Search found 429 matches

by Lisa Cousins
January 29th, 2014, 4:47 pm
Forum: Kaufman & Company
Topic: MONTANA MAGAZINE OF WESTERN HISTORY
Replies: 12
Views: 21311

Re: MONTANA MAGAZINE OF WESTERN HISTORY

Marty provided the Castle Library with a copy of this, and he certainly makes a compelling case in an enjoyable way. He does a perfectly fine job of making it clear that this is a great "unsolved mystery" of magic and that he is presenting a candidate. Since there's plenty of factual Monta...
by Lisa Cousins
November 20th, 2013, 2:20 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: LA History Conference attendees, details please!
Replies: 9
Views: 3868

Re: LA History Conference attendees, details please!

Here is a beautiful passage from the welcoming remarks printed in the Conference program: "In many ways, every seance begins with feelings of longing and guilt. If we had only paid more attention, if we had engaged in more conversation, if we had cared more about the people around us, we wouldn...
by Lisa Cousins
June 17th, 2013, 10:00 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Death of Ernest Earick
Replies: 14
Views: 7319

Re: Death of Ernest Earick

Bill Goodwin has created a webpage honoring Ernest Earick, with tributes from people who had a chance to know Ernie and see him work. It can be found here: http://www.billgoodwinmagic.com/earick.html Thanks so much to those who contributed, and especially to Bill for putting this together. I loved r...
by Lisa Cousins
May 20th, 2013, 3:29 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Hotels near the Magic Castle
Replies: 31
Views: 7925

Re: Hotels near the Magic Castle

Since you're a single traveler on a budget, you may want to consider the Orange Drive Hostel - this is steps away from the Magic Castle: http://orangedrivehostel.com/info/ I THINK that Mr. Goat may have stayed here once - but he may be too busy with other pleasant concerns at the moment to chime in ...
by Lisa Cousins
April 30th, 2013, 2:38 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Death of Ernest Earick
Replies: 14
Views: 7319

Re: Death of Ernest Earick

Here is Ernie's obituary from the Albuquerque Journal: EARICK, ERNEST RAY Husband, father, friend. Born 19 March, 1960 in Roswell, NM to Joyce and Rex Earick, Ernest passed on 27 April, 2013 from cardiac arterial disease. Yet his emotional heart and spirit were invincible, driving his passions for c...
by Lisa Cousins
April 30th, 2013, 1:01 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Death of Ernest Earick
Replies: 14
Views: 7319

Death of Ernest Earick

Two weeks ago I was sitting at the Owl Cafe in Albuquerque, New Mexico, enjoying lunch and magic-world chat with my friend Ernie Earick. Yesterday the news reached me that Ernie died suddenly on Sunday night. He was 53 years old, and leaves behind his wife Theresa and their teenage children, Sam and...
by Lisa Cousins
January 19th, 2013, 8:43 pm
Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
Topic: Stan Musial, Magician
Replies: 19
Views: 4579

Re: Stan Musial, Magician

I just saw that Stan Musial died today at age 92.
by Lisa Cousins
January 14th, 2013, 3:59 pm
Forum: General
Topic: Our Culture's Venue?
Replies: 13
Views: 3756

Re: Our Culture's Venue?

While there are location and skill-level requirements involved, the Magic Castle is where people who get good at magic get good at magic.
by Lisa Cousins
December 23rd, 2012, 4:20 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Magic Castle Library Howler
Replies: 9
Views: 2460

Magic Castle Library Howler

As a fan of classical magic, I've always enjoyed the image of the magician showing a piece of paper, rolling it up into a cone, and spilling something out of it. When I came across a pamphlet in the Magic Castle Library entitled "50 Tricks With a Paper Cone" I couldn't resist having a look...
by Lisa Cousins
September 30th, 2012, 3:31 pm
Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
Topic: Prehistoric Movie Magic
Replies: 6
Views: 2633

Re: Prehistoric Movie Magic

Astonishing. Here is a link to a longer clip with more images: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM7gRh41pBA&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM7gRh41 ... re=related</a><!-- m --> I would appreciate it if somebody could put together a video using t...
by Lisa Cousins
August 14th, 2012, 4:28 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Poll: With which magician would you like to spend an evening talking magic?
Replies: 82
Views: 19620

Re: Poll: With which magician would you like to spend an evening talking magic?

