* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Magic New Zealand * Proudly sponsored by International Entertainment * www.Alan-Watson.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Issue Number: #718 Date: Sunday 27th December 2009 Editor: Alan Watson www.magicianz.com e-mail: AW@Alan-Watson.com ================================ Hi [first name] here is the latest news ================================ 1. Editor's Message 2. I Wish Everyone A Happy And Magical New Year 3. Give Yourself A Late Christmas Present 4. Freedom From Drugs 5. Jonathan Pendragon's Grand Illusion 6. More Remarkable Magic #22 - Nick Lewin 7. The Gift of Giving - #148 - Kyle Peron 8. Las Vegas Magic - January, 2010 9. IBM 2010 Annual Convention - Register Early! 10. World Travels With Paul Romhany 11. Broken Wand - John E. Buklad 12. Award Winning Performer 13. e-zine Archives 14. Privacy Policy and Copyright Notice -------------------------------------------- 1. Editor's Message -------------------------------------------- Very pleased to see that a large number of Australians have registered for the 30th New Zealand Magic Convention June 2010. Judging by the way the registrations are now flowing in this convention will be a sellout! For more information on the convention and for registration forms go to: http://www.scmc.co.nz/convention.html Remember [first name] if you have any magic news drop me a line: AW@Alan-Watson.com -------------------------------------------- 2. I Wish Everyone A Happy And Magical New Year -------------------------------------------- Message by Mike Miller S.A.M National President 2009 - 2010 On behalf of all the members of The Society of American Magicians' I would like to wish everyone a Happy and Magical New Year. The S.A.M is working on fresh and new things for the future. -------------------------------------------- 3. Give Yourself A Late Christmas Present -------------------------------------------- Message by Derek Lever (UK) Give yourself a present this Christmas. The best present of all is a booking for the greatest magic convention in the world - the Blackpool Magicians' Club Convention, 19th to 21st February 2010. A VIP card, of which only 500 are issued, costs just £90 (£55 for Juniors) and entitles the holder to all the benefits of Gold Card Reservation plus access to the VIP Lounge, special events and meetings with the stars of the Convention. A Gold Card at £70 (£35 for Juniors) represents amazing value for money for it allows the holder entrance to all the Convention events (except the After Gala Party) - all lectures, shows, dealers, all close-up sessions, all competitions and reserved seats for the Saturday and Sunday theatre shows. For more information and a downloadable registration form go to BlackpoolMagic.com. It is Christmas - give yourself a present - you deserve it! -------------------------------------------- 4. Freedom From Drugs -------------------------------------------- Message by Bob Steiner (US) I am Past National President of the Society of American Magicians. A few years ago I came up with the idea, and I was appointed Chair of the Freedom From Drugs Program of the S.A.M. At one of my shows, Dr. Dean Edell, excellent TV personality on KGO-TV and KGO Radio, affiliates of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), sent a TV crew over to tape my show at an elementary school in San Francisco. Parts of the show were shown on television, and below is the report that Dr. Edell wrote and that was on the KGO website. The kids enjoyed the magic show AND they got the message about drug abuse. Please feel free to comment on this in Magic New Zealand. And do please feel free to encourage all magicians to consider putting a Freedom From Drugs message into their magic shows. The kids discuss the magic show with their parents, and the parents find it more comfortable to introduce that sensitive anti-drug talk to their kids . . . which is so necessary for parents to do. A Magical Anti-Drug Message By Dr. Dean Edell.  Report on KGO-TV Channel 7 website: abc7news.com. July 29, 2005 (ABC7) - Making children aware of the dangers of using drugs can be difficult.  As ABC7's Dr. Dean Edell reports, an innovative new program uses magic with a message. As the fingers slowly open, the red scarf disappears. It's magic and the kids love it. Bob Steiner is a magician performing before lots of children at St. Gabriel Elementary School, but there's more than magic here. As he entices the kids with lots of tricks, he slides into a message about freedom, responsibility and making good choices. Bob Steiner to students: "Someday, somebody may come up to you pretending that he or she is your friend and say, 'Here, try this pill or drink this thing. What do you do?' 