2012 Essential Magic Conference

The third (and possibly) final edition of the Essential Magic Conference is currently taking place in Portugal. Presented by Luis de Matos, David Britland and Marco Tempest, this is in my view one of the greatest conventions ever produced. I am speaking of EMC as a whole, from year 1 until today. Each year they assembly a list of speakers from all facets of magic and from all over the world. Topics cover almost everything imaginable, from close-up card magic to magic theory, to stage manipulation to magic history, and many things in between.

The line-up this year is incredible. Day 1 was mind blowing. How they continue to top each year is beyond me. Do yourself a favor, go register at www.essentialmagicconference.com and watch the sessions LIVE or watch them at your leisure. Also, if you register, you'll also receive the entire conference on DVD.

When you attend a typical magic convention, if you go away with one new routine, concept or idea you're doing pretty good. For me, with EMC I usually go away with several new ideas or effects. Already on day 1 there was one routine that was worth the entire price of the convention and I'll bet there will be a lot more over the next two days!

Highlights from Day 1....EVERY SPEAKER! That's actually not a joke. I enjoyed every speaker very much and even the panel discussion on the Value of Secrets was incredible (personally leaning towards Armando's belief on secrets). Eric Mead opens every EMC since the beginning and I always look forward to hearing him speak. Michel from Argentina was, as always, wonderful. I remember seeing him lecture at Denny's Magic Shop years ago and I purchased one of his 'Invisible Hands' way back then. Thankfully, I did take the time to learn how to use it and it's fantastic. Bill Malone totally cracks me up, so glad he is there this year. Steve Cohen talking about Malini, WOW. I also enjoyed his comments when someone wrote in and asked 'what can people today learn from magicians of the past'. (Can't believe someone actually asked that question!)

Woody Aragon was, well, brilliant. His trick alone, worth the price of the convention. Tom Stone's performance and then later lecture, also brilliant. Denis Behr, WOW. The procedure fried my brain and I would never do it, but it was fantastic. David Williamson, always superb. One of my own personal favorite routines which is in 90% of my shows is a routine of his. Debbie McGee should put out DVDs and a lecture of her own. Her voice and ideas needs to be heard! Yigal Mesika was another one who really made me sit up and take notice. OH, Armando Lucero, Dani DaOrtiz, David Berglas, Hero Sakai, Guy Hollingworth, and Graham Jolley all had amazing performances. Max Maven could talk about rust and make it fascinating, I always enjoy his talks. Marco Tempest is inspiring on more levels than I can list. And Topas, Stan Allen, and Luis de Matos are absolutely fantastic hosts.

DAY 2.....I can't really give highlights of the events of day two, mainly because my brain is fried at this point. I'm unable to watch EMC live as it's streaming, and in true fact, I'm actually having to listen to most of the content rather than watch it. This is due to a severe light sensitivity I'm suffering from at the moment. I do my best to watch various performances but thankfully so much of the content is verbal that I am still getting it all.

Each year EMC steps up their game. Last year when David Copperfield gave a tour of his museum via live video stream, I thought there was no way to top it. But honestly, as much as I loved that, it wasn't even the best thing at the conference. One of the Paul Daniel's talks for me, was one of the best things but I'm not sure I can name a single BEST. Because if you are an observant performer, you'll be picking up things constantly.

So in Day 2, Tina Lenert blew my mind and damn near made me cry with her phenomenal presentation. The two women at the conference this year were exceptional (Day1 Debbie McGee). David Williamson is a personal favorite and seeing David talk and watching him perform is always a treat but he said something during one of the Q&A's that answered a question I had for many years and it was so great to hear. Bill Malone is incredible, that's all I can say. On and on I could go, but I really want to get back to watching the videos. I'm actually not finished with Session 6 year and the stream has already begun for Day 3. If you haven't already done so, sign up/register/join, this fabulous conference.

An Interesting Connection between Batman and Magic

Batman was a comic book character created by Bob Kane. He has grown and expanded over the years to near mythic proportions. The Batman movies, from the first Michael Keaton version to the latest Christian Bale version gross millions and millions of dollars.

Batman had an origin and it wasn't with a rich kid who witnesses the death of his parents by a street criminal. No, Batman came from somewhere else. Bob Kane, in his autobiography, "Batman & Me" lists three direct inspirations. One was a sketch made by Leonardo DaVinci of a flying machine that looked like a bat. The next was The Mark of Zorro movie starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr.  And the third was a very interesting movie called "The Bat Whispers" and here is the connection to magic.

You see "The Bat Whispers" which was made in 1930, starred actor/magician Chester Morris. This movie was seen by a 14 year old Robert Kane and made such an impression on the young man that years later he would base part of the design of Batman's costume from the BAT character in the movie.
Chester Morris played a dual role, as a detective and the also as the BAT. Though in the movie, the BAT was a criminal. But Chester Morris's portrayal was indeed one of the main inspirations for Bob Kane's creation of The Batman.

Another interesting element from that movie, also became a prominent part of the world of Batman and that is the Bat Signal. In the movie The Bat Whispers, the signal was actually a sign that someone was to be killed by The Bat. But of course, in the world of Batman, the signal alerts the Caped Crusader that his services are needed!

Harry Jansen (Dante) The Escape Artist?

Here is one that really took me by surprise. In the February 1928 issue of The Sphinx, they record that Dante tried his hand at an escape act while performing in South America. To quote the article it says "He failed to put it over." There is no other information regarding this incident.

I know Dante was in fact in South America at this time. Thurston sent him there in 1927 and his tour started in a less than perfect fashion. He was continually plagued by advance men ripping him off and managers not fulfilling there end of agreements. The language difference didn't help matters either. And then of course there was Charles Carter and Grover George who were both in South America and Dante was essentially having to follow them.

But an escape act. That struck me as odd. So I began to dig and I discovered that when Dante was still using his real name Harry Jansen, he co-owned a magic manufacturing company in Chicago called, Halton, Jansen and LeRoy. One of the items from their catalog was a Packing Crate Escape. Hardly a full escape act, but it's something. But the blurb from The Sphinx doesn't say escape show, it says "He tried to stage an escape act." So perhaps he tried to pull in some publicity with a packing crate escape and either it failed, or because he didn't speak the language, he had difficulty in relaying to the audience just what to expect.

The reason I found this whole thing unusual was because of Dante's feelings towards HOUDINI. In the book, The Houdini Code Mystery by William Rauscher, there is a small chapter with Dante's feelings towards Houdini. It came from an article written by Dante and it basically rips Houdini to shreds. Dante starts with "First, he stole his name from the man who originated and made magic possible, Robert-Houdin". He goes on to expose Houdini's act and methods and make the claim that he could cuff Houdini in a way that would leave him bound, or lock him in a packing crate and he would not be able to get out. The way it's written he belittles the idea of an escape act though it's probably just his animosity towards Houdini more than anything. He says "Houdini the escape king? What can he escape from? So far, he has escaped criticism. This is the biggest trick he has ever done." Dante did not like Houdini and made no bones about it.

But it doesn't appear that Dante ventured into performing escapes until after Houdini had died (1926). This South American event happened either in late 1927 or early 1928. I've gone through a couple Dante biographies and can find no mention of an escape act in South America so perhaps it was not something he cared to record for posterity.

One other note, there was an escapologist who used the stage name Dante. This is mentioned in the book DANTE The Devil Himself by Phil Temple and even contains two photos of the escape artist Dante. I don't think however, the fellow who is mentioned in the Sphinx article is that person, it is definitely Harry Jansen, aka Dante.

In the coming months I'll share more with you about this fascinating character Harry Jansen, better known as DANTE.

The Dark Knight and Houdini

Let me state for the record, it's doubtful I would ever have been interested in Houdini if it had not been for Batman. And, for me, there is only one Batman and that is Adam West. Sure Michael Keaton was pretty good, Christian Bale offers some unique twists to the character, but Adam West was the man.

When you're a kid, the 60s TV series BATMAN is not campy. It's cool! It's got action, it's got super heroes, it's got villians, it has it all. It's not until you're an adult that you see how campy the show is and frankly it's like a gift within a gift. It was an awesome show as a kid and it's a hilarious show as an adult!

Often the episodes ended in a cliff hanger with Batman & Robin in some sort of diabolical trap in which they had to escape from. When I saw the Tony Curtis Movie on Houdini for the first time, I only saw the scene with Houdini under the ice of Lake Michigan. It totally reminded me of an episode of BATMAN. Here was someone trying to escape. I had no idea Houdini did it first!

I've heard that Bob Kane was a fan of Houdini. I can tell you this, IF Batman were a real character, I can guarantee HE would be a devotee of Houdini as well. Houdini after-all made the escape act popular, he even wrote books on handcuff escapes and escapes in general. On top of that he wrote a book called "The Right Way To Do Wrong" which surely would have been in the Batcave Library, or at least in stately Wayne Manor's Library! And he'd probably have to go to Houdini's craftsman to have the Batcuffs made.


Perhaps instead of the bust of William Shakespeare, the creators should have put Houdini's bust there. I mean, come on, it makes more sense to hide a button to a secret panel inside the bust of the world's most famous magician MORE than it does to hide it inside the bust of Shakespeare!

Margery the Medium's Grave

Long before the Long Island Medium got her own TV show, there was Margery The Medium. I've written about Margery before, but I wanted to show  you this wonderful picture of Margery's grave. The man in the photo is famed escape artist Norman Bigelow and he graciously has allowed me to post the photo here.

Margery was kind of Houdini's arch nemesis. She had everyone at the Scientific American Magazine fooled into believing she was a legitimate medium. Houdini got wind of that and said "NO WAY!" and forced himself into the investigation and proved that she was using trickery. The battles between Houdini and Margery were priceless, though all these years later I can't help but wonder how much of that was for show.

An interesting note on the grave stone itself is the name above Margery's. By the way, Margery's real name was Mina Stinson Crandon. The name above hers on the tombstone is WALTER Stuart Stinson.
If you're familiar with the story of the seances that she put on before the Scientific American Committee and Houdini, Walter was her brother and spirit guide. Walter was also known to use some rather politically incorrect language. But he was dead, so no one cared, lol.