Search found 275 matches
- March 30th, 2021, 8:04 am
- Forum: Alternative Media
- Topic: New Yorker cartoon caption
- Replies: 24
- Views: 8536
- March 15th, 2021, 10:07 pm
- Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
- Topic: A new book about Kalanag
- Replies: 22
- Views: 7840
Re: A new book about Kalanag
David Mirvish, son of Ed Mirvish, who - with his father was/is one of the great presenters/producers of theatre in North America (and who at one point owned the Old Vic in London), and who loved magic, told me that he vowed to never invest in a magic show after seeing Kalanag because there were alwa...
- December 1st, 2020, 1:52 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Stewart James
- Replies: 77
- Views: 69790
Re: Stewart James
Having just moved my book collection to another location, I realize now more than ever that it is time to part with some of my multiples. Crazy as it sounds, just because of my relationship with the various principals, I have, in addition to my own Collector Editions of SJIP and The James File, thos...
- November 30th, 2020, 7:37 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Stewart James
- Replies: 77
- Views: 69790
Re: Stewart James
Bob The house is still there . Someone bought it. As for his stuff, at least the magic stuff, I ended up with most of it, including his family albums, military medals, his library, props and correspondence. Some of the material I have parted with from time to time. I have kept, however, things relat...
- November 30th, 2020, 12:21 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Stewart James
- Replies: 77
- Views: 69790
Re: Stewart James
To add some meat to the bone presented by Max’s note in the January 2005 issue of Genii, it was Pat Lyons – the wife of P. Howard Lyons – who introduced by letter Rob Bloch to the world of Stewart James. Howard, of course, was a James-junkie, and he brought Pat with him on a visit to Stewart’s home ...
- November 15th, 2020, 7:26 pm
- Forum: Collector's Marketplace
- Topic: WTB: David P Abbott related, spirit portrait
- Replies: 3
- Views: 750
Re: WTB: David P Abbott related, spirit portrait
Well, you’ll have to hunt for a set made by a Thayer-Owen. They don’t come up very often. I have a stage size version, modelled on the Dic Nixon staging, which I believe to be the best. (Custom built for me by my builder.) My canvases are quite large, however, which contributes significantly to the ...
- November 14th, 2020, 6:56 am
- Forum: Collector's Marketplace
- Topic: WTB: David P Abbott related, spirit portrait
- Replies: 3
- Views: 750
Re: WTB: David P Abbott related, spirit portrait
What do you mean by “spirit portrait”? Are you looking for the book that describes his handling, the magazine where it was first described, or working apparatus to perform it on stage? It would be helpful to know what specifically you are interested in.
- August 31st, 2020, 7:12 pm
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: Vernon's Slow Motion Card Vanish
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1598
Re: Vernon's Slow Motion Card Vanish
Richard, the clips you just referenced were taken from our film with Daniel Zuckerbrot, Dai Vernon - The Spirit of Magic. I know this to be true because the sequence of Vernon dealing cards was not actually Vernon. They were actually Scarne’s hands. We intentionally slowed down the the Scarne footag...
- August 28th, 2020, 7:47 pm
- Forum: General
- Topic: Ditching whilst pulling pen or lighter from pocket - history?
- Replies: 16
- Views: 2812
Re: Ditching whilst pulling pen or lighter from pocket - history?
I believe Arthur Finely, also known as Henry Gavin, published this ruse initially way back when. He was the guy who would apparently place t he coin in the hand, remove the pen from the pocket as a wand, and make the coin vanish. He, however, while removing the pen, secretly loaded the coin in the u...
- August 11th, 2020, 7:32 pm
- Forum: General
- Topic: The Tragic Rhythm - David Ben
- Replies: 45
- Views: 14142
Re: The Tragic Rhythm - David Ben
Joe, forgive me for jumping in here, but I am not convinced that you need conflict in magic. Also that magic, although depending on the branch, may share certain characteristics with theatre and comedy, it is, at least when it comes to sleight of hand, something different. Your reading assignment, s...
- August 9th, 2020, 6:42 pm
- Forum: Collector's Marketplace
- Topic: For Sale 57 issues of The Crimp, Jerry Sadowitz magazine
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1955
Re: For Sale 57 issues of The Crimp, Jerry Sadowitz magazine
Anemann
I have lots of complete files of magazines. Send me a note at david@davidben.com and we can discuss what you are interested in.
I have lots of complete files of magazines. Send me a note at david@davidben.com and we can discuss what you are interested in.
- August 1st, 2020, 1:21 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: New coin move?
- Replies: 54
- Views: 6598
Re: New coin move?
No, no, not at all.
“Great” meant I agree with you. What may come as a surprise to some Forum readers, my private correspondence tends to be very short - only a few words if that. So I wanted to acknowledge your comment with appreciation, but reverted to my normal mode.
Sorry about that.