'You say No and run and you tell your parents.'" Bob Steiner, magician and anti-drug educator: "While I've got their attention, I put in a message. It doesn't detract from the fun they're having. It doesn't detract from enjoying the show." Then he slips back to the magic. The magic seems to be a good way to reach kids. Police officer Rich Seguine agrees. Officer Rich Seguine, police officer and magician: "The magic makes learning about the bad stuff, drugs, interesting. The kids were very interested.  Afterwards they kept asking: How did he do it?" Bob Steiner, magician and anti-drug educator: "What I'm trying to do is open up the communication lines between the kids and the parents. The parents don't have to start a discussion on drugs; they talk about the magic show." And the kids get the message. Callum Watts: "I thought it was very fun and it told you a lot about what you should and shouldn't do." Natalie Besser: "If a person comes over and gives you a pill, you should run and tell your parents." Given the depth of our nation's drug problems, it's clear that there is no foolproof way to stop kids from using drugs. But if a little magic can make children more receptive to talking about the dangers, it seems like a good way to begin. Bob Steiner was appointed Chair of the Freedom From Drugs Program of The Society of American Magicians, and is now teaching other magicians how to incorporate an anti-drug message to reach kids. -------------------------------------------- 5. Jonathan Pendragon's Grand Illusion -------------------------------------------- Message by Todd Karr (US) Years ago, I began an exciting book with Jonathan Pendragon called Grand Illusion. We never completed it...a real shame because the material was unbelievable. For the first time, in hours of interviews, Jonathan discussed the inner workings of all his classic illusions and much more. This month, Jonathan Pendragon authorized me to finally release these transcribed interviews to the magic public. Our new Grand Illusion CD collects these conversations in PDF form, focusing on Jonathan's best illusions and his views on magic, including not only methods but also many of the small presentational nuances that made him one of the world's most dynamic performers. You'll learn the precise methods for many of his most famous illusions, including the Metamorphosis, Sword Basket, and Broom Suspension, as well as brilliant mysteries like his 360 Levitation, the Sword of Damocles, Things That Go Bump in the Night, Bullet Catch, Million Dollar Mystery, Himber Ring, and more. The discussions also include Jonathan's fascinating views on Robert-Houdin, De Kolta, Maskelyne, Soo, Houdini, and Selbit; conversations about stagecraft and direction; and innumerable nuances and tips for the professional performer. Grand Illusion brings you some of the most insightful knowledge ever offered to the magic community. Because of the valuable nature of these secrets, we have priced it for the professional, who will find thousands of dollars of value in its lessons, secrets, and insights. You can order yours now for only $40 (regular $50) for a limited time! You'll never look at your magic the same way again! -------------------------------------------- 6. More Remarkable Magic #22 - Nick Lewin -------------------------------------------- Message by Nick Lewin (US) Happy Holidays to one and all! No long winded or memories from the distant past this week. I am going to keep it short and sweet. I just want to wish all my readers a wonderful holiday season. In a couple of months I will be starting my 25th year of columns for Alan's Magic New Zealand. Well, OK that is a slight exaggeration but I really can't remember if it will be our fourth year. I really think it is, but it seems impossible that time could have moved so quickly. It seems just like a few months since Alan and I were sitting in Richard Webster's living room drinking tea and Richard convinced me that I should take my (rather bizarre) blog and try to recreate myself as a writer. That evening Alan offered me the chance to write a weekly column for the Magic New Zealand e-zine, and I was happily moving off in a new direction. I have enjoyed writing about magic and magicians enormously