* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Magic New Zealand * www.watson.co.nz/ezine.html * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Issue Number: #241 Date: Sunday 14th March 2004 Editor: Alan Watson www.magicianz.com www.alan-watson.com e-mail: AW@Alan-Watson.com ================================ Hi here is the latest news ================================   1. Editor’s Message   2. See A Live Interview With Milt Larson   3. Martinka.com Auction Ends March 21st   4. Paul Daniels At Jermyn Street Theatre   5. 29th Australian Convention Of Magicians Update   6. Lance Burton Gets His 24 Hours Of Fame On CNN Headline News   7. Lance Burton Wins `Best Magician' Again!   8. Peter May Recently Married Michelle   9. The Big Interview: Paul Daniels   10. Visiting Scotland In May And June 2004   11. The Magic Gold Coin Of Egypt - By Jamie-G   12. Twentieth Century Silkworm - Peter Marucci   13. The Amazing Orchante Saga   14. e-zine Archives   15. Subscription Management ------------------ 1. Editor's Message ------------------- Message from Alan Watson - The Magic One VERY disappointed to read in the March issue of ‘Magic’ magazine that both the IBM and SAM conventions in 2005 have been scheduled at the same time IBM 5-9 July and SAM 6-9 July. Michele and I were planning to attend both these conventions next year and can’t believe that this has happened, yet again, and as a Life Member of both these great organisations and coming from New Zealand I like to attend both conventions. You may remember in 2002 the same thing happened and we were told this would never happen again! On a positive note, I hear that one of the organisations is currently trying to resolve this clashing of dates. Let’s hope we have some positive news to report on this issue soon. ---------------- Remember if you have any magic news drop me a line: AW@Alan-Watson.com ----------------- 2. See A Live Interview With Milt Larson ----------------- Message from Peter J. Shield Very exciting news - your readers can see a live interview with Milt Larson recorded at the Magic Castle last week if they have access to Broadband on their computer - the link is www.vegaswebcast.com/demandplayer/20031216/player.html#MiltLarsen.wsx In addition we have just added a pay-per-view option which will allow magicians around the world via your magazine to take a personal tour of the castle with Milt for $9.95 - the DVD from the castle sells for over $25.00! They simply have to go to http://vegaswebcast.com and scroll down to the pay per view section at the bottom of the web page. More exciting developments next week! ----------------- 3. Martinka.com Auction Ends March 21st ----------------- Message from Ted Bogusta Martinka & Co. is running their 12th online auction of vintage and modern magic at www.martinka.com. The sale is now online and will be our largest offering to date. To accommodate even more lots, we have extended the end date to March 21st. There is already a great selection in each category and there's more coming. A few recent additions include: Original Thurston She Floats Stone Litho Poster Early Great Raymond Scrapbook Ken Brooke Pocket Mirror Houdini Postcard Massey Silk Frame Many items are on the way, among them: P&L Ultra Card Rise P&L Four Ace Stand P&L Claw Foot Duck Pan Owen Prediction Chest Okito Jewl Chest Blackstone Sr. Full Color Portrait A collection of Magic Book Plates A collection of Magic Tokens A collection of Magic DVDs and Videos We are including some material from the storage area of the old Hornmann - Martinka Shop and many other items which have been received as consignments. There are lots listed in all price ranges and many will be sold without reserve. In some cases the reserve has been set significantly lower than the items true value, so there will be some bargains to be had! If you are not already registered from a previous auction, please visit the website and register prior to bidding. Many items are now online for viewing at www.martinka.com/auction The auction will end on March 21st, 2004. PS: We are now accepting consignments for our June 2004 Auction. If you have an item or group of items that you would like us to include, please contact me as soon as possible for details. For items received early, there's the possibility we could picture them in our upcoming ads for additional exposure. Ted - auction@martinka.com ----------------- 4. Paul Daniels At Jermyn Street Theatre ----------------- Review by Mike Margolis “The magic of Max Malini” I’ll start at the end. It’s appropriate. As if in a Daniels grand illusion, the audience literally leapt to its collective feet and cheered the man of the last two-ish hours. We were a happy band of captives, mesmerised, mystified, mentally molested and then disarmingly mollified. Daniels darted on stage in dark suit with trilby hat and introduced us to the skills and times of the magic inventor and Jewish master magician Max Malini who arrived in 1873 and performed his last trick in 1942. Daniels has extraordinary craft and nerve which