“Great” meant I agree with you. What may come as a surprise to some Forum readers, my private correspondence tends to be very short - only a few words if that. So I wanted to acknowledge your comment with appreciation, but reverted to my normal mode.
Sorry about that.
- August 1st, 2020, 11:41 am
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: New coin move?
- Replies: 54
- Views: 6598
- August 1st, 2020, 9:12 am
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: New coin move?
- Replies: 54
- Views: 6598
Re: New coin move?
I suggest you check out Ross Bertram's "B.U.D." move in Bertram on Sleight of Hand. It uses the simple 'drop' concept of a coin, and other objects, from one hand directly into the other hand positioned, as one might say, as a servante. It is done mid-air, that is, without a table as cover,...
- July 3rd, 2020, 11:26 am
- Forum: General
- Topic: 2020 Allan Slaight Award Recipients
- Replies: 3
- Views: 1439
2020 Allan Slaight Award Recipients
Magicana is pleased to announce the latest round of Allan Slaight Award Recipients for excellence in magic. Here are links to various video clips recognizing the various recipients: Canadian Rising Star The Sentimentalists https://www.dropbox.com/s/n0v0m6wllnkhl3d/9%20canadian%20June%2027.mov?dl=0 I...
- May 9th, 2020, 6:40 pm
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: Frank Garcia Books
- Replies: 39
- Views: 5480
Re: Frank Garcia Books
For what it may be worth, I believe the “Your Best” line was created by P. Howard Lyons, and made its appearance in an advertising flyer he distributed covertly (perhaps aided by Bob Weill) at an early FFFF. The flyer purportedly advertised a new publication, “Your Best”, a play on “My Best”, a work...
- April 27th, 2020, 6:24 am
- Forum: General
- Topic: Erdnase photographer ?
- Replies: 43
- Views: 28963
Re: Erdnase photographer ?
I suggest that if Marshall D. Smith knew that people today thought that he had traced any of his illustrative work from photographs, he would be rolling in his grave. The curriculum of the type of training Smith would have taken would have been on the French system that flourished in the 1890s, part...
- April 24th, 2020, 7:27 pm
- Forum: General
- Topic: Erdnase photographer ?
- Replies: 43
- Views: 28963
Re: Erdnase photographer ?
Against my better judgment, here is some food for thought.... My partner is a professional visual artist, figurative work her speciality. She had scholarships to the College of Art in London, and the Beaux Art in Paris. I asked her to take a look at the drawings, and opine whether they were done fro...
- March 31st, 2020, 1:11 pm
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: Best McDonald's Aces Routine
- Replies: 175
- Views: 420542
Re: Best McDonald's Aces Routine
Bob - I don't have the books at hand but I believe it was in Mixed Macs. It is an incredibly detailed sequence, with McDonald's Aces being the end of it, but you should really look at how he does the layout, the various vanishes, and the clean up.
- March 30th, 2020, 7:18 pm
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: Best McDonald's Aces Routine
- Replies: 175
- Views: 420542
Re: Best McDonald's Aces Routine
Howard Lyons once told me that Fr. Cyprian’s ringing in of the cards was the best. He apparently used the Stevens Control with a double backer. It is on my To Do list to reconstruct. I asked Cyp about it once and he was his usual self-effacing self. I seem to recall that he did say he described it o...
- March 30th, 2020, 7:13 pm
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: Best McDonald's Aces Routine
- Replies: 175
- Views: 420542
Re: Best McDonald's Aces Routine
I believe Johnny Thompson’s handling is the best. It is in his book. I remember phoning Johnny as I was editing the book and telling him how amazing it is. It is incorporated within a larger routine, but could easily be used on its own.
- March 25th, 2020, 5:35 am
- Forum: General
- Topic: Allan Slaight Covid-19 Relief Fund
- Replies: 8
- Views: 2282
Allan Slaight Covid-19 Relief Fund
Magicians have always spoken of the “magic community.” Well now more than ever is the time to prove that we are, indeed, a community. To that end, Magicana is thrilled to follow the lead of the Slaight Family, and administer at their request, the Allan Slaight Relief Fund, a financial aid package fo...
- February 23rd, 2020, 5:28 am
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: David Ben on Art, the Internet, Magicians and Fake News
- Replies: 12
- Views: 2698
Re: David Ben on Art, the Internet, Magicians and Fake News
First, thank you for the kind comments about the article in the Globe. The exhibition is truly marvelous, and with a slightly different spin than the one staged initially at the McCord Museum. We hope you get the chance to see it in Toronto. Second, I apologize if this post is rather lengthy but you...
- September 17th, 2019, 5:23 pm
- Forum: Reference Room
- Topic: Vernon fools Houdini
- Replies: 82
- Views: 73927
Re: Vernon fools Houdini
Brad Although the Revelations series is wonderful, I try to remind myself that Vernon was around 88 years of age when the series was shot, and there was no one on set who really knew the historical facts of his life. So, there are a lot of errors that have been disseminated. (My mother, who passed a...
