* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Magic New Zealand * www.watson.co.nz/fezine.html * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Issue Number: #576 Date: Sunday 11th May 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. Combined I.B.M.- S.A.M. Convention Update 3. Happy Birthday To The Society Of American Magicians 4. The Australian Institute Of Magic 5. Sean Taylors Superday 6. Remarkable Magic #50 - Nick Lewin 7. Gas Prices vs Birthday Party Bookings - Kyle Peron 8. Entertaining On The Ocean #27 - Paul Romhany 9. Martinka Special Auction Begins Monday 10. Bob Fitch & Eric Decamps Guest Host Magic Week In Review 11. Broken Wand - Tony Eng 12. Magick Macabre 13. 29th New Zealand International Magicians Convention 2008 14. e-zine Archives 15. Privacy Policy And Copyright Notice -------------------------------------------- 1. Editor's Message -------------------------------------------- Are you planning to attend The 29th New Zealand International Magicians Convention? If you have not registered suggest that you do it NOW as registrations are heading towards the 90 mark! For more information go to item: 13 Remember if you have any magic news drop me a line: AW@Alan-Watson.com -------------------------------------------- 2. Combined I.B.M.- S.A.M. Convention Update -------------------------------------------- Message from Jack White (US) Registration for the Combined I.B.M.- S.A.M. Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, July 21 to 28t, is hovering at just over 1800 with a few new applications trickling in each week. This will be the first combined convention of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and the Society of American Magicians, in 46 years and is being billed as a once in a lifetime magic event. Richard Kaufman, editor and publisher of Genii Magazine is putting the Convention Program together and reminds everyone interested, that the deadline for advertising in this special convention program is May 15th. If you want an ad in this program that is sure to be looked at by magic lovers for years to come, get your copy and check in today. Mona Morrison is handling all advertising, her e-mail address is mona@morrison.com. The planning committee for this year's Combined Convention has shifted into high gear and the many details that go into the production of an event of this magnitude are now being refined and put into place. We will have more on these details in the weeks ahead. In addition to the world's most sought after performers, stage and close-up, the convention is offering contests with prize money of $10,000. The deadline to register for the stage or close-up competition is fast approaching. June 1st is the deadline, if you would like to take part in one of the many contests at this gala event contact Joan Caesar at jcaesar@comcast.net. The convention registration will be closed when we reach 2000 registration applications. If you plan on attending this Combined Convention and have not yet made your reservation contact John & Virginia Apperson at IBMSAM2008@appsmagic.com. They will give you the necessary information on prices and registration availability. -------------------------------------------- 3. Happy Birthday To The Society Of American Magicians -------------------------------------------- Message from Maria Ibâņez National President Society of American Magicians A very happy birthday to The Society of American Magicians. Today, May 10th, 2008 marks the 106th anniversary of the founding of our Society which was started in the back room of Martinka's shop. I am honored and humbled to serve as your 91st President in what has been a long and rich magic history. The first President was W. Golden Mortimer who served from 1902-1905 and the longest serving President was Harry Houdini who served for 9 years, until his death October 1926 when he was succeeded by Theodore Hardeen. We are indeed fortunate to still have many Past National Presidents and Past International Presidents who are living: Brad Jacobs - Dick Gustafson - Roy Snyder - James Zachary - Henry Moorehouse - Frank Dailey - Cesareo Pelaez - David Goodsell - Bill Andrews - Bob Steiner - Fr. Cyprian Murray - Michael Douglass - George Schindler - Dan Rodriguez - Dan Garrett - Don Oltz - Craig Dickson - Loren Lind - Gary Hughes - Harry Monti - Jann Goodsell - Warren Kaps - Ed Thomas - Jay Gorham - John Apperson - Rich Dooley - Andy Dallas. There's a great deal more information about the S.A.M. for you to discover - visit the website at www.magicsam.com and browse around, you never know what you might discover. -------------------------------------------- 4. The Australian Institute Of Magic -------------------------------------------- Message from Sue-Anne Webster (Aust) President - Australian Institute of Magic The Australian Institute of Magic is a brand new association in Australia. We are announcing the launch of the AIM website this weekend. Please take a look at: www.AustralianInstituteofMagic.org Members of the former 'Magic Unlimited Group Sessions' - MUGS for short - decided to become an association earlier this year. It is the only organisation representing FISM in the Oceania region. The