makes his presentation riveting. This is mainly to do with his daring in exampling the Malini technique of slowing the magic to the point where the unachievable becomes visibly and dynamically the impossible. Jermyn Street Theatre is a compact arena. This was seriously close-up magic. You sit ‘nose to nose’ with the actor and see the detail. Again and again we saw, as rarely before, sleight of hand and ingenuity demonstrated at a snails pace, successfully defying us to detect how any of it was possible. The audience, dotted with fellow magicians gleeful in Daniels expertise, gasped and cheered as Daniels interpretation of Malini took us back on a time trip to forgotten mystery, and to familiar illusions, now credited to their originator. As pure entertainment it was of the highest order. As a demonstration of the art and fascination of conjuring “The Magic of Max Malini” is a brilliant master-class. Daniels rocked the Edinburgh Festival with early versions of this production. It is easy and exhilarating to see why. This Daniels, the cerebral funster with original smart jokes and banter, should return to our screens in this form. I am one of those fans of conjuring who don’t want to see how it is done. (With Daniels you’ve got no chance anyway). Mike Margolis Mike Margolis is a Critic, Writer and Director. He was associated with “The David Nixon Show” for six years as the husband and artistic director of David’s screen partner Anita Harris, who was twice “Magicians Assistant of The Year”. He contributed special script and song material to the series. ----------------- 5. 29th Australian Convention Of Magicians Update ----------------- Message from Tim Ellis (Aust) Convention Co-ordinator We only have 5 people signed up the Lee Eun-Gyeol's Masterclass on Dove Magic so far. If you'd like this class to go ahead at the Convention (Friday June 11, 3-5pm) then we need at least 5 more to sign up asap! If you'd like to prepare to make our International Guests feel welcome when they arrive, use this link for a quick course in Korean greetings and say "Hi" to Lee Eun-Gyeol when he arrives (oh, and if you really want to impress him Lee is his family name, Eun-Gyeol is his first name). http://langintro.com/kintro/bphrases/preface.htm Good and bad news for two of our ALL-AUSSIE STAGE SHOW performers. Cosentino and Sam Powers have both landed 5 month cruise seasons on the Holland America Line starting April/May. As this is GREAT news for the guys, we will miss them at the convention. Keep checking the convention website for updates and changes as we get closer and closer! www.magicunlimited.com/magic_convention.htm Time to pay the airfares for our overseas guests SO SEND YOUR REGISTRATION MONEY IN NOW! How's your group going in the Registration Competition? Check it out here: www.magicunlimited.com/rego_competition.htm ----------------- 6. Lance Burton Gets His 24 Hours Of Fame On CNN Headline News ----------------- Message from Wayne Bernath (US) Lance Burton Gets His 24 Hours Of Fame On CNN Headline News Fellow Kentuckian Rhonda Grayson who now lives in Atlanta where CNN is based recently did a 2-and-a-half-minute feature news profile on Master Magician Lance Burton that aired about 50 times. The news interview will be running again on CNN this weekend, March 13-14. She said, "He's one of the most successful acts on the Las Vegas Strip." He did the multiplying rabbit trick with Rhonda Grayson. ----------------- 7. Lance Burton Wins `Best Magician' Again! ----------------- Message from Wayne Bernath (US) When it comes to being the best in your field - Lance Burton once again won the "Best Magician" award from Nevada's largest circulation tourist magazine What's On at 210,000 circulation. Lance Burton who performs at the Monte Carlo Resort & Casino has taken the title at the bi-weekly magazine for the past five consecutive years. Lance said, "I'm honored that I was chosen in the reader's poll." Lance Burton was invited to the Las Vegas Review-Journal's "Best of Las Vegas" Awards Ceremony. HMMMMMM! ----------------- 8. Peter May Recently Married Michelle ----------------- Message from Peter May I recently married Michelle a Singaporean who I met on a trip last year in Singapore. Between Oct and Dec last year we performed to more then 80 companies around Asia, Singapore is an amazing country, Having to perform up to three shows back to back (8pm - 9.15pm - 10.30pm)in different hotels on busy weekends has been a incredible challenge. The crowds were often above 1500 manly Chinese, and they would eat throughout our show, make toasts, and sometimes leave the room as they could not understand English. We would always rate our show from 1 to 10 and I am please to say we average an 8. Our show has changed considerable, having to put a thirty minute Comedy illusion show that plays big and highly mobile, that you can set up in ten minutes and pack down and leave in less. Singapore has changed my life and my act, and that I am grateful for. ----------------- 9. The Big Interview: Paul Daniels ----------------- Message