Magic New Zealand® E-zine

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* Magic New Zealand®
* Proudly sponsored by International Entertainment Ltd (New Zealand)
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Issue Number: #1378
Date: Sunday 14th May 2017
Editor: Alan Watson QSM
www.watson.co.nz
E-mail: editor@magicnewzealand.com
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Hi here is the latest news
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1. Editor's Message
2. Amazing Johnathan's Latest Trick: A Return to The Vegas Stage
3. Hollywood Fringe Festival 2017 / Jon Armstrong
4. The Magic Word Podcast - Richard Faverty
5. Creativity And "Falling In Love With Ourselves" #446 - Kyle Peron
6. Haversat & Ewing Galleries Auction
7. Guy Hollingworth Presents "Conjuring A Better Future"
8. Steve Valentine - Magic On The Go
9. Broken Wand - Graham Reed (UK)
10. Bristol Day Of Magic 2017
11. e-zine Archives
12. Privacy Policy and Copyright Notice

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1. Editor's Message
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If you would like to read the Magic New Zealand e-zine in a HTML format go to: http://www.magicnewzealand.com/ezine-archive/2017-Jan-to-Dec-2017/1378-May14-2017.html

If you would like to write a regular column for Magic New Zealand or have some magic news drop me a line:
Editor@MagicNewZealand.com

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2. Amazing Johnathan's Latest Trick: A Return to The Vegas Stage
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Article forward on by Peter Jones

By John Katsilometes Las Vegas Review-Journal

The Amazing Johnathan has mastered the art of re-appearing.

The comic-magician will headline Rocks Lounge at Red Rock Resort October 6-7, his first appearances since being diagnosed with a heart ailment nearly five years ago.

"I don't have to worry about spending a ton of time on advertising and billboards," the Amazing Johnathan (last name Szeles) said Wednesday. "I'm just going in and doing it."

As has been well-chronicled, the 58-year-old headliner learned he had a degenerative heart condition in 2013, not long after leaving his gig at Bally's.

His doctors estimated he had a year to live. In November 2014, Johnathan told a hushed audience at Andy Walmsley's ENT Speaks celebrity speakers series at Inspire Theatre that he would be leaving the stage for good.

Despite his grim prognosis, he maintained an active lifestyle.

"Sitting in bed all day doesn't work for me," he said. "I was just getting weak, but I have found that if I can get up and move around, I feel better. I have some of my stamina back."

For the balance of the article go to:

https://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/entertainment-columns/kats/amazing-johnathans-latest-trick-a-return-to-the-vegas-stage/

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3. Hollywood Fringe Festival 2017 / Jon Armstrong
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Message by Barbra J. Dillon
Fanbase Press
Editor-in-Chief

I recently received your contact information from Jon Armstrong, as I am assisting him in producing two magic shows at this year's Hollywood Fringe Festival, which will take place from June 8-25, 2017.

We would like to offer the Magic New Zealand's e-zine readers a special discount code for the performances of Jon Armstrong: Comic Amazement and Name This Magic Show, if you would be interested in including information regarding the shows in an upcoming edition of the e-zine. The discount code "MagicNZ" will provide readers with $5 off the ticket price.

Attached, please find promotional images for the shows, as well as our recent press release.

If this would be of interest to you or if you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact me. I look forward to hearing from you and best wishes!

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4. The Magic Word Podcast - Richard Faverty
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Message by Scott Wells, M.I.M.C. with Gold Star (US)

As we near the end of the Las Vegas Chronicles, we have a visit with photographer, Richard Faverty, owner of Beckett Studios. Although his is not a well-known name among most magicians, he is THE guy for photographing exciting, creative promotional photos for some of the top names in and out of the magic business.

You have seen many of his photos grace the covers of MAGIC Magazine, Genii, M.U.M. and The Linking Ring magazines over the year. But before he became the internationally acclaimed photographer, he was "Professor Bubbles" who toured the world with a bubble act. Not only that, he holds the world record for the most people placed inside a bubble!

You can watch a video of him setting the world record, see some photos, read the blog, listen to the podcast online, and download the MP3 file at: https://www.themagicwordpodcast.com/scottwellsmagic/richard-faverty

Congratulations to Chris Wilcox, Jeroen Wijs, Robert Harvey and Vanessa Alatinin who each won a copy of "Nick Trost's Subtle Card Creations Volume 6" offered in last week's contest compliments of H&R Magic Books. This is the final contest in the series for these books, but watch for new, upcoming contests on The Magic Word!

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5. Creativity And "Falling In Love With Ourselves" #446 - Kyle Peron
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Message by Kyle Peron (US)
magic4u02@aol.com
http://www.facebook.com/perondesign
http://www.kpmagicproducts.com

I have been discussing creativity and what hinders us from being creative thinkers. I wanted to take the opportunity to expand and explore this topic a bit more with you. I feel that in order for anyone to become a better creative thinker of magic, you must first 1) define creativity and 2) know what hinders you from being creative. Once you know these 2 things, you can work towards breaking down those barriers.