AIM website will become the ultimate resource on magic for agents, historians, magicians, businesses, media researchers and the general public. It is already a focal point for international liaison within the magic community. The organisation represents the FISM code of ethics and the members are dedicated to promoting and developing the art of magic with view to raising the standard of magic in Australia. The website is in its early stages of development, but already has a vast array of information covering many aspects of magic, including: * Information on FISM * Weblinks to magicians, clubs, blogs, shops, magazines * Magic learning data base * Tips for event planners * Booking facility for AIM magicians * Upcoming events... including meetings, shows, lectures and media appearances all over Australia * Australian magic award winners - both national and international awards * Gallery of photos, videos and press articles * AIM merchandise * Articles on all aspects of magic by AIM members * Online AIM forum... plus lots more. We encourage Australian magicians to let us know if they are having a public event, a magic meeting or convention that we don't know about to be added to the 'events calendar'... and help us fill in the 'blanks' - like award winners that have not been mentioned. Please take a look at our site... it will be constantly updated as the Australian Institute of Magic evolves. Sue-Anne Webster President - Australian Institute of Magic http://www.australianinstituteofmagic.org/ -------------------------------------------- 5. Sean Taylors Superday -------------------------------------------- Message from Sean Taylor (Aust) Registrations for the Superday Weekend of Magic are coming in thick and fast now so get on the website and get yourself booked in. Alain Nu, Chuck Fayne, Bill Malone and, of course, yours truly will serve up a weekend of Close-up, Stage Magic, Mentalism, Comedy, Children's Magic and a special History presentation. This year we really do have something for everyone so you've got no excuse not to come. Book online http://www.taylorsmagicshop.com.au/category51_1.htm I just received word on a face painting and kid's magic convention in Melbourne the following week which is a staggering $725 for 2 days. The next time I hear someone complaining about $270 for Superday I'll be sure to hand them a registration form for this new, untried event! Your booking fee of just $270 (including GST) gives you access to 2 days worth of international events, world class stage and close-up shows, registration pack, 2 days lunch and tea and coffee all within a 5 minute walk of the railway station, hotel, theatre and Australia's biggest magic shop. You'd find it hard to beat this for value or convenience anywhere in the world. -------------------------------------------- 6. Remarkable Magic #50 - Nick Lewin -------------------------------------------- Message from Nick Lewin (US) Diana Zimmerman the enchantress strikes again. I read with great interest in Magic New Zealand that Diana is publishing her first book. The name of the book is 'Kandide and the secret of the Mists.' I suspect it is going to be well worth reading, I am putting in my order with Amazon right away. Since I first met Diana in the mid 70s she has done many different things and she has done them all well. For starters Diana along with Bob Dorian has pioneered and masterminded the Magic Castle junior program. In so doing she has helped launch many successful careers and allowed scores of talented young performers develop into fully-fledged artistes. Bravo. At the Castle I watched with interest as Diana took her sophisticated magic show and then added illusions to create a superb magical review. The show was a big hit during its run in Lake Tahoe where it achieved critical and commercial success. Whenever I watch Lance Burton perform the illusion with the giant gramophone in his show I think back to Diana performing it in her full evening show. Maybe it is the record collector in me but I always loved that trick. No sooner had Diana perfected the art of grand illusion but she was tackling something new, and in my opinion, totally scary. She reshaped her show to feature a pickpocket segment. The thought of breaking in a pickpocket show causes me to break out in a cold sweat. However Diana quickly perfected it and ended up with something very special. I suppose there might be a more commercial idea than a beautiful lady picking men's pockets onstage but I'm damned if I can think what it could be! The next thing Diana did was move offstage and behind the scenes as a producer of corporate events. Her company CMS inc. quickly established itself as one of the leading production houses in the business. It isn't easy to take all that performing knowledge and make it work as a top-notch producer. Diana makes it look effortless, every time I worked with CMS I was a delight to finally working with a producer who got everything right. Bravo again. Now we are watching yet another facet of Diana's talent as she sets her sights on becoming a bestselling author of an adventure story for teens with a taste for the mystical. I am betting that it will be another