from Adey Ramsel London Theatre Guide The Big Interview: Paul Daniels Paul Daniels is Britain’s most famous magician and has been for the best part of 30 years. Of the modern generation of tricksmiths, only Derren Brown has approached Daniels’ fame (and he’s more of a psychological illusionist who virtually never chops women in half). Tom Bowtell caught up with Wizbit’s father in an Italian café next to the Jermyn Street theatre, where he is currently appearing in his latest live show The Magic Of Max Malini. “I lead a multi-faceted life, it is a source of great joy and wonder to me. I design for other shows – you know, my biggies have been Cats and Phantom (where he choreographed the famous finale) you know, problem solving really they say ‘we can’t get this on, we can’ t get this off and we can’t do this…’ and I try to sort it out - I’m a fairly techie guy”. It is strange that Paul Daniels should begin by talking about the handyman aspect of his career, without really referring to his magic, but he seems keen to underline the fact that he is no one-trick pony. (There is also a chance that being a shrewd financier, Paul wishes to remind the producers of up-and-coming West End “biggies” of his spotless credentials when it comes to creating the big effect…) As well as his multifarious design work Paul is also an internationally sought-after motivational speaker. “I’m doing one in London today, I was in New Zealand last week and in Las Vegas before then. These are showbiz motivational speeches, I teach businesses showbiz techniques to help them to sell things, get along with people, things like that. I mean what do we do as performers? We have to attract people, we have to make them feel good, so I show businesses how I do it.” Paul is refreshingly unabashed about this branch of his career; “part of it’s about making money: it is called show business after all”. "I lead a multi-faceted life - it is a source of great wonder to me." Paul Daniels clearly enjoys engaging his inquisitive mind and applies his creativity to almost everything that comes his way. His most recent foray into the newspapers has been related to his struggles to get planning permission to demolish and rebuild parts of his house. The permission has now been granted, which Daniels admits is a “huge relief”. Typically, he is no idle bystander when it comes to the renovations themselves: “this morning I was with structural engineers and saying ‘no no no, I don’t think brick pillars will work – I want steel.’ He is also bringing a air of intrigue to proceedings: “we have to raise up the patio, and building regulations demand that we had to have this safety barrier, so I said ‘supposing there was something not there that could stop you falling off…’ they all laughed at me and I said ‘no, not a force field…’ but I’ve designed something so we’ll have to wait and see.” Clearly fearing that I might thieve his patent, Paul will give me no more, er, concrete details about his un-fall-off-able balcony. Finally (and more by luck than judgement) our circumlocutory chunter arrives at the topic we are supposed to be talking about: The Magic Of Max Malini. The show, which Paul first performed at the Edinburgh festival last August, explores the life and work of “one of the all-time legends of magic”. Born in Poland and brought up New York, Max Malini was the ultimate “hustling” magician of the 20th century, and was one of Harry Houdini’s keenest competitors. Malini started life as an acrobat and physical entertainer but went to Washington as a stripling in order to “go where the money was” and entertain the rich and famous. Daniels feels a strong affinity with Malini’s s tyle of work. “Max started out in the pubs, the clubs and the bars, and I did too and like me he was a jazz magician. He would go with the flow with whatever was there, he’d have the gall to turn up at a stately home with nothing and would borrow a plate and a saucer, a knife and fork and a couple of books from the library and see what happened”. "I never met Max - I was four when he died.." At this point Daniels casually picks up a spoon, makes a great show of very clearly bending it over the table edge before presenting me with it in an entirely unbent state. As I duly inspect it he quietly makes my mobile phone vanish without interrupting his sentence: “it was just momentary stuff, you know, it was off the wall, and I read about this guy and liked him. He was a great hustler”. Unfortunately, Daniels never got around to meeting Malini (“I was four when he died”) but on a recent trip to Australia, Daniels had a stroke of good fortune: “I had dinner with this lady who had been an Australian beauty queen. She joined the Dante magic show in 1931. I’ ve known her for a while, from a distance, and she’s just stunning. She’s 89 but her hair is dyed and her make-up is perfect. So we were chatting and she said in her elegant drawl [Daniels assumes an elegant drawl] ‘so what are you doing, Paul?’ and I say ‘well I’m going back to England to do a show about Max Malini ‘He was a nice man’ she said. ‘YOU KNEW Max Malini?’ I cried - so she told me all about him. So that was a stroke of good fortune…” At this point Debbie MacGee, Paul’s wife of nine years ago and the archetypal Glamorous Assistant arrives, fortunately just missing her husband describing an 89 year-old beauty queen as stunning. Just as Max Malini always chose to work in small rooms with small audiences (never more than 5 foot tall), Paul Daniels has always chosen to perform the magic of Max Malini in studio theatres, firstly in the intimate environs of the Edinburgh Fringe festival’s St Cuts venue, and now at the 70-seater Jermyn Street theatre. The show involved many classics of Malini from the legendary Egg Bag, to his blindfolded card stab, to a tabletop production of a block of ice from his hat. Those expecting to see the return of Daniels’ legendary toupee will be disappointed, however. “I do his voice and I tell his stories – but I don’t dress up as him, although I did feel as I was doing the show in Edinburgh that I got more and more inside him." While Daniels is obviously impressed with the technical quality of Malini’s magic, he seems equally in awe of his entrepreneurial and hustling skills: “he was great at the bar and in restaurants, and that’s how he got his audience. He’d do a few tricks in the bars and then say ‘and tonight, I’ve got a show on…’ But he was always a hustler. He arrived in Shanghai once and befriended this group of about ten guys. He did some tricks for one of them at bar and sold him ten tickets for all his mates. When he went back to the table, of course, he found that they’d all bought ten tickets each…” He was a genius hustler and I like that about him – yeah, me and Max, we’re getting on fine!” "I'm a Jobbing entertainer" After 30 years in the magical saddle, Daniels still gets excited about live shows. “I’ve always done live theatre. I love live shows, they’re what I do. I was fourteen months on the West End (at the Prince Of Wales) when it was all ‘musicals and drama darling’ and people were saying ‘a conjuror, in the theatre? What on earth is he doing?’ My contract on the West End was for a week - with options!” He cackles with unexpected vigour for quite a long time. For Daniels it has never just been about the magic – he demurely refers to himself as a “jobbing entertainer” and is as concerned with the quality of his performance as he is with his technical mastery. Has there ever been a time when he has considered concentrating on the acting side of things? (One can easily imagine him playing the role of the Gravedigger in Hamlet and turning Yorick into a bunch of flowers): “Yes, I’ve thought about it. I was in Comedy theatre for a couple of months, in Moliere and I liked that. I’d like someone to offer me some more of that. Problem is, unlike most actors, I’m expensive – but it’d be a great thing to do more of, I’d love to do a movie!” Paul is clearly riled at how magic is perceived as mere end-of-the-pier frippery in cultural circles. “Magic is very much an art form, but magic has a problem, and the problem is this: on children’s television you will see some quite good actors and singers and all that having to get a job and going “the train is in the station, the station the station” and when you’re a kid you think that’s great and you enjoy that, but when you grow older you think ‘no, that’s not cool’. Comedy for children tends to be silly, slapstick and things, and when you grow older into your teens then that’s definitely not cool. Singing has to be punked and rocked in the teen years – while ballads become very uncool. The oddity of all that is that a magic trick is ageless. A magic trick, if it fools you, is a magic trick. But as people grow older they perceive magic as being for children, but it isn’t: it’s a defiance of the physical laws of nature: and that’s a fairly adult concept.” All the jaunty whimsicality has now gone from Daniels’ voice as he speaks lucidly on matters which are clearly important to him: “in Germany and France and Italy they treat it like opera or ballet. Part of the artistic scene! They also respect the incredible skills of jugglers and acrobats, but we don’t. We have bought, hook, line and sinker the pop industry. Everything has gone downmarket, and in televisual terms magic has gone down market – street magic was always the bottom end, and it seems that the bottom end is where they are now feeding”. From these comments I assume that Paul is no great fan of the current doyen of TV trickery (and practitioner of street magic) David Blaine; yet he is scrupulously fair in his assessment: “I’ve never seen him do a full magic show really. It’s always heavily edited – and that might not be his fault – I always say that and I‘d like to see him live before I make any judgment. But the television magic he does, I mean you have to be three-quarters blind to not see the edits. And in the magic world itself he doesn’t have respect for his magic – he’s got admiration for his publicity machine but the magic…we ain’t see it