The Genii Forum

Richard Lane

For one week only: Cardini, The Gwynnnes, Ade Duval, Val Voltaine and Fred Keating in "The Congress of Magic," wrote Billboard magazine. May 7 1942. Loew's Capital Theatre, Washington. David Charvet's Jack Gwynne bio has photos from the cast party. Ade Duval certainly seems correct & J...

Richard Lane

re McKinney: My notes with dates and locations are currently boxed up, but I thought I'd offer this passing note. James McKinney did indeed file for bankruptcy in 1903, but within months he was fully operational and re-financed in a new location just round the corner from 73 Plymouth Place. Printer'...

Richard Lane

Roy Benson by Starlight is so late...

it will still be credited as Marlo by Starlight.

Levent no longer thought to be Australian.

its acid-free paper is now acid-$3.25.

Richard Lane

It not what Mike is looking for, but if you were curious about Mark's suggestion:

Bidex Corner Rounding Punch

It works.

Its a couple of $$s cheaper at Staples stores, though if you buy at Amazon, (via the links on the right of your screen,) it'll benefit the Genii Forum.

Richard Lane

Thanks John. I have that article. Birch seemed equally home in legitimate halls as he had been on the Chautauqua circuit. Bill "the newspaper king" Mullins was very kind to take the time & forward a couple of great articles that backed that up. Diego always comes through with the scoop...

Richard Lane

I searched the forum, then checked with Google's cache of pages and discovered that the name McDonald Birch has only been mentioned once in the history of this site. Which proved to myself, something I'd been idly pondering. Is Birch the most successful, yet overlooked magician of the last century? ...

Richard Lane

Talking of non-magic gigs, there's a photo in an early '70's Genii of Johnny and Pam appearing in dinner theater. I'm trying to remember if it was "Beginner's Luck," because their co-star was Bob Crane.

I imagine there lies a tale.

Richard Lane

I was thinking tulips not beanies.

I hope Mssrs Minch & Maven have been chronicaling this bold campaign from conception to incu-Ebation.

Richard Lane

Ricky Jay heartily praised Lamont's book during his 'Sleight and Shadow' lecture at Princeton University.

Richard Lane

Clay: This is the current situation regarding magic books at the New York Public Library. Almost everything that comprises the magic collection has been held offsite in New Jersey for the last few years. Type MZC as the call number into the link below to see the whole list of 1284 items. <...

Richard Lane

Will this be a thing of terrifying beauty?

Richard Lane

I have a clip of Gorgeous George performing some card tricks on a TV show, to the dismay of the host who keeps trying to move on to other matters. He wasn't particularly graceful with the deck, maybe his large fingers, but was very charismatic and entertaining. I liked him right away and had no idea...

Richard Lane

I'm sure some of you have seen this before, but it was new to me. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.pictureaustralia.org/apps/pictureaustralia;jsessionid=0088DFDEDA2AC421619DEDD5971BB493">http://www.pictureaustralia.org/apps/pi ... D5971BB493</a> An exceptional Antipodean vari...

Richard Lane

Richard and Tabman: I was also under the impression that it was press coverage, but thought I was confused by the references in Abrams, pg 362 and Bob Weill's remembrance in the Annemann special of Genii, Nov 92. Both works note that Life Magazine sent a still photographer, Mark Palmer, to the Sept....

Richard Lane

From this morning's issue of Cynopsis, a daily TV industry newsletter: "A&E debuted two new series on Wednesday night - Inked (9-10p) and Criss Angel: Mindfreak (10p). Inked averaged 615,000 A18-49 impressions, and a median age of 33.6 years. Criss Angel delivered 1.1 million A18-49 impress...

Richard Lane

I'm trying to find the dates of a series(?) of articles written by Bill Dodson & published in The Linking Ring. Any info or leads are appreciated. Thanks.

Richard Lane

I have no connection to this Ebay auction, but unless I'm way-off the unnamed conjuror on this Kinora reel is David Devant. This is a clip of "The Egg-Laying Man" filmed in 1896 by Robert Paul. I've read conflicting information as to whether the full short still exists on film or was ever ...

Richard Lane

Event organiser Simon Popple sent me a copy of the final program. Here's a brief breakdown. Some very, very interesting and unusual presentations. Make sure you scroll down to take a look at the listings for the magic performance day. Tom Gunning - Now You See it, Now You Dont: The Visual Regimes of...

Richard Lane

"Why not just ask Bill Kuethe for a hint?" At Richard's prompting, I did. Mr. Kuethe very kindly replied that he was no longer sure what was hidden within that issue. He did raise the possibility that Jay had revealed the identity of "Frank Joglar" via a hidden message and if you...

