The Genii Forum

Brian Morton

In 2002, I remember walking eastward along 42nd Street in New York and seeing a crowd of people on the corner across from the NY Public Library, and thinking, "Who would be stupid enough to toss the broads on this corner?" I got closer and realized it was David Blaine doing close-up card m...

Brian Morton

Richard Kaufman wrote:News just appeared on Facebook that Denny Haney, of Denny and Lee, has sadly died.
I need someone who knew Denny to write a 500 word obit for Genii in the next few days.
Any takers?

Richard, I'll do it.

brian

Brian Morton

It's true, Denny is gone. (I wrote the bio of Denny in his website; it's the full text of a cover story I wrote on him for the Baltimore City Paper in 1997.) From the store (most likely written by his daughter, Dawn Campbell): Friends of the Magic Community, It is with heavy hearts that we must anno...

Brian Morton

Hi, all! In another couple of weeks, I'm fulfilling a lifelong dream (and checking a bucket list item off) and am visiting London. I have wide-open days from July 28th through to August 1st, and would LOVE LOVE LOVE a chance to get to see The Magic Circle. Currently (if it matters) I'm an inactive m...

Brian Morton

I have a VHS copy given to me by an exec from HBO. I'd say it's legit.

brian

Brian Morton

The deluxe slipcover edition of Gardner's Impromptu arrived here in Charm City yesterday, nine years, nine months and two days from the ordering date of 28 February 2006. Packed like a Faberge egg, arrived in pristine condition.

I hope to find the time to actually read it now.

brian

Brian Morton

I ordered the deluxe version on February 28, 2006, right after Todd made the announcement that it was on sale. After nine years, I am tempering my enthusiasm until the book is actually in my hands. This has been the first time I ever ordered (hell, pre -ordered) a magic book. In that time, I have bo...

Brian Morton

Blaine's lack of expression is a performance choice (and it works for him). That he now throws in a smile shows more of a performer secure in his skin than in his younger day. He admits in this Yahoo interview that he adopts this affectation for a reason: "Even though I do magic and I'm always ...

Brian Morton

After doing a little research, I just want to point out that each of these books by themselves (and as reprints) go for $200 apiece at H&R Magic Books (when they are in stock, which right now, they are not). At present there are only three bids on this auction. It ends Thursday night. brian :cool:

Brian Morton

Like new editions of Derren Brown's Absolute Magic and Pure Effect, up for auction at eBay. 1st edition Absolute Magic is the rare edition Brown self-published and sold off his password-protected website back in the early 2000s. This book has material that the later (green covered) editions don't ha...

Brian Morton

Anyone considering applying needs to think about a few things: 1) Other than the million-dollar carrot at the end of the maze, they don't compensate you for squat . You travel to the audition city, you put yourself up, you pay for all your meals, you cover all your own expenses. They claim they &quo...

Brian Morton

"I am not exposing the weaknesses of magicians; I am revealing their strengths. This book has been written with a spirit of respect and admiration for the great men and women of magic whose methods are described within these pages. An art form is only as great as the innovative people who crea...

Brian Morton

http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/vid ... 12/1401858

Brian Morton

But Harry didn't start out with a big show. He didn't have his father's props as those were sold off years earlier. He was working small venues with the cage, the hanky, the committee and maybe the lightbulb. He worked at The Tropicana in Vegas as one of the acts in between the dance numbers. When ...

Brian Morton

Jeffrey Cowan wrote:Nope, it does read that way, Doc. Really funny -- but it would be funnier if there wwere a monkey perched on it.

Oh, I am SO taking a lighter to the cover of my copy now. ;)

brian :cool:

Brian Morton

I love this trick; I've been doing it for about nine years now.

Brian Morton

The Onion couldn't have written this any better.

Brian Morton

My parents were stationed with the US embassy in Bogota, Colombia at the time. My dad woke us up (long past our bedtime) and we all went into the TV room where the Colombian national station had picked up the feed from the US. We sat there watching the grainy black and white picture from the moon wh...

Brian Morton

Gordon Meyer wrote:Well, Brian, it was the MCA convention. I've attended several and it always surprises me how very little magic is performed in general, not just for laymen who happen to be nearby.