yet”. What did Paul make of Blaine’s sitting-in-a-box stunt? “Well it wasn’t magic. It wasn’t magical. It could have been – it could have had a magical ending but he just did it as an endurance feat and that was it really.” Since the Paul Daniels Magic Show abbra-ed its last cadabra, Paul and Debbie’s most notable return to the spotlight came with the Louis Theroux documentary that was aired in 2001. Paul perks up noticeably when I mention the programme: “I’ve never really watched it right through - I was there when it was happening, you see - but he was with us for three months and that’s paired down to 50 minutes. In three months he can either break you or make you or twist you in whatever way he likes. Now Louis actually liked us – didn’t know where we were coming from some of the time, but he liked us - and we liked Louis so we just had a good time. And after the show went out we had 800 emails and only two of them were bad”. Did Paul and Debbie feel that they had to perform for the cameras at all? “No,” says Paul gravely, “I’m stupid all of the time”. "I'm stupid all of the time" One of the clearest things to have emerged from the Theroux documentary was that despite nearly a decade of cynical media sniping, the relationship between Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee actually seems to work rather well. “We are what we are. People come round and find two people who work quite hard at what they do.” There will of course be those who think that the bantering fondness that Paul and Debbie display in public is merely an impressively professional show-biz façade, but when I called Paul to arrange the interview they seemed charmingly unforced. “What are you doing?” squawked Daniels mid-conversation “I’m not sure what you mean” I replied. “Not you, it’s my wife. She’s doing something.” Then, in the background, I hear the honeyed tones of Debbie herself “Oh stop fussing, Paul, I’m just going online.” “It’s my wife, you see” repeats Paul, “she likes to break things”. I also noticed that on his public website, amongst Daniels’ itinerary of international speaking appearances, the words DEBBIE’S BIRTHDAY are proudly listed under October 31. Perhaps because of this happiness in his personal life, Paul seems sanguine about his ups and downs of his career and is generally content with his lot. He is magnanimous when it comes to talking about fellow magicians and shows no malice towards the BBC for the demise of his television show, although he does lament what he sees as the narrow approach of today’s TV commissioners: “I don’t dismiss pop culture, I really like some of the alternative comedians, but I think TV should be broad. I think that there is room for one good cookery programme per week and that there is room for one good make-over programme per week”. Does he think there is room for one good magic show per week? “Yes I do. We still have variety in the UK, but all the impressionists are in one programme – flogging the material to death, instead of picking out gem - all the comedians are in another programme – swearing – and all the singers are in another programme. So it’s all there, but in separate shows. I’m just waiting for some bright spark to come out of university and say ‘I know chaps – why don’t we put them all into one show?’ And then we’ll be back to where we started!” And if, the idea was right, would Daniels himself step back it the TV limelight? He emits a ponderous wheeze before musing “I wouldn’t mind doing one-offs.. or even… mmmm” at this point Debbie steps in: “if it was something that really grabbed you you’d consider it.” “Yes,” continues Paul, “if it was curious, I like TV to be curious. That’s what I liked about the show we did, you never knew what we were going to get. So you never knew we’d dress up stupidly sometimes and sometimes we’d be elegant and I’d be singing opera.” It was this innate curiosity and love for the intriguing parts of life is what initially drew Paul Daniels to magic and it is surely what fuels him, at the age of 64, to be as busy as ever. He is clearly proud of the longevity of his career, retains numerous ambitions and recounts with considerable relish his crammed itinerary: “I’m appearing in a couple of amateur films and then in practical terms I’ve got to rebuild the house, I’ve got to sand and varnish my vintage river boats, I’ve got a book which is everyone’s on my back to finish – because it’s a entirely revolutionary way to teach magic, I have an internet magic shop which we are expanding, I ’m going to write a books about our TV series for the magician’s trade, I’m going off to direct a show in Wisconsin. Then, in April..” Paul Daniels giggles uproariously at his own gag and then, this particularly bit of business done, he links arms with the lovely Debbie McGee, and vanishes. ---------------- 10. Visiting Scotland In May And June 2004 ----------------- Message from Larry Campbell Dear Brothers of Magic We will be visiting Scotland in May and June 2004 and the fine city of Glasgow. I would like to meet and visit with