* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * New Zealand's MagicNZ e-zine * www.watson.co.nz/ezine.html * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Issue Number: #38 Date: Sunday 10th September 2000 Editor: Alan Watson www.alan-watson.com ================================ Hi here is the latest news ================================ 1. Editors Message 2. Danny Archer was very well received 3. Adapting to fire usage in magic performances 4. Exposing various Magic effects and gimmicks 5. Re: hatsandrabbits.com progress report 6. Re: The article by Sue-Anne Webster on Women in magic 7. 51st Annual Convention - Northern Ireland 8. IBM Singapore Ring 115 - celebrating 50th anniversary 9. Peter Marucci now has own website 10. LIVE on Uri Geller's Internet Radio Show 11. FREE Domain name YOURNAME.yourmagician.com 12. Latest on Egyptian Hall Museum sales 13. Bev Bergeron heading to L.A. 14. President Proclaims " National Magic Week" 15. Cash prizes for the three competitions 16. In The Presence Of A Legend 17. Diarise these events 18. News Items 19. MagicNZ e-zine archives 20. Benefit of subscribing to the MagicNZ e-zine 21. Subscription Management 22. Contact Information. ------------------------------------- 1. Editors Message ------------------------------------- Message from Alan Watson - The Magic One Last week I had five messages in different languages and I would appreciate it if you could just send them in English as I'm not bilingual! The transition over to the new system has had a few glitches which have since been rectified. The new system will certainly save a lot of time at this end as most functions now are fully automated. With the New Zealand school holiday period looming could the professional magicians please e-mail me third term holiday performing schedules so that they can be included in the e-zine. Remember if you have any magic news drop me a line: alan@watson.co.nz ------------------------------------- 2. Danny Archer was very well received ------------------------------------- Message from Don Wiberg (USA) I just returned from the Houdini Club convention in Madison, Wisconsin, USA Danny Archer did a one hour lecture and it was very well received. You're in for a treat, especially when he has more time. He has a pleasing manner about him, a great sense of humor and some entertaining effects. I bought "In a Pig's Eye." He performed it on an evening show and it got big laughs. ---------------------------------- 3. Adapting to fire usage in magic performances ---------------------------------- Message from Dan Garrett (USA) Jack Poulter asked about any experience with adapting to fire usage restrictions in magic performances in Issue #37. I certainly came across strict (very strict) fire restrictions in Las Vegas as I was working a large booth show for Hayes Micro computing at a COMDEX show some years back. I was told NO FIRE of any type or description could be used in the trade show center. Well, I had scripted several fire items into our presentation, including a flaming dove pan producing a birthday cake as an opener. (The theme was a birthday party, as it was the 10th "birthday" of the company.) I had recently seen Jay Scott Berry's lecture in which he made extensive use of dry ice in his shows. I quickly contacted Jay (who lived in north Georgia, USA, at the time) and ordered several of his dry ice gimmicks post-haste (which he shipped to me in similar fashion!). I then requested that the client provide me with an ice chest and a supply of dry ice every morning for the daily shows. This turned out to be very easy, as dry ice is easy to come by in Las Vegas. I also bought a large thermos bottle and a small hotplate to heat up water. I used dry ice in the dove pan to have it "smoke" instead of flame (I walked onstage with the "smoking" dove pan and produced the cake. This only required a few small pieces of dry ice in a thin layer of hot water to produce a spectacular effect, and left plenty of room for the insert to fit into the pan! I also used his hand fogger gimmick to produce a lot of fog (on demand) from a top hat, from which I produced one of the giveaway prizes each show (a beer mug!). With another hand fogger I made fog appear from my hands and produced 3 silver dollar tokens to prepare for a "ThreeFly" coins across routine. ("Fast data transfer always saves you money!") So, the client and fire marshall were both extremely happy with these non-flammable special effects. Thanks a lot to Jay Scott Berry (JSBWiz@aol.com) for his excellent products. They served me very well at this particular show, and I have used them from time to time in successive shows. A side note: I really wanted to use my "hotbook" (at the time I didn't have Wayne Roger's "Hot Video" which is a great item for a trade show) for one of the bits, so I made an appointment with the fire marshall to see the hotbook just in case I could talk him into giving the OK for me to use it in the trade show. As soon as the fire marshall saw the hotbook in action, he said to the client, "You