Should Mark Lewis Stay or Go?

[Mark.Lewis]

What an odd coincidence! Roger will no doubt see some spiritual force at work but oddly enough yesterday I searched through internet references to me and Crackerjack and couldn't find a thing. I would love to go through old BBC archives to see if there was anything there. I was known in those days as Ronnie McLeod and that was the name I was on television with.

I was not in the same league as Mark Wilson admittedly but I was indeed on the show many times and at one point on a weekly basis. It was in the days when Michael Aspel was the host and he was actually a very polished and good one. Munton will be devastated to hear that on one show I performed the Dr Sacks dice trick that he hates so much. It is excellent for television because the camera can come right up the hands for a great close up shot of what is happening.

I upset many magicians who thought they should be on the show rather than me including Ali Bongo and John Wade who made very negative remarks purely through sheer jealousy. The producer told me that they didn't want John Wade on the programme any more because all he did was old tricks. I remember John Wade being very rude and obnoxious to me as a young magician and I have never forgotten it. That is why I find it difficult to follow Munton's advice about being nice to magicians.

Incidentally I was the first magician to appear on colour television in the UK and I have recorded this historic fact in my memoirs that will be coming out shortly.

[Roger M.]

So let me get this straight.
Some itinerant posters have declared that they've left the forum because Mark is posting here?

Who are they?
I'd like to see their contributions to the forum over the last five years compared to Mark's contribution.

A few "big names" who post infrequently and post short and vapid responses won't be missed by anybody.

I've been around here for quite a while, and frankly I haven't been missing anybodies posts........so who the heck has "left the building" that we are supposed to care about?

Of course Mark should be allowed to remain here with the rest of us.

Frankly in light of this thread, if I were Mark I'd wait until the thread was essentially complete and then leave the forum in disgust, the entire "vote" being uncalled for in the first place.

In general, magicians are lucky to have Mark around. Anybody not seeing that really don't deserve his company to begin with.

(I don't agree with everything Mark posts, but who cares?.....what does that have to do with him posting here?)

[James Munton]

The producer told me that they didn't want John Wade on the programme any more because all he did was old tricks.

Does that imply that when you performed the Dr Sacks dice trick on the show it was actually a new trick? My goodness, that must have been a long time ago. Did they let you do your famous die-from-nose ending? Or did the trick just fizzle out as per the original version?

Crackerjack was one of my favorite shows as a kid. Did they give you a Crackerjack pencil?

[Mark.Lewis]

Actually I think the only one who has "left the building" is Quentin Reynolds but that is understandable. I haven't seen anyone else leave and in fact I seem to have encouraged some new people.

Unfortuantely one of those new people is Munton. To answer him the Dr Sacks dice trick was a very old trick even when I did it on Crackerjack. However, the producer had never seen it before so to him it was a new trick. He has seen John Wade's crap many times before so he called that "old tricks". And yes, I did let the trick fizzle out without producing the two dice from my nose.

I well remember leaving the stage door and seeing the waiting crowds outside asking the various entertainers for their autograph. I was furious that nobody showed the slightest interest in getting mine. I walked to the tube station very disturbed about it. Finally I could stand it no longer and returned to the television studio on the pretext that I had forgotten something. I tried again and this time when I left somebody recognised me and I signed autogrpahs galore.

As for fan mail all I got were letters from disgruntled punters who had been daft enough to buy svengali decks from me all over the country and wanted either their money back or bemoaning the fact that they couldn't do it and they wanted me to teach them.

And no. I didn't get a crackerjack pencil. And I cringe to think that Munton was watching me when he was a child.

[James Munton]

Oh, no. I am far too young to have seen you on the show. I was watching in the late seventies.

[Mark.Lewis]

I think I was on in the seventies. I was there when Michael Aspel was the host anyway. When was he on?

Anyway I have been on television many times both as a psychic and as a magician. I do sell a DVD of me appearing on a cable television show for a full hour as a psychic. Included is a 20 minute bonus section of me performing close up magic when I was young and hairy.

If anyone is interested in this the price is $50. For Forum members I will not charge extra for postage. I take Paypal. Let me know if anyone is interested.

It was in the light of this television experience that I felt tempted to shoot my mouth off on the Shawn Farquahar thread. I won't do anything like that again. I don't think I would have liked it if I had to put up with magicians dissecting my work when I appeared on Crackerjack.

[Doc]

Mark Lewis is an institution...

I was about to agree with this but then discovered I had read it incorrectly...

:D

[Dick Christian]

Keep him! His rare combination of encyclopedic knowledge and ascerbic wit make him someone's national treasure -- not necessarily ours, but someone's I'm sure.

[Stefan Alexxis]

Every art needs its gladflies. Magic seems to need them more than most.