several magi or IBM Brothers if possible. The last time I was in your city was ten years ago. I attended a magic club that I think met at the library. But I am not sure. At that time one of the Brothers asked me to lecture at their club the next time that I returned. I am now returning but have lost track of my contacts. If it is possible, would someone in the Glasgow area contact me via E mail or "Snail Mail" Post? Thank you for your assistance in advance. Respectfully, Larry Campbell "Zeezo" czeezo@hotmail.com 16150 Mariner Drive Huntington Beach, CA 92649 USA ----------------- 11. The Magic Gold Coin Of Egypt - By Jamie-G ----------------- Message from Jamie-G EFFECT: A gold coin vanishes from the magicians hand and then reappears in his pocket. The coin then vanishes from the magicians hand again then reappears back into his hand. The magician then asks the spectator to open his hand the magician then adds heat to his finger and starts to physically and visually melt the coin. This is going under the spectator's hand and the spectator can see little piece's of gold land in his hand as the magician is melting the coin. This is a very strong and powerful effect. The spectator is blown out of the water because they cannot believe there eyes on what is happening to this gold coin. PROPS: You need a gold coin-(the bigger the coin the better but the size of a 50 cent piece is the best size.) Gold foil-(gold foil from my magic foil system) METHOD: First you need to put at least 10 layers of gold foil on one side of the coin. You put the gold foil on as you would with the magic silver foil. The foil will bond to the coin so you won't even know that it is on there once this is done you are ready to go. You start by vanishing the coin by the method you know best and make the coin reappear in your pocket this gets the spectator to watch the coin and have a interest in what you are doing. Vanish the coin once more and make it reappear back into your hand now you are going to set them up for some unbelievable magic. You blow on your fingers making it look like you are heating up your finger to melt the coin. You start rubbing the coin but in real time you are using your finger nail to scratch the gold foil off the coin. Also don't forget to get the spectator to hold there hand so the little piece's will fall into there hand this is the most important part in the whole effect. NOTE: Until I came up with the magic foil system you could not melt a coin physically and visually like this before. Also when you are scratching the coin to make the gold foil come off make sure you go around in circles this make's it hard to see that you are using your finger nail and your just rubbing the coin. PATTER: Hello have you ever seen a magic coin from Egypt before well I have one here it does all kinds of magical things. The first thing is the coin can go invisible and than return back into my pocket. Or it can just turn invisible and than reappear again. But the most amazing thing is when I add heat to my finger watch just what happens hear let me show you can you please hold out your hand. When the effect is over toss the coin in your pocket and the effect is done. NOTE: It takes about 20-25 minutes to gimmick the coin with the gold foil take your time because the slower you go the better the coin will look don't rush with the foil make it nice and neat. Also before you start the effect it's a good idea to put the coin in the spectator's hand once so they touch the coin this will prove that the coin is normal. For example you could say watch if I put the coin in your hand and you close it the coin disappears tell them to keep there hand closed pause for a minute and now say the coin has now appeared back into your hand. They will get a good laugh but the most important thing is you now have had the gimmicked coin in their hand and they didn't even know it. SPECIAL DEDICATION: I would like to dedicate this effect to my friend Bruce Spangler and his family they have been most helpful to me. Thank you and I hope you enjoy the magic gold coin from Egypt. If you are not familiar with the magic foil system you can go on the main web site of ring 2100 (www.ring2100.org) go down about half the page were you see my name click on it and it will explain the magic foil system to you....................JAMIE-G www.windsormagiccircle.homestead.com (I.B.M. ring-116) ----------------- 12. Twentieth Century Silkworm - Peter Marucci ----------------- Message from Peter Marucci (Canada) The 20th Century Silks routine has always been a favorite of mine; it's magical, it's colorful, and its plot-line is simple and easily followed. The trick works equally well for children or adults. And it plays well in a living room or an a stage. But, like a lot of tricks done by many magicians, it often looks like another example of, "Gee, look how clever I am!" It is a great an old standard but I always felt it needed a little bit more to finish it off. I believe the following may do just that; at least, I know it works for me. Twentieth