Monday, July 4, 2011

Carter Beats The Devil, Again


Glen David Gold wrote a fictional book in 2002 about touring illusionist Charles Carter called "Carter Beats The Devil". It was an interesting book in that he took many true stories from the world of magic and weaved them into his book. It made quite the splash in the magic circles and an even bigger splash with the general public. So much so that Tom Cruise purchased the rights to make the book into a movie. This was very exciting for magicians as well, but then nothing happened.

It appears now that the Carter Beats The Devil is back and getting a green light by Hollywood. Let's hope it makes it through this time. The talk in regards to the movie is that Johnny Depp is being looked at as the lead. It's a shame this wasn't made 25-30 years ago, as my vote would go to Charlton Heston, whose real name was John Charles Carter!

As much as I enjoyed the Glen David Gold book, I must be fair and say that the OTHER Carter Book is far better from a historical point of view. That would be the Carter Book by Mike Caveney. When I first read this book I could hardly put it down. Before reading it the only thing I knew about Carter was that he had some really cool posters, like the one above, and the Carter on a Camel poster (see below) and the Vanishing Elephant poster. But his life story is so much more interesting than his posters.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Houdini Coffin For Sale


This appears to be a prop made for a show or maybe a movie or tv program.  It's for sale on Ebay, http://cgi.ebay.com/Custom-Designed-Harry-Houdini-Coffin-/180690281728?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a11fae500

As of right now, there are 6 days left on the auction. There is no denying this thing is cool looking.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Essential Magic Conference 2011


In a few days the second Essential Magic Conference will begin. This is the world's only ONLINE ONLY Magic Convention. It was the brainchild of Luis DeMatos, David Britland and Marco Tempest and frankly last year was incredible!

If you have not registered yet, you should do so soon. Why? Well besides the obvious, there will be some Houdini talk. William Kalush will give a talk on Houdini on July 8th. Then on July 9th, David Copperfield will be taking the registrants of the conference on a virtual tour of his museum, which will no doubt feature quite a few of his rare Houdini items.

Also, Mike Caveney will be on hand talking about magic history as well. If you love magic, you can't go wrong with registering for this incredible conference. OH, and if you register before July 4th, you get a free months membership to The Conjuring Arts Research Library. So, go register at http://www.essentialmagicconference.com