:: Sorry

I apologize for the lack of post the past few days. My wife and I are in the middle of moving into a new home and I am trying to get DSL set up and running. I've had cable for several years, and now I'm having to change everything, including email addresses, and it's taking a little time. I'm still waiting for my modem to arrive via UPS..

You can still reach me at rick(at)magicroadshow.com as that redirects to a web based email and I am still reading those..

Later..

:: One Million a Year

Known as the "Magician to the Rich", he makes over a million dollars a year with his magic. He flies around the country on private jets and performs for Forbes 400 members like Reebok's Paul Fireman, Martha Stewart, and NY mayor Michael Bloomberg...

Who is this masked man, you say? FORBES reveals the secret, but..

You have to click HERE to find out...

:: Magic Theatre

MAGIC DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE AT THE SUMTER OPERA HOUSE --

Columbia, SC – John Tudor's Magic Theatre, (a video magic show/documentary), will premiere at the Sumter Opera House (in Sumter, SC) on Thursday, October 13, at 7 PM; as part of the Next Wave Arts Festival. The family friendly show is free to the public,and was taped last year for statewide broadcast on the SC Channel and SC ETV. This new version includes behind the scenes footage and interviews, giving a rare peek into the secret world of magic and magicians. The evening will include live magic performances, as well as a video showing on the big screen.

The lineup includes some of SC's finest magical entertainers: John Tudor of Columbia, SC, with dramatic story magic; Emcee Comedy Magician Glenn Strange of Spartanburg, SC; Illusionist Dave Tanner of Myrtle Beach, SC: Classical Conjuror Tim Sonefelt of Anderson, SC; Magic Storyteller Sarah Straney of Columbia, SC; and Sleight of Hand Artist Robert Moreland of Hilton Head, SC. Tudor, the video's producer, says, “It's about the creation of a theatrical magic show, the people who do the magic, and the audience that came to see it."

The show was sponsored by grants from the SC Arts Commission (which receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts) and the Coastal Community Foundation of SC. For more information contact John Tudor at 803-796-8693 or visit www.tudormagic.com.

:: Creating Magic

So, you want to create a little 'magic'...

I mean, invent tricks and sleights and what-not. Sell them to Penguin and Ellusionist... sit back and count your moola.. Does this sound familiar?

The philosophy is and always has been... 'Find a need - and fill it'

Is this what you're doing? Trying to figure out what the magic world 'needs' and filling that need.

If you are, then I suggest you re-think your philosophy and adopt the following...

'Figure out what magicians WANT - and fill that Want..'

People don't buy what they need, they buy what they want. Oh sure, we buy insurance and medicine and siding for our homes. But when faced with a choice, we buy the double chili cheeseburger instead of the baked chicken sandwich.

We have to be pretty desperate to put our needs before our wants... It's just human nature.

So.. next time you sit down to 'invent' a trick or two, stop and think about your goals. Are you trying to come up with an easier way to learn or perform the 'pass' because you think this is what magicians need. Or, are you trying to develop a new trick that is simple to perform because that is what the majority of buyers want..?

Why do you think Scotch & Soda has been the most popular trick on the market the past several years? Could it be because it was something magicians needed? Or was it's ease of use, literally out of the package, what magicians wanted?

And, if during your period of creativity, you come up with the next Scotch & Soda, I want you to remember your 'ol pal Rick. I think the two of us can make your magic truly magical.. ;o)

Later..

:: New Stunts

I'm taking recommendations to pass on to Criss. What kind? Stunt ideas that we would like to see him perform on MindFreak..

Personally, after Wednesdays show, I'm leaning toward:

A) Have Criss submerge himself up to his neck in a bathtub of water. Let Banachek plug in a hair dryer, cut it on, and toss it to Criss. No rubber suits or insulation of any sort allowed. I'll bet Banachek won't have to go out on a limb to predict this one...

B) In the same vein, Criss should stand in a bucket of water, take the key to that new Viper he won a couple of weeks ago, and plug it into an electrical outlet.

Heck.. you don't need Tesla's coil for either of these - just ten cents worth of plain 'ol electricity.

I really don't wish Criss Angel any harm, just want to see him tackle a few common feats of doom... After all, I've known my share of 'good old boys', and I have yet to see one bite the bullet after:

Being strung up with hooks and carried off by a helicoper. ( Tommy Ray Brown once claimed a cable was hooked to his private parts and he was lifted into a UFO, but we can't find any witnesses..)

Being submerged in a wine barrel, handcuffed, and lifted up into the air by a crane. ( Billy Joe Smith was arrested and put in handcuffs after he commandeered a construction crews crane while drunk on Boones Farm wine.. not the same though.)