and feel gratified by the various emails that I have received from people who have found my work evocative and brought back memories from their own magic path. It would be incomplete and highly inaccurate not to include Phil Willmarth and Martin Breese as further inspirations on my new journey. I am enjoying my newly found talents as a writer and hope I can develop them into actual skills. However, as with anyone who puts pen to paper, or finger to keyboard, it is the folk who actually read your work that makes it more than a mental exercise. So I dedicate this column to all of you out there who actually take the time and trouble to read my words. Have a very happy Holiday Season and the very 'best of the best' in 2010. Email me at nicklewin1@me.com -------------------------------------------- 7. Business Cards / Online Printing - #148 - Kyle Peron -------------------------------------------- Message by Kyle Peron (US) magic4u02@aol.com http://www.kyleandkellymagic.com Design and your promotional pieces (logo, business card etc.) is a direct extension of who you are and the services you provide. Often times, the very first impression anyone ever gets of you is in the materials you hand or send to them. If this is the case, then you need your materials to be top quality and designed by a professional. It really does make that much of a difference. As a graphic designer, I thought I would share some information with you all in regards to online business card printing and graphic design in general. I hope some of this information may be of help to you all and come in handy. Most magicians tend to forget that it is not good enough if your act is great and your character is great and your clothes are great, if your promotional materials and/or business card is NOT great. The reason for this, is that often times the first impression a potential client sees of you is the business card or promotional materials that they receive. Because of this, you want your promotional materials and business card to be as top notch as the rest of your show. I will always say that, unless you have a great design and are an artist yourself, do yourself a favor and stay away from designing or printing your own cards. Yes, you may spend more money, but in the long run it will come back to you ten-fold in new business. You want your cards to be branded with you in mind. When a person sees your card you want them to hold on to it, remember it and USE it. If your card is flimsy, rough edges, poor design or uses clip art, it is not doing you any good. Spend the time to talk with a designer or artist and have the card designed to match your style of performance. A cheap looking card will only make the prospect view you as cheap. If you do not have enough time or money to get a card professionally designed and printed, then how can the prospect feel you are going to give them a top quality show? A high quality design and printing of your business cards and other materials DOES make a difference. It really makes a huge difference. I have been in the graphic design and marketing industry ever since I got out of school and we constantly do studies on marketing effectiveness. It has been seen time and again that your materials you hand or send out is a direct relation on the impression the prospect gets of you. If this is the first thing they ever see of you, then they are drawing all kinds of perceived impressions from what they are receiving. I do not know about you, but I spend a lot of time making sure my show is the best high quality show it can be. Why would I want to damage all that work by handing out a business card that looks like I just did not care enough? And, when it comes to designing your card, if you are not a designer or do not have a friend who is a designer, do yourself a favor and get it professionally designed. A poor design job will still look poor no matter what paper or printing process is used. In this ever growing world of technology and the Internet, there are even more ways of getting business cards and other materials printed for your promotional needs. With the advent of the world wide web, there has also been a huge growth in online printers who can print your materials at a fraction of the cost of offset printing. However it is very important to know that not every online printing place is the same. This is why as a designer I cannot stress the importance of always doing your homework up front before going with any online printer. Always