Search found 429 matches
- January 29th, 2014, 4:47 pm
- Forum: Kaufman & Company
- Topic: MONTANA MAGAZINE OF WESTERN HISTORY
- Replies: 12
- Views: 21375
Re: MONTANA MAGAZINE OF WESTERN HISTORY
Marty provided the Castle Library with a copy of this, and he certainly makes a compelling case in an enjoyable way. He does a perfectly fine job of making it clear that this is a great "unsolved mystery" of magic and that he is presenting a candidate. Since there's plenty of factual Monta...
- November 20th, 2013, 2:20 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: LA History Conference attendees, details please!
- Replies: 9
- Views: 3881
Re: LA History Conference attendees, details please!
Here is a beautiful passage from the welcoming remarks printed in the Conference program: "In many ways, every seance begins with feelings of longing and guilt. If we had only paid more attention, if we had engaged in more conversation, if we had cared more about the people around us, we wouldn...
- June 17th, 2013, 10:00 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Death of Ernest Earick
- Replies: 14
- Views: 7345
Re: Death of Ernest Earick
Bill Goodwin has created a webpage honoring Ernest Earick, with tributes from people who had a chance to know Ernie and see him work. It can be found here: http://www.billgoodwinmagic.com/earick.html Thanks so much to those who contributed, and especially to Bill for putting this together. I loved r...
- May 20th, 2013, 3:29 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Hotels near the Magic Castle
- Replies: 31
- Views: 7952
Re: Hotels near the Magic Castle
Since you're a single traveler on a budget, you may want to consider the Orange Drive Hostel - this is steps away from the Magic Castle: http://orangedrivehostel.com/info/ I THINK that Mr. Goat may have stayed here once - but he may be too busy with other pleasant concerns at the moment to chime in ...
- April 30th, 2013, 2:38 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Death of Ernest Earick
- Replies: 14
- Views: 7345
Re: Death of Ernest Earick
Here is Ernie's obituary from the Albuquerque Journal: EARICK, ERNEST RAY Husband, father, friend. Born 19 March, 1960 in Roswell, NM to Joyce and Rex Earick, Ernest passed on 27 April, 2013 from cardiac arterial disease. Yet his emotional heart and spirit were invincible, driving his passions for c...
- April 30th, 2013, 1:01 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Death of Ernest Earick
- Replies: 14
- Views: 7345
Death of Ernest Earick
Two weeks ago I was sitting at the Owl Cafe in Albuquerque, New Mexico, enjoying lunch and magic-world chat with my friend Ernie Earick. Yesterday the news reached me that Ernie died suddenly on Sunday night. He was 53 years old, and leaves behind his wife Theresa and their teenage children, Sam and...
- January 19th, 2013, 8:43 pm
- Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
- Topic: Stan Musial, Magician
- Replies: 19
- Views: 4595
- January 14th, 2013, 3:59 pm
- Forum: General
- Topic: Our Culture's Venue?
- Replies: 13
- Views: 3781
Re: Our Culture's Venue?
While there are location and skill-level requirements involved, the Magic Castle is where people who get good at magic get good at magic.
- December 23rd, 2012, 4:20 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Magic Castle Library Howler
- Replies: 9
- Views: 2475
Magic Castle Library Howler
As a fan of classical magic, I've always enjoyed the image of the magician showing a piece of paper, rolling it up into a cone, and spilling something out of it. When I came across a pamphlet in the Magic Castle Library entitled "50 Tricks With a Paper Cone" I couldn't resist having a look...
- September 30th, 2012, 3:31 pm
- Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
- Topic: Prehistoric Movie Magic
- Replies: 6
- Views: 2640
Re: Prehistoric Movie Magic
Astonishing. Here is a link to a longer clip with more images: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM7gRh41pBA&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM7gRh41 ... re=related</a><!-- m --> I would appreciate it if somebody could put together a video using t...
- August 14th, 2012, 4:28 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Poll: With which magician would you like to spend an evening talking magic?