Bill Mullins wrote:!!!!

Lisa, I'm touched. Thank you.

Bill


Gee Bill, I hope I didn't accidentally slip some laurels onto your head, and give you hype to live up to.
by Lisa Cousins
August 14th, 2012, 2:23 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Poll: With which magician would you like to spend an evening talking magic?
Replies: 82
Views: 19620

Re: Poll: With which magician would you like to spend an evening talking magic?

I would have to say Bill Mullins.

No laurels to rest upon, no public persona to defend, no hype to live up to - always thinking, always contributing, always learning, always enthused - all the right ingredients for great conversation.
by Lisa Cousins
June 28th, 2012, 3:26 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: NY Times review of Alex Stone's FOOLING HOUDINI
Replies: 118
Views: 33195

Re: NY Times review of Alex Stone's FOOLING HOUDINI

"I wanted to become a magician simply because I wanted to know its secrets." I suspect this is the dominant motivation, and it's obscured by the transparently fake, high-minded responses that are so often given in response to the question. I find it extremely difficult to accurately re-co...
by Lisa Cousins
June 23rd, 2012, 3:44 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: NY Times review of Alex Stone's FOOLING HOUDINI
Replies: 118
Views: 33195

Re: NY Times review of Alex Stone's FOOLING HOUDINI

While I'm outraged that he gave away our "Show me your Ambitious Card" greeting, I'm relieved he said nothing about our secret handshake, or the workings of our decoder rings.
by Lisa Cousins
April 14th, 2012, 4:30 pm
Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
Topic: Divide et impera
Replies: 8
Views: 3372

Re: Divide et impera

I've received word that the Ben Franklin press version of this idea was called "The Impenetrable Secret," and that its history is explained in Ricky Jay's "Many Mysteries Unraveled." It was the first magic trick produced in the US, and consisted of familiar quotations on a deck o...
by Lisa Cousins
April 14th, 2012, 3:44 pm
Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
Topic: Jules Fisher
Replies: 4
Views: 1601

Re: Jules Fisher

Well, what did the letter say?
by Lisa Cousins
April 13th, 2012, 4:11 pm
Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
Topic: Divide et impera
Replies: 8
Views: 3372

Re: Divide et impera

At the risk of taking this rather far afield from Mariano's inquiry, I'll say that I just learned about Ben Franklin's interest in Magic Squares last year. In "The First American" by H.W. Brands, Franklin is described as creating an incredibly complex Magic Square consisting of 16 rows and...
by Lisa Cousins
April 11th, 2012, 4:00 pm
Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
Topic: The map of Andrea Ghisi's Laberinto
Replies: 7
Views: 3376

Re: The map of Andrea Ghisi's Laberinto

Last week Mariano "magically appeared" in the Magic Castle Library (his first visit to the Magic Castle, he said) and generously donated copies of both "Laberinto" and "Gratioso Pensiero" to the collection. I remembered this thread - I had played and enjoyed the interac...
by Lisa Cousins
April 2nd, 2012, 5:24 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Magic Castle Happenings – The Good Stuff (April 2012)
Replies: 23
Views: 5761

Re: Magic Castle Happenings – The Good Stuff (April 2012)

Lu Chen's performance was clearly aimed at his fans back home, and not at the people in the room. The feeling was not that the cameras were capturing a live performance, but that we were a studio audience witnessing a television taping.