Century Silkworm by Peter Marucci Effect: The magus shows two black and white silk scarves, ties them together, and leaves them in plain sight. He then shows a small silk with a picture of a silkworm on it. The magus vanishes the silkworm, only to find that it has re-appeared between the other two silk scarves -- and has transformed into a butterfly. Working: You'll need two black and white patterned silks, another small black silk, a large silk with a picture of a butterfly on it, and a small silk with a picture of a silkworm. One of the black and white silks is folded diagonally (in a triangle) and one side of the triangle is sewed shut, making a sort of bag. One top corner of the butterfly silk is tied to the corner of the bag silk that is open. A corner of the small black silk is cut off and stitched to the other top corner of the butterfly silk. The second black and white silk is left ungimmicked. The butterfly silk is stuffed into the bag silk so that only the fake black corner is showing. To the audience, the bag silk should look like a black and white silk that you are holding by the (gimmicked) corner. The gimmicked corner is tied to the other black and white silk and the two tied silks are put aside in plain sight. This can be on your table top, across your case, in a glass vase, or you can even have a spectator hold them. The small silkworm silk is shown and vanished, using a thumb tip or a pull or any other method that looks magical. One of the black and white silks is taken by the corner and the bundle is snapped through the air, releasing the butterfly silk in the bag. You then take the opposite end of the other black and white silk and reveal the butterfly silk tied between them. Thunderous applause follows! Presentation: "Two black and white silk scarves, tied together." Show the scarves and tie them together. "These are made of pure silk. And who can tell me where silk comes from?" (If nobody can -- and that does happen sometimes -- tell them yourself.) "Yes, silk comes from silkworms -- tiny little creatures like this one (show the small silkworm silk) who labor hard, day and night, just so we can look good! And, after his work is done, the silkworm curls up for a well deserved rest." (If you are using a pull or tip, shove the silk into your hand.) "And what happens after that?" (Again, assuming no one gives you an answer, you continue:) "The silkworm turns into (grab one of the black and white silks and snap them through the air) a beautiful butterfly -- even more beautiful than the silk scarves he made." Second Thought: The reason for using black and white silk scarves is to make the contrast with the brightly-colored butterfly more pronounced. The butterfly silk is a dealer item and comes in several sizes, from 12-inch to 36-inch (at least). I use an 18-inch one, with 18-inch silk scarves; this size seems just about right for me, but you may want a bigger set or need a smaller one. The silkworm silk is just a nine-inch white silk with a picture of a funny-looking worm drawn on it. I use Sharpie markers and light, brush-like strokes, to keep the colors from bleeding into the material. This whole routine should be played lightly and with a lot of fun (you can have a ball with some of the answers to your questions in a children's audience.) Have fun doing it -- and you audience will have fun watching it. Peter Marucci 270 St. Andrew St. East Fergus, Ontario, Canada N1M 1R1 e-mail: showtimecol@aol.com ----------------- 13. The Amazing Orchante Saga ----------------- Message from Tommy Orchard (The Amazing Orchante)(UK ex-pat Kiwi) Page ‘100’ ‘Linking Rings’, courtesy of a Ghost! 100 pages! (101)! It’s a milestone! The first episode (The foreword) appeared in issue No.44 –Sunday 22nd Oct. 2000, courtesy of Alan Watson’s ‘Magic N.Z. E Zine’. The ‘Saga’, covering the first 20 years - 1954 to 1974, of the Orchanté Story, amounts to 69,316 words, so far. Brace yourselves, here comes the next 20yrs, or so! Can you remember when you bought your first set of Linking Rings? I can, and will never forget it! We had stopped off late one afternoon and booked into a motel for the night, in the City of Palmerston North, which is 143km (90 miles) North of the ‘Capitol City of New Zealand’, Wellington (It should’ve been Auckland -whoa, I’ll bet that has started a furore!). The motel complex was quite large, built in a quadrangle shape with units both on the ground floor and identical units upstairs, with parking for two cars outside each ground floor unit. I'm going to describe the interior of the ground floor unit we had been booked into, as it is VERY IMPORTANT to what I'm about to relate. Parking up outside, the front door was virtually right in front of the car. PLEASE NOTE, the front door was the ONLY entrance/exit to the motel unit. On opening the door, it swung back against the left-hand wall, which separated us from the unit next door. Entering the room there was a large double bed on the immediate right - if you were standing outside, and had. ‘X-ray Vision’, you would be