Houdini Gone 88 Years

I think the picture says it all. He died 88 years ago today, October 31, 1926.
We Miss You HARRY!

Masters of Illusion LIVE - Review

Once Upon A Time…….You could go to a theatre regularly and see a magician or several magicians perform LIVE. That was called the Golden Age of Magic and the Golden Age of Vaudeville. Then along came Movies and then Television and all that stopped. The field shrunk down to only a few big time traveling illusion shows, Blackstone Sr. was the main one. But even Blackstone had difficulty as time went on.

Then, there was a time when there were none. At least, none of the big traveling shows. Until, Doug Henning came along, followed by David Copperfield and around that same time Harry Blackstone Jr.. Each one of them had great runs. Two of those great artists died before their time, Henning and Blackstone Jr..  After David Copperfield stopped touring, that seemed to be it. There were no big traveling magic shows.

All that has changed, again. For the past few years a little touring show has been moving across the country called Masters of Illusion. This was followed by a summer TV Series on the CW Network, also called Masters of Illusion, this past summer (2014). The TV show featured different magicians each week demonstrating their various talents. The LIVE show has a revolving cast and I assume all of them have appeared on the TV show at some point.

I saw the show at the Warner Theatre in Washington D.C. this past week. I am happy to say there was a very big crowd. I am unhappy to say, there should have been a bigger crowd, because it seemed one segment of society was missing from the audience, the magic community. I think I spotted two other magicians in the audience and that was all. There could have been more, but I remember the days when the magicians would flood out to see a show like this. WE as the magic community have a responsibility to support our fellow artists. (ok, I’m off my soapbox now)

Back to the show. The performers I saw were: Drexus, Titou from France, Farrell Dillon, Greg Gleason, and Rick Thomas. Some of the names I was familiar with, some I wasn't. First up was a video of Farrell Dillon where he did an interactive routine with the audience, which the lay people really enjoyed. Then an illusion act called Drexus was up. He is a tall masked gentleman who did a Fire Cage production (minus the fire, due to restrictions imposed on the company at this venue). He followed with an origami illusion. Both well done. 

I'm not 100% on this order, but I think Titou from France was up next. Here is a very likeable and funny performer who had some great one-liners in his set. He did the first audience participation routine and it was very well received.  Look forward to seeing more from this fellow in the future.
Greg Gleason was up next and his first set started with a very unusual Broom Suspension Illusion using a chair and a feather boa. I can't recall seeing anything like this before and really liked it. His assistant was superb and has a million dollar smile. Greg did several routines which I won't reveal because I don't want to spoil the surefire surprises for anyone who has yet to see the show.

Farrell Dillon was up doing his first set of manipulation. I like Farrell, I think he is extremely clever and very talented. He is basically doing Chavez style manipulations but he is doing them with very funny patter. He has taken a tired old 'seen it a million times' type of magic act and made it fresh and fun. 

Rick Thomas was also on hand. Rick is well known for being one of the big Tiger/Animal acts in magic. But on this show, no animals at all. Rather it was Rick and minimal props and a lot of personality. His first routine was a Chair Suspension that looked like a Zany Blaney Ladder Levitation. He did the routine with a boy from the audience and just brought the house down.  Great stuff.

There was a short intermission allowing folks to get something to drink or buy something from the Masters of Illusion Traveling Store. It looked like they did quite well with back of the room sales, which is great for any show. 

I totally enjoyed the first half of the show. But let me say, the second half of the show was about as good as it gets in the world of magic. The energy level went up and up after each act. The audience, who had been very receptive to the show from the start, was now moving towards a fevers pitch. Each act was hitting a home run. I'm not revealing any of the routines from the second half except for one.


Rick Thomas presented a mini illusion called Liquid Glass. It's a routine created by Jim Steinmeyer and based on an effect of Peter Warlocks. Basically, it's a needle through glass trick done on a larger scale. I have seen it done before. I ALMOST bought one a couple times.  Well, when Rick Thomas and his assistant Tara came out, they killed with this prop. In fact, it was so strong, so entertaining, so dumbfounding that all I could think was, "Rick Thomas needs to do a lecture on THIS!" His presentation was brilliant. It had everything you could ask for, it was visually interesting, it was fun to watch, it was energetic, it was funny, it was dramatic, it had movement, class, style and importantly, it was easy to follow, it was crazy good. It's a good trick to begin with, but he brought it to the level of fantastic. 


The Liquid Glass routine was not the closer to the show, there was much more to come following that routine, but it was such a stand out piece to me, I wanted to make a special notation of it. From an audience stand point, it’s hard to say what their favorite routine might have been. Maybe the Wakeling Sawing where Rick Thomas allowed 20 people to join him onstage. Perhaps it was the breathtaking closer to the show, or the hilarious Straight Jacket Escape by Farrell Dillon. It’s just hard to say.

Here is what I can tell you about the show. I watched the spectators, the lay people, from the moment they came in the door. I was really quite surprised at the number of couples that attended, what a great sign. There were children and families who came, but not as many as I would have thought (it was a school night, so that might play into it). The age range was all over the board, people from their 20s right up to Seniors. This was a very ethnically diverse audience. I’d say it was equally split between males and females. The one thing they all had in common, they were having a great time! They got to see top notch magic, excellent comedy, and some really beautiful moments of illusion.

This production is Gay Blackstone's baby. I know there are other people involved, but Gay brings decades of experience to this production and it can be seen in every aspect of the show. She deserves the credit for finding the great talent and structuring a show that allows each act to shine equally. I’m sure if you looked closely you would see her fingerprints on almost every aspect of the production. This is a show to be proud of for sure.