called me in just for this? That's nothing, go ahead and use it in the show." Apparently, the rule in Vegas for fire is based on the big shows that use huge fire cannons and flash pots, etc., and that's what they were afraid would escalate into the trade shows. I probably could have gotten away with using the fire in the dove pan also, but didn't push my luck. Besides, I ended up liking the fog effects EVEN BETTER than fire! ---------------------------------- 4. Exposing various Magic effects and gimmicks ---------------------------------- Message from Paul Critelli (USA) I was skimming through the latest edition, and I noticed that you will be entertaining Ali next month. I know this is a big gig, but I did want to also mention that he is noted for exposing various Magic effects and gimmicks, including the Thumb Tip on 60 Minutes -- a very big news magazine show here. It truly is a sad thing to see that and for him to claim that his "religion" doesn't permit people to fool others. Just thought I'd pass along my thoughts. ---------------------------------- 5. Re: hatsandrabbits.com progress report ---------------------------------- Message from Jan and Steve Dacri (USA) As I write this, Jan & I are sitting on Delta Flight 1988, cruising at 35,000 feet heading East, across the states, from Los Angeles to Boston. We're sitting in First Class, but I didn't pay for it. (Gate agent loved the coin trick) In Boston, my son Jesse and I will be touring the amusement parks and game arcades of New England, sort of a quality control thing. Jan will be searching for the ultimate shoe store. Then we'll be driving to Holyoke to tape an interview with a magic celebrity (see below). The "magicians magician", FISM award winner Daryl is the latest magic celebrity to accept our offer to become a member of our "Panel of Magic Advisors". Daryl is not only an incredibly gifted cardician and entertainer, he's a wonderfully personable guy. I always enjoy talking about magic with him. And his wife Alison is also a very talented performer (just ask the Magic Circle!). In between their many world trips and lecture tours, he promises to lend a hand with advice and assistance. We are happy to have Daryl on board. This brings our Panel to 18. At our weekly staff meeting (held every Friday at the Magic Castle lunch) we began studying recommendations for candidates to be our CEO. At the moment, I am functioning as both president and CEO until we find someone who is more qualified. The site now has our first working magic message board. We are thrilled that people are starting to use it already. Jan says I should invite everyone to stop by and post something. Anything. A question, a comment, whatever. We monitor it every single day, too, so if you are looking for answers, bring on the questions. My goal is to make hatsandrabbits a daily stop for all magicians and magic enthusiasts. To accomplish that goal, I welcome your input and suggestions. Post them now! Also, we have our guest book open, so feel free to among the very first to sign in and become a permanent part of our first year Millennium Guest Book. Soon we will be offering a sweepstakes and lottery contest as a way of enticing you to stop by often. It costs nothing to enter, just by visiting the site you become eligible to win the prizes. I am working on some very cool prizes. We currently have 2 contests running. One is the COOL TRICKS CONTEST and one is the WORLDS FUNNIEST MAGIC VIDEO CONTEST, and details can be found on the site. Many magicians have taped a trick in our booth in Lisbon during FISM last month and many others have been sending us tapes with some very cool tricks on them. Grand Prize is a trip to Las Vegas from your hometown. We only have a few entries for the FUNNIEST MAGIC VIDEO contest, but they are truly FUNNY! Almost all of them are what I would call "Bloopers" where a trick went unexpectedly wrong. Some involve excerpts from shows where an audience member, usually a child, somehow upsets the show with some sort of unexpected behavior. We will be digitizing the entries we receive and all of them will eventually appear on our web site. Then our panel of magic advisors and the visitors to our site will participate in a voting process to select the winner. Anyone can enter, and entries can be on any video tape format. Send your today! You could win a trip to Vegas or??? We have also opened our MAGIC CLASSIFIEDS. These classified ads are completely FREE, and you can even include a photograph along with your ad. So, dig out the magic stuff you've been hiding away or place an ad for those missing books or props you have been searching for. Again, just for placing an ad, you will be entered into our sweepstakes contest. Had a wonderful conversation with Sidney Radner this week. He hates the new Houdini book, and he cited many of the reasons why the accuracy of the book is suspect. He also described the work he did with the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas where he has opened a Houdini Museum featuring many of his priceless items