- September 17th, 2019, 5:14 pm
- Forum: Reference Room
- Topic: Vernon fools Houdini
- Replies: 82
- Views: 73927
Re: Vernon fools Houdini
Bill Vernon did technically serve in the First World War. He was pulled out of Royal Military College just as trouble was brewing. Royal Military College was the training ground for Officers for the Canadian Expeditionary Force sent overseas to fight. If Vernon had graduated, he would have been hard...
- September 17th, 2019, 10:29 am
- Forum: Reference Room
- Topic: Vernon fools Houdini
- Replies: 82
- Views: 73927
Re: Vernon fools Houdini
I placed the Vernon-Houdini encounter in 1922 as documented in my biography of Vernon for a variety of reasons. Although Vernon once placed the event in 1919, he also once placed it in 1922. He did say in both instances, however, that it took place in Chicago. During my extensive research into Verno...
- August 16th, 2019, 5:37 pm
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: Is there a method similar to this double lift turnover?
- Replies: 12
- Views: 4729
Re: Is there a method similar to this double lift turnover?
Yes. I believe so. I certainly have one. Mine (unpublished) may be, however, a reconstruction of an unpublished Vernon handling from the 1920s. Of course, unless one sees it live - yours and mine - one can never be sure.
- August 7th, 2019, 4:21 pm
- Forum: General
- Topic: Aspergers and Magic?
- Replies: 93
- Views: 30260
Re: Aspergers and Magic?
I have known Bob and his wife for over forty years. Truer words have not been written.
- August 7th, 2019, 2:08 pm
- Forum: General
- Topic: Aspergers and Magic?
- Replies: 93
- Views: 30260
Re: Aspergers and Magic?
Joe, obviously you are free to think and say what you want. So no offense taken. I’ve had lots of people diagnosed with Aspergers in my life. Just because someone thinks different, lives in the same house, and once wrote about an abusive parent and sounds, isn’t enough in my book to make someone an ...
- August 6th, 2019, 6:29 pm
- Forum: General
- Topic: Aspergers and Magic?
- Replies: 93
- Views: 30260
Re: Aspergers and Magic?
I have always said that some people think musically, others visually, some with language, etc. I believe some think magically, that is they view the world as a series of paradoxes that they can resolve. I am one of those. Stewart was too
- August 6th, 2019, 5:33 pm
- Forum: General
- Topic: Aspergers and Magic?
- Replies: 93
- Views: 30260
Re: Aspergers and Magic?
Lots of magicians are on the spectrum. My late wife, a primary educator, wanted to give the Aspergers Test to the magicians who attended our conference 31 Faces North. She was sure half would make the grade. As for Stewart, I knew him very well. I do not believe he had Aspergers. Stewart had very go...
- December 10th, 2018, 9:09 am
- Forum: Collector's Marketplace
- Topic: WTB Fitch Kohler Holdout with Fitch coin attachment
- Replies: 1
- Views: 1232
Re: WTB Fitch Kohler Holdout with Fitch coin attachment
Piff
I believe I know where one is that would be for sale. Please send me an email at info@davidben.com and I'll report back.
David
I believe I know where one is that would be for sale. Please send me an email at info@davidben.com and I'll report back.
David
- June 4th, 2018, 2:28 pm
- Forum: General
- Topic: Jacob Daley
- Replies: 16
- Views: 9205
Re: Jacob Daley
They did not sell at the auction. I bought them from Linda Cervon afterwards.
The Daley book is in the works. Just not by me.
The Daley book is in the works. Just not by me.
- December 21st, 2017, 4:24 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Allan Slaight Chair for the Conjuring Arts
- Replies: 40
- Views: 7242
Re: Allan Slaight Chair for the Conjuring Arts
I tend to agree with Joe. For me, Magic is more of a craft that can be, when it is in the hands of an artist, an art. Unfortunately, artists in magic are few and far between. Hopefully this program at Carleton will raise the level for all concerned or interested.
- December 21st, 2017, 7:58 am
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Allan Slaight Chair for the Conjuring Arts
- Replies: 40
- Views: 7242
Re: Allan Slaight Chair for the Conjuring Arts
Probably a few months. I imagine they will announce the Chair in the spring. Not sure yet when classes start. Either September 2018 or, more likely, January 2019.
- December 20th, 2017, 6:48 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Allan Slaight Chair for the Conjuring Arts
- Replies: 40
- Views: 7242
- December 19th, 2017, 12:12 pm
- Forum: General
- Topic: The Paul Daniels Magic Show
- Replies: 18
- Views: 10887
Re: The Paul Daniels Magic Show
Magicana will be doing an online exhibition culled from Daniel’s television appearances hopefully late next year.
- November 29th, 2017, 3:10 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Dai Vernon: The Spirit of Magic
- Replies: 6
- Views: 2495