As I worked on my creativity lecture, I realized that it would be a good idea to address the definition of creativity. I knew what I personally felt it was, but realized it would be a good idea to establish how Webster's Dictionary defines it. What I found out was VERY fascinating.

Keep in mind that what I am going to tell you is not and has not been changed in any way. It is straight out of the dictionary. "Creativity can be defined as something created rather than imitated." WOW! That just really opened my eyes. Read it again and let it sink in more.

What it is saying is that imitation is NOT creativity. Taking someone else's routine or act and "borrowing" it, is not being creative. Besides, in my book it is just wrong. Being creative means stepping away from what you have seen and taking a different path.

So, if we know that imitation is not creativity, what else hinders us from being as creative as we each can be? Well one thing is certainly this notion of magicians falling in love with themselves. Allow me to explain. I am an artist and have been all my life. Artist are just...well... weird folks. We admit that. However, even artists have less egos then most of us magicians. Magicians seem to think that the world evolves and revolves around them. If you have ever been to a magic convention, you know what I am talking about.

But what tends to happen to us magicians? Well the beauty of magic is the fact that we as magicians get the joy out of knowing the secrets of magic. We get empowered by the techniques we discover. Just think back to the first effect you ever saw and learned? Pretty amazing feeling wasn't it? This is what tends to draw magicians to learn more and seek more. It becomes our drug of sorts.

Knowing the secrets and techniques is not wrong. After all, they are the tools that allow us to create in the first place. However, what happens is that we start to love the techniques of magic so much that we forget who our audience really is.

We may know and learn 50 ways to vanish a card. To us they are all different and unique and we love them. But just because you know 50 ways to vanish a card does not mean your audience wants to see all 50 ways in one act. To a lay audience, you vanish a card and produce a card and the rest looks the same.

What happens to magicians is that we spend so much time perfecting out crafts and fine tuning the tools we use that we start to fall in love with them. We love the technique behind what we do so much that we feel we have to place it in the act just because WE love it.

Once you start doing this, it becomes a hard habit to break. It hinders creativity because you force to place things in the act not because they make sense or add to the entertainment value, but because we like them.

One must always think of who the audience is and who you are performing for. You must remember what you want to say to them and express to them. Enjoy what you perform and create, but remember that a magician is a very lonely person without an audience to perform for.

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.

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6. Haversat & Ewing Galleries Auction
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Message by David Haversat (US)

Save Your Money & Mark your Calendar!

- Summer Sensational Auction -

June 23-24, 2017

www.haversatewing.com

Houdini, Kellar, Soo, Germain, Books, Tokens, Apparatus...

Haversat and Ewing Galleries, PO Box 1078, Yardley, PA 19067, USA.

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7. Guy Hollingworth Presents "Conjuring A Better Future"
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Message by Craig Mitchell (South Africa)

For one night only - Guy Hollingworth presents "Conjuring A Better Future" a unique charity show on Saturday 1st July at the world-famous Magic Circle in London in support of the College of Magic in South Africa.

Featuring Guy Hollingworth and friends, including one of the world's greatest pickpockets, James Freedman, World Champion magician Richard McDougall, and the mindreader who fooled Penn & Teller, Graham Jolley - this is an unrivalled opportunity to see some of the UK's best performers in one of the most magical venues in London!

We are honoured to have the support of such an amazing group of performers. Guy first visited the College of Magic in 2015 - and has been an incredible advocate of the organisation since.

Tickets for this unique fundraising show are already nearly sold out and available here - http://www.guy-hollingworth.com ... 100% of the ticket price goes directly to the College of Magic's outreach efforts - please spread the word to friends and family in the UK.

This is a not-to-be-missed event.

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8. Steve Valentine - Magic On The Go
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Message by Steve Valentine (US)

Like a Netflix for Magic
Chris Philpott - Magica Online

Announcing a fabulous new site from world renowned actors and award winning magician Steve Valentine - Magic On The Go. Huge content -Tiny price. Plus a special introductory offer for readers.

A ground breaking new all video way to learn magic at home or on the go. Think about it. Which would you rather have, two extra Starbucks lattes a month, or an ever-growing arsenal of brain-melting magic available on multiple platforms and apps taught to you by the brilliant Steve Valentine? Exclusive, Bloody Brilliant Magic content wherever you go.

Opening week special offer: subscribe for one full year before May 15th and you'll get that first year for only $100---a huge savings! That's less than $9 a month.

After May 12th, the price will increase to (a still great) $140 per year, or, if you prefer a monthly option of $14.99 per month.