success story in the non-stop development of one of the magic world's most versatile and visionary performers. Take my advice and pick up a copy of 'Kandide and the Secret of the Mists' as soon as it arrives in bookstores. I have a firm feeling that it is going to be the start of something special. As always send any bricks or bouquets to nicklewin1@mac.com and check out my website at www.nicklewin.com -------------------------------------------- 7. Gas Prices vs Birthday Party Bookings - Kyle Peron -------------------------------------------- Message from Kyle Peron (US) magic4u02@aol.com http://www.kyleandkellymagic.com If you drive a car, truck or vehicle or if you are just a breathing human being, chances are you know that gas prices are not declining anytime soon. Like magic, the price at the gas tank keeps rising every time you pass the station. But how is this affecting your shows and specifically the amount of birthday party gigs you are receiving and booking? It is a topic I have been discussing a lot with different people recently both online and also at our local magic meetings. A lot of them are saying they are seeing a drastic decrease in show inquiries as well as a decrease in birthday party gigs in general. However, I personally have found the exact opposite happening for my wife and me. Instead of a decrease in birthday party gigs and inquiries, I have found a HUGE increase in them. So much of an increase that I am doing more birthday shows then I ever have. I also have increased my prices several times already because of this and I am still receiving a good steady flow of them. Part of me wonders that possibly the increase of gas prices keeps the family home instead of taking kids to party stores or party places where they have to travel to get there and equals up to a lot more money spent. Perhaps staying home and not using the car is looking like a better option for the parents. Most of the children who come to the parties usually live fairly close to the birthday child so this may also play into it a bit. I also have found and feel strongly that parents are simply not going to skimp on having a good birthday party for their child. There are just certainly things in life that always come first and I feel that family is still one of them. Because of this, I feel there will always be a need for birthday entertainers to cater to this need with a powerful solution that meets the needs of the client. I think also it does come down to perceived value in the prospects mind as well. When times are tough, people are more than ever looking for increased value in what it is they are spending money on. I want to always strive to have increased perceived value. I do this by being a solutions provider for the prospects that are coming to me. I listen to their needs first as opposed to hard selling from the start. By listening to the needs, I can always find out what the problems are that I can directly solve for them. Another issue is the fact that maybe it is not so much the gas prices or economy that is possibly slowing the calls coming in but instead your own method of marketing. As times change, your business must change as well. Certain forms of marketing might need to be changed over a period of time for other methods. A yellow book ad may not be working as great for you as it used to be. Maybe it is then time to change gears a bit and do more search engine optimization. If you track your marketing, you can easily start to see dips or changes in regards to where and how you are getting your prospects. I personally never rely on just any one system or format but utilize many of them that I track constantly and change as needed. When times change you must learn to adapt with it to remain successful as you want to be. As always, I encourage you the readers to let me know your thoughts. So if you have any thoughts on my articles or suggestions or comments, please feel free to e-mail me directly at magic4u02@aol.com. I would love to hear from you. -------------------------------------------- 8. Entertaining On The Ocean #17 - Paul Romhany -------------------------------------------- Message from Paul Romhany (NZ) Natalie and I are home this week before heading out again for another week of travel. Next week we have two different ships in one week so that means a lot of travel as we get off one ship in Southampton in the UK and fly to Oslo to join another. Last week on a ship I witnessed a truly great performer. His name is Kirk Marsh and is performs with juggling, magic, eccentric dance and oddball audience participation. He has performed in casinos from Beirut to Las Vegas, the largest cruise ships in the world and widely renowned circuses and theatres have showcased his unique style of non-verbal comedy around the world. What amazed me about Kirk was that he came on the ship being told by his agent that he only had to do a 30 minute show. One of the acts couldn't make the ship so Kirk got the call the night before he joined the ship and had five hours to get to the airport with his act. It wasn't until he arrived that he found out he had to do a full 50 minute show. Kirk works without props and relies on amazing mime