Art of Illusion

Derren Brown is still quite the star in England, but then again.. so is Robbie Williams. Here's a nice article from Scotsman.com detailing a recent meeting between the two and Derrens thoughts on fame, his tv show, Robbie's popularity, and other various sundry subjects.. A good read...

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THE other day, Derren Brown lunched somewhere posh with Robbie Williams - into whom, it will be remembered, the hip hypnotist once stuck two very large needles during one of his television shows. "I asked him if he would like to come back to my place after lunch, as you do," confides Brown.

To his amazement, the punctured performer agreed. "I was really flattered," says Brown, giggling like a besotted teenage fan. "I wanted Robbie to see what I've done with my apartment, so I was thrilled when he said yes." And it was an insight for Brown into the weird world of celebrity. "All we did was walk across the pavement, from his limo to my front door, and suddenly he was being mobbed by all these people screaming and shouting at him, wanting to touch him, pushing and grabbing at him. It was unbelievable!

Read the rest..

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SCAM 2007

Here's the lineup at this years SCAM.. my favorite convention.. I hope to see some of you guys there..


http://www.scamcon.org

Two birds.. One's a male, the other a female. Can you tell which is which from only the info contained in this photo? I will not furnish any additional photos, nor will I offer any hints...

You're on your own...

(Thanks David..)

Learn Magic Tricks

I ran across this article by Andy Canning, and I think you'll enjoy it. Although the effects are not new, they are truths that you need to be reminded of from time to time.. Read on..

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Few things can impress people as much as seeing a well performed Magic Trick - especially when it is done without apparatus or preparation. Mentalism is one of the more impressive types of Magic Trick and the one I’m about to reveal is so easy to learn that you’ll be performing it tomorrow! Or even tonight!

There are two important rules for learning Magic Tricks -

1. Practice before you perform. Get it right. Work out your patter and learn it off by heart.

2. NEVER tell your audience how it was done!

To learn this Magic Trick you only need to remember a few things and develop a ‘patter’; a way to perform it.

You have an audience of at least six, preferably a dozen - ‘though it could be performed for as many as you like - provided you can give them all paper and pencils. You tell them that you are going to project your thoughts into their minds.

They must write down the thought as soon as you tell them to - write down the first thing that comes into their head, without trying to think about it (transmitted thought is fragile and too much of their own brain activity will wipe it out).

“We’ll start,” you tell them, “with an easy one. Get ready to write it down … a single digit number; a number between 1 and 9 - NOW!”

You write on your piece of paper; the number 7.

“Now we’ll try a word. What I want you to write this time, is the name of … a vegetable - NOW!”
You write on your piece of paper; the word CARROT.

“Another word. This time I want you to write down the name of … an animal that lives in the jungle - NOW!”

You write on your piece of paper; the word LION. (Trust me; I know they don’t live in the jungle, but this works!)

“Let’s go back to numbers. This time it is a 2 digit number with two different digits (i.e. not 11 or 22). I want you to write down an odd number between … 10 and 50 - NOW!”

You write on your piece of paper; the number 37

“OK. One more number. Again a 2 digit number, an even number with 2 different digits. I want you to write down an even number between … 50 and 99 - NOW!”

You write on your piece of paper; the number 68.

When everyone has written their last number, you display your paper and get them to compare their answers. More than half the answers will match your ‘prediction’.

Well, not everyone is receptive to thought transference, and for those that are, it is an intermittent thing and they will not receive every thought accurately. Those that thought too much before writing it down may have scrambled the transmitted thought.

Do not repeat this trick for the same audience - when they find you are using exactly the same numbers and words each time, they will smell a rat!

In fact most people under the given conditions will come up with those numbers and words. Why? Dunno. Must be the way the human mind is wired.

Note. When doing the 2 digit numbers, always pause where I put in the 3 dots … as this helps to clear their minds of any number they were thinking of up to that point; they don’t know what you are going to say next, so it blanks the mind.

If you decide only to use the numbers, I would do the single digit last. When you’ve just written down ‘7′, being told to write a 2 digit number, you are going to avoid using 7 again. Moving the 7 to the last slot means there is 68 between it and 37.

To learn this Magic trick all you have to remember is 3 numbers and 2 words. Easy isn’t it? Your victims - sorry, audience - will be spell-bound with amazement.