- Replies: 82
- Views: 19731
Re: Poll: With which magician would you like to spend an evening talking magic?
Bill Mullins wrote:!!!!
Lisa, I'm touched. Thank you.
Bill
Gee Bill, I hope I didn't accidentally slip some laurels onto your head, and give you hype to live up to.
- August 14th, 2012, 2:23 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Poll: With which magician would you like to spend an evening talking magic?
- Replies: 82
- Views: 19731
Re: Poll: With which magician would you like to spend an evening talking magic?
I would have to say Bill Mullins.
No laurels to rest upon, no public persona to defend, no hype to live up to - always thinking, always contributing, always learning, always enthused - all the right ingredients for great conversation.
No laurels to rest upon, no public persona to defend, no hype to live up to - always thinking, always contributing, always learning, always enthused - all the right ingredients for great conversation.
- June 28th, 2012, 3:26 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: NY Times review of Alex Stone's FOOLING HOUDINI
- Replies: 118
- Views: 33312
Re: NY Times review of Alex Stone's FOOLING HOUDINI
"I wanted to become a magician simply because I wanted to know its secrets." I suspect this is the dominant motivation, and it's obscured by the transparently fake, high-minded responses that are so often given in response to the question. I find it extremely difficult to accurately re-co...
- June 23rd, 2012, 3:44 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: NY Times review of Alex Stone's FOOLING HOUDINI
- Replies: 118
- Views: 33312
Re: NY Times review of Alex Stone's FOOLING HOUDINI
While I'm outraged that he gave away our "Show me your Ambitious Card" greeting, I'm relieved he said nothing about our secret handshake, or the workings of our decoder rings.
- April 14th, 2012, 4:30 pm
- Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
- Topic: Divide et impera
- Replies: 8
- Views: 3378
Re: Divide et impera
I've received word that the Ben Franklin press version of this idea was called "The Impenetrable Secret," and that its history is explained in Ricky Jay's "Many Mysteries Unraveled." It was the first magic trick produced in the US, and consisted of familiar quotations on a deck o...
- April 14th, 2012, 3:44 pm
- Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
- Topic: Jules Fisher
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1605
- April 13th, 2012, 4:11 pm
- Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
- Topic: Divide et impera
- Replies: 8
- Views: 3378
Re: Divide et impera
At the risk of taking this rather far afield from Mariano's inquiry, I'll say that I just learned about Ben Franklin's interest in Magic Squares last year. In "The First American" by H.W. Brands, Franklin is described as creating an incredibly complex Magic Square consisting of 16 rows and...
- April 11th, 2012, 4:00 pm
- Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
- Topic: The map of Andrea Ghisi's Laberinto
- Replies: 7
- Views: 3395
Re: The map of Andrea Ghisi's Laberinto
Last week Mariano "magically appeared" in the Magic Castle Library (his first visit to the Magic Castle, he said) and generously donated copies of both "Laberinto" and "Gratioso Pensiero" to the collection. I remembered this thread - I had played and enjoyed the interac...
- April 2nd, 2012, 5:24 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Magic Castle Happenings – The Good Stuff (April 2012)
- Replies: 23
- Views: 5777
Re: Magic Castle Happenings – The Good Stuff (April 2012)
Lu Chen's performance was clearly aimed at his fans back home, and not at the people in the room. The feeling was not that the cameras were capturing a live performance, but that we were a studio audience witnessing a television taping.
This is not praise or complaint - just an observation.
This is not praise or complaint - just an observation.
- March 24th, 2012, 3:29 pm
- Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
- Topic: Alex Elmsley
- Replies: 3
- Views: 1590
Re: Alex Elmsley
Very interesting - although the description of Elmsley possessing an "amiable though slightly detached face" brought a bizarre picture to my mind that was probably not what the author intended.