Actor and celebrity Steve Valentine is also one of the world's leading experts in the field of magic. He's a multiple award winner from The Academy of Magical Arts and a fan favorite at the world-famous Magic Castle in Hollywood.

Steve's new highly-visual online membership-based learning platform brings you fun, easy-to-follow lessons, stunts, gags, interviews, reviews, self-working tricks, funny gags, bar stunts, sleights,routines, performances, lectures, forums, and much, more, all curated into easy-to-navigate, bite-sized playlists.

This amazing material is available at your fingertips anytime, anywhere on any computer or mobile device. This massive library will constantly grow as incredible new video content is added each month.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up today. Steve can't wait to see you on the inside!
www.magiconthego.com

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9. Broken Wand - Graham Reid (UK)
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Message by Mandy Davis (UK)

It was with a very heavy heart that I listened to a message from Tim Reed to tell me the his father and our wonderful friend, Graham, had passed away in hospital in his sleep last night. Graham had been ill for a long while but we spoke only two or three weeks ago when he was finally home from a rehab centre and hoping to invite us over once he'd settled....

Graham was the most generous, kind hearted man anyone could ever meet - even spending time on Saturdays on busy streets in London offering help to tourists who were looking lost and confused. His knowledge was outstanding and he'd not only ensure they had the correct directions but he'd recommend other places of interest, too.

Graham was one of Paul Daniels's closest friends, they were both members of the Middlesbrough Magic Society, Graham later becoming one of Paul's magic advisors on his TV series. This led to a great friendship between Graham and Ali Bongo; my first visit to Las Vegas was enhanced by their company, both at a convention and away from it. We had a wonderful meal at the Venetian Hotel on the strip and I enjoyed enviously watching Graham buying a handbag for his wife in a designer store there - lucky Barbara!

Graham was never backward in speaking his mind, either publicly or in private. His AOB questions at The Magic Circle's AGMs were legendary - he never missed an opportunity. Graham had been a marketing man way back when marketing was a new 'science' and his successes were many. He would impart that knowledge to magicians constantly - and gift books on the subject to those who needed them.

For many years a monthly lunch with him would be a must on our calendars, usually at his local pub restaurant until it lost its reputation for quality - at which point we became nomads until a change of management brought it back to glory once more. Of more recent times the lunch moved to a hotel in Hitchin - but we never missed a month no matter where the location. I can still hear Graham's distinctive voice urging me to have a dessert so he would feel less guilty when ordering one for himself!

My most personal memory was the speech he made, the only speech at our wedding - it was uproariously funny and still a perfect moment of the day.

Graham, I'll miss those phone calls, the lunches and hearing your voice. I'll miss the generosity, the gifts of books of all kinds that you bestowed so often and on so many of us. I'll miss your wisdom and your laughter - but you need to rest peacefully after your recent battles.

Rest well, my dear friend.

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10. Bristol Day Of Magic 2017
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Message by Mandy Davis (UK)

Paul McLeavy and his team from Bristol Society of Magic pulled another fun filled day out of the proverbial hat. The venue, Nailsea School, has useful auditoria but is somewhat off the beaten track if you were travelling without a car. However it was worth the journey to enjoy some first class magic.

The opening lecture came from transplanted American, Thom Peterson, who is a truly excellent teacher. He puts a lot of thought into his demonstrations and visual aids, using huge amounts of humour within his presentations and explanations.

I particularly liked 'Walkaround Williamson', an adaptation of a David Williamson classic Torn and Restored Transposition. However everything Thom did was worth considering and included a coin to jumbo coin, Wise Quack which was Al Koran's Medallion utilising a plastic bath duck, and origami trick and an ESP trick with a simple plot - using cards beautifully and skilfully designed by Thom's talented wife Annabel de Vetten.

John Carey's lecture was a complete contrast although he imparts knowledge that is sound and quenches the thirst of the dedicated coin and card magician. His lecture opened with a coin routine called 'In-purse-ination' and he followed on with three tricks 'Whispering Ambitions', his take on the Ambitious Card; a four Ace production which makes the spectator into the star and My Cards are Your Cards, a classical version of Dr Daly's Last Trick. He also included a packet trick, Homage to Fechter; the discovery of a thought-of CD; and B'Lieve - an ungaffed version of Max Maven's B'Wave.

After lunch, and a visit to the dealers, we were treated to a lecture by the headliner of the convention, Anson Lee, who displayed his rope routine, using his necktie. He gave a great logical explanation for using it in this way, before restoring it and wearing it at the end of the routine.

He continued by demonstrating his manipulations of jumbo multi-coloured playing cards. He taught some subtleties on appearing and disappearing candles and demonstrated a smoother way of producing a snowstorm from a single card.

He showed how the length of a normal card was the same as the width of a jumbo card so the larger ones could be hidden when palmed lengthways. Then, asking people to get out their cards, he finished with a workshop style teach-in on manipulation.