Richard Lane

New York City - June 17th

Richard Lane

George Newmann has been haunting me for a few weeks so I can offer some guidance. Clay: Newmann was well acquainted with the Thayers and enjoyed visiting the studio and mingling with the visitors, Once, he met Michael MacDougal, a young man who pitched Svengali decks on Los Angeles street corners. N...

Richard Lane

Sun Ra's birth name, Herman Poole Blount, came in part from his mother's admiration for Black Herman. Now I really need to read Herman's book.

Richard Lane

I'm grateful to all who are playing along. Hope I haven't created a monster by giving Mr. Field ideas! My guess was some connection between the note on the top left of the front page and the one by the cartoon from England. This is from the next issue of the Magic Cauldron . Again, Magical Past-Time...

Richard Lane

HooDoo private eye Black Herman is a character in Ishamel Reed's 1972 novel "Mumbo Jumbo." A Fish Bewitcher and lion hypnotizer, Herman can cast a scarf into a snake. Reed lists a 1938 edition of "Secrets of Magic-Mystery" as his inspiration in the lengthy bibliography. I have a ...

Richard Lane

Thanks to Todd Karr's hosting of Magical Past-Times, I was browsing the Magic Cauldron section and read this: Hidden Messages by William Kuethe I'd heard of the Jinx code, but I was struck by this line: "There is also a hidden message in the New Phoenix # 318, but due to the seriousness of the ...

Richard Lane

"The Ed Sullivan Show" Episode broadcast July 6th 1969 Guests: Bobby Vinton - "Those Were The Days" and a medley ("Blue Velvet," "Take Good Care of My Baby" and "Please Love Me Forever") Lainie Kazan (actress-singer) - sings "Love" The Suga...

Richard Lane

Mark wrote "I remember one column with a rather blunt assesment of Houdini."

A section of Karl Johnson's forthcoming book, linked on the right of this page, provides a useful context for the animus between these two giants.

Richard Lane

Jacques Voignier very kindly sent me the list of lectures. What looks like a very special event is less than a month away. The lecturers of the First European Conference on Magic History are: 1) Rare tricks performed in Middle Age (ROXY) 2) Antonio Diavolo, History and Restoration of Robert-Houdin's...

Richard Lane

I've seen little mention of this event which includes a day of magic curated by Eddie Dawes. Are any forum members involved? At one point, a tentative list of 20 lectures was posted and included Peter Lamont on Mediums & Magic, screenings of early English performance films from the British Film ...

Richard Lane

In the interest of completeness: The Charles Branden Commercial Co. is not mentioned in any volume of the Marvyn Scudder Manual of Extinct or Obsolete Companies, or the Robert D. Fisher Manual of Valuable and Worthless Securities. Did anyone chase down the certificate of incorporation from the Illin...

Richard Lane

Publishers Weekly and Amazon list a release date in August. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0805074066/qid=1107739758/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/002-3253257-6724821?v=glance&s=books&n=507846">http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... s&...

Richard Lane

Wow.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 19715&rd=1

Richard Lane

Thanks Jacky.
I'd exhausted a google search and wondered if anyone had profiled Carrington from a magician's perspective.

I'm going to pick up "Letters to Hereward Carrington." Sounds fun.

Richard Lane

Anyone recall seeing any biographical articles about Hereward Carrington over the years?

Many thanks.

Richard Lane

Scarne was also profiled in the popular press.

e.g. Life magazine June 8 1942. Scarne provides cautionary advice to new recruits.

Plugging his name into eBay's search engine will periodically turn up such references.

Richard Lane

Barnes and Noble have Illusion Show: A Life in Magic by David Bamberg, published by Meyerbooks, in stock and even available for 24 hour free Manhattan delivery. Sold to you for $19.80. Here= http://search.barnesandnoble.com/BookSearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=0Y33cffAiR&isbn=0916638480&itm=1 A...

Richard Lane

Todd kindly provided me with a birthdate from Whaley's "Who's Who in Magic":

February 23, 1884 in Brooklyn, NYC.

Do any other sources give a different date?

Many thanks.

Richard Lane

I'm sure I'm not alone in wondering over the fate of Doc Nixon whenever I light upon his name.

Has anyone looked into this mystery recently. Are there unknown pockets of scholars in Erdnase-esque searches for closure?

If anyone can point me to an article or book reference I'd be grateful.

Richard Lane

The breadth of knowledge on this forum matches the deep generosity of its members. Thank you to all, including Dennis Laub who also identified Walter Domzalski. Apologies to anyone using Netscape who tried the web site and found a jumble of pictures and texts. How a quickie page ground out using Net...

Richard Lane

Many thanks everyone.
Diego, I sent you a clearer, full face version.

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