* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Magic New Zealand * www.watson.co.nz/ezine.html * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Issue Number: #248 Date: Sunday 11th April 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. Ali Bongo Has Had His By-Pass Operation 3. A Brief Comment On The Metamorphosis Exposure 4. FISM 2006 Newsletter 5. Tommy's Comment About Getting The Wife To Write 'Reviews' 6. Bev Bergeron Has Been Stamped 7. "Magic In Las Vegas" (And Related Arts) For April, 2004 8. Re: Eggs And Cigarettes 9. Tony Griffith’s Creative Magic Lecture/Teach-In 10. Jay Scott Berry And Lisa’s Magical Adventures 11. World Association Of Deaf Magicians 12. The Las Vegas Magic Invitational 13. Melbourne Magicians, Jugglers And Comedians 14. Uncle Linguini's Kitchen - Peter Marucci 15. Silver Dollar To Magic Gold Nugget 16. The Amazing Orchante Saga 17. e-zine Archives 18. Subscription Management ------------------ 1. Editor's Message ------------------- Message from Alan Watson - The Magic One Debbie McGee Radio Program 'BOX JUMPERS Really enjoyed listening to Debbie McGee program BOX JUMPERS on the BBC - a must for anyone who uses assistants, or is an assistant. If you log onto www.bbc.co.uk/radio4 and then click onto the box that says 'LISTEN AGAIN', then scroll down to BOX JUMPERS, under B - obviously, you will be able to hear it. ------------------------------- David Taylor and Murray Craig in New Zealand have their new dealer’s website up and running. Go to: www.impacttrix.co.nz ---------------- Remember if you have any magic news drop me a line: AW@Alan-Watson.com ----------------- 2. Ali Bongo Has Had His By-Pass Operation ----------------- Message from John Wade (UK) The latest is that Ali has had his by-pass and a valve put in as well. He is sleepy still, but OK and should be moved to an ordinary ward soon. He has asked that people not contact the hospital by phone as they have been a bit swamped. I am doing a lunchtime lecture at the Savage Club in London on Wednesday on magicians who have been members of that famous Bohemian club. Bertram, Devant, Selbit, Noel Maskelyne. Oswald Williams, Lionel King, Billy McComb until he went to Hollywood, Edwin Dawes for a while, John Salisse until his illness, and our new member Roy Davenport. I have been a member 43 years. ----------------- 3. A Brief Comment On The Metamorphosis Exposure ----------------- Message from James Randi (US) While I think that the planned exposure of the Houdini Metamorphosis at the Houdini Museum in Appleton, Wisconsin, is a mean-spirited and rather sophomoric stunt, I cannot see that this will really harm any professional act using that trick. On a recent USA TV show, I discussed this very briefly with Jonathan Pendragon, a working professional who should have a very pertinent and important opinion on the matter. Jonathan depends on this illusion for his very survival as an artist, but he had no problem with the exposure at all. I must respect that view, of course. We magicians have always panicked when "inspired" TV producers have decided that the public wants to know how all the tricks are done, but that alarm proves to be a bit unnecessary. The "Masked Magician" brouhaha that arose recently in the USA is a good example: it showed that audiences either groan or yawn when they are told the dark secrets of the trade. I've always said that anyone who thinks disassembling a Stradivarius to discover the "secret" of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto is a wise move, could become a TV producer. We will always be abused by juvenile moves from the media and from those we have trusted to keep our confidences, but in the long run, THEY are the losers, not us. (I'm also amused at the canard that the Appleton Museum allows to circulate: that Harry Houdini was born there. He was born in Pest, Hungary.) ----------------- 4. FISM 2006 Newsletter ----------------- Message from Jahn Gallos (Sweden) Subscribe to the newsletter and receive updates about the convention: www.svenskmagiskcirkel.se/FISM-news.html FISM 2006 Web Site: www1.stocon.se/wms/9/5317.asp ----------------- 5. Tommy's Comment About Getting The Wife To Write 'Reviews' ----------------- Message from Paul Daniels (UK) I laughed at Tommy's comment about getting the wife to write 'reviews'. It IS a good idea and I would love to take credit for it, but I can't. When I saw it in the Magic New Zealand I withdrew all marital rights immediately. Let her suffer I thought. It hasn't worked out. She doesn't seem to notice! Re the egg bag letters, I