This is not praise or complaint - just an observation.
by Lisa Cousins
March 24th, 2012, 3:29 pm
Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
Topic: Alex Elmsley
Replies: 3
Views: 1584

Re: Alex Elmsley

Very interesting - although the description of Elmsley possessing an "amiable though slightly detached face" brought a bizarre picture to my mind that was probably not what the author intended.
by Lisa Cousins
January 23rd, 2012, 1:30 pm
Forum: Alternative Media
Topic: Feathered Illusionists
Replies: 2
Views: 1199

Re: Feathered Illusionists

It's funny how we use the term "bird-brain" to mean stupid, and how birds appear to us to embody the very essence of nonchalance ("free as a bird"), when these creatures are astonishing problem-solvers, architects, artists - and magicians, I guess. I know that the author Robert B...
by Lisa Cousins
January 21st, 2012, 6:08 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: The grave of Edward Saint FOUND (kinda)
Replies: 2
Views: 935

Re: The grave of Edward Saint FOUND (kinda)

Hey, John! I just noticed that at the 2:50 to 3:00 mark in the video, where you are wondering where everyone went and saying that you are "alone" - you are standing right in the area that proved to be Saint's grave!
by Lisa Cousins
January 11th, 2012, 3:37 pm
Forum: Alternative Media
Topic: Oz movie -from humbug to hero
Replies: 8
Views: 2206

Re: Oz movie -from humbug to hero

L. Frank Baum built a beautiful home in Hollywood which he called "Ozcot." It was long ago demolished and replaced with a bland, characterless apartment building. Hollywood has many such examples of the building-up and collapse of imagination, and it's easy to see how the very same fate co...
by Lisa Cousins
November 30th, 2011, 2:30 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Magical new film from Martin Scorsese - Hugo
Replies: 20
Views: 6039

Re: Magical new film from Martin Scorsese - Hugo

Maybe it's a "love letter" to the WORK of Georges Melies, but it's a stone-cold hate note to Georges Melies the MAN. He's depicted as a vicious, nasty, self-absorbed, humorless man, capable of playing a twisted prank on a luckless urchin. His character is utterly unappealing and unsympathe...
by Lisa Cousins
November 20th, 2011, 8:12 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Los Angeles Magic History Conference
Replies: 34
Views: 8800

Re: Los Angeles Magic History Conference

This was my sixth time attending this event, and one aspect that's been consistently outstanding at each and every one of them is the costume designs by Frankie Glass. They're always beyond-perfect or, to use the Nigel Tufnel formulation, they "go to eleven."
by Lisa Cousins
November 14th, 2011, 3:40 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Los Angeles Magic History Conference
Replies: 34
Views: 8800

Re: Los Angeles Magic History Conference

Marty Demarest scored the biggest laugh of the event with a call-back to an earlier presentation which had debunked Bigfoot. To all of you who may have entertained the idea that Bigfoot is real, I'm afraid he's now been thoroughly - and I do mean thoroughly - debunked. I won't speak to the taste of ...
by Lisa Cousins
November 6th, 2011, 9:39 pm
Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
Topic: The Magic of Valentino
Replies: 5
Views: 1358

Re: The Magic of Valentino

Valentino is still a felt presence in Hollywood, particularly since the Hollywood High School mascot is "The Sheiks" and there is a large, looming painting of Valentino as The Sheik on their school building. Patrick Culliton attended Hollywood High in the early 1960's, and he told me that ...
by Lisa Cousins
November 6th, 2011, 6:01 pm
Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
Topic: The Magic of Valentino
Replies: 5
Views: 1358

Re: The Magic of Valentino

The Valentino Memorial Service is the longest-running annual event in Hollywood. The Easter Sunrise Service at the Hollywood Bowl started a few years earlier but, although it's currently running, it had been suspended for a few years. The Valentino Service continues unabated, with no breaks since th...
by Lisa Cousins
November 6th, 2011, 5:16 pm
Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
Topic: The Magic of Valentino
Replies: 5
Views: 1358

The Magic of Valentino

John Cox has posted the transcript of my presentation at the 84th Annual Rudolph Valentino Memorial Service on his blog. I know what you're thinking: "John Cox, you say? This must have something to do with Houdini." It does. You can find the transcript here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" h...
by Lisa Cousins
October 26th, 2011, 4:37 pm
Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
Topic: Conjurer Dick
Replies: 7
Views: 1880