There are many Magic Tricks you can learn that are just as easy as this to perform - and just as impressive. My own preference is for Magic tricks that can be performed with borrowed objects so that the audience doesn’t suspect that you are using special gimmicks - even though, often, you are.

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Andy Canning is an amateur magician; an enthusiast. He has created a Website for fellow enthusiasts - amateur or professional - at www.magic.4funandprofit.co.uk where he offers free magic tricks for you to learn.

Quick Change

Check out this couple, who are the two best quick change artists I've ever seen. If you can figure out how they do it, then maybe you can tell me and my buddy James Bowers, who sent me the link..

Quick change artists have gone by the wayside. they once graced the vauderville stages and toured the country making big bucks. Now, the only QCA's you see are the truly entertaining who have taken the performance to the status of fine art.

I'm guessing there's also a great deal of technology involved, more so than we can imagine..

http://www.youtube.com/v/RB-wUgnyGv0

Criss moving to the 'Pyramid'

Criss Angel has received quite a bit of publicity from Robin Leach's Luxe Life web site recently. First, it was the trist with Paris Hilton, and now, the move to Las Vegas' version of a great pyramid... Luxor ..

Commenting on his move in an interview with Robin Leach..

"This pyramid is a symbol of Mysticism. It is the best home that I could possibly be in, in Las Vegas to perform my television series. I really want to float in the light, in the pyramid, which is the strongest light in the world. You can actually see it from outer space. There are only two things you can see from outer space the light from the Luxor and the Great Wall of China. I plan on floating in the light right in the Luxor, people are welcome to come down and see me actually floating. It is so high that you don't want to look down. I think it's 30 stories and some 400 feet high."

Read the entire interview HERE

The Perfect Gift..

This is STILL my favorite collection of magic ebooks for the money.. bar none.

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The Greatest Collection of Magic eBooks Ever Assembled for Sale to the Magic Community..

Establish an instant library of invaluable magic info, Get complete electronic copier of each of these classics...

Erdnase "Expert at the Card Table"
Bobo's "Modern Coin Magic"
The Royal Road to Card Magic
Anneman's "Mental Miracles"
Jean Hugard's "Encyclopedia of Card Tricks"
Houdini's "Paper Magic"
The Fitzkee Trilogy
202 Methods of Forcing
Tarbell's Original Course in Magic.. all sixty courses. "Tarbell's Course is worth WAY more than the cost of the entire package!"

With the Christmas season coming up, this would make the perfect gift for a fellow magician, a young magician, of even a gift for you magic club..

Click Here

David Blaine and Target

David Blaine, The Salvation Army and Target Kick-Off the 2-Day Sale to Bring Joy to Deserving Families This Holiday Season

NEW YORK, Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ --

WHAT/WHO: This Thanksgiving, Target is presenting David Blaine -- the world's greatest endurance artist and magician -- with one of his biggest challenges yet. As part of his challenge, he will attempt to escape from shackles while dangling four stories above Times Square in time for the Target 2-Day Sale.

Target and David Blaine are joining together to present this event to benefit The Salvation Army and kick-off a dazzling holiday shopping season. If David Blaine successfully completes this feat, 100 deserving children will have a surprising and unforgettable start to the Christmas season.

Target and David Blaine will reveal the closely guarded details of Blaine's new challenge at this not-to-be-missed press conference. David Blaine and John Remington, VP of Events Marketing and Communications for Target will meet the press on Friday, November 17 to take the wraps off of Blaine's new challenge.

WHEN/ Friday, November 17

WHERE: 11:00 a.m. West 46th Street (A lot on the south side of the street between Broadway and 8th Avenue) New York, NY

VISUAL: * The location of David Blaine's next extraordinary challenge * Q&A with David Blaine * Q&A with John Remington of Target..

SUMMARY: * The day after Thanksgiving is one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Only a stunt on the world's biggest stage is spectacular enough to kick off the Target 2- Day Sale. * Target has partnered with The Salvation Army to specially select 100 deserving children who will benefit from Blaine's successful completion of this challenge. * David Blaine has accepted this challenge as a way to give back to The Salvation Army, an organization that had a memorable impact on him as a child.

What have you done for me lately?