don't think that Marucci was doing much more than other magical writers who have to justify a change in the regular routine and he did say that he did it anyway. Words of wisdom from Bev, as always, however. The quality of the bag only comes into it from a magician's point of view because sometimes it can make the handling easier. To the audience it doesn't mean a damn thing. Come to think of it, no prop should ever mean a damn thing. The 'magic' should come from inside the performer, not the prop. It should always be the performer, their acting ability, be it serious or comedic, and then the 'play' which we call the routine. ----------------- 6. Bev Bergeron Has Been Stamped ----------------- Message from Bev Bergeron (US) Thanks to some of my English friends: I have just received a postage stamp from the Federated States of Micronesia with my Rebo the Clown character from the CBS-TV series of the 1960s, “The Magic Land of Allakazam.” The Micronesia has 80¢ as the value on it. Don’t ask me how much that is – since the Federated States are around the Marshall, Guinea, Kiribati, Mariana, Wake, Solomon and a thousands more islands, maybe they use the U.S.A. dollar system. I’ll have to do further research. When I think about it – I’ve performed on U.S.O. shows in a lot of these places. As always, my name was misspelled. They put on the stamp “Beverly Rebo Bergerson.” Oh well, one out of three is OK with me. I am told that the stamps of clowns are being issued in groups of four. On the four that Rebo is on is also: Joseph Grimaldi (the godfather of clowns from over a 100 years ago), Glenn Little (former RB and B&B Circus) and Coco Michael Polakov (one of the old timers from the Ringling show). Larry Fisher of Circus World has told me: “You are in good company.” For anyone who wishes to collect such things, I don’t think the stamps are useable except on some small island in the South Pacific, you can order them from Coolstamps.com at $5.95 per set plus postage. I’m thinking about cornering the market on these things – hey, I missed out with Microsoft, maybe this will be my chance to make it big. Bev “Rebo” Bergeron ----------------- 7. "Magic In Las Vegas" (And Related Arts) For April, 2004 ----------------- Message from David Neubauer (US) - www.dnmagic.com PLAYING UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE: AFTERNOONS: Illusionary Magic of Rick Thomas - 2 pm, 4 pm - Tropicana. James Dimmare - "All You Can Dance" (illusions, not birds) - 2 pm, 4 pm Dark Tues - Ovation Theater - Aladdin. Mac King Comedy Magic Show - 1 pm, 3 pm - Harrah's. Ronn Lucas and Friends (Vent) - The Man Who Can Make Anything Talk - Rio. "Two Girls and a Guy - Music, Magic and Comedy." (Scott & Jenny Alexander) 5 pm Thur-Mon, Fitzgerald's. Xtreme Close-Up Magic - Steve Dacri - 3 pm, 5 pm - (dark Mondays) - O'Shea's Comedy Theatre - www.STEVEDACRI.com (on vacation until May 29). EVENINGS: Amazing Johnathan - La Cage Theater - Riviera. Dark Tuesdays. Billy Fergeson- World's Greatest Magic Show (pre-show) - 7:30 pm, 9:30 pm - Sahara. Collin Foster - "Quicker than the Eye" - Westin Hotel. Danny Gans - (Impressionist) - The Mirage. Derek Roberts- World's Greatest Magic Show (pre-show) - 7:30 pm, 9:30 pm - Sahara. Dirk Arthur "New Art of Magic" - 7 pm - Plaza. Dr. Scott's Outrageous Comedy Hypnosis Show. Monday nights - Riviera. Hypnosis Zone 10:00 PM - 7 Nights a week - Le Bistro Theatre - Riviera. Jayden LaCross - TGI Fridays (Wednesdays - Sundays). James Dimmare - World's Greatest Magic Show - 7:30 pm, 9:30 pm - Sahara. Jamie Porter's Radio Side Show - every Saturday @ 5 am, KLAV FM 1230. La Femme - Various magicians (see schedule below) - MGM Grand. Lance Burton, Master Magician - Lance Burton Theater - 7 pm, 10 pm - Monte Carlo. Outback Steakhouse (Green Valley) - Erik Allan, Friday & Saturday. Ovation - Mark Kornhauser and others - 7 pm & 9 pm - Aladdin. Jeff Hobson - "Money And Madness Show" - Excalibur. Joseph Gabriel - World's Greatest Magic Show - 7:30 pm, 9:30 pm - Sahara. Kenny Havard- World's Greatest Magic Show (pre-show) - 7:30 pm, 9:30 pm - Sahara. Kevin James - World's Greatest Magic Show - 7:30 pm, 9:30 pm - Sahara. Penn & Teller - 9 pm - Samba Theatre, Rio. Peter J. Shield webcasts - with various Vegas magicians - www.vegaswebcast.com. Richard Muna & Co. - Fox City Show - Tropics Lounge, Tropicana. Scott Lewis (Hypnotist) "Mindblowers" - Riviera's Le Bistro Theatre 11:30 p.m. Mondays. Showgirls of Magic - 10:30 pm - San Remo. Steve Wyrick - Steve Wyrick Showroom - Aladdin. The Majestix - World's Greatest Magic Show - 