The Genii Forum

observer

P.T.Widdle wrote: Penn's tweet that, "We're the first guys to do our own demos."

He has no idea what he's talking about. Just blabbering.

observer

I wonder why they released the set without the P&T videos in the first place, or even a note saying the videos would be available later. . Because P&T wanted to put as little effort into the product as possible? And because when sales were mediocre they decided "Oh well, if people are ...

observer

Thanks everybody. There is a new GT out whose selling point is "you can start by passing the thread out for examination!" which I thought was the worst idea ever but just wanted to check.

observer

<> my son wasn't particularly excited about the contents after the initial viewing (I've never given him a magic set before). And the instruction booklets don't seem too inviting to kids to read, especially with the paucity of illustrations (Marshal's booklet just seems out of place). I understand ...

observer

A presentational/theory (perhaps) question:

Before performing the Gypsy Thread effect

do you hand out the thread for examination?

Why or why not?

observer

Okay okay okay! It was news to me & I thought it was interesting.

So . . . 'dja hear about the time Pinetti got thrown out of Prussia because Frederick the Great thought the carriage he drove around in was too fancy for a mere magician? Hoo boy!!!

observer

Richard Kaufman wrote:Teller? What are you talking about? The article is from 1949.

Well fer gosh sakes, I know when the article I quoted from was written. Look at my original post! Criminy.

I was commenting on the article Richard Hatch linked to.

observer

Just a couple of details re the Teller article, though. Wouldn't anybody John/Donna spoke to in Britain suss that he was a Yank right away from his accent? Passing for a woman, O.K. Passing for a Brummie or whatever, I don't think so. Also, I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as being assigned to ...

observer

Huh. I don't doubt that Teller did the research, I just wonder if he himself wrote that article in quite that style. It's so "feature story-ish" in a gratingly generic way. One of the reasons I prefer to read stuff like 60 year old copies of The Sphinx (albeit on a computer). I did kind of...

observer

from Wilfrid Jonson's "London Notes" column in The Sphinx , May 1949 - "Donna Delbert, who has been touring Britain's music-halls for three years as a woman illusionist and fire-eater, was arrested in Newcastle today as an alleged deserter from the U.S. Army Air Force since 1945. Poli...

observer

Tricks You Can Do, by Richards "The Wizard", America's Master Magician
17pp., circa 1920

now on ebay, $35 BIN. Seller is Potter & Potter.

observer

For background on the Del Rio radio tower and much much more, check out Border Radio: Quacks, Yodelers, Pitchmen, Psychics, and Other Amazing Broadcasters of the American Airwaves, by Gene Fowler and Bill Crawford (University of Texas Press, 2002). And, ta-da: it includes several pages on Richards.

observer

In MAGIC CIRCULAR, may 2006, page 166 "Named after the playwright of the same name (but no relation), Channing Pollock was born in 1926 in California...." That seemed odd, since the playwright one seemed respectable but not really anybody you'd name a kid after. So I looked a bit more &am...

observer

Hofzinser allegedly requested that all his magic equipment & notebooks etc. be destroyed after his death.

observer

Bill Mullins wrote:Here is a photo

Totally cool! And the "Nazimova" pictured is Alla Nazimova, the actress who created the legendary "Garden of Alla*" hotel in Hollywood.

*Originally, later known as the Garden of Allah.

observer

I've been doing some light research on Channing Pollock, the one everybody here thinks of when they see that name, and it turns out there's another one. Channing Pollock (1880-1946) was a playwright, whose big hit apparently came right at the start of his career: Clothes , co-written with Avery Hopw...

observer

None of what I posted was intended to "prove" that the Carnak turban is the Alexander turban. In fact, after reading your somewhat laconic response I did an image search; the turban in the iconic "Man Who Knows" litho is clearly quite different from the one Carson wore. A bit dis...

observer

No. Now part of the (in development) Museum of Television, founded by James Comisar ("A one-man Smithsonian of TV memorabilia", Forbes ) "'It's been ten years since James first called, and I found him to be genuine, sincere, and very passionate about what he preserved,' says Sanders ...

observer

Live by gaming the media, die by gaming the media.

observer

Wow.