from his personal Houdini collection. One of the reasons I am flying to Boston is to meet with Sid in Holyoke and tape an interview for the magic web channel. (Yes, he's our magic celebrity). I plan to ask him all those questions about Houdini that everyone wants to know. Including verification of some interesting bits of news about Houdini that I was told while at FISM in Lisbon. If you have any questions for Sid, feel free to post your suggestions for me on our Magic Message Board. This is just one of a series of planned interviews with Sid. I am also planning to visit the little known Magic Art Book Company and Mini Magic Museum, owned by Ray Goulet, a friend who goes way back to my living in Boston days. We'll have our camera operator and digital camera with us, so we hope to shoot "video visits" at both of those places. Finally, we plan to introduce a "Magic Poll" each week, with interesting questions for you to answer. All of the weekly polls will then be added to a new section of the site currently under construction called "BRUIN". Any idea what that stands for? Post us a message with your guess. I will personally send an autographed hard bound copy of the best selling book, "Mark Wilson Course in Magic" to anyone who correctly guesses the answer. I'll reveal the answer in 2 weeks. ---------------------------------- 6. Re: The article by Sue-Anne Webster on Women in magic ---------------------------------- Message from Jack Poulter (Canada) A>Where are they? A question was posed on the E.G. (Electronic A>Grymoire - an electronic newsgroup for magicians on the internet) A>by Betty Birner from the United States, wondering how many women A>are among our ranks. It seemed to her that women represent a A>pretty small percentage of magicians, though she wasn't entirely A>sure why. A>A few females responded to her question. Not all female A>magicians use the Internet so the response is not an accurate A>indication of the number of female magicians out there but it did A>bring to light some interesting thoughts on females working as A>professional magicians. While I realize that Sue-Anne's question is oriented to the present, in 1988 Dr. John Gilliland (Victoria, BC, Canada) researched the topic of "Women in Magic" for Sheila Lyon (Seattle, WA, USA) who was presenting a talk at the "Collector's Weekend" in Chicago, IL, 1989. His efforts ran to some 50 plus pages and covered female performers from circa 1704, including solo performers, senior partners, assistants, etc. The majority of his work identified women performers of the 20th century. There are a few women performers who come to mind readily: Juliana Chen - FISM manipulation winner 1997 - performing worldwide. Jade - IBM stage champion, performing North America and? Lisa Menna - based in San Francisco, performing mostly at trade shows, corporate venues, etc. Melinda Saxe - currently performing in Las Vegas, NV. A Russian woman who appeared on US TV's "World's Greatest Magic". She appeared to perform true miracles! In addition, there are many "regional" performers in North America who receive little national publicity. Some are: Jane (Mother Goose) Richmond, Julie Eng, Suzanne (in Minneapolis, MN). As for how women are treated in the predominantly male magic clubs -- several have told me that they have been treated like favourite daughters or granddaughters until they start to perform and reveal that they have more "chops" than the "good old boys". At this point the reception become frosty, to put it mildly. ---------------------------------- 7. 51st Annual Convention - Northern Ireland ---------------------------------- Message from Wallace Blair (Ireland) I am sending you this info in the hope that some of you 'Kiwis' might be in our neck of the woods early next May sampling the pleasures of what is, for probably quite a few of you, 'the old country'!! The Irish Ring 85 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians will be holding their 51st Annual Convention on May 5-6, 2001 at Clandeboye Lodge Hotel, Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland hosted by the Ulster Society of Magicians. We will be welcoming guests from Canada, Australia and the UK so why not join us and receive a warm Irish welcome at what has become an event famed for its friendliness and informality! For further details contact JamesHobart@crawfordsburn.fsnet.co.uk or wizblair@aol.com ---------------------------------- 8. IBM Singapore Ring 115 - celebrating 50th anniversary ---------------------------------- Message from John Teo (Singapore) - johnteo_sg@yahoo.com.sg This year, our IBM Singapore Ring 115 (The Great Wong Ring) is celebrating our 50th anniversary. We plan to have a 50th anniversary dinner on the evening of Saturday, 2 December 2000. If any of you are in this region, come over to our surprising Singapore Island and you will be our guest at this dinner. In this celebration, we will show footage of our Ring 115 50 years of history - there'll be magical performances, interesting door gifts, and a specially commissioned bumper