[Doug Thornton]

I dont know Mark Lewis but from this forum Ive learned a lot about him.

Just reading one of his posts gives a clear sense of his personality. I agree, Stefan, gadfly is apt.

Yes, his its all about Mark Lewis persona can be comical and off-putting at once and yet his grammar and spelling are impeccable.

His knowledge of magic and old-timers is welcome. We need more people to keep us in touch with our magical past.

He reminds me of Pat Page or Howie Schwartman or Denny Haney if any of them developed a self-centered attitude.

I dont understand why members dont want to post because of him.

I voted to keep him.

Could we just vote him off this particular thread?

[Doug Thornton]

Oh, and in reference to David Acers Magicana in the February 2010 Genii:

I vote her.

[Mark Jensen]

I don't know Mark and generally don't read topics with more than 3 posts (following the theory of the power of 3) so how to vote?

Let's see Mark and I share the same first name so that's one point in his favor. We don't share our last name so that's a point against him:

+1 - 1 = 0

So I guess I have no opinion!

Best,

Mark

ps: John Calvert for President!

[Mark.Lewis]

I have not had the dubious pleasure of seeeing Sisti work so it is only fair that I refrain from commenting. He did buy my book after all. And I thought the little book he himself wrote on restaurant magic was reasonably good. If I were interested in being a restaurant magician I would certainly read it again.

At any rate this thread is supposed to be about me not Sisti. Mind you I think it would be great fun to start a thread to see if Mr Goat should be banned.

[Tim Ellis]

In addition to the hypnosis instruction, I have learned so much about the history and performance of magic from Mark. In an age of YouTube and Google, it is of great value to have a bridge to the past. How many magicians do you know who can say they actually met Robert-Houdin?

Jean Eugne Robert-Houdin (December 7, 1805 June 13, 1871)

Wow! I had no idea Mark was THAT old. Impressive!

[James Munton]

Tim, thanks for being Captain Obvious. That was the point.
Dear-oh-dear.

[Mark.Lewis]

Timothy my boy. Munton is trying to make a joke. You did waste a lot of time looking up that information didn't you?

[Tim Ellis]

Mark, with you I wouldn't be surprised if you really did believe you've met Robert Houdin personally (and probably taught him his craft). I've heard more outrageous statements than that from you in other threads...

No, I didn't waste any time looking that information up.

[James Munton]

By the way, I hate having my posts edited. My posts are quite perfect. They should not be edited. When I called it the Dr Sucks dice trick it was not a typo. I never make typos. I do think it sucks. What is the point of a forum if you can't express an opinion? When Dr Sucks shared his dice routine with the world, he did all of magic a great disservice. The only way Mark can make it entertaining is by giving it an ending and producing a dice from his nose. That is the only part of his routine that is entertaining. Not the five minutes of boredom of twisting a pair of dice around and doing sums.

[Tim Ellis]

A "die" Mr Munton, not a "dice".

"Using the plural dice as a singular instead of die is considered incorrect by most authorities, but has come into widespread use."

[Mark.Lewis]

Ellis my boy. I am in touch with Robert Houdin on a daily basis in my capacity as a psychic reverend. That is how Munton knows about my familiarity with the chap. The only spirits you are in touch with are the ones you consume when you are performing as can be seen on the video of you performing in a pub. Quite disgraceful if I may say so.

As for the Dr Sacks trick I am afraid that James needs therapy over his aversion to this wonderful trick. I first learned it when I was sitting having a crap on the toilet and it was the most productive crap I have ever had. I don't want to discuss the Dr Sacks trick here so I will start another thread about it and I will attempt to commence your therapy over there.

I am afraid that the editing of your posts is probably my doing. When I first came here I told Richard that instead of banning me all he had to do was edit my posts. I am afraid he found this such a wonderful idea that he has extended it to you as well. Anyway I have also been in touch with Dr Sacks in the spirit world and he thinks you have been quite disrespectful to him.

Anyway we keep going off topic and I think this is most disgraceful. After all we are supposed to be talking about my favourite subject. Me.

Let us continue doing so.

[James Munton]

Yes, you are right, Timbo. The singular is die.
For some reason I am thinking of the verb right now.

[Mark.Lewis]

Will you two take this silly argument about dice to the Dr Sacks thread I just set up. We are supposed to be talking about me here, you know.