Remember the song? Janet Jackson - 1986. You could say the same for David Blaine; hey David, what have you done for me lately? I thought he was going to lengths to stay out of the news, but then again, what do I know..

Here's two articles that disagree with my contention..

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Amorous Women go for the Juggler

Chicago Tribune
Chris McNamara
Published November 5, 2006

The only thing more embarrassing than the depths to which a man will sink to impress a potential mate is the positive reaction he'll sometimes receive. We'll call this the David Blaine Phenomenon.

Some women--and men--are attracted to guys whose greatest quality is the ability to spin a dozen plates at a time, Rollerblade backward through a series of cones or perform other parlor tricks that fall under the label "talent."

Magician David Blaine, for example, has legions of pining female fans, even though his greatest talent is holding his breath for non-record-breaking lengths of time.It's a peculiar phenomenon.

Although the talent for making money and providing food and shelter is an obvious draw to women, who are psychologically hard-wired to seek stability in their mates, that attraction is even stronger--for some women--toward a guy's ability to juggle while standing atop a board balanced on a bowling ball, which is by its very nature unstable... Read More

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And speaking of David Blaine... Here are the top searches at Lycos for the week ending Nov.4th. Think about it. Of all the searches on the planet, even with the mid term elections, David Blaine was the number two search on the internet - Ahead of Pam Anderson, Criss Angel and Paris Hilton, Las Vegas, President Bush, Moby, et al.

What accounts for the immense popularity? That's another story...

WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- LYCOS, Inc. (http://www.lycos.com), an entertainment destination for creators and consumers of quality content, today announced the following information from The LYCOS 50(TM), the 50 most popular Internet search results for the week ending Nov. 4, 2006. For a complete list of The LYCOS 50(TM) and for in-depth text of The LYCOS 50 Daily Report, go to http://50.lycos.com. Readers of The LYCOS 50 can also share their thoughts on Internet trends and pop culture on The LYCOS 50 Blog located at http://lycos50.tripod.com/blog/.

Biggest Movers and Shakers for Week Ending Nov. 4, 2006:

1. Gay Marriage 600 %
2. David Blaine 600 %
3. Neil Patrick Harris 600 %
4. Congress 500 %
5. Adam Brody 400 %
6. South Beach Diet 271 %
7. Thanksgiving 152 %
8. Katie Couric 117 %
9. Desperate Housewives 88 %
10. Christina Aguilera 83 %

Notes of Interest:
At number 35, Las Vegas continues to be the most-searched city of all time with web users on LYCOS. Since 1999, Las Vegas has consistently appeared on The LYCOS 50 weekly list of most popular search terms. The top 10 most-searched U.S. cities this week are:

1) Las Vegas
2) Chicago
3) Boston
4) Miami
5) Seattle
6) Los Angeles
7) Portland OR.
8) Denver
9) San Francisco
10) New York City

Search Gainers:

With mid-term elections taking place this week, Gay Marriage appears to be top of mind with web users, increasing 600 percent in online interest over the past week. Search interest in Congress also jumps 500 percent. Ironically, the top three search gainers -- Gay Marriage, David Blaine and Neil Patrick Harris -- are in a virtual tie on this week's Movers and Shakers list.

The LYCOS 50(TM) Top 10 Search Terms for the Week Ending Nov. 4, 2006:
1) Poker 6) WWE
2) Halloween 7) Disney
3) MySpace 8) RuneScape
4) Pamela Anderson 9) Paris Hilton
5) Spyware 10) Pumpkin Carving

About LYCOS, Inc.
LYCOS, Inc. (http://www.lycos.com) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Daum Communications Corp., a leading Internet portal and e-commerce destination in Korea with a growing presence throughout the Asian markets. LYCOS, Inc. creates and operates search, community and technology lifestyle sites including LYCOS.com, Hotbot.com, Tripod.com and Angelfire.com. Other LYCOS products and sites include LYCOS Mail, LYCOS Phone, LYCOS Entertainment, LYCOS Music, LYCOS Games, LYCOS Planet, and GetRelevant. LYCOS was acquired by Korean Daum Communications Corp. in October 2004 and has its U.S. headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts. Daum Communications Corp. is traded on the KOSDAQ: 035720, http://www.daum.net.