Shocked senseless by a Tesla's coil. ( Buford Reid climbed a power pole and got two fingernails knocked off and his eyebrows scorched trying to hook up illegal cable. You probably couldn't convince him there's much difference between Tesla's coil and a Duke Power transformer. I heard yesterday that Bufords looking for one of those chain mail suits..)

Now.. when it comes to setting yourself on fire and getting buried alive, I can't say that I don't know a couple of guys that have experienced that particular fate. ( Robbie Johnson set himself afire twice the last Fourth of July - Once with the roman candles and again with one of those ' sparkling fountains of fire' that Robbie thought had shot it's wad..)

Come to think of it.. Maybe Criss would like to spend a weekend with Robbie, Buford, Billy Joe, and Tommy Ray. Now THAT would make for some interesting "reality TV" .

What are YOUR thoughts?

:: Magic Roadshow # 31

My subscribers received a new issue of Magic Roadshow three days ago. If you didn't receive one simply because you're not subscribed - you can remedy that right now by clicking on the subscribe link at the top of the right hand nav bar..

The latest issue contains a small wealth of resources. Don't believe me? Well , there's a reason why we're called " Magic's Premier Newsletter ".

Each and every month you continue to produce a valued piece of art, the "MAGIC ROADSHOW" newsletter. Hope all is great with you, just read the new issue and wow, wonderful information, great material!!! - David

I can't believe I get to read your newsletter for free.. Danny

In this issue:

1) Self Promotion - tools to promote your career

(2) Outside Look - What others expect of you

(3) Nailed! A little bent out of shape

(4) Miracle Mongers - Houdini shares his knowledge

(5) Cogitations Revisited - Free sophisticated card magic

(6) Magic Mind Reading Balloon Modeller

(7) Metro Magic - Be there, be very there

(8) Trigger's Ghost - Be afraid, be very afraid

http://streetmagic.info/eMagic31.html

:: Marc Salem Revisited

Marc Salem is making quite an impression on the jolly 'ol English. So much so that Simon Fanshawe has written an in-depth article, " I Know What You're Thinking", for, of all things, Financial Times.com . Read it - Very good stuff..

My own relationship with audiences has led me to develop something of a fascination with these performers. One of my favourites and one of the best, though not the best known, is the American Marc Salem, who has recently been performing in London.

So when I meet him in the lobby of a London hotel, it is with childish delight that I ask him to show me a trick. Salem takes my pad and writes something on the first page and then something on the next. He hands it back to me. He has written four numbers - one, two, three, four. "Choose a number from one to four". I choose three. "Turn over the page". It says "geniuses always choose three". I feel like I am now six years old and waiting for the birthday cake to arrive. Or I've just re-read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Speckled Band for the umpteenth time.

And then I ask him how he did it....

Click Here

:: Math and Magic

Prof. Persi Diaconis of Stanford University dazzles spectators with his statistically-based magic..

Beginning his talk with a magic trick, Diaconis threw a deck of cards into a packed Bache Auditorium, before ordering an audience member to cut the deck and select a card. He then told the participant to pass the deck around the crowd, so that five people held cards. Diaconis instructed the participants to stand up if they were holding a red card, before correctly predicting the cards four out of the five audience members were holding.

Read the full Article..

:: SCAM Report

My favorite convention last year was SCAM ( South Carolina Assoc. of Magicians )in Columbia S.C.. Just slightly smaller than some of the larger conventions, SCAM offers magicians a chance to get really close and personal with all the performers.

I just received an informal list of this years performers, subject to change of course, and it's looks like a killer lineup. Joshua Jay, Daniel Garcia, Jade, Englands Tony Griffith, Jason Michaels, Michael Genevie, and the Flying Fettucini Brothers are the performers who appear headed to Columbia, with more possible.

Tony Griffith is scheduled to conduct a master class on Thursday before the convention. Magicians have been known to travel half way around the world to attend one of Tony's very rare and renown classes.

Jade, of course, shocked the magic world in 1990 when she won first place in the International Brotherhood of Magicians' World Magic Competition. If that wasn't enough of an achievement, a panel of celebrity judges awarded her with the organization's Gold Medal of Magic, awarded to only a small handfull of magicians in the shows twenty year history.

Held the middle of January, this years convention looks to be a close-up workers dream.