[Edward]

I voted yes. I enjoy Marks warped sense of humor. :)

[Tim Ellis]

Never say never

[Jolly Roger]

Getting back to Crackerjack, am I right that Harold Taylor was also a regular on the show? I wonder if Americans even know who Harold "Three trick" Taylor was. As a child I recall putting the lining of the outside of an egg in vinegar in preparation for Max Sterling's egg on fan.....one of Harold's favourites. My mother, who Ronnie has met and is still alive at 97, thought I was really quite odd. My mother actually thought Ronnie was very good at card tricks, so I think she would be mortified if she thought Ronnie was possibly going to be banned from this forum for being outspoken. My mother has always been outspoken, and that is why she still has a zest for living at 97! JR

[Mark.Lewis]

I have no idea what Tim Ellis is talking about. Methinks he is trying to be as incomprehensible as Jonathon Townsend but he is never going to be quite as good as Jonathon in this department. After all he is Australian and doesn't know quite as many big words.

I think I shall have to start another thread about Crackerjack so as not to derail this one. I shall answer Roger on there.

[Sr Agnes Fate]

As a long time lurker I have finally registered purely for my desire to see the good Reverend remain on these boards.

I was alarmed to notice, after I had voted in his support, to notice him once again disparaging an Antipodean, but then I noticed of whom he spake.

[Mark.Lewis]

What pray is an "Antipodean" ? Does it mean an Australian? And are you referring to young Mr Ellis when you say you "noticed of whom I spake?"
If this is the case do you know him personally?

[Sr Agnes Fate]

You, Mr Lewis, ask a lot of questions for a psychic.

Is this not 'fishing'?

[Mark.Lewis]

I am a psychic, not a bloody fisherman. Psychic power is not something that can be turned on and off like a tap. It takes a lot of psychic energy and concentration. It makes more sense to simply ask the questions. Far more efficient.

I do wish we would all keep on topic. If you want to question me on psychic matters you had better start another thread although I fear once we get into that the thread will go on interminably as psychic threads tend to do.

To prove my psychic ability I shall give you a reading which will be 100% accurate. Here it is:
You were born at a very early age and as time goes by you will get older.

[Sr Agnes Fate]

I bow before such an astonishing gift. Your reading is 100% accurate - uncanny!

[Nathan Muir]

I have not had the dubious pleasure of seeeing Sisti work so it is only fair that I refrain from commenting. He did buy my book after all. And I thought the little book he himself wrote on restaurant magic was reasonably good. If I were interested in being a restaurant magician I would certainly read it again.

At any rate this thread is supposed to be about me not Sisti. Mind you I think it would be great fun to start a thread to see if Mr Goat should be banned.

Mark, my earlier post seems to have disappeared in the frenzy of unfathomable censoring, so your post makes no sense to others. However I enjoyed reading it.

[000]

Jolly Roger,

Yes Harold Taylor is a forgotten name.( except of course for Macigram readers from days gone by.) 3 trick Taylor you say.
Am I correct one of them was 20th century silks?
What was the third?

[espermachine]

Jolly Roger,

Yes Harold Taylor is a forgotten name.( except of course for Macigram readers from days gone by.) 3 trick Taylor you say.
Am I correct one of them was 20th century silks?
What was the third?

The three tricks were Sterling's Egg on Fan, Harold Taylor's Rope Routine (a bit of Edward Victor, Edward Proudlock and Dante, he used to say) and 20th Century Silks. The 20th Century Silks method he used and taught is Carlyle's (published in Tarbell Vol.4)

[Mark.Lewis]

I see that everyone has stopped talking about me and I consider this to be the end of civilsation as we know it. Still, no matter. I appear to have won a landslide victory in the voting and an even bigger victory in the comments. That should put paid to the stuffy types who have no doubt been sending private messages complaining to Richard instead of having the guts to say what they think out in the open. In the UK we used to call them school sneaks.

[000]

I think it was Harold Taylor who authored a trick in Macigram, essentially a 20th century silk effect, using a vanishing cane.
Lets see: a red silk is tied to one end of the cane, a green to the other. Yellow is vanished, cane is held by the ends by the hands, cane vanishes, yellow silk is found tied between red and green.

Set up is that the 'silk' loaded in the vc is actually:
half (size) green, then the (duplicate) yellow, then a half red silk.(attached to the ends)
When the cane vanishes the hands appear to hold the (green and red silks) about in the centre. Try it! Ive used it often.

[Seuss]

You aren't right about everything Mark. Richard doesn't accept private messages.

[Magic Randy]

I vote let him stay.

[Mark.Lewis]

You aren't right about everything Mark. Richard doesn't accept private messages.

Don't be silly, old chap. I am MARK LEWIS and am always right about everything. Richard is always telling me that he gets private messages of complaint about me. How does he get them? Telepathy?

Besides he accepts e-mails. How do I know? Both I and Munton have corresponded with him. So I assume that is how the complainers manage too.

[Richard Kaufman]

I do not accept pms (private messages) off this board. Most people have my e-mail address and that's how they get in touch with me, and complain about Mark Lewis. :)