The Genii Forum

http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=2PB3wQz-Md4

This is for those of you who did not know that Mark Lewis did kids' shows! Nice job Mark! JR

What a great suit Mark has!!! Wonder where he got it...and that bald-clown wig? Gotta get me one of those....

opie

....tsk tsk......

PS: Just watched the whole video....Classic kid effects, done with great participation from the kids....They obviously were having a good time....Good job, Mark......

Magic Show: $150

Post-show counselling for traumatized children: $500.

Knowing you're still being discussed on a board from which you've been repeatedly banned: Priceless.

....AND JOE SCORES ON THE SPIKE!!!!

David Vamer wrote:Magic Show: $150

Post-show counselling for traumatized children: $500.

You must have watched a different video, then?

I must say I would have to say that I agree with Cugel. Mark Lewis shows lots of promise in the field of Children's entertainment! JR

I'd have to say Roger is wrong, Mark does not show promise in the field of childrens entertainment, he's already an accomplished childrens entertainer. Mr Vamer, I cannot see how you can have a problem with Marks performance unless you are among those that don't get Mark and you are flailing away.

The thing that is strange is that Joe M. has seen Mark perform with a deck of cards in an informal adult group, and he thought Mark was great.......Strange.......

Mark is seasoned, not moldy.........And you have to see him work the mouse and worm.......not to mention the Svengali.....Those skills are almost lost today, except for a few old pros like Mark....

(Hey! Don't tell him I said that....hehe)

opie

Opie, I invite you to re-read what I wrote. You are certainly implying that I said something unkind or dismissive. What I know of Mark Lewis and his personality totally supports my expectations as to his likely reaction.

The thing that is strange is that you seem to have a predilection for dropping little digs at me in our more recent interactions. I find that both strange and disappointing.

Don't worry Joe, while your comment has cleared the heads of these other folks I got it....

Everyone knows Mark's reputation and I thought the post, with that in mind, was hilarious. I'm mad I didn't think of it first.

Anyway. Hilarious. Espeically given Joe's follow-up.

Are we allowed to spell out Mark Lewis on this forum?
Or do I have to write "M*rk L*wis". I don't want to get banned.

Jose, no implications implied....I am just making ambiguous chit chat, as most everyone else here is doing...I thought it was important that everyone understood that you have admired Mark's work...

Best regards to all.......opie

Does anyone else on this forum besides Quentin Reynolds and myself know Mark Lewis's original name, before he moved to Canada? JR

I do :)

Take care, Ian

So do I !

I am more than pleased to say I knew him years ago when I lived in the North West of the UK.

Dave

Jolly Roger wrote:Does anyone else on this forum besides Quentin Reynolds and myself know Mark Lewis's original name, before he moved to Canada?

Charles Windsor?

Dave Andrews wrote:So do I !

I am more than pleased to say I knew him years ago when I lived in the North West of the UK.

Dave

Hello Dave! I didn't know you knew Mark Lewis(a.k.a........)

Was that when he was pitching Svengalis on the end of the pier in Blackpool, and Sir Keith Joseph bought a pack from him?

I look forward to seeing you again at Kidabra. Will you be at Blackpool in February for the convention? I shall be there again. I will buy you a pint in The Ruskin, which has to be better than the bar at the headquarters hotel in Pidgeon Forge! JR



_________________________

Oh, I get Mark. I DEFINITELY get Mark, which is precisely why I believe he would find the comment hilarious.

Mark is a hoot.

Woops..............I am in big trouble with ML! He has reprimanded for getting my facts wrong about Sir Keith Joseph. He has sent me this email:

"Roger. I have just been over to the Genii Forum. You have got the Sir Keith Joseph story all wrong. It had nothing to do with me and I never sold him a pack. It was a Nelson Holt story.

First let me explain to the Americans here who Sir Keith Joseph actually was. He was a cabinet minister in the British Government and a terribly posh upper class person.

Now let me tell you all who Nelson Holt was. He was a posh upper class stereotype Englishman and he always wore a pin stripe suit and a bowler hat. You would take him for a member of the House of Lords and be tempted to address him as "My Lord".

However the truth of the matter was that Nelson was a scoundrel of the first magnitude who sold svengali decks for a living. He once reprimanded me for working too loud when I was near him saying in a cut glass posh accent, "I say old boy, you shouldn't be making so much noise and disturbing me working. It isn't cricket, you know. And besides why do you speak in that pseudo American accent? Be proud you are an Englishman!"

In the UK they used to think I was American believe it or not. I told Nelson that I wasn't English but Scottish.

Anyway Nelson was related to the terribly wealthy Holt family who made car accessories in the UK and for all I know still do. He was the black sheep of the family no doubt because of his scoundrely ways.

Nelson worked on the pier in Blackpool before my time there. He was bragging to the grafters that he knew Sir Keith Joseph and was indeed a great pal of his. Of course all the grafters laughed at him and didn't believe a word of it. It is the equivalent of Don Driver telling people that Dick Cheney is a great friend of his and they go dining together on a regular basis. Nobody would believe him since he and Cheney move in different circles and pitchmen are known for telling lies.

However the Conservative party conference were in Blackpool that week thus bringing up the conversation about Sir Keith. And then one day lo and behold Sir Keith comes strolling up the pier with his entourage and security bodyguards. All the grafters were [censored] and waiting to see Sir Keith walk straight by Nelson and not even acknowledge him. They really thought Nelson was spinning them a story.