ask for samples to be mailed to you. If they say they only have samples online, then move on elsewhere. You need to have real samples on the paper they print on. Seeing the product in your hands will be the only way for you to really understand the quality you will be getting and can expect from them. If they are a legit and professional business, they will have no problem with your request. Another thing you will want to keep in mind is that you can and should ask for a proof. A proof is what they run off for you after they have set up your card for printing. This way you can see exactly what it will look like and it is your way of fixing any problems before you are stuck with thousands of cards that are not right. Spend the extra money to have a proof done. Now sometimes they offer you online PDF proofing. This is ok ONLY if you want to proof the type and text and make sure the elements are where they need to be. However, a PDF proof is NOT an accurate display of actual color and quality of the color being printed. For this, you would need a live proof sent to you via mail. This is the best way to make sure the color is exactly what you want it to be. Once you sign off on a proof, you are telling the printer you are ok with what they have. If there are any mistakes on the printing and you did not catch it on the proof, then you are stuck with them. Make sure to take your time examining the proof thoroughly before signing off. If there is a mistake that was not on the proof, then this clearly means that they messed up. The proof then becomes your proof to them that what they printed is not what you approved. This is the value of a proof and why I always request them. Yes, they probably will charge you for a proof, but it is money well spent. Another topic I would like to mention is to find out what exact process they use when they do their printing. There are so many types of digital printing these days and they all produce vastly different results. Find out ahead of time by reading their site or asking questions. You will want to do this any ways because you will need to be sure to find out all the details on file submission. This is a key area. a lot of mistakes on cards coming out wrong can be from the customer uploading a file that is not set up properly. Find out exactly what size they need the cards to be. Find out if they need you to add room for bleed objects. Find out what format they need it in (CMYK or RGB). Find out what format they need it saved as (.JPG / .EPS) or others. All of this information is critical for you getting exactly the card you want as an end result. I always find myself asking several key questions whenever I am dealing with a new online printer: 1) What formats can they except and what ones do they actually prefer to use? 2) What is their exact printing process? Is this digital printing, offset printing etc.? As you are aware there are so many variations that asking up front can help me to understand the end results and to design accordingly. 3) Can they send me direct printed samples of stuff they have run on the exact system they plan on running my design on. Seeing the real thing really can help me gauge if I like their overall quality and get a sense for what to expect. 4) What type of proofing do they use and what proofing options can I get? Being able to proof or to get even a "blueline" helps me to catch any mistakes or to adjust things before they actually make the full print run. 5) Do they have any templates that can be downloaded from their website. Usually a lot of the online printers have templates that you can use that account for "bleed" and also have an area they call "live art area". having this information in a template makes it a bit easier for me to make sure I adhere to what they need. 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. Las Vegas Magic - January, 2010 ------------------------------------------ Compiled by David Neubauer - www.dnmagic.com Magic Production Shows: Amazed Mike Rayburn, Tim Gabrielson, Buzz Sutherland 2:30 pm - Planet Hollywood. Amazing Johnathan 9 pm (Dark Sun. & Mon.) - Planet Hollywood. Criss Angel - Believe 7 & 10:00 pm (Dark Sun. - Mon.) - Luxor. www.cirquedusoleil.com/crissangel David Copperfield Through Mar. 31. 