Please let us know when you find out how the story ends.

observer

Interesting, thanks! I will try & check out the Linking Ring story.

observer

All I know is this intriguing fragment, from a Lee Jacobs article about Tommy Windsor in the March 1977 issue - "in 1929, Richards the Wizard - a fine and almost forgotten performer - went broke in Marietta. The show, which was big enough to need a 70-foot railway baggage car for transportation...

observer

"Big finish"?

Getting a phone into a bottle is enough of a trick, isn't it? What does having the phone ring add? Phones ring when you call their number. That's what they do, there's nothing impressive about making a phone ring.

observer

someone like Ricky Jay. Please not someone like Ricky Jay. ........................ The NEA does give some grants directly to individuals - for creative writing, for contributions to jazz, and a (very) few other categories. The amount is $25,000, and there's a once per lifetime limit, so don't anyb...

observer

If we (USA) had some sort of Intangible Cultural Heritage setup, "magic" would certainly be an appropriate candidate for recognition.

observer

pixsmith wrote: Paris Texas,

Great movie, by the way.

observer

Shoulder bags for men went out of fashion several decades ago. It's like doing a demo wearing a leisure suit, people are going to say it looks weird. Because it does . ... The video demo isn't performance material, but an illustration of an experimental idea in a theoretical article. Those "pe...

observer

Shoulder bags for men went out of fashion several decades ago.

It's like doing a demo wearing a leisure suit, people are going to say it looks weird. Because it does.

observer

"Magic, as you may know, is the world's second oldest profession. Both professions are being ruined these days by amateurs." ~ Pop Haydn In the interest of proper crediting: "The Actor and the Streetwalker, the two oldest professions in the world, ruined by amateurs." - Alexande...

observer

Joe Mckay wrote:
I don't have anyone to practice the trick on.

Any thoughts ?

A couple of pegs in a door, about eighteen inches apart, will do very well for "thumbs."

observer

There's so much interesting stuff in between the tricks, everyday things then that today seem weird or wonderful, passing glimpses of now-legendary figures ... My most recent favorite: "I had read a lot about Chan Canasta from his London appearances, so I was looking forward to catching his act...

observer

Nice albeit brief review of his Specialised Children's Entertainment ("this gem of a book" etc.) by Lloyd Jones in the Feb. '82 Genii.

observer

Reminds me of "Shake 'n' Bake", the SCTV sketch about the swashbuckling derring-do adventures of William Shakespeare and Francis Bacon. Which, um, never actually happened. Same as like Houdini & Doyle solving crimes together. Should have just gone for straight out no BS fiction, with H...

observer

Jack Shalom wrote:And who's to say that Cuiffo didn't consult with him?

Not me! it just seemed a bit odd to have a middleman. Bill Irwin's a fairly big deal, I assume Tomsoni would return his phone calls.

observer

Among the Houdiniana items in the April 9 auction, something unique: 31 typewritten pages of The Cancer of Superstition , co-written with HP Lovecraft. Opening bid $13,000; it'll be interesting to see where it ends up if a battle erupts between Houdini collectors and Lovecraft collectors. Apparently...

observer

Not being snarky, honest, and nothing at all against Mr Cuiffo -

but why not just ask Johnny T himself?

observer

performer wrote:Does that mean that Doug has returned to the magic cafe? It is not that he is fickle. It is simply that this place is dreadfully boring!

Gee, I don't know. Some of the discussions about whether Erdnase was a geologist or a lithographer got pretty heated!!!

observer

I read somewhere (maybe in this forum) that the turban Carson wore as Carnac the Magnificent was the actual one worn by Alexander The Man Who Knows - true?

observer

Brad Jeffers wrote:Isn't the appearance of a signed bill in a lemon amazing enough in itself? Is the effect really that much greater, if the lemon is wrapped in tinfoil, sealed inside a bag, which is sealed inside another bag?

For real people: Yes. No.

For magicians: No. Yes.

observer

It's back.

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