Our favorite news site on the web, Inside Magic, and the humbled Magic Roadshow have also been asked to set up in the magicians room to promote magic on the web. This innovative approach is spearheaded by Henry Pettit, and sounds like a fine way for magicians everywhere to get a chance to meet Inside Magic's Tim Quinlan, without a doubt the "James Brown of Magic". JB may be the hardest working man in show business, but Tim has to be the hardest working man in magic. If you aren't subscribed to The Inside Magic Daily News - whats wrong with you?

More later..

:: Magic, Illusion, and Death

Born in 1872 in Munich, Sigmund Neuberger, later known as 'The Great Lafayette', was the highest paid magician of his time. Making a sum equal to about five million dollars a year in today's money, the Great Lafayette was booked a full ten years in advance..

But it's not the money that secured Sigmund's fame in the annals of magic history, nor the fact that he was the most hated magician of his time - it was the fire.

The Empire Theatre was filled with a capacity crowd of 3,000 paying admirers. Lafayette, dressed flamboyantly, changed places with his double and prepared to don the lion skin for the finale of The Lion's Bride. As the lion roared, an oriental lantern from the set caught fire. Flames licked round the proscenium, draughts forcing the smoke outwards. The fire curtain was brought down and panic was averted by the genius of the conductor who instructed the orchestra to begin the national anthem. On cue the audience stood and was ushered to safety.

Read the whole story HERE.

:: How a Geek beat Vegas

Jonny Magic and the Card Shark Kids details how a group of transformed geeks took Vegas for almost four million dollars. From the hardcover edition..

If you think a gang of real-life geeks can’t take on the world and win big . . . think again. And whatever you do, don’t sit down across a gaming table from Jon Finkel, better known as Jonny Magic. Jonny Magic and the Card Shark Kids is his amazing true story: the jaw-dropping, zero-to-hero chronicle of a fat, friendless boy from New Jersey who found his edge in a game of cards–and turned it into a fortune.

The ultimate bully-magnet, Finkel grew up heckled and hazed until destiny came in the form of a trading-card game called Magic: The Gathering. Magic exploded from nerdy obsession to mainstream mania and made the teenage Finkel an ultracool world champion.

Once transformed, this young shark stormed poker rooms from the underground clubs of New York City to the high-stakes tables online, until he landed on the largest card-counting blackjack team in the country. Taking Vegas for millions, Finkel’s squad of brainy gamers became the biggest players in town. Then they took on the town’s biggest game, the World Series of Poker, and walked away with more than $3.5 million.

Thrilling, edgy, and ferociously feel-good, the odyssey of these underdogs-turned-overlords is the stuff of pop-culture legend. And David Kushner, acclaimed author of Masters of Doom, masterfully deals out the outrageous details while bringing to life a cast of characters rife with aces, kings, knaves . . . and more than a few jokers. If you secretly believe every player has his day, you’re right. Here’s the proof.

Rolling Stone reprinted a portion of the new, non-fiction book, and you can read it HERE .

:: Special Offer

Two things.. I have published a new issue of Magic Roadshow to my site. Issue 30 features two great articles from Dennis Regling and David Breth - two reviews from yours truly - four magic videos and the performing secrets - and a source for a couple of hundred free tricks.

One of the reviews is of Marty Martini's "The Art of Card Splitting". Not only did the DVD get very good marks from me, but Marty came forth, in the midst of Katrina, and made a fantastic offer..

"My wife and I along with our children sent off a check to the Red Cross to help with the victims in the South, and while sitting and watching the devastation, I thought of an idea to get some of you guys to pitch in as well"

"If you'll send me a check for $30.00 made payable to the Red Cross, I will send you my DVD " The Art of Card Splitting" FREE and POSTPAID. We will then take all the checks received and send them together to the Red Cross at one time showing support from Magicians.."

Let's pick a date.. say September 15th, as the cutoff for this..

You get to make a donation to a very worthwhile cause, and you will receive a free DVD as well..

Send your checks to:

Martini's Magic
P O Box 189
Delta, Pa. 17314

Please indicate on the envelope: ATTN RCD ( Red Cross Donation)

----------------------

Now folks, this is more than fair. I just paid twenty nine dollars for my DVD - plus tax. Marty is sending you a copy, paying the freight himself, and donating the full thirty dollars to the Red Cross in the name of magicians nationwide.

I urge you to take advantage of this great offer between now and September 15th...

:: Music & Magic

What do you get when you cross a musician with a magician? No.. not Criss Angel. The Orion Online - California State University Chico's newspaper, reports the story..

Two local performers partnered up for a wonderful performance. Musician Josh Funk and street magician Wayne Houchin paired up to put on a very different type of show.

"It's different to see magic and music together. Two magicians would be weird and two musicians would be a little too much and it would get boring," Funk said

Read the rest of the story.. HERE