7:30 & 10 pm (also 4:30 Sat.) MGM Grand. www.mgm.admission.com/cgi/guide.cgi?l=EN Dixie Dooley - Master Mystifier 7:00 pm (Dark Sun. - Tue.) - Royal Resort. www.houdiniexperience.com 2 for 1 Tickets: www.vegas4locals.com/coupon_dixie_dooley.html Gerry McCambridge - The Mentalist 7:30 pm (Dark Wed.) - Planet Hollywood. www.mentalist.com Comp. Tickets: www.mentalist.com/_images/Ticket.pdf Jeff McBride's Wonderground 3rd Thurs. each month - The Olive (3850 E Sunset Rd). Hosted by Jeff McBride and featuring Guest Stars from around the World. www.vegaswonderground.com Lance Burton, Master Magician 7 pm (Dark Sun. - Mon.) - Monte Carlo. www.montecarlo.com/entertainment/lance.aspx Special Discount: Mention you want "The Special" at the box office to receive a 25% Discount. Mac King Comedy Magic Show 1 & 3 pm, (Dark Sun. & Mon.) - Harrah's. www.mackingshow.com Free tickets (buy 1 drink) are usually available at the concierge desk or handed out occasionally by showgirls. Mental Luke Jemay - 7 pm (Dark Sun. & Mon.) O'Shea's. www.harrahs.com/osheas/entertainment.html 2 for 1 Tickets: www.vegas4locals.com/couponmental.html Nathan Burton Comedy Magic Show 4 pm - Flamingo. www.nathanburton.com Special: Purchase show ticket and a Flamingo Paradise Garden Buffet meal for $29.95? from the Box Office. www.vegas4locals.com/couponnathanburtoncomedymagic.html Penn & Teller 9 pm, (Dark Thurs. - Fri.) - Rio. www.harrahs.com/our_casinos/rlv/entertainment/entertainment_detail_00.html Super Duper Show B-Rad & Bill Robinson 4:00 pm., Sat. & Sun. - Royal Resort. http://www.superdupershowlv.com Superstars of Magic 7:30 & 9:30 (Dark Tues.) Steven Best and Cassandra, Vegas Club. www.vegasclubcasino.net/entertainment/superstars_of_magic.php 2 for 1 Tickets: www.vegas4locals.com/couponsuperstarsofmagic.html The Magic and Tigers of Rick Thomas 7 pm. (Dark Mon.) - Sahara. www.saharavegas.com/shows/magic-of-rick-thomas The Todd Paul Show 7 pm. (Dark Fri.) - Hooters. www.hooterscasinohotel.com/entertainment/the-todd-paul-show/ Xtreme Magic Starring Dirk Arthur 4 & 6 pm (Dark Sun. - Mon.) (6 pm is an expanded show) - Tropicana. www.tropicanalv.com/ent_dirkarthur.asp 2 for 1 Tickets: www.vegas4locals.com/couponxtrememagic.html Magic In Production Shows: Crazy Girls Tony Douglas - 9:30 pm (Dark Tues.) - Riviera. www.rivierahotel.com/entertainment_crazygirls.asp 2 for 1 Tickets: www.vegas4locals.com/couponcrazygirls.html Haunted Vegas Show and Tour Jac Hayden, Robert Allen 9:30 pm, picks up at the Royal Resort. www.hauntedvegastours.com $10 off Tickets: www.vegas4locals.com/couponhauntedvegas.html Matsuri TamBa provides magic between acts. 4:00 pm (Dark Tues.) & 8:00 pm Fri. - Imperial Palace. The Las Vegas Seance Robert Allen, Jac Hayden, Arian Black, Samina, Victora Wayne 10:00 pm, picks up at the Royal Resort www.LasVegasSeance.com V, The Ultimate Variety Show Jason Byrne (most Tues. - Sat.) & various others. 7 & 8:30, Planet Hollywood - www.vtheshow.com Variety Showcase Christopher Karpiak & S. Frank Stringham Tuesdays, 9 pm - FREE - Sam's Town. Other Vegas Magic: Craig Keith performs bar magic at various times - Dick's Last Resort, Excalibur. Jamie Porter's Radio Side Show Sat @ 5 am, KLAV FM 1230. Las Vegas Magic Organizations Fantasma I.B.M. Ring #257, 7 pm 1st Monday each month. Clark County Library, 1401 E Flamingo Rd (1 block E of Maryland Parkway). Children's Classes at 5:45 www.ibm257.com. Darwin's Magic Club, meets 10 pm Wednesdays. Boomers, 3200 Sirius Ave. KIDabra Las Vegas, 7 pm every 3rd Monday. Amazing Clowns, 3525 E. Flamingo. www.kidabralasvegas.com News: From Steve Wyrick: "We would like to clarify the misinformation in circulation regarding reports that the Steve Wyrick Theatre has closed. The Theatre is temporarily dark, but it is expected to re-open and resume full operation before the end of December. The unannounced closure was due to unexpected circumstances, and our goal is to retain our current staff and continue to provide live entertainment from the Steve Wyrick Theatre located in Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood." December, 2009 Dec. 22 to Jan 3: The Fercos Brothers Untamed Illusions, 8 pm nightly (Dark Mon. & Thur.) & 4 pm. on Sat. & Sun. plus Fri. Jan 1 - Theatre for the Performing Arts at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. January, 2010 Through Jan 3: The Fercos Brothers Untamed Illusions, 8 pm nightly (Dark Mon. & Thur.) & 4 pm. on Sat. & Sun. plus Fri. Jan 1 - Theatre for the Performing Arts at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. Jan. 18-24: Magic & Mystery School - Extended Master Class Jeff McBride, Eugene Burger, Tobias Beckwith. www.magicalwisdom.com March, 2010 Mar. 5-7: Magic & Mystery School - Master