wand and you are set! All you do is raise the wand and make a sharp downward, or sideways, movement and the "confetti" comes flying out! Because of the special cuts it "flips and flutters" and stays in the air for a while. The reaction from the audience is a chorus of "Oooohs!" and "Aaaahs!"
There are no gas cartridges or explosives to have problems with. It can be used at any time during the performance. Just pick it up and wave!
I did a little research and found the same "Confetti Wand" on line at Magic-Hotlines.com. Price for the wand and a huge amount of specially cut tissue paper is $10. Refills $5. There is another version, for $7.50 at BeginnersMagic.com.
Or, just buy the refills and get a piece of PVC tubing from Home Depot, the correct diameter to fit the bundles of paper, and paint it like a wand. Either way, you're good to go with a flashy, inexpensive effect! I highly recommend it!
Roger "Cigam" Reid
P,S. Mom may not like it as it takes awhile to pick up all the paper. Great for outdoor shows too!
I picked up a "Confetti Wand" at a recent Ring 258 flea market. I use many different wands in my children's shows and hoped to add one more to my repertoire. WOW, what a find!
"Confetti Wand" consists simply of a hollow magic wand and specially die cut
bundles of tissue paper. The tissue paper, in five bright colors, Purple, Turquoise, Green, Yellow and Orange, is die cut in 1/2" x 1 3/4" oblongs and 1/2" x 1/2" squares.
Tear off a few packets of colored tissue (easily done) from the various colored bundles. Push any where from one to six packets into one end of the wand and you are set! All you do is raise the wand and make a sharp downward, or sideways, movement and the "confetti" comes flying out! Because of the special cuts it "flips and flutters" and stays in the air for a while. The reaction from the audience is a chorus of "Oooohs!" and "Aaaahs!"
There are no gas cartridges or explosives to have problems with. It can be used at any time during the performance. Just pick it up and wave!
I did a little research and found the same "Confetti Wand" on line at Magic-Hotlines.com. Price for the wand and a huge amount of specially cut tissue paper is $10. Refills $5. There is another version, for $7.50 at BeginnersMagic.com.
Or, just buy the refills and get a piece of PVC tubing from Home Depot, the correct diameter to fit the bundles of paper, and paint it like a wand. Either way, you're good to go with a flashy, inexpensive effect! I highly recommend it!
Roger "Cigam" Reid
P,S. Mom may not like it as it takes awhile to pick up all the paper. Great for outdoor shows too!
2007-10 Dennis' Deliberations
"Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus"
-Umberto Eco, 'The Name of the Rose'-(1)
The conjuring arts are a fluid, evolving and changing entity. I appeared on one of Chuck Smith's Magic Enigma videos with Bev Bergeron and Fred Moore and the theme of the segment was "How magic has changed in your lifetime". Chuck chose the three of us because of our different ages and generational experiences. I was the guy in the middle of the age bracket. I can say that at this point in magic history I have never seen as we have now such rancor and arguing over how magic has been recently evolving . David Blaine and Criss Angel are not uniformly accepted by most of the old guard of magicians. Let me say upfront, I don't personally enjoy their style or material but I am increasingly forced to admit that I am not happy about it but realize that their approach will dominate the conjuring arts for the rest of my lifetime. The younger generation loves them. I want to spend this month explaining that being a "Magic Fundamentalist" is counterproductive to your magic career.
Fundamentalism is a modern mindset and social pathology that is gripping world culture and pervades almost all current Post-Modern thinking. It is a closed-minded fear and rejection of change . Though it masquerades and calls itself "Conservative", it is really atavistic Reactionaryism. ( an angry desire to go back to an imaginary Golden Age- "Nostalgia on Steroids" ) You are mostly familiar with the use of this word in a religious context where it applies to people who center their Faith in their "perfect book"(or doctrines) : Islamic Fundamentalists wanting to return to the heady years of Muslim world conquest and rule by the Koran or Christian Fundamentalists who are wanting to go back to the worldview of the early 17th or late 19th century and a time before modern science seemed to attack a literal interpretation of many Bible texts.
One could argue that there also exists Political and Economic Fundamentalists, such as the Libertarians, who seem to want to go backwards and live in the confused world of the 1930s-40s with author Ayn Rand and the Economic Darwinism and selfish-personal Bullyism she longed for in her books.