issue of our monthly newsletter called THE QUANTUM RING. This special edition will contain congratulatory messages from magicians from all over the world who had visited us previously in Singapore, plus contributions in terms of tricks and articles from our local members - some of our overseas magician friends also contributed to this issue. This issue will contain a write-up of our Ring 115 with interviews of several of our local magicians who had been with this Ring since its inception! If any magician wishes to join us in this dinner - he should get in touch with me as soon as possible so that we can ensure a place for him. Regards, ---------------------------------- 9. Peter Marucci now has own website ---------------------------------- Message from Peter Marucci (Canada) The Magicomedy of Peter Marucci now has its own website. Nothing to e-mail home about, I admit, but it conveys the necessary information! For the past 10 years I have been writing the Showtime column in the Linking Ring magazine and for the past six years have been lecturing to magic clubs in Canada and the U.S. with a new lecture every year (not to mention my monthly offering right here). Now many of those effects and lecture notes are available to all the magic fraternity. Just click on: http://hometown.aol.com/showtimecol/myhomepage/business.html Yes, it's long -- but if it were easy, then everybody would be doing it, wouldn't they? ------------------------------------- 10. LIVE on Uri Geller's Internet Radio Show ------------------------------------- Message from Riley G (USA) I will appear LIVE on Uri Geller's Internet Radio Show Friday night into Saturday morning September 29-30th from Midnight until 01:00 AM EST Click through my website to hear the live show at: www.RileyG.com/index1.htm ------------------------------------- 11. FREE Domain name YOURNAME.yourmagician.com ------------------------------------- Go to: www.yourmagician.com Examples: http://dondrake.yourmagician.com http://magimike.yourmagician.com http://teddy.yourmagician.com http://damain.yourmagician.com ------------------------------------- 12. Latest on Egyptian Hall Museum sales ------------------------------------- Message from Phil Willmarth (USA) - Editor - The Linking Ring Latest on Egyptian Hall Museum sales is that an auction and sale or rare books, magazines, apparatus, playbills and especially posters will take place September 23 & 24, 2000 at Warehouse of Yazoo Mills, Inc., 305 Commerce Street, New Oxford, PA. 35 miles from Harrisburg Airport (HIA) or 85 miles from Baltimore/Washington Airport (BWI). Overnight accommodations at: Cross Keys Motor Inn. 6110 York Rd, New Oxford, PA 173350 Reservations (717) 624-7778. Seating is limited, for pre-registration call Magic Words (626) 449-4155. Pennsylvania sales tax (6%) added to all purchases, personal checks will be accepted as will Visa and MasterCard, but 3% surcharge added to all credit card purchases. There will be no buyer's premium and all goods must be removed from the premises immediately following auction. No facilities available to ship goods. ------------------------------------- 13. Bev Bergeron heading to L.A. ------------------------------------- Message from Bev Bergeron (USA) To All and To All a good night: Alouise and I will be heading to L.A. (that is not Lower Alabama) on Sept. 7 until Sept 19. We will be visiting in the Desert - around Rancho Mirage. On Sept. 15 - will move into the Four Points Hotel on Pico St. in Santa Monica for Alouise's Class Reunion on Sept. 16. We hope to visit the Castle on Friday Sept. 15 at noon and then later at night. Also if we can get away, we will try to visit the Castle on Sunday night. Don't say you were not warned. Now make your plans to avoid us. Bev & Alouise Bergeron P.S. Dave don't send any jokes during this period - though I will be attempting to check my email, I will not be able to read jokes. ------------------------------------- 14. President Proclaims " National Magic Week" ------------------------------------- Message from George Schindler (USA) - showbiz10@aol.com (October 25 to October 31) Society of American Magician National President Jann Wherry Goodsell proclaimed the week of October 25 to October 31) as " National Magic Week" For more than forty years the Society of American Magicians has been recognizing the anniversary of the death of Harry Houdini with a special "MAGIC WEEK" throughout the United States and Canada. Houdini, a past President of the Society, died at 1:26 p.m. October 31, 1926. He had been president for nine years and was the Society's most famous member. All during the year, members of the Society of American magicians give freely of their time and talent to entertain at Senior Citizen Centers, Orphanages, Homeless Shelters, Nursing homes and at Children's hospitals. Magic Week is the time of the year when they stand up and are recognized, taking their bows for all their efforts. Each year governors, mayors and other governing bodies throughout the country are requested to issue proclamations declaring the period as" National Magic Week" Assemblies are urged to participate.