Class Jeff McBride, Eugene Burger, Tobias Beckwith. www.magicalwisdom.com April, 2010 Apr. 26-May 2: Magic & Mystery School - Extended Master Class Jeff McBride, Eugene Burger, Tobias Beckwith. www.magicalwisdom.com May, 2010 May 18-19: Magic & Mystery School - Focus on Stage Magic & Manipulation Jeff McBride, Eugene Burger, Tobias Beckwith. www.magicalwisdom.com June, 2010 Jun. 28-Jul 4: Magic & Mystery School - Extended Master Class Jeff McBride, Eugene Burger, Tobias Beckwith. www.magicalwisdom.com August, 2010 Aug. 23-29: Magic & Mystery School - Extended Master Class Jeff McBride, Eugene Burger, Tobias Beckwith. www.magicalwisdom.com September, 2010 Sept. 14-15: Magic & Mystery School - Focus on Stage Magic & Manipulation Jeff McBride. www.magicalwisdom.com Sept. 18-19: Magic & Mystery School - Focus on Magic and the Martial Arts Jeff McBride, Bryce Kuhlman. www.magicalwisdom.com Sept. 24-26: Magic & Mystery School - Sisters of Magic & Mystery Abbigail Aft McBride, Jeff McBride. www.magicalwisdom.com October, 2010 Oct. 9-10: Magic & Mystery School - Focus on Street Magic Jeff McBride. www.magicalwisdom.com Oct. 17-19: Danny Archer and Robert Allen present: Mindvention 2010. www.Mindvention.net Oct. 20-23: Magic & Mystery School - The Magic and Meaning Conference - A distinctive, annual small-group conference that focuses on creating meaningful magic routines, effective scripts, and new venues for performance. Featuring keynote addresses by Jeff McBride, Eugene Burger, Robert E. Neale, Lawrence Hass, and a number of short talks by experts on subjects relating to the themes of the conference. www.magicalwisdom.com -------------------------------------------- 9. IBM 2010 Annual Convention - Register Early! -------------------------------------------- The Holidays are upon us! Now is the time to take advantage of the great savings on the I.B.M. Annual Convention registration fee. What would be a better present than a trip to San Diego, CA for the 2010 I.B.M. Annual Convention, July 6 - 10, 2010. You may have heard how great the 2009 Nashville convention was, well just wait to see what we have in store for San Diego in 2010. Register before Jan 31, 2010 and save money before prices go up! Go to http://www.magician.org/portal/en/node/6 for more information. If you only come to one convention this year, this is the one to come to! Over $20,000 in Prizes, Trophies and Awards for the Stage and Close up contests. Here is a partial list of our outstanding headliners that will be there: Jerome Murat, David Roth, Jeff Hobson, Max Maven, Joshua Jay, Joseph Gabriel, Shawn Farquhar, Katalin, Marty Putz, Ice McDonald, Eric Buss, Kenji Minemura and Rich Bloch. Evening shows will be at the beautiful Balboa Theatre. Special Hotel rates at the luxurious Town and Country Resort & Country Center featuring 5 restaurants, 3 swimming pools (one with a pool side bar), and a European health spa; scenic gardens feature 1,500 rose bushes and 2,000 palm trees. Check out our special pricing for Youth member's non-magical parents and the free children special on the registration page. We want to make this a family affair. Go to www.magician.org/portal/ibmconvention_signup to register. Don't wait! Register before January 31, 2010 for discounted registration rates. See you in San Diego! -------------------------------------------- 10. World Travels With Paul Romhany -------------------------------------------- Message by Paul Romhany (NZ) Last week on Christmas Eve Natalie and I were flown to China for one night to perform my Chaplin show. What an incredible event it turned out to be. We really had no idea as it was through a local event company in Singapore via my agent and nobody could tell us exactly what the event was. It wasn't until we turned up to a five star hotel in Xiamen that we really understood what the event was about. It was about my act!! Talk about pressure. It was a celebration on Christmas Eve and the entire event was based around my act as Chaplin. The entire hotel was decked out with the Chaplin theme and Chaplin was everywhere, from the local papers to brochures etc. Tickets for the show started at $200 and went up as much as $400!!! Natalie and I were just blown away by it all. Everything was in Chinese so I really didn't have any idea what any of the publicity said, but I guess Chaplin is still well known in China as the entire event was completely sold out - over 550 seats in this ballroom. When my show started I walked to the stage from