Search found 395 matches
- January 18th, 2021, 2:16 am
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: RIP Joe Porper
- Replies: 4
- Views: 879
Re: RIP Joe Porper
Met him at billiards exhibition and convention in Valley Forge in 2001—he was surprised to see a magician there. Nicest guy you’d ever want to meet (and an amazing craftsman). I’m going to treasure the card clip of his that I own.
- July 20th, 2019, 12:44 am
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Blaine overreaches in Europe ?
- Replies: 14
- Views: 4278
Re: Blaine overreaches in Europe ?
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...
- January 23rd, 2019, 5:27 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Obituary for Denny Haney
- Replies: 17
- Views: 3289
Re: Obituary for Denny Haney
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

- January 23rd, 2019, 5:26 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Obituary for Denny Haney
- Replies: 17
- Views: 3289
Re: Obituary for Denny Haney
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...
- July 18th, 2017, 11:18 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Would like to visit The Magic Circle (soon!)
- Replies: 1
- Views: 812
Would like to visit The Magic Circle (soon!)
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...
- January 1st, 2016, 12:50 am
- Forum: General
- Topic: Ricky Jay - On The Stem
- Replies: 8
- Views: 2859
Re: Ricky Jay - On The Stem
I have a VHS copy given to me by an exec from HBO. I'd say it's legit.
brian

brian

- December 1st, 2015, 2:49 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Martin Gardner's Impromptu PRINTED
- Replies: 72
- Views: 21340
Re: Martin Gardner's Impromptu PRINTED
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
I hope to find the time to actually read it now.