- Secretaries should have received information packets from Chairman Tom Gentile. Please note the above change of dates. For more information please contact him at tdgmagic@map.com (Phone 413-533-7653) If you need assistance in publicizing your local events contact George Schindler at showbiz10@aol.com ------------------------------------- 15. Cash prizes for the three competitions ------------------------------------- Message from Tony Wilson (NZ) We now have 43 registrants confirmed for our Day of Magic in six weeks time. I can now confirm that there will be cash prizes for the three competitions to the value of $750 in total thanks to a recently confirmed sponsor who will be credited when the next flyer/news release is issued later this month. The release will also include a formal competition form with the criteria, time limits and other important information for all registrants. Our mystery sponsor may also assist us in bringing some other well known professional magician(s) to the Day of Magic to appear in our star studded evening show this year. ------------------------------------- 16. In The Presence Of A Legend ------------------------------------- Message from Steve & Jan Dacri (USA) Sept. 8, 2000 Now that I have this weekly obligation to say something to everyone about magic, I have found myself looking through my diaries and calendars to remind myself of incidents that others might find amusing or interesting. I am thrilled to have this opportunity, but it represents a huge commitment of time and thought that I must work into my fun-filled weeks. Jan & I have been on the road for a week now. We've been attending meeting for the magic web channel, I've had a couple of shows (small corporate affairs for 500 people each), and we've been filming segments for our upcoming Web TV series, "Magic Spotlight". As I sit by the pool of this hotel in Boston, thinking about the day we just had, it occurred to me that I had just spent the day in the presence of greatness. With a legend. And that led me to think of all of the legends that I have had the pleasure of spending time with. Greats from the world of magic. And, because of magic, I have been honoured with opportunities to spend time with greats from outside of the world of magic, such as sports figures, famous politicians, movie stars and television icons. I was talking with Jon Racherbaumer in Lisbon at FISM. I was relating a story about sitting with Dai Vernon and Slydini on a plane, watching them play gin together, and arguing about who was cheating, and who was not (They both were cheating!). Jon said, "I'll bet there's a million stories like that out there, interesting, funny recollections that need to be captured somehow. They need to be preserved." I totally agree. As part of my weekly commitment to deliver my column, I plan to relate some of the stories that have to do with special moments spent with a legend. In the future, here's some of the stories I will share with you: Tony Curtis, Telly Savalas, Tim Conway, Joey Bishop, Mel Blanc, Wayne Newton, Little Richard, Mickey Rooney, Milton Berle, Red Skelton, Bob Hope, Tony Orlando, Rodney Dangerfield, Alan King, The Beach Boys, Tom Jones, Don Rickles, Frankie Avalon, Robert Wagner, Jill St. John, Vincent Price, Red Buttons, Carol Channing, Bo Derek, The Smothers Brothers, George Bush, Ted Kennedy, Gerald Ford, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Pele... There's more, but that's just off the top of my head. Then, I have some great stories about experiences with magic legends, most of whom became my dear friends, such as Dai Vernon, Slydini, Kuda Bux, Harry Lorayne, Frank Garcia, Charlie Miller, Frank Thompson, Russell Swann, Siegfried, Al Goshman, Mark Wilson, Harry Anderson and David Copperfield. Makes me feel old. How could I have so many experiences in my head, and more importantly, how do I remember them all? It helps that my wife is one of the country's foremost memory experts, but I also happen to be blessed with a memory for dates and places (and show line-ups and monologues) that is uncanny. So, in the future, I can just look back at this column, scan through the list of people I just mentioned, and be able to recall the event and situation almost verbatim! And because so many of the people I've mentioned have become my friends, each name represents more than one interesting story. Add to that all the great experiences there are to relate that do NOT involve a legend, and the NEW things that come up each week, I should have no trouble filling a column every week for the next year! By the way, feel free to suggest ideas of subjects that you would like to hear about, and I will take the suggestions to heart. Back to my thoughts for today. Sitting by the pool, I look down at my wrists, which are still sore from my day with a legend. Let me explain: We spent yesterday at Canobie Lake Park with my son, Jesse, (speaking of legends), riding every ride 3 times and hanging out with