- January 23rd, 2012, 1:30 pm
- Forum: Alternative Media
- Topic: Feathered Illusionists
- Replies: 2
- Views: 1205
Re: Feathered Illusionists
It's funny how we use the term "bird-brain" to mean stupid, and how birds appear to us to embody the very essence of nonchalance ("free as a bird"), when these creatures are astonishing problem-solvers, architects, artists - and magicians, I guess. I know that the author Robert B...
- January 21st, 2012, 6:08 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: The grave of Edward Saint FOUND (kinda)
- Replies: 2
- Views: 941
Re: The grave of Edward Saint FOUND (kinda)
Hey, John! I just noticed that at the 2:50 to 3:00 mark in the video, where you are wondering where everyone went and saying that you are "alone" - you are standing right in the area that proved to be Saint's grave!
- January 11th, 2012, 3:37 pm
- Forum: Alternative Media
- Topic: Oz movie -from humbug to hero
- Replies: 8
- Views: 2213
Re: Oz movie -from humbug to hero
L. Frank Baum built a beautiful home in Hollywood which he called "Ozcot." It was long ago demolished and replaced with a bland, characterless apartment building. Hollywood has many such examples of the building-up and collapse of imagination, and it's easy to see how the very same fate co...
- November 30th, 2011, 2:30 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Magical new film from Martin Scorsese - Hugo
- Replies: 20
- Views: 6061
Re: Magical new film from Martin Scorsese - Hugo
Maybe it's a "love letter" to the WORK of Georges Melies, but it's a stone-cold hate note to Georges Melies the MAN. He's depicted as a vicious, nasty, self-absorbed, humorless man, capable of playing a twisted prank on a luckless urchin. His character is utterly unappealing and unsympathe...
- November 20th, 2011, 8:12 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Los Angeles Magic History Conference
- Replies: 34
- Views: 8836
Re: Los Angeles Magic History Conference
This was my sixth time attending this event, and one aspect that's been consistently outstanding at each and every one of them is the costume designs by Frankie Glass. They're always beyond-perfect or, to use the Nigel Tufnel formulation, they "go to eleven."
- November 14th, 2011, 3:40 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Los Angeles Magic History Conference
- Replies: 34
- Views: 8836
Re: Los Angeles Magic History Conference
Marty Demarest scored the biggest laugh of the event with a call-back to an earlier presentation which had debunked Bigfoot. To all of you who may have entertained the idea that Bigfoot is real, I'm afraid he's now been thoroughly - and I do mean thoroughly - debunked. I won't speak to the taste of ...
- November 6th, 2011, 9:39 pm
- Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
- Topic: The Magic of Valentino
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1365
Re: The Magic of Valentino
Valentino is still a felt presence in Hollywood, particularly since the Hollywood High School mascot is "The Sheiks" and there is a large, looming painting of Valentino as The Sheik on their school building. Patrick Culliton attended Hollywood High in the early 1960's, and he told me that ...
- November 6th, 2011, 6:01 pm
- Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
- Topic: The Magic of Valentino
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1365
Re: The Magic of Valentino
The Valentino Memorial Service is the longest-running annual event in Hollywood. The Easter Sunrise Service at the Hollywood Bowl started a few years earlier but, although it's currently running, it had been suspended for a few years. The Valentino Service continues unabated, with no breaks since th...
- November 6th, 2011, 5:16 pm
- Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
- Topic: The Magic of Valentino
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1365
The Magic of Valentino
John Cox has posted the transcript of my presentation at the 84th Annual Rudolph Valentino Memorial Service on his blog. I know what you're thinking: "John Cox, you say? This must have something to do with Houdini." It does. You can find the transcript here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" h...
- October 26th, 2011, 4:37 pm
- Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
- Topic: Conjurer Dick
- Replies: 7
- Views: 1891
Re: Conjurer Dick
No, Jon, I don't believe that the text would survive such an alteration. It's just all-in-good-fun youth literature of the era. Turning the plucky lad who's keen on conjuring into the source of "destruction and despair" for all who encounter him would change the entire thing into something...