7:30 pm, 9:30 pm - Sahara. Thom Kaz, the Rock 'n' Roll Hypnotist - Monday & Thursday - Palace Station's Laff Trax V - The Ultimate Variety Show - Nathan Burton and Sarah - 6 pm - Venetian. World's Greatest Magic Show - 7:30 pm, 9:30 pm - Sahara. Xtreme Close-Up Magic - Steve Dacri - 7 pm Sunday - O'Shea's Comedy Theatre - www.STEVEDACRI.com (on vacation until May 29). Ziada - World's Greatest Magic Show - 7:30 pm, 9:30 pm - Sahara. NEWS: The Complete Roy Timeline www.reviewjournal.com/news/royhorn/ An era ended on March 31 when the Siegfried and Roy marquee, a fixture in front of The Mirage since 1990, cames down. Their manager, Bernie Yuman, confirmed that The Mirage's parent company, MGM Mirage, had decided to replace the iconic German illusionists on the marquee with Danny Gans. "Hairspray" appears to be one of the two shows being considered to replace "Siegfried & Roy" at The Mirage. Amazing Johnathan will open some time in the next few weeks in the 650 seat La Cage Theater at the Riviera. Dark Tuesdays. Vegas magician Will Roya is producing the Bourbon Street show "APPLAUSE" slated to debut May 29. He and comedian Michael Johns will star, along with rotating performers. Acts will rotate on a weekly basis, giving the show an ever-changing lineup. Auditions for the show start at the end of March. Roya asks those with family- friendly, high-energy material to contact him at will@willroya.com. "Showgirls of Magic" at the San Remo gets a complete makeover, including four new showgirls out of five. Variety acts Joe Trammel and Russ Merlin will still run back and forth between "Showgirls" and "V." Rio afternoon headliner ventriloquist Ronn Lucas canceled his performances for three days. He has been summoned by one of his fans -- President Bush -- to perform with other stars at Ford's Theatre in Washington on Saturday night for a show to be nationally broadcast July 4. Peter J. Shields will be producing and hosting a game show called "Count the Ca$h". The show will be taped at the Greek Isle Casino Star Showroom in April. It will be the first Las Vegas Morning show and is scheduled for 11am daily and at 7.30 pm on Friday - The Gala opening is scheduled for Friday 30th April. Included in the Game show will be an "American Idol" style competition for Magicians and Comedians. Each show will either present two Comedians or two Magicians who will each perform 8 minutes and compete for the audience vote. A fee will be paid for these performances. Interested Magicians (and Comedians) are invited to email Peter J. Shield at pshield@sisna.com for details. Free tickets for the opening Gala on April 30th are available to the Magic fraternity and their families again by emailing your request to Peter at pshield@sisna.com. You may see a preview of the game show by logging on to http://casinoclubcash.com. Visiting Magicians will be given preference for appearances. Anthony Cools (hypnotist) will be opening soon at the Flamingo. RUMORS: We hear whispers that have the popular and long-running "V -- The Ultimate Variety Show" leaving before Memorial Day as the hotel readies itself to accommodate more lavish stage productions. Those shows are rumored to be everything from "The Phantom of the Opera" to "Chess." APRIL, 2004 April 2004: New Cirque du Soleil show opening in the old EFX Theater - MGM Grand. April 1-30: Arden James - World's Greatest Magic Show - 7:30 pm, 9:30 pm - Sahara. April 1-14: David Copperfield - MGM Grand. April 7: Collin Foster - "Quicker than the Eye" - Westin Hotel. April 9 - May 29: Steve Dacri's Xtreme Close-Up Magic - on vacation - O'Seah's. April 19 - June 6: Jeff McBride - World's Greatest Magic Show - 7:30 pm, 9:30 pm - Sahara. April 23-25: Ventriloquist Festival - Imperial Palace. http://www.inquista.com. April 30: "Count the Ca$h" Peter J Shields - Grand Opening Gala - Greek Isle MAY, 2004 Through May 29: Steve Dacri's Xtreme Close-Up Magic - on vacation - O'Seah's. Through June 6: Jeff McBride - World's Greatest Magic Show - 7:30 pm, 9:30 pm - Sahara. JUNE, 2004 Through June 6: Jeff McBride - World's Greatest Magic Show - 7:30 pm, 9:30 pm - Sahara. AUGUST, 2004 August 22-25: MAGIC Live! (Magic Magazine's 13th Anniversary Convention) - The Orleans Hotel. http://www.magicmagazine.com/live/ SEPTEMBER, 2004 September 12-14: The 4th Annual Las Vegas Magic Invitational - San Remo. Performing so far: Michael Close, Paul Cummins, Aldo Colombini, Chad Long, Steve Draun, Gazzo, Kostya Kimlat, Robert Allen, Danny Archer and the special guest of honor, premiere close-up artist and teacher Roger Klause. www.lvmi.net. September 