looking at the headboard. Also in the room was the usual furnishings; wardrobe, television, table etc. At the other end of the room was the only other door, which led, to the immediate left, into the bathroom/shower, toilet etc. or, on the immediate right, the kitchenette, which contained the usual; refrigerator, teapot, stove/oven etc. and that, was about it! Later that night, at around 1am in the morning, Veronica had put down the book she was reading and turned over to go to sleep. I was sitting up with her little hand held make-up mirror and a pair of tweezers, digging out some pesky ingrown hairs from out of my face; they can be a right little pain (was that a pun?), that can become unsightly blemishes - thus spoiling my ‘extraordinary good looks’ - well, I can dream, can't I! So there I was, concentrating like mad and going cross-eyed as hell, trying to focus on the bloody hairs with the magnifying side of the mirror when, out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw movement. I looked up and nearly crapped myself! Standing in the doorway that led into the bathroom/ kitchen, ‘Was Some Bloke with a Black Beard’, looking at me like, I don't know - ‘Like a man watching another man pulling hairs out of his face’! I quickly looked down at Veronica, grabbed her arm and shook it like mad to wake her up then, looked back up at the doorway as she sat up ready to give me a ‘mouthful’ for disturbing her just as she was getting to sleep. ‘He Had Gone’! In the few moments that I had taken my eyes of him, ‘He had vanished’! Wildly spluttering and babbling, trying to explain to Veronica what I had just seen, my brain was going crazy, telling me that the bastard had ducked into the toilet or kitchenette and, at the same time, logic was telling me that there was absolutely no way anybody could have gotten into the room without us knowing about it! Putting on a brave face and quaking in my toes (well, I don’t wear boots to bed), I threw all the lights on and, not surprisingly found - nothing! We didn’t sleep much that night and, I had a sneaking suspicion that Veronica thought I was - ‘Bullshitting’! Later the next morning, when we in the office (which was attached to the motel owners large home), checking out and paying the bill, I told the elderly lady who was serving us of what I had seen, and could only explain as - A Ghost! Fully expecting her to laugh in my face and to take pity on Veronica for having a fool on her hands, she calmly said, “Oh, that would’ve been my late husband!” She then went on to say that, the week before, an Undercover Drug Detective who had been staying there for a few days, had come down one morning, very disturbed and as white as a sheet, after seeing him in his room! THEN SHE DROPPED THE BOMBSHELL! “MY HUSBAND WAS A MAGICIAN YOU KNOW, AND A INVENTOR AND, A POET.” When I informed her that I also, was a Professional Magician, she invited Veronica and I into her home for a ‘cuppa’ and a chat. Page - 101 I cannot be absolutely positive about this, but we are sure she said that their surname was ‘ROSS’, and that he had invented some sort of aid for the vehicles of handicapped car drivers. As I mentioned, he was also a prolific poet and she showed us several examples that he had written; apparently he would scribble poetry on any bit of paper he could find - she was still discovering stuff that he had written inside book covers, serviettes, scrap paper, practically anything where there was space to write a few poetic lines. We can’t recall whether she told us when he had died, but if she did, we have forgotten. Some of his magical equipment was still lying around, I couldn't tell you now what it was - but I vaguely seem to remember that she was reluctant, for some reason, to part with any of it. What did catch my eye was a set of, ‘Linking Rings’ - I think they were 8 inch and, were obviously home made, as the welding on the joins was very rough and had never been smoothed off. Nonetheless, they were better than the ones I had, which were all warped and twisted out of shape. Somehow, I managed to convince her to part with them, probably because she knew that I would put them to good use and, perhaps, it was why her late husband had put in an ‘appearance’ to me. Who knows! It was with this set that I learnt the late DAI VERNON’S routine, with a few added moves of my own! They did the job until I bought a nice set - 10 inch ‘TRUE TONE’, from Alf Hayes shop, in Sydney Australia. - POSTSCRIPT - I sure would like to know if any of the ‘MAGIC BOYS’ IN PALMERSTON NORTH have any knowledge and or history of Mr Ross, and could pass on what ever knowledge they may possess. He appears to have been quite a colourful character. It would make most interesting reading, not only magically, but also from a historical point of view as well, and it would be a shame if his story is to be allowed to simply ‘vanish’ into the whirlwind of time, as has happened far too often, with so many others in the past! ------------------ 14. 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