Dan Fleshman Lecture

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rpmagicshop
Posts: 40
Joined: March 10th, 2014, 2:03 pm
Favorite Magician: Michael Ammar

Dan Fleshman Lecture

Postby rpmagicshop » September 13th, 2017, 6:37 pm

RPMagic is hosting Dan Fleshman on Oct 9th at 7 pm,
you can see more info at rpmagicshop.com
69 East St
Ludlow Ma. 01056
413 547 6500

MagicbyAlfred
Posts: 2388
Joined: June 7th, 2015, 12:48 pm
Favorite Magician: Bill Malone
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC

Re: Dan Fleshman Lecture

Postby MagicbyAlfred » September 14th, 2017, 3:39 am

It's a bit of a hike to Ludlow, Massachusetts from Santa Rosa, CA; otherwise I would be at Dan's lecture in a heartbeat. One of the truly great restaurant workers of our time, and a polished, seasoned and creative performer. I believe the first time I had seen (or heard of) Dan Fleshman was back in the 90's on a VHS released/produced by Stevens Magic on Restaurant Magic. Dan was in pretty good company on that tape, which also featured Mike Close, Jim Sisti, and Bill Malone.

To this day, Dan's routine for Red Hot Mama, a/k/a, the Chicago Opener, which is on the video, is the best version I have ever seen. He had the first selection signed by a spectator. After the back of the signed selection "turned red," and the card was apparently placed face-down on the table, the second selection was then forced, per the Hindu Shuffle, as in the typical second, and what is usually the final, phase of the routine. At that point, Dan brought out his wallet under the pretext of offering its entire contents if the second selection did not turn red, and he placed the wallet aside on the table. After the usual apparent failure in this phase, the face-down red card that was on the table (allegedly the first selection) was then shown to have transformed into the second selection, again, as is customary in the classic routine. But then, the wallet that was laying on the table was opened, and the first selection bearing the signature, was triumphantly extracted from the zippered compartment therein.

Dan's thinking, as I understand it, is that, in all the versions of Red Hot Mama he had ever witnessed or read, the first selection was never seen or heard from again after it "turned into" the second selection, leaving the spectators wondering what became of the first selection, and with the question inexplicably unanswered. Dan's routine, in having the first selection signed and ultimately produced from the wallet, solved that issue, and provided not only another phase (a phenomenal one) to an already great routine, but an ending that was much stronger than in the average Red Hot Mama routine, which ended abruptly and asymmetrically, without any real closure, after the transformation of the first selection into the second. A brilliant twist, actually, and one which provided great motivation for a card to wallet effect as the third and final phase.


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