Well, the ladies were rather disappointed, thinking they'd at least get to see someone do something.

Brian Morton

There were two very lovely models standing around for photos. Surrounded by magicians performing moves and flourishes, the models were totally ignored. In 2006, Ken Trombly hosted the Magic Collectors Association in Roslyn, VA, just across the Potomac from DC. Big convention full of the heaviest hi...

Brian Morton

Frankly, I saw a lot more blatant theft of material from performers working the rooms than people holding up the lines doing tricks. The most glaring example I saw: David Malek, working the close-up room all week. The Monday after the changeover to a new act? There's a member down in the Hat & H...

Brian Morton

Loved, loved, LOVED the Michael Weber talks.

Brian Morton

I think Mark Lewis's next book can be a compendium of aliases.

Brian Morton

Brian Morton

I think I found it hidden away on Denny Haney's side shelf; I doubt if I paid more than 30 bucks for it.

Brian Morton

Yupcame out in 2003. I've got #21.

brian :cool:

Brian Morton

Well, there's nothing like publicizing leather-covered walls and a 26-head shower in hard times to garner empathy from an audience in hard time.

brian :whistle:

Brian Morton

Actually, people in basements and backrooms all over the country play nickel-dime-quarter poker and they don't play hold 'em. Just because people like to watch high-end games doesn't necessarily mean they want to play them. Sometimes stud, draw, Omaha and hi-lo are good enough.

brian :cool:

Brian Morton

Diamond Jim Tyler wrote:Most of us out-of-towners can only afford to go and work the Castle once every few years. Whenever I can save up enough money I'll go and work it again!

Some of us are still trying to save up enough to work it the first time.

brian ;)

Brian Morton

The "Elite Diamond Merlin Award?"

Oy. It hurts.

brian :cry:

Brian Morton

Isn't that sort of like walking into a room full of pros and asking, "Hey guys, can you create an act for me?"

brian :cool:

P.S.: Oh, and Martin Nash was the Charming Cheat.

Brian Morton

Okay, I went back and found it: Chou is doing kind of a Chink-A-Chink move on the seat of a director's chair on the set. It's at 2:45 on the #13 video in the list; "The Cast Talks To Yahoo." (Christoph Waltz is saying how Chou "is like the most amazing magician you've ever seen")...

Brian Morton

Another one of the Yahoo behind the scenes on-set promos has a few seconds of Chou squatting down and doing what looks like Shadow Coins on the vinyl seat of a desk chair. Looks like in addition to a musician and actor, he's a magician. And I'm gonna wait for the movie to hit Netflix, since I was ce...

Brian Morton

In a promo trailer for the new Green Hornet movie, there's a short bit where Jay Chou (Kato) is wowing Cameron Diaz with what is obviously an Ambitious Card routine. <a class="postlink" href="http://blog.movies.yahoo.com/blog/409-the-asian-justin-timberlake-hits-america-in-green-hornet">ht...

Brian Morton

I've heard of Norman Beck. I heard of him twelve years ago.

I've never heard of John Born.

brian

Brian Morton

"Not even God himself could sink this ship."
-- Employee of the White Star Line, at the
launch of the Titanic, May 31, 1911

Brian Morton

I think it would be appropriate to move the discussion of a new level of castle membership to a new thread, as it's not necessarily germane to the topic at hand. But on that subject: I was a non-resident magician member of the Castle from 1996 to 2005 (#10943, one number behind Andrew Goldenhersh, w...

Brian Morton

How 'bout I just send you the money now and we call it a deal? :grin:

brian :cool:

Brian Morton

Frankly, she's got pretty damn good delivery; I've seen a lot worse of people trying to give out that volume of information.

And if you want porn, I hear if you go to the Rio in Las Vegas, you can see "Two Old Guys, Three Cups."

brian :grin:

Brian Morton

"You've been doing magic for four years and you only have two books?"

Richard, if I spent my first four years in magic with just Erdnase and Expert Card Technique, I think I'd probably be a helluva better magician than I am now.

brian :grin:

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