However as soon as he saw Nelson they embraced, shook hands and noisily said to each other, "How are you, old boy" "I am fine, old boy, haven't seen you for ages" and so on. The grafters were flabbergasted and even more flabbergasted when Nelson said to Sir Keith, "I say old boy, let's go for a drink" and with that they both went strolling together down to the bar on the pier.

There. That is the true story."

JR

Hi Roger, no, I wont be at Blackpool, unfortunately.

What I will do, however, now I know about Ken Scott's Friday evening 'do' at KIDabra, is visit Walmart in Sevierville and see what I can get (other than beer!).

Happy New Year to you and yours, enjoy Blackpool and see you in August - in addition to looking forward to reading your writings for KIDabra.

Dave

Now that he is back on, I would be interested to hear if Mark gets much work from his You Tube video? Some entertainers seem reluctant to put performance videos on their website, but I get lots of work from mine. JR

Thank you for putting up the video Roger. Or I should say thank Artha for me. I must say her intuition about certain people are very astute. And don't say who she is referring to please.

I don't think the video has ever really got me any work but that is mainly because I am computer illiterate and don't know how to use it to market myself. However it has had an astonishing amount of viewers and has ended up on all sorts of websites besides You Tube. I expect loads of magicians are stealing the material. Richard Lyn reprimanded me for putting it on You Tube since he reckoned that all the magicians would copy and steal everything from it including the gags and bits of business.

I told him I was nearly dead so it didn't matter anyway.

Mark.Lewis wrote:Thank you for putting up the video Roger. Or I should say thank Artha for me. I must say her intuition about certain people are very astute. And don't say who she is referring to please.

I have no idea what you are talking about Ronnie. If you are elluding to the Jarroy/Van Helsing nonsense, then I really think you should move on. JR

Roger. I know perfectly well that you don't want me to move on. It would deprive you of much amusement. You are a most dreadful troublemaker and have a tendency to make matters worse. I suggest we change the subject. Or should I say get back to the topic under discussion which happens to be about my favourite subject.
Me.
I am amused to see that Opie and Joe Turner are fighting on this thread. I happen to know that they are both holy Christian people so I find this doubly amusing. You should direct your peacemaking attempts to them instead of to me. No doubt you will inflame things further as you always do and derive great delight over the matter.

I think it would perhaps be better though to inform everyone how I became a children's entertainer. I was selling svengali decks on Central Pier, Blackpool and getting heartily fed up with it.Gale force winds can be very strong in Blackpool and having about a dozen nine of hearts flying off into the Irish Sea in the middle of a demonstration can be a bit discouraging.

I therefore decided I had enough of the matter and would become a children's entertainer instead. I trotted down to another pier where there happened to be a joke and trick shop owned by Paul Clive, he of the classic book "Card Tricks without Skill?" To go off at a tangent Paul had never done a card trick in his life but somehow managed to write one of the best books on card tricks ever penned.

Anyway Paul wasn't there so I had to figure out what to buy by myself. I knew that Run Rabbit Run was a kid's trick so I purchased that one. I also bought a few things that looked colourful even though I had no idea what they did.

And then I purchased the greatest book on children's entertainment ever written. It is called "Open Sesame" written by Eric Lewis and Wilfrid Tyler. The first two chapters were like gold dust to me although the rest of the book wasn't really a lot of use to me.

I went to a Chinese restaurant alone and read the opening chapter. I have always said that I went in that restaurant a novice and came out a children's entertainer even though I had never done a show in my life. That opening chapter told me all that I needed to know.

I did my first kid show a week later and to my astonishment it went over fantastically well. It seemed that I had the knack. And I have been doing kid shows ever since. I truly think it is the most rewarding branch of magic.

I come from a sleight of hand background and was delighted to find that all I had to do was press a Run Rabbit Run button or hold a breakaway wand in the right place and not have to practice at all. Of course you and I know that considerable skill is still required but it is of a different nature.

You also know that the British school of children's entertainment is quite different from the American school. Some of the shrewder American magicians have taken up the British style and are far better for it.

Mark.Lewis wrote:
You also know that the British school of children's entertainment is quite different from the American school. Some of the shrewder American magicians have taken up the British style and are far better for it.

This is certainly true, and I find that by continuing to entertain the British way, as is my heritage, it has caused me to have an edge over my competitors on this side of the pond. I am also a big fan of "Open Sesame". What do you believe, Mark, to be the reason for the British superiority in this field? I think it has much to do with our tradition of Pantomime, which the Americans know nothing of....

As for your accusation of me being a troublemaker, I consider that is akin to the pot calling the kettle black. By the way, I sincerely hope you will contribute to the thread discussing MY You Tube video. JR

Roger. I cannot possibly discuss the performance video of a man who wears a green dress in public. I do have a sense of decorum you know.

I do believe the British style of entertaining children is superior to the American one but alas I have seen some You Tube videos lately of British performers which weaken my case considerably. Bloody awful. I bet THEY haven't read Open Sesame!

However by and large the British STYLE of entertaining children is by nature superior even if some of the practicioners rather let the side down. I believe that the pantomine tradition is indeed part of the secret. However I have a high suspicion that the existence of Supreme Magic had a lot to do with it.

Alas Supreme Magic has now gone. Perhaps this is why British standars are slipping. I can't brag about how good British children's entertainers are with the same enthusiasm as years past.