15: Magic University. Will be a one day extra fee workshops from the lecturers and a few special guests (Daryl and Dean Dill). www.lvmi.net. November 14-16: MINDVENTION - The First Annual All Mentalism Convention - San Remo Featuring: Bob Cassidy, Alain Nu, John Riggs, Mark Strivings, Terry Nosek, Chuck Hickok, Brad Henderson, Bruce Bernstein, Lee Earle, Larry Becker and more to come! www.LVMI.net. ----------------- 8. Re: Eggs And Cigarettes ----------------- Message from Jack Poulter (Canada) The question was raised, I think, about how to carry eggs on stage in a pocket without breaking them. The later Irv Wiener used to demonstrate in his lecture how he used a small glass dish that acted as a shell to protect the egg from accidental crushing when in his jacket pocket. He then used the dish in which to break the egg at the conclusion of his routine. As for Bev Bergeron's query about cigarette production: the venerable John Calvert opened a recent lecture with a "smokeless" cigarette production routine. If memory serves correctly, he used two fake cigarettes with red tips to appear to be real, lit ones, and a bunch of other plain fakes to do the tossing into the bowl held by Tammy. Jack, in Victoria, BC. ----------------- 9. Tony Griffith’s Creative Magic Lecture/Teach-In ----------------- Message from Tony Griffith (UK) Tony Griffith has only two places left for his CREATIVE MAGIC LECTURE/TEACH-IN at his home in Bristol, UK on Sunday 23rd May 2004 The day starts at 10.30 a.m. and will end about 5 p.m. Registration is £40 and includes morning coffee, buffet lunch, and light tea. The lecture will place emphasis upon subtlety, routining and entertainment. Areas covered will be Close Up Magic, Trade Shows, After Dinner Entertainment/Speaking, Promotion and Marketing etc. Contact Tony a.s.a.p if you want to snap up one of the two remaining two places. People are coming from far and wide for this day.Belfast, Manchester, Huddersfield, Oxford. Tony can be reached at tony@tonygriffith.co.uk or by phone +44 (0) 1275 837017 Tony is also organising a UK lecture tour for the popular Swedish magicians Jahn and Gun Gallos. They will be lecturing this month (April) at Reading 15th, Gloucester 16th, Leicester 19th, BMS 20th, Leamington 21st, Bath 22nd, Weston 23rd, Peterborough One Day Convention 25th. Tony is also organising a UK lecture tour for David Ginn in October of this year. More details later. Tony and his wife Judith will be lecturing in the USA in September mainly in NC.SC Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. This tour is being organised by Steve Beam (Semi Automatic Card Tricks Vol 1 - 5 fame) of Raleigh NC. This will be Tony's 20th visit to the USA ----------------- 10. Jay Scott Berry And Lisa’s Magical Adventures ----------------- Message from Jay Scott Berry (US) Lisa and I just finished the first leg of our spring Euro-tour. I was honored to be invited as the guest star for a new annual magic festival and competition in Prague. Held in a private magic theater, this was a very well produced event. The evening show and awards ceremony was a polished presentation of dance, music and, of course, magic. The event was produced by Pavel Langr, Pavel Kozisek and Frantisek Cach. With the Czech Republic joining the EU next month, this event holds great promise and sets a high standard for a once isolated country. Congratulations. We are heading to Vienna next week for a number of shows and lectures. From there, we dash across Austria to Linz and Salzburg on our way to Munich where Zauberzentrale's Harold Voit, is hosting the German Magic Circle's convention. In Mid May, we will hop across to England for the convention in Leeds, which will wrap up the European tour. Our "Illusioneering days", combining an extended lecture, intensive masterclass and Topit installations have been receiving great response and reviews. The next two scheduled are in Dallas on May 22nd and in Salt Lake City on June 5th. In addition, I'll be headlining the Florida State Convention as well as lecturing in Memphis, Louisville and Chatanooga. In June, I'll be back in Vegas, performing with Steve Dacri in the Extreme Close-up show. The month wraps up in Southern California with a lecture and masterclass for the IBM Ring 313. The summer highlights include a series of shows on the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh at the Historic Georgian House. This will lead up to The Palace of Magic 2004, which is shaping up to be quite an event - one of the world's largest magic festivals, with an expected turnout