Let me show you how the Fundamentalist mindset has affected magicians. Let's call Magic Fundamentalists: "Tarbellites".
The "Tarbellite" follows the style, premise and philosophy of magic such as you find in the Tarbell Course of Magic. Every magicians alive today should thank Tarbell for the rich legacy he gave us. We should also mention favorably, the last, most complete and latest expression of that style of magic, The Mark Wilson Course in Magic.
Tarbell-Wilson magic moved logically from point A to point B. It uses props: ladies silk handkerchiefs, clean man's white handkerchiefs ( or should I say "man's clean white handkerchiefs? - sorry for stealing your gag line Harry Blackstone!) Hats, canes,Billiards Balls (rarely seen that small!) Metal Rings , Chinese Laundry Tickets.... Okay! You get the idea! Who uses those things anymore? They vanish, they appear, they are torn and restored. The magician keeps a sacred distance. He is out of the world of the audience.
Tarbell-Wilson stage magic used special boxes, many with painted red with gold dragons. Magicians used "foulards". Seen any of those around your house lately?
And there were feather dusters made to look like flowers. Rope could be cut and joined almost instantly. (Can't we do that today with Hot Melt and Crazy Glue?) The Fathers of the style of Tarbell-Wilson illusions were Servais Leroy, P.T. Selbit, Cyril Yettmah and the Maskelynes. Some of the recent creators and innovators have been Robert Harbin,Jim Steinmeyer, Andre Kole, Bev Bergeron, Don Wayne, Paul Osborne and Rand Woodbury.
I hope you are getting the idea of this kind of stage magic. On stage the magicians made pigeons appear and disappear. Frequently he used a Victorian style square cage for the dove vanish. Illusions were usually a girl and a box. Tarbellism was the prevailing magical style from 1910 to 1995. You could call it "20th century magic".
The dawn of the new millennium brought a new style of magic, just as the dawn of the previous 20th century brought the Tarbellism style.
The new magic is bizarre, dark, shocking, dangerous, in-your-face and baptized with technology. It frequently does not go from point A to point B in its effect. The dental floss vanishes and does not reappear in your hands but through the flesh of your stomach skin . Instead of disappearing from a box ,with rainbows painted on it, while on stage and twirled by assistants, you disappear from under a garbage can on the street surrounded by "street people".
Historians advise that we are moving into a "Post-Modern" Age. The shift has been occurring since the mid 1970s. Recall Doug Henning! He was a transitional character in the history of magic. If the magical style of Modernity, "The Modern Age" was captured by Tarbell and Wilson, then the style of Post-Modern magic would be considered heresy and "departing from the faith and truth, once received". Indeed, Henning was not warmly accepted by many older magicians in the 70s. He was "that kid with long hair and blue jeans". Not wearing a tail coat in fill evening dress was considered blasphemy to magic. Following on the heels of Doug Henning was David Copperfield and he also was considered outside of the mainstream. "The kid dances, does musical sketches and vanishes national monuments! Where are the top hats and rabbits?"
But both Henning and Copperfield were still tied to traditional modern magic by their stage presentation styles and use of recognizable props,plots and effects. Most magicians would find it difficult to label them totally outside of magical orthodoxy.
The clean break from orthodoxy began with David Blaine. The stage was gone. The stage clothes were gone. The dancing girls and pop-song sound tracks were gone.
If David Blaine was the John the Baptist of the new covenant of magic then Criss Angel is the Messiah. With his appearing,the old copies of Tarbell and The Mark Wilson texts mentally came off old magician's bookshelves. The Tarbell text-thumping began! "He ain't doing like Tarbell says to do it! How dare he not obey the words of Tarbell and Wilson!". The older guard of magicians became reactionary and longed for the old days (even if the 'old days' was David Copperfield performing to Phil Collins or Pet Shop Boys music tracts).
Well....and here is my whole point: Get with the new way things are done. Tarbell Fundamentalism is doomed. Red and black boxes with spray-painted gold dragons are not coming back in anyone's lifetime.("Niche" shows such as Le Grand David will continue for a while) Neither are black and chrome stage illusions coming back as soon as they leave Branson, MO where time moves on very slowly.