- October 26th, 2011, 1:09 pm
- Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
- Topic: Conjurer Dick
- Replies: 7
- Views: 1891
Re: Conjurer Dick
Anybody familiar with the Victorian love of the cheap-weep will understand immediately that the angelic little girl in the story is doomed, but the cause of her death has to be unique in all of literature: it's death by CODE ACT! This super-sweet little child assists her father in his mind-reading e...
Zabrecky
When I was working behind the magic counter throughout most of 2010, the most asked-about magician during that time was Criss Angel. The second-most asked about magician was Rob Zabrecky. Now, I assumed that this was a local phenomenon - in other words, I didn't imagine that the people working behin...
- June 11th, 2011, 8:52 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Magic Castle difficulties
- Replies: 277
- Views: 76472
Re: Magic Castle difficulties
I did a laces-through-body effect as part of my show, and after one of the performances I was told that someone had been doing ropes-through-body stuff for people outside the room before the show. I don't know who did this, but I assume that they wouldn't have done it if they'd known what I was goin...
- June 3rd, 2011, 3:26 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Do Spirits Exist?
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1057
Re: Do Spirits Exist?
Brief summary of the story: A tombstone fell onto the leg of a woman who was making love in a cemetery.
The comments are hilarious! I liked the one about how the doctor says her leg will be just fine, but her buttocks indicate she died in 1879.
The comments are hilarious! I liked the one about how the doctor says her leg will be just fine, but her buttocks indicate she died in 1879.
- May 28th, 2011, 5:03 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Jim Steinmeyer play: The Card Trick
- Replies: 20
- Views: 5341
Re: Jim Steinmeyer play: The Card Trick
Yes - the play will go at the usual Peller times: 8:30, 10:00 and 11:15.
People who have dined will have a ticket (which they can use for either the Peller or the Palace), and then the host will seat from the stand-by line.
People who have dined will have a ticket (which they can use for either the Peller or the Palace), and then the host will seat from the stand-by line.
- May 28th, 2011, 4:49 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Disney - All About Magic - 1954
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1639
Re: Disney - All About Magic - 1954
Wow, has this been an interesting progression for me to observe. Here's what I know about how this link has traveled: Like many in the magic community, Bill Goodwin and I are both big Disney buffs, and we essentially divide our time between the Magic Castle and the Magic Kingdom - and it's a very ra...
- May 28th, 2011, 3:56 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Jim Steinmeyer play: The Card Trick
- Replies: 20
- Views: 5341
Re: Jim Steinmeyer play: The Card Trick
The Thursday shows were a fundraiser for the Vernon Fund, and we got the play with commentary and discussion by Jim Steinmeyer before and after the performance. The Friday and Saturday shows (yes, you can catch it tonight!) are typical weekend Peller Project presentations, consisting of two "ac...
- May 27th, 2011, 4:04 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Magic Castle difficulties
- Replies: 277
- Views: 76472
Re: Magic Castle difficulties
I almost hate to admit this, but - as worrisome as the financial troubles are and as sincerely as I want to see that turned around - I'm actually glad that the non-magic events have not proved lucrative, as that would encourage the Magic Castle to continue on in that direction, which I believe to be...
- May 19th, 2011, 5:14 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Magic Castle difficulties
- Replies: 277
- Views: 76472
Re: Magic Castle difficulties
At last night's Member Meet-Up, Irene Larsen drew attention once again to the critical connection between the Magic Castle and Genii Magazine, and spoke of the crucial role Genii played in spreading the Magic Castle's fame and contributing to its success. It made me wonder if the spill-over from the...
- May 7th, 2011, 8:11 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: The President of the Academy of Magical Arts RESIGNS
- Replies: 181
- Views: 44937
Re: The President of the Academy of Magical Arts RESIGNS
Neil Patrick Harris is a long-standing member of the magic community, his actor-ness as incidental as Larry Jennings being a plumber.