of 10,000 visitors. Of course, there's no rest for the wicked, so we are already planing the final quarter's events. This looks like a great time for an Asia Pacific tour, including stops in Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand and more. Anyone interested in having their city or club added to this tour may contact me directly at jsb@jayscottberry.com Additional info, product and tour details are on my new, updated website at www.jayscottberry.com For more information on the Palace of Magic Festival, please visit www.palaceofmagic.com Hope to see you - somewhere in the world! ----------------- 11. World Association Of Deaf Magicians ----------------- Message from Mandy Davis (UK) Just thought I would share this news with you. Last month the World Association of Deaf Magicians held their convention, this year in Leipzig, Germany. There were lectures and gala shows as well as competitions for both close-up and stage. I am delighted to announce that Douglas Bates, a member of Watford Association of Magicians and IBM British Ring, came third out of twenty three entrants in the close up competition. this was a huge achievement and we are very proud of him, so I thought I would share this with you. All the best Mandy Davis www.mandydavis.co.uk ----------------- 12. The Las Vegas Magic Invitational ----------------- Message from Robert Allen (US) September 12-14, 2004 Great Magic! * Great Lectures! * Great Fun! SAN REMO HOTEL & CASINO LAS VEGAS Register Now & Save! www.LVMI.net Don't Miss The Magic University Special One Day Event on September 15, 2004 The Magic University will be a day chock full of workshops featuring some of magic’s greatest names in a class room setting. The Magic University will be limited in attendance. Sign Up Now! ------------------- Coming November 14-16, 2004 M I N D V E N T I O N Las Vegas' 1st All Mentalism Convention! SAN REMO HOTEL & CASINO - LAS VEGAS MINDVENTION@Juno.com MINDVENTION@Juno.com On the Web at: www.lvmi.net/html/mindvention.htm ----------------- 13. Melbourne Magicians, Jugglers And Comedians ----------------- Message from Brenton Foale (Aust) Please advertise auditions for any Melbourne magicians, jugglers, comedians, etc, professional or amateur, who wish to audition for our variety show which we hope to put to the public later this year. Their time would be donated as we are a club, not a business. Ages are open, and details can be obtained by writing to me. We are performing a variety show in the hopes of encouraging more young magicians to join our club, and also to promote magic in Melbourne. Again, could you also mention our newsletter? We had a huge response from your readers last week, and hope to spread the word of our club to even more magician’s world wide. For a copy of the latest issue please e-mail me at: Monash_Young_Magicians_Club@hotmail.com Our club is also looking for magicians and jugglers, clowns, etc from Melbourne who might be interested in running a workshop or lecture for our young members. This also includes any visiting magicians to Melbourne who might like to encourage junior magicians by giving a lecture. Again, they can contact me to enquire. Also, please mention our club for juniors, especially teenagers (we need more teens in the club) who live in Melbourne, particularly the Glen Waverley area. As usual, they can contact me for details. Finally, and I'm sure Tim Ellis will send an update on thison, Monday 5th April 2004, Tim Ellis and Sue-Anne Webster, along with numerous other magicians, launched their "World's longest magic show" attempt. They will be attempting to perform to public for 72 hours at Luna Park in St Kilda, Melbourne. If successful, ----------------- 14. Uncle Linguini's Kitchen - Peter Marucci ----------------- Message from Peter Marucci (Canada) Be yourself! That's probably the best advice any magician can get. If you're 15 years old, don't try to persuade your audience that you studied for years in Tibet; if you look like a banker, don't try to act like a clown; if you're built like Oliver Hardy, don't try dance routines that need the skill of Fred Astaire. On the other hand, you can capitalize on what you've got, what you are, and what nature gave you. If you're a big, jolly clown, then go for the comedy and forget the elegant manipulation stuff; if you're female, then go in that direction, rather than imitating male magicians; if you are of some particular ethnic or racial background, then use that -- don't try to avoid it. In my own case, I'm of Italian descent on my father's side and much of my adult