and visual comedy. It's very hard to describe but he absolutely won over the packed 1300 seat theatre. From the very minute he appeared in the audience to start his show until the very end he had everybody in the palm of his hand. It was a real lesson in how to entertain without ANY props!! We talked afterwards about techniques and he was very helpful to me with my Chaplin Act. You can perform something for years and still learn how to get more out of something. One of the important points was 'breathing' during your magic. He took one of my routines and gave me some breathing points and pauses. I have to tell you this really changed the routine making it so much stronger. Having somebody like Kirk sit down and go over your act with you is something I would pay big money for. He was such a giving performer and great guy. If you go on to my BLOG I will have some photos of Kirk and our recent trip. While I'm talking about designing acts I am going to tell you about the best book I have ever read for a magician who wants to create a unique act. It is by Eberhard Riese and called Foundations. Mr. Riese is responsible for the incredible original magic acts that are taking the world by storm out of Germany. Names such as Topas, FISM Champion Franklin, Junge, Junge are just a small handful of performers who have been helped by Eberhard Riese. This book goes in to details on how to create an original act, how to be creative, gives you suggestions. Anybody who reads this and wants to put what he says in to practice will come out with a great magic act. If you were to tell me I only had one book that I could recommend to magicians this would be it. This really is one of the best books I have read in years. Wish I had this when I started creating the Chaplin Act. The book is produced in very high quality and I very highly recommend it to you all. New Magic Products: The latest product is a general DVD produced in the USA by Limelight Studios which is a magic DVD aimed at the general public. In this video I teach over 18 magic tricks for ages ranging from 8-100. The DVD also has full video montages of my Charlie Chaplin Act plus my Comedy Show, Interactive Magic you can perform on your TV plus other bonus chapters. I have had many emails from people asking if they can get video footage of my act, I finally have put this product together for magicians and lay people. Order direct from my website at www.paulromhany.com and go to the product page. You can order this through www.hocus-pocus.com For photos, the latest reviews on magic tricks and more insight from Paul Romhany make sure you visit his weekly BLOG at http://romhanyreport.blogspot.com Also, check out my website to order products direct from me at www.paulromhany.com -------------------------------------------- 9. Martinka Special Auction Begins Monday -------------------------------------------- Message from Ted (US) Martinka will be holding a special auction next week (May 12 - 18) featuring a smaller group of select items. Among the books are some scarce Toole Stott titles and also some volumes from the libraries of Dai Vernon and Bruce Cervon. There is a very nice selection of fine apparatus that will include some scarce pieces from Martinka, P&L, Thayer and others. We have also located some great ephemera that will include pieces from Herrmann, Kellar, Thurston and Houdini. And finally we will be including some surprises such as original items from Al Flosso and a life-size Wax Museum figure of Houdini! As always all of the items will be posted online at www.martinka.com We will also have another auction in June that will feature the collected library of Bruce Cervon. If you have items that you would like to include in the June auction, please contact us as soon as possible. Best Regards, Ted Martinka & Co., Inc. 103 Godwin Ave. Midland Park, NJ 07432 201-444-7576 -------------------------------------------- 10. Bob Fitch & Eric Decamps Guest Host Magic Week In Review -------------------------------------------- Message from Eric Decamps (US) Hi Everyone! I just wanted you all to know that Bob Fitch and I are the guest hosts on this coming week's iTricks Podcast Magic Week in Review (May 11, 2008). MWiR is the weekly magic podcast from the iTricks.com team (Andrew Mayne and Justin Robert Young). Along with Meir Yedid's Magic Times, iTricks/MWiR is a great way to get up to the minute news on the Magic Industry. The highlights of topics discussed are: . Penn Jillette on the backstage atmosphere of Dancing with the Stars . London Press and Derren Brown's Evening Of Wonders . Celebracadabra's Chris Martin Wants You To Ask Some Questions . Who invented iPhone Viral Marketing? . Eric DeCamps Pure Magic - A Performance of Contemporary Conjuring's Opening Night . Eric DeCamps guest speaker at the World Science Festival 2008 . Bob Fitch at the Magic Castle, Bob Fitch Performance Workshops for Magicians and a new production of ANNIE . Substitute teacher gets dismissed for "wizardry"! You can either listen to the stream version online or subscribe (its free) via iTunes. The latest edition of MWiR will be ready for download or listening on Monday May 11, 2008 at iTricks.com or from the