* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * New Zealand's MagicNZ e-zine * www.watson.co.nz/ezine.html * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Issue Number: #104 Date: Sunday 13th January 2002 Editor: Alan Watson www.magician.co.nz www.alan-watson.com e-mail AW@Alan-Watson.com ================================ Hi here is the latest news ================================ 1. Editor's Message 2. Planning Trips To The UK? 3. 28th Australian Convention of Magicians 4. Richard Webster Gives Away Thousands of Dollars Worth of Magic 5. Magic Festival In China 6. Joe Labero's Tour In Sweden 7. South American Cruise 8. Martin Lewis Lecture Monday, January 21st 9. The Orchante Saga #58 10. MagicNZ e-zine archives 11. Subscription Management ------------------------------------ 1. Editor's Message ------------------------------------- Message from Alan Watson - The Magic One Over the school holidays from Monday 14th to 29th January the Alan Watson Family Magic Show will be on Centre stage at Rainbows End, Manukau - show times 1.00pm and 3.00pm. ----------------------------------------------------- Remember if you have any magic news drop me a line: AW@Alan-Watson.com ---------------------------------- 2. Planning Trips To The UK? ---------------------------------- Message from Richard Stupple (UK) Happy 2002 to all the readers of this newsletter. Although I have not contributed much since I have been receiving the weekly bulletin, I do read it avidly on a regular basis and find what's happening the other side of the world most interesting. If any of you are planning trips to the UK, please let me know, maybe we can meet in London. Richard Stupple The Magic Circle Regions Co-Ordinator The U.K. IBM Territorial Vice President. ---------------------------------- 3. 28th Australian Convention of Magicians ---------------------------------- Message from Kent Blackmore (Aust) As the 28th Australian Convention of Magicians gears up for action in June, ambitious performers will be working on their competition acts and dreaming of glory. If you're interested in competing, you can now download a complete Competition Information Pack from the convention website. We have Stage, Close-Up and Walk-On/Walk-Off competitions, with adult and under-16 categories. Great performance venues and great prizes! Don't delay, as all competitions have limited entry numbers. For all the latest news (yes, there's another guest to be announced very soon!), check out the Sydney Convention website at:- http://come.to/sydneymagic or contact Kent Blackmore - kblackmore@bigpond.com ---------------------------------- 4. Richard Webster Gives Away Thousands of Dollars Worth of Magic ---------------------------------- Message from Richard Webster (NZ) It took more than 30 years to collect and filled up a four-car garage, but in less than three days it all disappeared. Illusions, children's effects, juggling equipment, mentalism - all gone. Not a thing was left. It shows that it's not too hard to give magic away. I'd like to thank all the magicians who came and took everything away. I am thrilled that my precious props will have a new lease of life, and wish you great success with them. ------------------------------------------------------- 5. Magic Festival In China ------------------------------------------------------- Message from Rids Van Der Zee (Aust) I have returned from the Magic Festival in CHINA, Shanghai, and it was unbelievable. I would like to go back. If you can mention my website with a interesting report an Shanghai, that would be great. www.ridsmagic.com. ---------------------------------- 6. Joe Labero's Tour In Sweden ---------------------------------- Message from Ulrika Andersson (Sweden) Here in Sweden is lots of snow and almost -15 degrees Celcius. Joe Labero will do a tour in Sweden from February to April 2002. The tickets were released in December and after a couple of hours the first day lots of the venues was sold out. Its a big success and more shows will be released, from the beginning it was about 20 shows and as it looks now it will be more than 50 shows. Here is the schedule for the tour in Sweden: 1/2 time. 20.00 Lisebergshallen, Göteborg 2/2 time. 15.00 Lisebergshallen, Göteborg 2/2 time. 20.00 Lisebergshallen, Göteborg 6/2 