my good friend, Bozo the Clown. Today, we got up early and drove through Boston, heading to the western part of the state to Holyoke, home of the world's foremost Houdini expert, Sidney Radner. We arrive at noon, and after being greeted by Sid at the door of his large, yet unassuming house, we have a brief tour of the kitchen and head out for a lunch. Sid is one of the most gracious and endearing men you will ever meet, and at 80, he is still full of energy and enthusiasm for magic, and in particular, Harry Houdini. I first met Sid almost 25 years ago at a magic gathering in New England. Rev. Willard Smith, for whom the Worcester, Massachusetts assembly of the SAM is named, used to hold an annual magic picnic at his home in Holden, MA, a small suburb or Worcester. Magic greats and enthusiasts from all over New England showed up for the traditional gathering, which always included a visit to Rev. Smith's enormous collection of magic props and books, followed by great food and a magic show. I was poking around in the magic room when Sid Radner walked in and introduced himself. We talked about the props and he pointed out some of the old gambling devices that Rev. Smith had on display, giving me the history and previous ownership of the devices. (He bought the items from Rev. Smith and they now reside in the second floor of his house in his collection of rare gambling devices. That's another story altogether). Years later, in 1974, I believe, when I was promoting the Dai Vernon lecture in Worcester and Boston, I hired Sid to perform his famous gambling lecture for the weekend mini-convention I was producing. That was the last time I had spoken to him, until today. Sitting in the restaurant, Jan and I are both wishing we had the camera running as Sid casually tells us some gems about Houdini and his brother Hardeen. I try to restrain him and keep changing the subject to talk about the web site, our trip to FISM, the history of the town of Holyoke, ANYTHING not related to magic so that maybe he will stop telling us such great stories that I want to capture on film! It seems to work. Finally, we get the check and head back to his house. Usually, when we a taping an interview or video visit, we like to capture the look and feel of the place with some hand held camera work and just let things flow naturally for a while. Then, we pick a spot, plant our subject and mount the camera on legs (tripod) for a more formal interview session. The results will be edited later on. (By the way, when these segments appear on the weekly MagicWebTV show "Magic Spotlight", they will end up to be anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes, tops. The full length interviews will be available in the library of the magic web channel for viewing in it's entirety by visitors to the web site.) Sid began a tour of his house, which seems to go on and on and on...room after room, floor after floor. Like a magic trick, the place doesn't look that big from the street, but once inside, it's one of those great old New England houses with lots of rooms and a full basement, so there's 3 floors. Filled with magic. And posters. And photos. It was wild. In a special room in the basement, there's a secret box. Sid told us that the contents of this box goes with him every year at Halloween when he conducts the official Houdini séance to attempt to reach Houdini. He's been conducting this séance for years, each year in some special, significant location. I believe last year he conducted this séance in Appleton, Wisconsin at the Houdini Museum. Anyway, he opens this box, with a key from a special silver key ring he plucked from his pocket, and Jan is focusing the camera on the box as the lid opens, and I'm trying to peer inside. He reaches inside and removes a few locks and chains, and a special set of obviously old cuffs. A large set of keys is also brought out. When I try to look inside the box, Sid gives the lid a nudge and it slams shut. Sid tells us that these cuffs are probably the most valuable thing in all of his collections (he has the largest collection of Houdini memorabilia in the entire world. Most of it is on loan to museums throughout the world, with the biggest collection in Appleton). I've seen a picture of this set of cuffs. Made by Harry Houdini himself, they were given to Sid by Houdini's brother, Hardeen. Houdini used them in special shows, and in particular when someone would challenge him and claim they could escape from cuffs. He would lock these cuffs on the braggart, and offer the sum of $1,000 (a huge amount of money in those days) if they could escape. Nobody ever did. Sid asks me to hold my hands out and he proceeds to lay the cold metal of these strange looking cuffs on my wrists. As he is locking them in place, he mutters something like, "I hope they don't get stuck, they are really old, you know". He squeezes them tight, and I bravely say, "go ahead, make them tighter", and I secretly wince in pain. I was more caught up in the realization that these cuffs had actually been on Houdini's