the back of the room and I had people trying to grab me, yelling out Charlie and the cameras never stopped clicking. Afterwards somebody asked if I had a disciple, or somebody who would carry on. The whole event was out of this world. The show itself went well and everybody enjoyed themselves - I have one piece in my show that is a voice-over and so we had it translated in to Chinese - quite an experience to say the least. Christmas day Natalie and I walked around the city and took some incredible photos. To be honest, we now understand why the world is in so much trouble with pollution - we couldn't see that far in front of our faces because of the smog! Later Christmas day we got on a plane and headed to Singapore - so our Christmas day was spent flying and eating chicken and rice. Later that night we did manage to walk around Orchard Rd in Singapore and were surrounded by literally hundreds of thousands of people all shopping! Another incredible and rather odd experience. Wishing everybody a very Happy New Year. We will be in New Zealand from January onwards, where we will set up base and continue our travels around the globe from there. I have been busy working on new products and have two new books that will be released shortly. I have also been contracted as a consultant for one of the largest magic illusion shows in the world, the launch will be 2011 - but more on that later. Be sure to check out my weekly BLOG as I will put up photos of our travels and China. Also, check out all my photos on facebook as I have put up a lot of photos there. -------------------------------------------- 11. Broken Wand - John E. Buklad -------------------------------------------- Message by Bob Durante John E. Buklad of Cleveland, Ohio passed away on 12-17-09 at age 56. John was a widely known collector who collected and traded in obscure magic books and props. A very good close up guy he really knew his history and was a good friend of Bob Lund, Jay Marshal and Billy McComb. My favorite magic day was in the 1980's and spending a whole day 12-14 hours with Bob Lund, Billy and John at the Magic Museum in Michigan. The three of them solved many long mysteries over who made different props and what they were used for. They spent the day looking over old boxes of magic brick a brack and acted like they were finding parts of the Holy Grail. At the time I was new to collecting but the memory of the day still lingers. -------------------------------------------- 12. Award Winning Performer -------------------------------------------- Message by Derek Lever (UK) Award winning performer Gary Jones will be lecturing at the Blackpool Magicians' Club headquarters at 8pm on Tuesday, 12th January 2010. Gary's spontaneous humour and fantastic magic has taken him around the world performing at corporate events, private parties, product launches and on television. If you need high quality commercial magic then you have to see this lecture which is full of great tricks and sound, practical advice. Lectures are free to all members and associates of the Blackpool Magicians' Club so if you are not a member or an associate you should consider joining. Details of membership and associate membership (which is only £25 a year) can be obtained from the club website Blackpooolmagic.com. -------------------------------------------- 13. 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) -------------------------------------------- 14. 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 Zealand® E-zine at www.Alan-Watson.com Magic New Zealand® E-zine is published each Sunday. The opinions expressed therein are those of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of Magic New Zealand®. Neither Magic New Zealand® nor Alan Watson vouch for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, message, statement, or other information reported via Magic New Zealand® E-zine. Subscribers to this publication and authors who contribute to it by doing so agree they will not hold Magic New Zealand® or Alan Watson, jointly or individually liable or responsible in any way for the opinions expressed therein. Magic New Zealand® 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 Zealand® the right to publish such articles and such authors confirm their copyright of the material submitted. All works published by Magic New Zealand® 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 Zealand®. 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. © Copyright 2009 Alan Watson