act (and several of my close-up routines) revolves around my mythical Uncle Linguini, who was supposed to do the show but couldn't make it. He's a schemer, a con man, and generally all-round lazy and the various routines within the act illustrate this. The following is based on an old principle but reworked to fit my Uncle Linguini scenario: Uncle Linguini's Kitchen By Peter Marucci Effect: The magus explains that his Uncle Linguini was supposed to be here but just can't hold a job. Right now he's trying out for another job as a chef, the magus explains, but he probably won't get that, either, because he left his recipes at home. The magus takes out a small folder of cards and shows them to the audience. The cards list various ingredients for an Italian dinner. The cards are mixed and a spectator cuts the pile at any point. The magus then, dramatically, reveals which ingredient the spectator selected. Working: You'll need nine blank-faced cards or nine 3-by-5-inch file cards. Each one has a type of food printed on the face: Italian sausage, garlic, olives, peppers, lasagna, anchovies, tomatoes, eggplant, spaghetti. Any sort of cardboard folder or cheap wallet will do to carry the cards in, since the folder plays no part in the trick. The cards are in the order above, from the top of the face-down stack. The first letter of each card spells the nonsense word IGOPLATES. This means absolutely nothing and is simply a memory aid for you to remember the order of the cards. If the stack is given a series of single cuts, the cyclical order of the cards will never be changed. For example, T (for tomatoes) will always follow A (for anchovies) no matter how many times the deck is cut. Presentation: After commenting on the mythical Uncle Linguini, take out the folder and show the cards. (The folder I use is a cheap leather wallet with the words "Stolen from Uncle Linguini's Kitchen" on the outside.) "I don't know how Uncle Linguini is going to do in his new kitchen job without this list of stuff that he needs," you say. "He's had these cards for years and used them so often you can almost smell the wonderful dishes he has prepared." Demonstrate a single, complete cut, then ask a spectator to cut the cards and square them, as often as she wishes. "Let's try a little experiment with Uncle Linguini's cards," you say, as you pick up the stack and hold it in your left hand, face down, and offer it to the spectator. "Cut off some of the recipe cards and take the face-down card that you cut to. Look at it, keep it in you hand, and don't show it to me." When she does so, take the cut-off cards back from her and put them on the bottom of the stack. The bottom card is now the one that was immediately above the card she chose. For example, if she cut the deck and took Olives, then the card above that would be Garlic (now on the bottom of the deck). As you patter on about Uncle Linguini's lack of success in other jobs ("He got fired from the Acme Manufacturing Company when they found out he couldn't make acmes."), you have plenty of time to casually look at the bottom card of your stack to discern what card the spectator has. (Let's assume the card on the bottom is Eggplant, which means her card is Spaghetti.) "Ah, I can remember the days when Uncle Linguini was in the kitchen at home; the house was filled with wonderful aromas as he whipped up some classics of Mediterranean cooking." Lean over in the general direction of the spectator and her card and sniff a couple of times. "I can almost smell one of my favorites now -- you've probably got it in your hand -- it's (long pause here) -- now let me see -- some sort of pasta, maybe?" Sniff again. "Of course; how could I ever forget his wonderful -- SPAGHETTI! Please turn over the card you chose and let everyone see if I was right." Thank your spectator for her help, put the card back on the top of the stack (resetting it instantly) and finish with something like: "I only wish Uncle Linguini could be here tonight; I'm sure you would love his spaghetti, too." Second Thoughts: As I said earlier, this is a very old routine, usually done with various drinks, or flowers, or just about anything else you can name. Years ago I did it with a list of precious stones and a story line about the robbing of the Jewel House in the Tower of London. The reason for holding the cards in your left hand as the spectator cuts to the chosen card is to enable you to easily put the cut-off cards to the bottom of the stack. As she is looking at the chosen card, offer to relieve her of the extra cards; this will