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Another Ring flea market, auction and lecture have passed into history. I don’t know about anyone else, but I had fun. The annual flea market is a yearly ritual where we mostly all go just to see what junk has changed hands and maybe snag something we always wanted to have to collect dust in our closet or to find something too cheap to pass. But there also are some great items that you will use. I am always amazed at the bargains from Orlando local magic shops. Stan and Sandy from Rabbit in the Hat Ranch always amaze me with great things as do Tom and Donna Salvador.
Art Thomas was again the Mad Man of the Insane Deal. He was giving away assets faster than Ben Bernanke. Let me explain: The Ring was fortunate to acquire the magic estate of a collector and Art was spreading that wealth around like a rabid Communist. I am certain the poor widow was just happy to just get rid of the magic “junk”. I know my wife feels that way! A few weeks ago I had a health scare. A kidney stone will do that to you! When I got back from having the doctor looking at my emergency CAT scan and pronouncing that I would live a lot longer, my wife gave me a big hug of relief and within 2 minutes she blurted out, “Don’t you dare die and leave me to clean out your entire warehouse full of magic junk!” So at this flea market and auction I was under the edict that if I brought anything home, I had to get rid of something else. She has no idea what I can store, out of site, in the trunk of my car!
I always love it when I see a trick that originally sold for fifty bucks on a table marked down to five dollars. The usual excuse is, “I never could get anything out of it”. Well, did you think you could get something out of it when you saw it demonstrated? What happened?
When I was a 12 year old kid I bought U.F. Grant’s “Cutie Cow Trick” and used it well into my 20s until the gimmick finally deteriorated. I have never seen anyone else do the trick. I think I have seen it on flea market tables a couple of times over a 45 year period. Nobody seemed to ever get anything out of it but me! The effect is that you show two pieces of cardboard to be perfectly flat. They really are! One is green and the other is white with a cartoon cow stenciled on one side. After showing both sides to be flat and with no body loads you turn the green cardboard flat like a patch of grass and lower the white cardboard on it and in a flash when the cow cartoon is pulled away a glass of milk is on the green board. There is a bit of poetry to be said while presenting the quick effect, “Cute little cow and a patch of grass. Put them together and you have…a glass….of milk!” I then followed it up by producing another glass of milk which I drank!
The method used was a piece of clear curled celluloid with milk spray painted on it. The celluloid would roll out flat and was inserted into the green double cardboard that had a pocket. Under cover of showing the white card the celluloid fake was pulled out of the green pocket and allowed to curl into a glass shape. It is then plopped down on the green board. I think what made the trick work for me was that I followed the first glass with the production of a real glass of milk!
To cover this action I would hold up the green card and say, “I always wondered how a cow could eat green grass and make white milk.” I had a real matching glass of milk in a cup holder (made from a bent coat-hanger) attached to my belt under the left side of my coat. (The method was similar to how Danny Tong steals to brandy glass at the conclusion of his Egg Bag or how John Carney steals the glass of lemonade at the end of Zone Zero.)
I would put the first fake glass of milk on my table and turn slightly to my left while holding the green card up in my left hand. My right hand would bring the cow-stenciled board across to my belt level where I would thumb-clip and pull out the real milk behind the board for the second production! Thus, the actual original part of the trick was really a throw-away and set-up for the second part. I used a large roll-on table so I could load up the glass onto my belt any time during the show by getting behind the table. My presentation was not a part of the original Grant instructions. I don’t think that Grant, now MAK Magic, has made this trick in years. I might find one someday in a flea market.
There are no lousy tricks just lousy presentations. Maybe there is a sort of “connection” that the performer has to have with the effect that is performed. If you don’t believe in the effect, then you can’t put it over to an audience. Jeff Eaton used to tell me he had a dislike for “why” tricks. Jeff meant that when the trick was over you said to yourself, “why?” I think that most tricks can be “why” tricks without a reason to be done. This is where your presentation is the deciding factor. Frequently adding a storyline can justify the reason you are presenting the trick. Body movement and attitude with no spoken words can also work. Lance Burton’s FISM Dove Act is a good example of how a sneer, a glance and Vivaldi’s classical music disarms the audience and entertains them with the idea that they have been fooled by a sophisticated master. In contrast, Greg Frewin or Jason Byrne are energetic and almost give the impression they are juggling props and doves to upbeat music in a circus style.
My wife Cindy and I went to see “Spamalot”, the Monty Python Broadway road show, at the Bob Carr Auditorium. You need to have a feel for British humor and satire to appreciate the verbal parts and storyline. Much of the play is a satire on Broadway itself with bits like a Diva singing a soulful, “Once in every show you have to have a sentimental song like this…” There is a spoof on The Phantom of the Opera. Sir Lancelot and Herbert turn out to be gay and many bits of business are used for that. There is even a whole sequence with a satire on Fiddler on the Roof (using the Jerome Robbins’ bottle dance choreography) about needing Jews to be on Broadway. You must be familiar with Broadway shows to get a lot of the inside humor. It also helps to be familiar with the whole Monty Python catalog of humor from their years on the comedy scene, because much of the show is a rehash of old bits.
The production values and elaborate effects and costumes made it a feast for the eyes. As you may know, there are several magic type effects in the show and the credits listed Marshall Magoon as the magic advisor. Magoon is a San Francisco based performer.
Aside from the use of a Foy Flying rig, there were several magic type effects. The main one was the Black Knight who gets his arms and legs chopped off. This is a signature effect for the Python group. The arms were accomplished by fake arms with the real arms being tucked into the tunic. The armless Black Knight is then backed up to the castle gate with a rotating panel that is attached to a fake torso and legs He pokes his head out and King Arthur lops off both legs. The fake upper torso remains impaled to the castle gate. This is a low tech “Palingenesia” as detailed in the September 2006 issue of Genii Magazine.
They also had an effect, similar to the classic Ghost Show bit, where a Knight gets his head chopped off. Of course, the shoulders are built up and what is lopped off is a fake head and helmet. The vicious beast that guards the Holy Grail is an attack rabbit (puppet). The whole show concludes with the Holy Grail being found in the audience and one embarrassed audience member is brought up on stage for a celebration, certificate and instant photo. If you liked the classic Python song, “Always look on the bright side of life!”, then you will enjoy singing the finale with the cast. The production made good use of video projection.
Our banquet is coming up on the 19th. It will be a great evening of entertainment. See you there.