Re: Conjurer Dick

No, Jon, I don't believe that the text would survive such an alteration. It's just all-in-good-fun youth literature of the era. Turning the plucky lad who's keen on conjuring into the source of "destruction and despair" for all who encounter him would change the entire thing into something...
by Lisa Cousins
October 26th, 2011, 1:09 pm
Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
Topic: Conjurer Dick
Replies: 7
Views: 1880

Re: Conjurer Dick

Anybody familiar with the Victorian love of the cheap-weep will understand immediately that the angelic little girl in the story is doomed, but the cause of her death has to be unique in all of literature: it's death by CODE ACT! This super-sweet little child assists her father in his mind-reading e...
by Lisa Cousins
August 10th, 2011, 3:12 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Zabrecky
Replies: 7
Views: 2767

Zabrecky

When I was working behind the magic counter throughout most of 2010, the most asked-about magician during that time was Criss Angel. The second-most asked about magician was Rob Zabrecky. Now, I assumed that this was a local phenomenon - in other words, I didn't imagine that the people working behin...
by Lisa Cousins
June 11th, 2011, 8:52 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Magic Castle difficulties
Replies: 277
Views: 76172

Re: Magic Castle difficulties

I did a laces-through-body effect as part of my show, and after one of the performances I was told that someone had been doing ropes-through-body stuff for people outside the room before the show. I don't know who did this, but I assume that they wouldn't have done it if they'd known what I was goin...
by Lisa Cousins
June 3rd, 2011, 3:26 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Do Spirits Exist?
Replies: 4
Views: 1049

Re: Do Spirits Exist?

Brief summary of the story: A tombstone fell onto the leg of a woman who was making love in a cemetery.

The comments are hilarious! I liked the one about how the doctor says her leg will be just fine, but her buttocks indicate she died in 1879.
by Lisa Cousins
May 28th, 2011, 5:03 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Jim Steinmeyer play: The Card Trick
Replies: 20
Views: 5327

Re: Jim Steinmeyer play: The Card Trick

Yes - the play will go at the usual Peller times: 8:30, 10:00 and 11:15.

People who have dined will have a ticket (which they can use for either the Peller or the Palace), and then the host will seat from the stand-by line.
by Lisa Cousins
May 28th, 2011, 4:49 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Disney - All About Magic - 1954
Replies: 5
Views: 1625

Re: Disney - All About Magic - 1954

Wow, has this been an interesting progression for me to observe. Here's what I know about how this link has traveled: Like many in the magic community, Bill Goodwin and I are both big Disney buffs, and we essentially divide our time between the Magic Castle and the Magic Kingdom - and it's a very ra...
by Lisa Cousins
May 28th, 2011, 3:56 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Jim Steinmeyer play: The Card Trick
Replies: 20
Views: 5327

Re: Jim Steinmeyer play: The Card Trick

The Thursday shows were a fundraiser for the Vernon Fund, and we got the play with commentary and discussion by Jim Steinmeyer before and after the performance. The Friday and Saturday shows (yes, you can catch it tonight!) are typical weekend Peller Project presentations, consisting of two "ac...
by Lisa Cousins
May 27th, 2011, 4:04 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Magic Castle difficulties
Replies: 277
Views: 76172

Re: Magic Castle difficulties

I almost hate to admit this, but - as worrisome as the financial troubles are and as sincerely as I want to see that turned around - I'm actually glad that the non-magic events have not proved lucrative, as that would encourage the Magic Castle to continue on in that direction, which I believe to be...
by Lisa Cousins
May 19th, 2011, 5:14 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Magic Castle difficulties
Replies: 277
Views: 76172

Re: Magic Castle difficulties

At last night's Member Meet-Up, Irene Larsen drew attention once again to the critical connection between the Magic Castle and Genii Magazine, and spoke of the crucial role Genii played in spreading the Magic Castle's fame and contributing to its success. It made me wonder if the spill-over from the...
by Lisa Cousins
May 7th, 2011, 8:11 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: The President of the Academy of Magical Arts RESIGNS
Replies: 181
Views: 44754

Re: The President of the Academy of Magical Arts RESIGNS

Neil Patrick Harris is a long-standing member of the magic community, his actor-ness as incidental as Larry Jennings being a plumber.

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