time. 20.00 Konserthuset, Jönköping 7/2 time. 20.00 Konserthuset, Jönköping 13/2 time 20.00 Baltiska Hallen, Malmö 14/2 time. 20.00 Baltiska Hallen, Malmö 16/2 time. 15.00 Teleborgshallen, Växjö 16/2 time. 20.00 Teleborgshallen, Växjö 17/2 time. 15.00 Teleborgshallen, Växjö 17/2 time. 20.00 Teleborgshallen, Växjö 20/2 time. 20.00 Sporthallen, Umeå 21/2 time. 20.00 Sporthallen, Umeå 23/2 time. 19.00 Pite Havsbad, Piteå 2/3 time. 15.00 Västeråshallen, Västerås 2/3 time. 20.00 Västeråshallen, Västerås 6/3 time. 20.00 Väggahallen, Karlshamn 8/3 time. 20.00 Louis De Geer hallen, Norrköping 9/ 3 time. 15.00 Louis De Geer hallen, Norrköping 9/3 time. 20.00 Louis De Geer hallen, Norrköping 11/3 time. 20.00 Konserthuset, Gävle 12/3 time. 20.00 Konserthuset, Gävle 15/3 time. 20.00 Konserthuset, Linköping 16/3 time. 15.00 Konserthuset, Linköping 16/3 time. 20.00 Konserthuset, Linköping 20/3 time. 20.00 Fyrishov/Uppsala 22/3 time. 20.00 Sporthallen, Östersund 23/3 time. 20.00 Sporthallen, Östersund 25/3 time. 20.00 Cirkus, Stockholm 26/3 time. 20.00 Cirkus, Stockholm 28/3 time. 20.00 Kalmarsalen, Kalmar 29/3 time. 20.00 Kalmarsalen, Kalmar 30/3 time. 15.00 Kalmarsalen, Kalmar 30/3 time. 20.00 Kalmarsalen, Kalmar 31/3 time. 20.00 Konserthuset, Jönköping 4/4 time. 20.00 Konserthuset, Gävle 10/4 time. 20.00 Sundstahallen, Karlstad 11/4 time. 20.00 Lugnet, Falun 12 /4 time. 20.00 Lugnet, Falun 14/4 time. 20.00 Sporthallen, Sundsvall 17/4 time. 20.00 Arenan, Skövde 18/4 time. 20.00 Arenan, Skövde 20/4 time. 20.00 Agnebergshallen, Uddevalla ---------------------------------- 7. South American Cruise ---------------------------------- Message from Paul Romhany (NZ) We are on our last leg of our South American cruise around Chile, Uruguay and Argentina. It sure has been an interesting cruise with it's ups and downs. Today for example I was mugged and my wallet stolen ... luckily I am okay and it was just my pride (and a few hundred dollars and credit cards) that were taken. We have just finished the Xmas cruise which is something else, I am sure if you ask any cruise entertainer Xmas is not the most popular time to be on a cruise ship as an entertainer. There seem to be people on who want to get away from Xmas, or are there because their families don't want them ... well it sure was an experience!! I think next year I will have Xmas on land. We do not know if we are going up to Buenos Air's because of the troubles and riots there, we may stay an extra night in Montevideo, then it is up to the Amazon. I finish this contract on February 11th and from there it is back to Vancouver where I plan to stay for a little while to be with my girl friend and hopefully finally catch up with magicians up there! Fingers crossed I can head back to New Zealand around April ... well that's the plan at the moment. My best wishes to you all and congratulations on a successful convention. ---------------------------------- 7. South American Cruise ---------------------------------- Message from Jeff Ezell (US) New Magic Classes starting on Wednesday, January 23rd @ 7pm. Some of the things learned will be: Dancing Cane Mental Magic Gypsy Thread Some Jumbo Coin Sleights Top Changes w/cards Some very effective card effects to do without a table. Timing as well as misdirection and more... The class is a 4 week class with a 5 week option. If we finish everything in 4 weeks..we are done..if not, we go the 5th week. The Cost will be $200 and as with any of the people actively enrolled in the class...you will receive 20% off of any purchase during that 5 week period. I do suggest paying early because after 10 people have signed and paid, we will have to wait until next time or if there are 16 - 20 who want to sign in, we will add another night. I look forward to hearing from everyone ASAP. (you can pay by credit card if it helps you) Jeff Ezell Mind Over Magic ( open 7 days ) 2214 Burbank Blvd Burbank, Ca 91506 818 562 1921 www.jeffezell.com www.jeffsmindovermagic.com ---------------------------------- 8. Martin Lewis Lecture Monday, January 21st ---------------------------------- Message from Jeff Ezell (US) OK everyone, here we go with another year of great lectures starting off with Martin Lewis on Monday, January 21st at 7pm. The lecture will cover all new material that can be