I want to share a bit of personal history. I saw my first professional magic show as a kid at the Warner Theatre many years before. I sat with my parents and brother in the third row from the stage. I was seeing Harry Blackstone Jr. for the first time. He toured with a big production, a live orchestra, and a big cast. I remember vividly when he walked out on stage and made that birdcage vanish. I remember him stepping backstage to get a second cage and repeating the trick, this time with audience members touching the sides of the cage. I remember later in the show the Floating Light bulb, which floated down into the audience only a few feet from where we were sitting. I remember a Patriotic Drum routine where hundreds of flags were produced out of it and eventually a person. I remember the Flower Garden routine. Hey, it was my first real live magic show and I can remember almost all of it.
Seeing the Masters of Illusion Show at the Warner was a continuation of this incredible Blackstone tradition. For the audience, it was an evening of wonder and laughter and the very best kind of family friendly entertainment!

PLEASE Be sure to support this show if it comes to your area. Tell your friends, your family, your co-workers about the show and where to get tickets. Trust me, they’ll be happy you did!
http://www.mastersofillusionlive.com/ 

By the way, be sure to check out the October 2014 Issue of Genii Magazine with the Masters of Illusion LIVE TV Show on the cover!

New Episode of Magic Detective Show Season 2 Ep 5

Well turns out I missed last week. Just been busy since I got home from my trip and I've not been able to keep up. However, I do have the new episode up and running. It starts with another trick from the world of Professor Hoffmann. I found what I thought was an unusual trick with a borrowed pocket watch that appears inside a glass of milk. I presented the trick as per the instructions in the book, along with a homemade gimmick that I made fashioned after the one Pro. Hoffmann illustrated. I did have to make a few modifications because in the book the magician gets the help from an assistant. In this case, I had to do everything. One thing I found was that this was a fairly tricky thing to pull off. Despite how it might appear, a mirror glass is not used. The glass that is turned and shown empty and then filled with milk truly has NO pocket watch inside when the milk is poured in. At the conclusion of the trick the pocket watch appears to be dripping with milk, however that is all part of the illusion and the watch is never in any danger. It's definitely a stage trick only. Interestingly, there is a trick in Tarbell where a borrowed watch appears in the soil of a potted plant that has similarities to this effect.

The last item on the show is a photo of FuManchu's grave which I received from Martin Pacheco. I had always heard and I also read it in Genii, that David Bamberg/FuManchu got a burial at sea, in other words his ashes were scattered into the ocean. It turns out this was wrong and indeed he was buried in Argentina. But because there was no upkeep on his grave, Bamberg's remains were eventually moved to a common grave and the whereabouts today are sadly unknown.

Enjoy the episode. It may be a week or two before the next one is up. I've got a busy schedule of shows and some personal things to tend to. By the way, sorry for the slightly blurry footage this week. I'm not sure what was going on, but I was in a rush to get it all shot and this was the result.

Houdini's Rose Bush and GENII Magazine

I love Genii Magazine! It was the first magic magazine I ever purchased as a kid. I'm so grateful it continues to this day. Each month it's sort of a fight to see which of two articles I will read first, Jim Steinmeyer's Conjuring column or John Gaughan's Chamber of Secrets column. This month I read John Gaughan's article first and let me tell you what, fellow Houdini fans, your head will explode!

In the October 2014 issue of Genii, John's column is sub-titled "Houdini's Blooming Rose Bush and Flower Cone. The photo at the top of the page is the 'OTHER' Houdini Blooming Rosebush, which is in Ken Klosterman's collection. But trust me, that photo above is nothing compared to the photos in the magazine. In the article you'll see an exposed view of the inner workings of this magnificent piece of magical apparatus. And just as soon as you think you've seen it all, then comes the Flower Cone.

The Houdini Flower Cone was an illusion used in his final tour and can be seen in HOUDINI His Legend and His Magic by Doug Henning and Charles Reynolds on page 122. But in the book you only see a black and white image which is not exactly high resolution. In the Genii issue you'll see the actual cone and the flowers in full color!!! It's breathtaking and you must check it out, NOW!!!!!

Also, be sure to check out the great article on the Masters of Illusion Show! This is a touring show as well as a TV show. Every magician should be watching and or attending this production!

The Oct 2014 Issue of Genii Magazine

LeGrand David Bronze on Ebay

Just a few months ago the historic auction of Le Grand David Magic items was held at their theatre in Beverly Mass. Among the items for sale was the Broom Suspension Bronze created in 1984 by David F. Bull, father of David Bull who portrayed the character Le Grand David in the show. The bronze depicts an actual scene from the show of Marco the Magi levitating David on a broom surrounded by other cast members.

This bronze sold at auction for $8,000.00. Well now the bronze is back on the auction block and the price has gone up, a lot. The asking price is $75,000.00 or best offer. I can tell you in my opinion the $8,000 was pretty low so the person who purchased it got a bargain. As for the $75,000 price, that is up to the person who wants it. This piece is much more than a magic collectable, this is real art and real art carries these type of prices.

There are actually three of these, but only one is being offered for sale. Of the two remaining, one is in the Ray Goulet Magic Museum and the other is in the American Museum of Magic in Marshall Michigan. 

The link to the ebay auction is here http://www.ebay.com/itm/Monumental-Magic-Bronze-Iconic-Le-Grand-David-Rare-Subject-Shows-Action-/321525251223?pt=Art_Sculpture&hash=item4adc65fc97