iTunes store. -------------------------------------------- 11. Broken Wand - Tony Eng -------------------------------------------- Message from Clive Court (Canada) "Obituary: Tony Eng lived a magical life" Former owner of Trick & Joke Shop succumbs to leukemia and skin cancer.. For the full story go to: http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=1d876a47-f9cd-4d5f-9088-d0a6a0022980&k=46938 -------------------------------------------- 12. Magick Macabre -------------------------------------------- Message from Joe Daly A world premiere of a brand new grand illusion show 'Magick Macabre' is happening this October in Dublin, Ireland. It's produced by the producers of 'Riverdance' and features an international creative team including the Emmy award winning costume designer of 'The Prestige'. The show is not for the faint hearted! It uniquely fuses illusion, horror and theatre and centers around a psychopathic magician: Daemon Cordell. An American version of the show is currently in Development for Las Vegas with horror movie director Wes Craven signed up to direct. A 2 minute video of the show is showing on YouTube; http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=k-ioyC7GNMY The show premiers from the 24th October and runs for just over 3 weeks. Remember you saw it here first!! -------------------------------------------- 29th New Zealand International Magicians Convention 2008 -------------------------------------------- The 29th New Zealand International Magicians Convention will be held in Auckland, New Zealand from the night of December 27th 2008 to January 1st 2009, 1.00am. The venue will be the Waipuna Hotel and Conference Centre in Mount Wellington where we last ran a successful Convention in 2001-2002. Bookings can be made for convention accommodation by contacting: Waipuna Hotel & Conference Centre, 58 Waipuna Road, Mt.Wellington, PO Box 14 164, Panmure, Auckland, New Zealand. Phone: +64 9 526 3000 Fax: +64 9 527 1937 Toll Free Reservations (NZ): 0800 924 786. http://www.waipunahotel.co.nz/ We have been able to secure a very attractive room rate of $NZ110 per night (Incl GST) for single or double rooms with registrants being able to book direct with the hotel. *************************** PLEASE NOTE that 79% of the ALLOCATED rooms have already been booked by conventioneers. If you are planning to attend best to book NOW! This convention will be a SELL OUT! *************************** Six Confirmed Headliners John Shryock (USA), Marty and Brenda Hahne (USA), Ross Skiffington (Aust), George Schindler (USA) and Steve Walker (Aust). The official registration form for the convention can be downloaded from: http://www.ibmring160.com/ If you don't have internet web access contact Ross Harlick, Secretary, 91 Panapa Drive, Meadowbank, Auckland 1072, New Zealand Or by: Phone: +64 (09) 521 3327 Fax: +64 (09) 521 3327 -------------------------------------------- Magic New Zealand e-zine Archives -------------------------------------------- Back issues of the Magic New Zealand e-zine go to: www.watson.co.nz/fezine.html Both the User Name and Password MUST be entered in lower case to gain access. User Name: magic Password: kiwi When you enter the archive the e-zines are in issue order and are coded. Eg 001 Nov06 1999.txt first three numbers (001) denote issue number, then the date (Nov06) and the last figures the year (1999) -------------------------------------------- Privacy Policy And Copyright Notice -------------------------------------------- Our subscriber list is NOT made available to any other companies or individuals. We value every subscriber and respect your privacy. You can subscribe to or unsubscribe from the Magic New ZealandŽ E-zine at www.watson.co.nz/fezine.html. Magic New ZealandŽ E-zine is published each Sunday. The opinions expressed therein are those of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of Magic New ZealandŽ. Neither Magic New ZealandŽ nor Alan Watson vouch for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, message, statement, or other information reported via Magic New ZealandŽ E-zine. Subscribers to this publication and authors who contribute to it by doing so agree they will not hold Magic New ZealandŽ or Alan Watson, jointly or individually liable or responsible in any way for the opinions expressed therein. Magic New ZealandŽ reserves the right to alter, correct or disregard any articles submitted. Readers are encouraged to submit timely articles or news items which may be of interest to subscribers. By submitting articles to this e-zine, the authors grant Magic New ZealandŽ the right to publish such articles and such authors confirm their copyright of the material submitted. All works published by Magic New ZealandŽ are protected by international copyright legislation and articles must not be published for profit by anyone other than the individual authors without the written permission of Magic New ZealandŽ. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this publication may be freely redistributed, but not sold, to other magicians if copied in its entirety, including the copyright notice below and the above disclaimer. Š Copyright 2008 Alan Watson