wrists than the fact that I may never get out of them. Sid told me that if I could get out of them, I could have them. What an offer! He even handed me the key on a string! They are worth, oh, millions? Who knows? There is actually one more of these sets of cuffs in existence, and Sid knows where they are, and he's examined them, and they are not in working order, so how would you place a value on something as irreplaceable as these? I tried to manoeuvre my hands in a way that would allow me to gain access to the keyhole. Even with the key, it was impossible to get to the hole. There is no flexibility with the cuffs; they are solid, sort of like a set of jumbo thumb cuffs, with a very small key. As the camera was rolling, I did my best to get out, thinking this would make a great story if I were to open them. Fat chance. The cuffs are still in that locked secret box in Sid's house. But I have a genuine scrape on my wrists from the same cuffs that Houdini wore. We spent about 6 hours with Sid, first touring the house, (room after room of boxes, posters, handbills, letters, and of course, the famous Houdini scrapbooks), then sitting down for an interview. Where do I begin? There were so many questions I wanted to ask. Sid finally suggested that we not try and get it all in one day, and invited us to come back again, which we are planning to do. We will actually be taping an entire series of interviews with Sid, along with a more extensive look at some of his collection, both in his house and at the museums. We are planning a trip to Appleton with Sid where we will be able to gain access to some of the really private stuff that is not shown to the public. Then we will visit the newest Houdini museum at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. Apparently, Sid's friendship with Hardeen was a key factor in Sid ending up with so much of Houdini's things. When he speaks of Houdini, it is with great reverence. Yet he does not sugar coat things, pointing out the flaws and shortcoming of Eric Weiss as well as his achievements. It was a great visit. I can't wait to share the footage with you. And Jan & I eagerly look forward to returning for more. It was a day with a legend. Talking about another great legend. Great fun. Now, pardon me while I go sit in the hot tub and soak my wrists. ------------------------------------- 17. Diarise these events ------------------------------------- Monday 2nd October Auckland - Danny Archer lecture Tuesday 3rd October Palmerston North - Danny Archer lecture Wednesday 4th October Wellington - Danny Archer lecture Thursday 5th October Christchurch - Danny Archer lecture Sunday 22nd October - IBM Ring 160 Day of Magic - Auckland Thursday 12th -16th April (Easter) 2001 - 26th New Zealand Magicians' Convention - Christchurch If you require more information about the above events go to: www.watson.co.nz/ezine-archive to research for more information. ------------------------------------- 18. News Items ------------------------------------- If you have any news items that you feel the majority of our subscribers would be interested in please e-mail me so I can include them in the next e-zine. The magician who e-mails me a particular news item FIRST will receive full credit at the top of that item. If the news is of major importance I will send them out immediately as a Newsflash. ------------------------------------- 19. MagicNZ e-zine archives ------------------------------------- Back issues of the MagicNZ e-zine go to: www.watson.co.nz/ezine-archive Both the User Name and Password MUST be entered in lower case to gain access. User Name: ezine Password: newzealand When you enter the archive the e-zines are in issue order and are coded. Eg 001nov6.txt first three numbers denote issue number then the date. ------------------------------------- 20. Benefit of subscribing to the MagicNZ e-zine ------------------------------------- You will now be informed well in advance of coming events and kept right up to date with the latest news. MagicNZ e-zine is published weekly, late on Sunday night. ------------------------------------- 21. Subscription Management ------------------------------------- Our subscriber list is NOT made available to other companies or individuals. We value every subscriber and respect your privacy. To subscribe or unsubscribe from the MagicNZ e-zine: www.watson.co.nz/ezine.html The opinions expressed in this e-zine are those of the individual contributors. Neither MagicNZ nor Alan Watson can vouch for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, message, statement, or other information reported via MagicNZ e-zine. We reserve the right to correct any errors or omissions as we see fit. >> This publication may be freely redistributed to other magicians if copied in its ENTIRETY << (c) Copyright 2000 Alan Watson ------------------------------------- 22. Contact Information ------------------------------------- Alan Watson Ph. (9) 483-9274 Fax. (09) 483-9274 Mobile 025 95-7070 e-mail alan@watson.co.nz www.magician.co.nz www.magicianz.com