brian

- October 31st, 2015, 9:27 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Martin Gardner's Impromptu PRINTED
- Replies: 72
- Views: 21340
Re: Martin Gardner's Impromptu PRINTED
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...
- November 20th, 2013, 11:02 pm
- Forum: Alternative Media
- Topic: David Blaine tonight
- Replies: 13
- Views: 3647
Re: David Blaine tonight
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 ...
- February 19th, 2013, 9:23 pm
- Forum: Collector's Marketplace
- Topic: 1st ed. Absolute Magic, 3rd ed. Pure Effect (eBay Auction)
- Replies: 1
- Views: 723
Re: 1st ed. Absolute Magic, 3rd ed. Pure Effect (eBay Auction)
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:
- February 14th, 2013, 5:03 pm
- Forum: Collector's Marketplace
- Topic: 1st ed. Absolute Magic, 3rd ed. Pure Effect (eBay Auction)
- Replies: 1
- Views: 723
1st ed. Absolute Magic, 3rd ed. Pure Effect (eBay Auction)
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...
- November 2nd, 2012, 7:14 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Open Audition Calls in LA and Elsewhere for the Next Season of America's Got Talent
- Replies: 12
- Views: 2264
Re: Open Audition Calls in LA and Elsewhere for the Next Season of America's Got Talent
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...
- June 21st, 2012, 11:49 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: NY Times review of Alex Stone's FOOLING HOUDINI
- Replies: 118
- Views: 28911
Re: NY Times review of Alex Stone's FOOLING HOUDINI
"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...
- June 7th, 2012, 11:49 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Wanda Sykes
- Replies: 14
- Views: 3557
- May 14th, 2012, 9:07 pm
- Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
- Topic: Question about Blackstone Jr.
- Replies: 44
- Views: 11312
Re: Question about Blackstone Jr.
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 ...
- April 14th, 2012, 1:47 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Fire breathing?
- Replies: 10
- Views: 2164
Re: Fire breathing?
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:
- February 1st, 2012, 7:52 pm
- Forum: Collector's Marketplace
- Topic: Harbin Bow Sawing - Portable Spectator Sawing in Half
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1427
Re: Harbin Bow Sawing - Portable Spectator Sawing in Half
I love this trick; I've been doing it for about nine years now.
- July 27th, 2011, 10:05 am
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Auckland magicians fail to see the funny side
- Replies: 1
- Views: 979
Re: Auckland magicians fail to see the funny side
The Onion couldn't have written this any better.
- July 22nd, 2011, 10:39 am
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Moon Landing Anniversary
- Replies: 24
- Views: 3939
Re: Moon Landing Anniversary
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...
- July 12th, 2011, 1:34 pm
- Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
- Topic: Martin Gardner at a Strip Club
- Replies: 18
- Views: 4543
Re: Martin Gardner at a Strip Club
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.
- July 11th, 2011, 11:09 pm
- Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
- Topic: Martin Gardner at a Strip Club
- Replies: 18
- Views: 4543
Re: Martin Gardner at a Strip Club
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...
- June 11th, 2011, 1:00 am
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Magic Castle difficulties
- Replies: 277
- Views: 65021
Re: Magic Castle difficulties
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...
- April 15th, 2011, 4:37 pm
- Forum: General
- Topic: Michael Weber 101
- Replies: 2
- Views: 1999
- April 15th, 2011, 9:31 am
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Mark Lewis Book!
- Replies: 73
- Views: 18242
- April 6th, 2011, 2:43 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: The President of the Academy of Magical Arts RESIGNS
- Replies: 181
- Views: 35753
- March 18th, 2011, 7:32 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: New Martin Nash Book
- Replies: 20
- Views: 4975
Re: New Martin Nash Book
I think I found it hidden away on Denny Haney's side shelf; I doubt if I paid more than 30 bucks for it.
- March 18th, 2011, 2:09 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: New Martin Nash Book
- Replies: 20
- Views: 4975
- March 13th, 2011, 10:23 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Las Vegas Economy in Tatters
- Replies: 13
- Views: 2500
Re: Las Vegas Economy in Tatters
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 :whistle:
- March 11th, 2011, 9:30 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Hold 'Em Magic
- Replies: 68
- Views: 15760
Re: Hold 'Em Magic
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 :cool:
- March 1st, 2011, 11:18 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Academy of Magic Arts Final Award Nominees
- Replies: 7
- Views: 2181
Re: Academy of Magic Arts Final Award Nominees
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 ;)
- February 26th, 2011, 4:16 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Latest Criss Angel News
- Replies: 3
- Views: 1192
Re: Latest Criss Angel News
The "Elite Diamond Merlin Award?"
Oy. It hurts.
brian :cry:
Oy. It hurts.
brian :cry:
- February 8th, 2011, 11:06 pm
- Forum: Mentalism & Mental Magic
- Topic: Picky about mentalism
- Replies: 4
- Views: 2178
Re: Picky about mentalism
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 :cool:
P.S.: Oh, and Martin Nash was the Charming Cheat.
- January 16th, 2011, 4:25 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Jay Chou, card guy?
- Replies: 12
- Views: 2864
Re: Jay Chou, card guy?
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")...
- January 16th, 2011, 3:26 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Jay Chou, card guy?
- Replies: 12
- Views: 2864
Re: Jay Chou, card guy?
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...
- January 15th, 2011, 12:28 am
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Jay Chou, card guy?
- Replies: 12
- Views: 2864
Jay Chou, card guy?
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. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://blog.movies.yahoo.com/blog/409-the-asian-justin-timberlake-hits-america-in-green-hornet">ht...
- November 16th, 2010, 8:39 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: www.CheatingAtTexasHoldem.com
- Replies: 126
- Views: 30690
Re: www.CheatingAtTexasHoldem.com
I've heard of Norman Beck. I heard of him twelve years ago.
I've never heard of John Born.
brian
I've never heard of John Born.
brian
- November 10th, 2010, 1:03 am
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Scary Rumors Regarding the Magic Castle
- Replies: 38
- Views: 10976
Re: Scary Rumors Regarding the Magic Castle
"Not even God himself could sink this ship."
-- Employee of the White Star Line, at the
launch of the Titanic, May 31, 1911
-- Employee of the White Star Line, at the
launch of the Titanic, May 31, 1911
- November 3rd, 2010, 6:22 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Castle Grievance filed against Bill McIlhany by Rich Cowley
- Replies: 206
- Views: 54962
Re: Castle Grievance filed against Bill McIlhany by Rich Cowley
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...
- November 1st, 2010, 8:37 pm
- Forum: Kaufman & Company
- Topic: New Book Coming on the Card Magic of David Berglas
- Replies: 704
- Views: 289983
Re: New Book Coming on the Card Magic of David Berglas
How 'bout I just send you the money now and we call it a deal? :grin:
brian :cool:
brian :cool:
- October 13th, 2010, 9:10 am
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: I think this qualifies as magic porn
- Replies: 79
- Views: 14595
Re: I think this qualifies as magic porn
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:
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: