Our Magic and More!

OUR MAGIC is a book by Nevil Maskelyne and David Devant originally published in 1911. I first heard about the book through an article that Jonathan Pendragon wrote for Genii Magazine which he gave a list of his top 20 magic books related to illusions. Among the list was OUR MAGIC and unlike some of the other books he listed, it was easy to obtain a copy.

Here was an eye opening book! Probably the first book to discuss magic theory and certainly the first book to really help define whether or not magic was art. My favorite chapter is called The Three Degrees of Art and it breaks down into: High Art, Normal Art and False Art. It's an intriguing chapter to say the least and it's followed by 300 other pages of incredible theory, ideas and secrets. It's certainly a must read for anyone involved in the performance of magic. Sadly, the few magicians I know who own a copy have felt the book is best preserved in the shrink wrap they purchased it in. In other words, they haven't read it. I'm sure there is plenty of room for debate on 100 year old theories discussed within the book. It's still worth a read and a great deal is still quite applicable today.

The NEXT Our Magic
I don't know if I'm asleep at the wheel, or if Facebook is just not allowing me to see posts by friends as often as it used to, but I've now missed two opportunities to contribute to film projects. One was by a fellow magician who has moved into movie making. I found out about his project just after the funding had been raised.

The next is a documentary film project by Dan & Dave Buck, Jason England and Paul Wilson. I had seen the mini-documentaries that they had posted on the internet and was enthralled with what I had seen. I only wished I had been among the folks giving their thoughts on magic because I certainly am filled with my opinions on why I think magic is art and why it often falls short. Their new project was up on Kickstarter.com to raise funds and ended on May 27th. I think I had heard about this back in April but was not aware of the timeline and the fundraising ended over a week ago.

But the good news is they raised the nessassary funds and are now moving forward with this new documentary which will be aptly called OUR MAGIC. Please watch the video below to get an idea of how these film makers are putting their hearts into this project. If it's anything like their other videos, this will be something we can all be proud of! Best wishes to all involved!

Movie Water Torture Cell on Display at New Magic Museum

Guy Pierce as Houdini in Death Defying Acts

Over in Norfolk (UK) The Davenport's Magic Kingdom has recently opened. This is a museum dedicated to five generations of magic collecting and magic memorabilia. It's a special magic museum open to everyone. With the price of a ticket you get to see the wonderful exhibition and a 30 minute magic show.  There are posters, costumes and props on display AND you'll also find the Water Torture Cell used by actor Guy Pierce in the movie Death Defying Acts. The film came out in 2007 and also stars Catherine Zeta Jones in a highly fictionalized story about Harry Houdini and a psychic medium.

I received a photo of the cell from one of my readers, Philip David Treece. He also mentions that it's a very large cell probably much larger than any cell previous made. Below is the photo of the cell. Enjoy the photo and if you are in the UK by all means, go check out Davenport's Magic Kingdom.

Tim Moore Dentist and Magic Collector

Props once owned and used by Robert Houdin

Any Dentist's Office that has magic posters hanging on the wall is definitely the Dentist I want to be seeing! The only problem is, his office is in Ohio! The dentist in question is Tim Moore, who is not only an accomplished dentist but he is also a magician and magic collector. The Robb Report, which is a Luxury Lifestyle Magazine is featuring  Tim and his magic collection in an edition of their magazine called 'COLLECTION' June 2013 edition.

The article is titled 'Grand Illusions-A collector's devotion to illustious artifacts from the golden age of magic'. The photos in this article are amazing. I've never actually seen Tim's collection in person (though I hope to see it one day soon) but he certainly owns some truly remarkable pieces. In one of the first photos you can see the small floating ball that was once used by Howard Thurston. In another photograph, the fabric cards used by Servais LeRoy can be seen. And in another photo, that I'm particularly envious of, Tim Moore is holding onto Karl Germain's Spirit Lock! In fact, the article goes on to describe how he came into possession of the famed Spirit Lock.

It's a fantastic article full of beautiful photographs. I'm personally also intrigued with all the top hats he owns from famous magicians. I believe the article mentions he owned Houdini's Top Hat and if you think Houdini didn't own one, well, he's got a photo of Houdini and Hardeen both wearing their hats!

Here are a just a few items from his Houdini collection, there are a lot more than this!