go totally unnoticed or, at worst, will be considered totally unimportant. The purpose of the long pause at the end is simply to build suspense. You could blurt out "spaghetti" (or whatever) as soon as you know the chosen card -- but most of the impact of the trick would be lost. I recently had the opportunity to talk with world champion Johnny Ace Palmer and he said one of his mentors, the late Jimmy Grippo, would use a three count before revealing a chosen card. It built the suspense to the point where the audience was almost ready to scream out loud: "Turn over the card." And to get that much involvement from an audience is a very good thing, indeed. So, you say, it's a good routine but you're not Italian. No problem: if you want to stick with food, it can be your Uncle Chan, making dim sum, rice balls, almond soo guy, chicken fried rice, and egg foo young, for the memory word DRACE. Or it could be your Aunt Sadie, making gefilte fish, apple strudel, knishes, etc. And, of course, you don't have to stick to food; it can be just about anything you can make a series out of, where the first letter of each word is different and can be made into some sort of word you can easily remember. Have fun with this and you can't help but entertain your audience. Peter Marucci 270 St. Andrew St. East Fergus, Ontario, Canada N1M 1R1 e-mail: showtimecol@aol.com ----------------- 15. Silver Dollar To Magic Gold Nugget - By Jamie-G ----------------- Message from Jamie-G (Canada) EFFECT: The magician shows a U.S. silver dollar, the magician then takes the silver dollar in his other hand and with one swift move the magician changes the U.S. silver dollar into a magicial piece of gold. The magician than gives the magic piece of gold to the birthday child or any child watching the show so now the child has the magic and the child goes away happy knowing that they have magic. PROPS: One U.S silver dollar and a gold nugget. You can get a bag of these gold nuggets at the dollar store and there is about 30 pieces of these good sized gold nuggets. These gold nuggets are great for doing magic and is a great give away for children and the cost to you is almost nothing. I have been doing this effect for almost 7 months and it goes over pretty well matter of fact I don't go anywhere without this effect and if you really want it to look like real magic use a little flash paper, it adds a little more magic to the effect. METHOD: To start the effect you have a gold nugget in your left hand under your two bottom little fingers. These two bottom fingers when closed pretty well hides the gold nugget all by its self. Now once you are here you take the U.S. silver dollar and it also goes in your left hand in your first finger and thumb. Try and hold the coin with your fingernails this way there your showing almost the whole coin and the U.S. silver dollars are a bigger coin and it looks very visible when you use your fingernails as apposed to just using your finger. Now you’re showing the silver dollar to the spectators they always think that there is nothing else in your hand. (but the gold nugget is under the bottom small fingers. Now you reach over with your right hand and take the coin with your first finger and your thumb of your right hand while keeping the gold nugget where it is. Now your just show the coin around with your right hand at the same time you make the exchange your left hand (with the gold nugget) just falls down to your side. Now for the hard part to explain. Your hands come together about 5 inches apart. Two things are now going to happen. You are going to thumb pinch the dollar downward in your right hand and use your four fingers to expose the gold nugget in your left hand. Slowly run your fingers down your hand and the nugget will appear. Ask your spectator to hold out their hand and as you are placing the nugget in their hand, and you are going to ditch the dollar back in your pocket. I call this move "The Jamie-G exchange and change move" if anyone else has this move and calls it there own I just didn't know I self taught this move to my self and I have been using it a long time now. This effect is very pleasing to children and I use it all the time. HISTORY: I put this effect together when I started doing the give away style magic as a special trial program. It really costs you nothing to perform and is a great give away for children. Give this effect a try and you will see the smiles that it puts on the children’s faces it is worth the dollar plus you can do it 29 more times. Hope you enjoy this effect. ----------------- 