Adapt to video technology. Sony's Final Cut Pro is the new way video magic is going to be produced. No one is going to be making any announcements about trick photography not being used. No one cares. Camera cropping and fast cuts are the way things are done now. If you don't do them the young audience will be bored.
Live shows are going to all use a "Camera Eye" and video screens... it will be possible to do an arena show with nothing but televised close-up!
So, get with the program, magicians:Get some dirty jeans,soiled sneakers, let your hair become long, stringy and bug-infested. Get some body piercings in strange places and a few tattoos. Just carry a deck of cards, folding coin and crushed soda can. Hire two dozen stooges and teach them to fake like they are baffled. Make everyone believe that you are the Magic Messiah. Light yourself on fire as a birthday gift for your mother. The past is gone. This future is inevitable.
"A spectre is haunting magic- -the spectre of Criss Angelism. All the powers of old magic have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre. They will fail! Let the ruling magic classes tremble at the Angelian Revolution. The hip magicians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to fool!"
You can't stop the Revolution.(2)
Dennis Phillips
(1) "Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus" translates literally as "Yesterday's rose endures in its name; we hold empty names". It can also be translated more roughly as "Of the rose of the past, we have only its name".
(2) With a sneer to Karl Marx for my paraphrase of his 1848 Manifesto in the final paragraph.
-Umberto Eco, 'The Name of the Rose'-(1)
The conjuring arts are a fluid, evolving and changing entity. I appeared on one of Chuck Smith's Magic Enigma videos with Bev Bergeron and Fred Moore and the theme of the segment was "How magic has changed in your lifetime". Chuck chose the three of us because of our different ages and generational experiences. I was the guy in the middle of the age bracket. I can say that at this point in magic history I have never seen as we have now such rancor and arguing over how magic has been recently evolving . David Blaine and Criss Angel are not uniformly accepted by most of the old guard of magicians. Let me say upfront, I don't personally enjoy their style or material but I am increasingly forced to admit that I am not happy about it but realize that their approach will dominate the conjuring arts for the rest of my lifetime. The younger generation loves them. I want to spend this month explaining that being a "Magic Fundamentalist" is counterproductive to your magic career.
Fundamentalism is a modern mindset and social pathology that is gripping world culture and pervades almost all current Post-Modern thinking. It is a closed-minded fear and rejection of change . Though it masquerades and calls itself "Conservative", it is really atavistic Reactionaryism. ( an angry desire to go back to an imaginary Golden Age- "Nostalgia on Steroids" ) You are mostly familiar with the use of this word in a religious context where it applies to people who center their Faith in their "perfect book"(or doctrines) : Islamic Fundamentalists wanting to return to the heady years of Muslim world conquest and rule by the Koran or Christian Fundamentalists who are wanting to go back to the worldview of the early 17th or late 19th century and a time before modern science seemed to attack a literal interpretation of many Bible texts.
One could argue that there also exists Political and Economic Fundamentalists, such as the Libertarians, who seem to want to go backwards and live in the confused world of the 1930s-40s with author Ayn Rand and the Economic Darwinism and selfish-personal Bullyism she longed for in her books.
Let me show you how the Fundamentalist mindset has affected magicians. Let's call Magic Fundamentalists: "Tarbellites".
The "Tarbellite" follows the style, premise and philosophy of magic such as you find in the Tarbell Course of Magic. Every magicians alive today should thank Tarbell for the rich legacy he gave us. We should also mention favorably, the last, most complete and latest expression of that style of magic, The Mark Wilson Course in Magic.
Tarbell-Wilson magic moved logically from point A to point B. It uses props: ladies silk handkerchiefs, clean man's white handkerchiefs ( or should I say "man's clean white handkerchiefs? - sorry for stealing your gag line Harry Blackstone!) Hats, canes,Billiards Balls (rarely seen that small!) Metal Rings , Chinese Laundry Tickets.... Okay! You get the idea! Who uses those things anymore? They vanish, they appear, they are torn and restored. The magician keeps a sacred distance. He is out of the world of the audience.
Tarbell-Wilson stage magic used special boxes, many with painted red with gold dragons. Magicians used "foulards". Seen any of those around your house lately?