While the first group of registrants viewed the Close Up Show, the juniors in attendance were delighted to have their own workshop featuring Kevin Johnson. Despite pleas for regurgitation, Kevin avoided his signature geeky style and, instead, taught about creativity and displayed a trick where he ate the contents of a sugar packet - which then could be poured out of the tip of a Sharpie pen! He also showed how the lid could replace itself. This charmed the small group of youngsters so Kevin was delighted to explain he was going to help them all make the gimmicked Sharpie needed for the trick. This was very popular indeed!

For the Close Up Show Rob James opened with a repeat birdcage vanish and continued by showing a spectator how two knotted silks could melt apart despite close scrutiny. He then invited a child to the stage where Rob whispered the script for the young one to repeat as he performed the Cups and Balls (with a lot of help!).

Local lad, Callum Weaver, romped through a rope routine, Torn and Restored Card and Cups and Balls too!

John Carey was back, this time to perform. He started by producing his deck of cards from bare hands, then baffled us with an excellent Oil and Water routine plus other amazing card effects!

Fish and chips with peas or baked beans had been available to order for an early supper. Then we gathered back in the auditorium for the gala show.

The compere, Ben Nickless gave us impressions of various singers and characters throughout the evening, from Marge Simpson and Mrs Brown to Gary Barlow.

The first act of the show was the wonderful Bertie Pearce who used his unique character to regale us with his Torn and Restored paper, Thumb Tie, an amazing convoluted rope tie which involved three people and a jug, a toilet seat, mugs and a lawn mower! I have always enjoyed his version of Six Card Repeat, combined with Chapeaugraphy and performed in several languages; while his red silk in egg routine also enchanted the audience who, I'm sure, had seen this trick many times in the past. There is only one Bertie Pearce - we just don't see enough of him!

Jon Udry was handsome and funny as he started by making a balloon dog behind his back while bouncing a ball on his head. This led to juggling whilst removing his jacket and then using two balls and two rings so that the balls went through the rings. He continued with six rings, then two balls and his live microphone, talking into it each time it rose in the air to his mouth, a trick he prefers to do with the theatre's equipment! The highlight for me was his juggling of a mug and a teabag which often landed in the cup before flying out again. He ended with club juggling.

The first half ended on another comedy act - Thom Peterson gave an excellent presentation of spoon bending, then demonstrated by drawing a spoon on a large pad with hilarious results. He did an impression of a unicorn using a mouth coil and then invited a spectator to take part in a Do as I Do routine using large paper cups of water which were inverted over both their heads. He ended on a colour prediction using a Twister mat and a lot of strong comedy.

After the interval surprise guest, Jimmy Tamley, gave us his excellent act, using both his Grandad and baby puppets - as well as two enthusiastic members of the audience for a human ventriloquism sequence.

Star of the convention, Anson Lee from Taiwan, performed his fantastic manipulation act where from an empty stage he was able to produce and vanish cards of many colours, as well as using his bow tie as a silk on two occasions in order to produce a candle and a small ball. He transformed the ball into a card and back until the ball finally became a silk once more. His finale involved many normal and jumbo sized playing cards appearing and vanishing in time to his carefully chosen music showing how a true FISM winner performs.

Andrew Green opened his act with fire from a torch and from his palms. He then worked with canes and silks in multiples of colours before his assistant joined him for a Head Mover illusion. He followed this with Martin Lewis's Cardiographic where a drawing of a deck of cards comes to life. Then we saw a large glass casket used for a Metamorphosis transposition of Andrew and his assistant. A medley of a coke bottle vanish in a tube and silks transformed to a small ball were followed by sponge balls from mouth, D'Lites and red mouth coil. A newspaper had a segment torn out and restored before a silk was found within its empty folds, then a candle appeared from the silk before vanishing and the whole sequence ended with an appearing rose.

Finally the girl entered a box, had tubes pushed through and the whole contraption was opened to show the girl had vanished.

This had been a low-key convention with some great sparks of fun, comedy and amazing magic.

Try and get there yourself next year - you won't regret it!

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11. E-zine Archives
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Back issues of the Magic New Zealand e- zine go to:
www.magicnewzealand.com click on the red button center right "Archives"

When you enter the archive the e- zines are in issue order in folders for each year and are Coded, e.g. 001 Nov06 1999.txt first three numbers (001) denote issue number, then the date (Nov06) and the last figures the year (1999)

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12. Privacy Policy and Copyright Notice
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Our subscriber list is NOT made available to any other companies or individuals. We value every subscriber and respect your privacy.

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Magic New Zealand® E-zine is published each Sunday.

The opinions and statements expressed therein are those of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of Magic New Zealand®. Neither Magic New Zealand® nor Alan Watson QSM vouch for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, message, statement, or other information reported via Magic New Zealand® E- zine.

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