done by everyone. To view what the lecture will cover, visit www.jeffezell.com and click on lectures. Lectures are $25 per person and seating is limited to 30. For future reference, just to list some of the people coming up to lecture/workshop: Andy Nyman for exciting mental effects..you have got to see it to believe it... Ivan Amodei for some incredible sleight of hand and close up effects..He was just in the close-up room for 2 weeks at the Castle..great character and style..a must see Eugene Burger will be offering a workshop real soon. Do I need to say any more? Paul Green will be here around May or June...probably May though. Classic Force King. The Man..The Man..The Man ---------------------------------- 9. The Orchante Saga #58 ---------------------------------- Message from Tommy Orchard (The Amazing Orchante)(UK ex-pat Kiwi) Trials and tribulations Just how far would YOU GO to 'prove' a 'magic' point? Admittedly, what I'm about to relate is rather extreme - some will probably think/say that I take things just a little too far but, that's me! Again admittedly, the circumstances and company have to be just right. It involves the old - perhaps I should say ancient effect where you apparently stub out a lit cigarette into a handkerchief, which then vanishes - the cigarette that is, leaving the handkerchief totally unharmed. I last performed this little miracle at my neighbour's home this new year's Eve. They had only just put up some brand new, rather expensive curtains. A lit full-length, smoking like a train, king-sized cigarette, 'vanished' within its folds. I have performed in some magnificent homes with, as you can imagine, the most exquisite and valuable of furnishings, and I must admit that I get a real kick from dropping king-size cigarettes (they are highly visible - more than half the length sticks out), with large volumes of smoke pouring out, into full-length drapes that must have cost a small fortune! The Lady of the home is on the point of fainting - and you can sense that her husband, surrounded by his friends, is seething, you know that if something goes wrong they will, 'kick your head in'! I've still got my head and not only that, they usually proclaim that they are indeed, 'in the presence of a Real Magician'! Ha! The last time I used the traditional handkerchief, was probably when I still a teenager. As far back as I can remember, I've always utilized curtains, gentlemen's jackets or, down on my hands and knees, a lady's dress/frock/ very expensive wedding and ball gowns. I HAVE LIVED MY LIFE RATHER DANGEROUSLY! Depending on the Lady, I would vanish cigarettes just a little bit up from at the hem however, 99 % of the time it was a lot higher than that, and I have never received a slap or a black eye. Just shows that magic, when performed without smuttiness, but with sophistication, overrides anything! Dropping a burning cigarette into the middle of a lady's dress does tend to create strong psychological impressions of IMPENDING DISASTER, coupled with HIGHLY VISIBLE DAMAGE! Same with a man's coat -'smack dab right in the middle of the outside back'. I've digressed for two whole paragraphs! Getting back to 'proving' a 'magical point', I can't remember the first but the third and last time this happened was around 1986/87, approximately 3a.m. in the morning, in the lounge bar of a very posh five star hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland. The multi-millionaire owner (he drove a Maserati -with a Lamborghini in the garage) and three of his friends, one of whom was a good friend of mine as well, all very well dressed businessmen, were the only ones present - apart from myself of course. It had been a long night - dining, drinking and performing close-up magic and drinking and.. John says to me -" Tom, show them that cigarette thing". So I borrowed a jacket and cigarette number one vanished. " He must have put it in his coat pocket" some body said, " Take your coat off and Do It Again". I removed my jacket and under intense scrutiny - cigarette number two vanished! " Where the hell has it gone" was the cry, " Take your shirt off and do it again"! I complied. Bare-chested, I again made a small hollow in the borrowed jacket then dropped a freshly lit, king-size cigarette into the hollow, took two or