And there were feather dusters made to look like flowers. Rope could be cut and joined almost instantly. (Can't we do that today with Hot Melt and Crazy Glue?) The Fathers of the style of Tarbell-Wilson illusions were Servais Leroy, P.T. Selbit, Cyril Yettmah and the Maskelynes. Some of the recent creators and innovators have been Robert Harbin,Jim Steinmeyer, Andre Kole, Bev Bergeron, Don Wayne, Paul Osborne and Rand Woodbury.
I hope you are getting the idea of this kind of stage magic. On stage the magicians made pigeons appear and disappear. Frequently he used a Victorian style square cage for the dove vanish. Illusions were usually a girl and a box. Tarbellism was the prevailing magical style from 1910 to 1995. You could call it "20th century magic".
The dawn of the new millennium brought a new style of magic, just as the dawn of the previous 20th century brought the Tarbellism style.
The new magic is bizarre, dark, shocking, dangerous, in-your-face and baptized with technology. It frequently does not go from point A to point B in its effect. The dental floss vanishes and does not reappear in your hands but through the flesh of your stomach skin . Instead of disappearing from a box ,with rainbows painted on it, while on stage and twirled by assistants, you disappear from under a garbage can on the street surrounded by "street people".
Historians advise that we are moving into a "Post-Modern" Age. The shift has been occurring since the mid 1970s. Recall Doug Henning! He was a transitional character in the history of magic. If the magical style of Modernity, "The Modern Age" was captured by Tarbell and Wilson, then the style of Post-Modern magic would be considered heresy and "departing from the faith and truth, once received". Indeed, Henning was not warmly accepted by many older magicians in the 70s. He was "that kid with long hair and blue jeans". Not wearing a tail coat in fill evening dress was considered blasphemy to magic. Following on the heels of Doug Henning was David Copperfield and he also was considered outside of the mainstream. "The kid dances, does musical sketches and vanishes national monuments! Where are the top hats and rabbits?"
But both Henning and Copperfield were still tied to traditional modern magic by their stage presentation styles and use of recognizable props,plots and effects. Most magicians would find it difficult to label them totally outside of magical orthodoxy.
The clean break from orthodoxy began with David Blaine. The stage was gone. The stage clothes were gone. The dancing girls and pop-song sound tracks were gone.
If David Blaine was the John the Baptist of the new covenant of magic then Criss Angel is the Messiah. With his appearing,the old copies of Tarbell and The Mark Wilson texts mentally came off old magician's bookshelves. The Tarbell text-thumping began! "He ain't doing like Tarbell says to do it! How dare he not obey the words of Tarbell and Wilson!". The older guard of magicians became reactionary and longed for the old days (even if the 'old days' was David Copperfield performing to Phil Collins or Pet Shop Boys music tracts).
Well....and here is my whole point: Get with the new way things are done. Tarbell Fundamentalism is doomed. Red and black boxes with spray-painted gold dragons are not coming back in anyone's lifetime.("Niche" shows such as Le Grand David will continue for a while) Neither are black and chrome stage illusions coming back as soon as they leave Branson, MO where time moves on very slowly.
Adapt to video technology. Sony's Final Cut Pro is the new way video magic is going to be produced. No one is going to be making any announcements about trick photography not being used. No one cares. Camera cropping and fast cuts are the way things are done now. If you don't do them the young audience will be bored.
Live shows are going to all use a "Camera Eye" and video screens... it will be possible to do an arena show with nothing but televised close-up!
So, get with the program, magicians:Get some dirty jeans,soiled sneakers, let your hair become long, stringy and bug-infested. Get some body piercings in strange places and a few tattoos. Just carry a deck of cards, folding coin and crushed soda can. Hire two dozen stooges and teach them to fake like they are baffled. Make everyone believe that you are the Magic Messiah. Light yourself on fire as a birthday gift for your mother. The past is gone. This future is inevitable.
"A spectre is haunting magic- -the spectre of Criss Angelism. All the powers of old magic have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre. They will fail! Let the ruling magic classes tremble at the Angelian Revolution. The hip magicians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to fool!"
You can't stop the Revolution.(2)
Dennis Phillips
(1) "Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus" translates literally as "Yesterday's rose endures in its name; we hold empty names". It can also be translated more roughly as "Of the rose of the past, we have only its name".
(2) With a sneer to Karl Marx for my paraphrase of his 1848 Manifesto in the final paragraph.
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