16. The Amazing Orchante Saga ----------------- Message from Tommy Orchard (The Amazing Orchante)(UK ex-pat Kiwi) Page 12 The girls were wary of me – the result of ‘Schoolboy Imaginings’, and ‘Lurid Talk’ of Things You Could ‘Make A Girl Do’, while they ‘Are Under Your Power’, obeying your every wish and whim and…! Thankfully, I did have some moral values in my youth. Many years later, in Sydney, Australia, I was going through some very old ‘Abras’ (an English weekly magic magazine) from the library of the I.B.M. Maurice Rooklyn Ring 102, and came across a report in one (can’t remember what year or month, but around 1957-58) about the Wairoa incident. It was ‘Pooh-Poohing’ the whole story, “…whoever heard of a 12 - 13 year old kid being able to hypnotise. What a load of rubbish” (Or words to that effect)! Pity that whoever wrote it up didn’t check the facts first! Wish I’d taken the details then - perhaps someone out there has copies of these old Abras’, and would perhaps be kind enough to search this article out. I personally would be extremely grateful, and I’m sure the exact wording would be of interest to the readers of this e-Zine. The fact that it was written up at all proves that the information originally came from ‘The‘Wairoa Star’! ADDENDUM What I’m about to relate many of you will find difficult to swallow nonetheless, it’s true. There was one male teacher (today I’m convinced he would be diagnosed as having psychotic tendencies), who delighted in ‘thrashing’ misbehaving boys, with the cane. He had a particularly nasty technique; he made you bend over with your head under a table. Consequently, with each ‘WHACK’ on your backside, your head automatically jerked up and SLAMMED into the underside of the table. Today, that man would be arrested for assault! There were two pupils he never caned. Myself, and a huge, strong, 6ft Maori boy named Charlie. He was two Jonah Lomu’s (famous New Zealand rugby player), rolled into one; although he was a ‘Gentle Giant’, you didn’t rile Charlie! The afore-mentioned teacher attempted to cane me once only, why, I cannot remember. As I started to bend over, I thought, ‘NO!’ I straightened up, turned around and ‘fixed’ my eyes right on the bridge of his nose, held his gaze without blinking, mentally willing him not to move. (This was Franquin’s ‘mesmerism’ technique in action.) He stood there, flexing his cane; his mouth opening and shutting like a fish out of water - not a sound coming out. Then, with my eyes not wavering a fraction from his, I quietly said in an authoritative and positive tone, “you will never attempt to cane me again”! I held his gaze for a few more seconds, mentally enforcing my suggestion, then turned and walked out of the room, and that, was that! I know many of you are thinking ‘What a load of bull’, but any psychologist would clearly understand how and why it happened. In simplistic terms, he (the teacher) was in a heightened state of excitement, that is, he was about to indulge in his malicious caning - then suddenly his ‘psyche’ was caught ‘Unawares by the Unexpected’! He was well aware that I could ‘hypnotise’, the whole damn school knew it, I’d already been in trouble because of my antics, and don’t forget, back in those days, hypnotists (even young ones) were look upon with a certain amount of trepidation. When I ‘fixed’ him with a well practised, unblinking, ‘Hypnotic Stare’ his ‘Fired up Imagination’, did the rest - he had no chance! If I had been more experienced at the time, and possessed the knowledge I have today, I would have known that he was ‘ripe’ for ‘Instantaneous Hypnosis’, mores the pity - my moral values would have gone right out the window - at least where sadistic bastard was concerned! Today, most people know that hypnotism is a science (and an art) but in the fifties, hypnotism was thought by many as, ‘The Evil Eye’, a ‘Diabolical, Supernatural Power’, and that some sort of ‘electricity Flowed’ from the hypnotist’s eyes into his ‘victim(s). When one had the ‘Notorious Reputation’ of being able to ‘Put People to Sleep’, it was ‘His Eyes’ that did it, and rumours run rife about one’s, ‘Powers’! I have said this before, but it is important; you MUST have Total, Absolute Confidence! You KNOW that you can ‘Hypnotise’- ‘Influence’, it is THIS assurance that reaches out and has its affect on your subjects; they WILL react as you wish, but, YOU MUST BELIEVE! Imagination is the most powerful force in the world – ‘POSITIVE THOUGHT GIVES POSITIVE RESULTS’! ------------------ 17. 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