three puffs so that the smoke came pouring out. With three-quarters of cigarette still showing, I slowly stub it out. Cigarette number three disappeared. Several unprintable expletives in 'broad Scots' rang out (not that they're unprintable, I don't want to offend any one - well not too much)." you're putting them somewhere, drop your trousers Kiwi Laddie"! There I was wearing nothing except my under pants and shoes and socks. Not a pretty sight - to some. Cigarette number 4 departed, as if it had never existed! Gob smacked, my audience of four came to the same conclusion - there was only one place the cigarettes could be going. "You're shoving them up your arse". "Bollocks" I said. "That's about size of it," they yelled, " drop your grungy undies laddie and take off your shoes and socks while you're about it"! NOW STARK NAKED, I took cigarette number five, apparently inserted it up my nose and pulled it out from my mouth, then pushed it into my ear and reproduced it, apparently from my rear end. That got a laugh. Lighting up the cigarette (someone muttered that: 'it must taste like crap'), I took a couple puffs then, dropped it into the coat. They stared in disbelief as once again, I seemingly stubbed it out of existence! The little utility item that makes this effect possible is so well known today, every kid's 'magic box' contains one, and it has often been exposed on television. It's seems amazing that one can still get away with performing the vanishing cigarette these days. The fact of the matter is, the simplest trick, in the hands of a consummate (sleight of hand) magician becomes a little 'miracle'. There is not the slightest hint - even to those who are aware of such gimmicks - that the master magician is using anything other than the pure dexterous skills at his disposal, developed over years of practice. NEVER, during the thirty plus years that I've 'magically' disposed of cigarettes (which must number in the thousands), have I EVER been accused of using anything other than the aforementioned, pure dexterity! There is a magician friend of mine, who hails from Nottingham, England. A full-time professional, he gets paid the 'Big Bucks' working his close-up and magic act for the corporate market. Occasionally, when we were booked for the same function, he made a point of watching me when I repeatedly performed, by request, the old cigarette in the coat effect with the same group of people, which throws the equally old magic adage -' never perform the same trick twice', straight out the window. He would stand behind, in front, to the sides, on at any angle of me he could manage, to watch 'my moves'. "Tom" he'd say, " I know what you're doing and what you're using". "Of course you do" I'd interject. " Yes" he'd reply, " but what the bloody hell do you do with the 'gimmick' afterwards and where DO YOU put all those king-size cigarettes"? " Well Mark" I'd say, tongue-in-cheek, "THAT'S MAGIC, and that's why they call me, 'THE AMAZING' "! The nicest compliment he has ever paid me was when he said, " Tom, YOU MAKE YOUR MAGIC LOOK LIKE - REAL MAGIC"! Well, I thank DAI VERNON'S teachings for that. "USE YOUR HEAD AND ABOVE ALL BE NATURAL" he would say, " TAILOR YOUR TRICKS TO SUIT YOUR INDIVIDUAL STYLE AND PERSONALITY". Wise words indeed, from 'THE PROFESSOR', THE GRANDEST MASTER OF THEM ALL! Finally, for those of you out there, who are 'scratching' your heads wondering just where a butt naked magician hides several king-size cigarettes and the required gimmick - -"KEEP SCRATCHING!" ------------------------------------- 10. MagicNZ e-zine archives ------------------------------------- Back issues of the MagicNZ e-zine go to: www.watson.co.nz/ezine.html 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 001nov0699.txt first three numbers (001) denote issue number, then the date (nov06) and the last next two numbers the year (99) If you want to print copies of MagicNZ e-zine go to: www.watson.co.nz/ezine-archive ------------------------------------- 11. 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 MagicNZ e-zine is published weekly, on Sunday. The opinions expressed in this e-zine are those of the individual contributors. Neither MagicNZ or 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 << © Copyright 2002 Alan Watson