Tips from an Uber-Pro—Gary Hunter!

•September 13, 2012 • 2 Comments

This is a somewhat belated second half of a blog I wrote recently about Gary Hunter. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Gary, he is a superb ventriloquist and also one of the leading cruise directors in the cruise industry.

Gary has seen the industry from both sides, as a performer and as the man who has to fill out the report that may (or may not) get an act rebooked. He is an ultimate professional in both these capacities and I recently took the opportunity to have him share some of his insights with our readers.

I asked Gary to share five ‘golden rules’ for performers with me. I didn’t give him time to think about the answers he gave me, instead I tried to get his immediate, and impromptu responses. Although I was fully aware that Gary was speaking as a non-magician, I was delighted that his answers translated universally and seamlessly to a magical audience. Here is his list……..

1. Be relaxed onstage. The more relaxed you are, then the more relaxed your audience will be. He rightly pointed out that audiences instinctively know when you are comfortable with your material and when you aren’t. A relaxed, confident tone will let the audience know that they are in the hands of a pro, which is great basis for a strong show.

2. Really know your material before going onstage and then trust your material, this status is made easier by making sure that your act consists of largely true and tried material. Hunter says that part of his success has never trying to be too original. This certainly doesn’t mean he steals people’s jokes or acts. Gary points out that there are many universally wonderful jokes out there, which have been around for years, and are proven commodities. Your job is to figuring out an interesting route to get to the punchline, and then maybe giving that punchline a little twist. A familiar and funny series of jokes can act as ‘tent poles’ to keep your act moving in an entertaining fashion.

3. Gary is a firm believer in the comedic ‘Law of Three.’ Framing your jokes in sets of three, ‘joke-joke-BIG joke.’ He then sets up a storyline by interjecting original material and jokes to pave the way to his ultimate destination. He has written his show so that he is continually telling a story that keeps leading to his next major reaction. He lets the audience enjoy the journey as well as the destination.

4. Dress like an entertainer, and make sure that when you hit that stage you are dressed above your audience. Dress like a showman—not necessarily glitz and glamour but meticulously. Gary is a performer from the old school and never sits down prior to a show in his working pants. The only crease in his pants will be the razor sharp one on the front where it should be! Oh, and polish those shoes…….

5. Know how to get on and off your stage. Your entry and exit onstage is the most important thing you will do during the show. You must walk out onstage so that people will sit up and pay attention. You want them to subconsciously change position, doing this will help cause their blood to flow and this will energize them for your performance. You may be the third or fourth act they are watching and you want their full attention. When the show is finished you have to know how to take your bow, really enjoy receiving your applause; and then get off and stay off, leaving them wanting more. A much quoted but often overlooked state of affairs!

I really liked Gary’s list! They are simple and direct points that a worth reflecting upon carefully, and can improve any show with their application. I thank him for taking the time to share them with me and allowing me to pass them on to you.

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Good Luck Puck, but—what I really think about AGT

•September 4, 2012 • Leave a Comment

Wayne Kawamoto recently wrote an article which commented that he thought the judges on ‘America’s Got Talent’were particularly harsh towards the magicians and wondered if perhaps the format of the show was a great deal of the problem. ‘No shit, Sherlock!’ We have seen a great many pros treated harshly by these judges and I think the basic nature of the show has a huge amount to do with it. I can’t help feeling that the 90 second time limit has a great deal to do with the problems, plus the style and role of the judges.

It used to be customary to talk about how the 20-minute playing time of a sit-com had reduced the attention span of TV viewers. Then we grew accustomed to hearing about the MTV impact on the attention span of an audience. If it was longer than a music video or had less kinetic esthetics than the latest MTV offering, it was too long. Well, things are really crazy now, with 90 seconds considered a suitable way to judge who does or does not have talent!

I’m not even going to get into the question of whether these judges would recognize magic talent if it jumped up and bit them in the rear! What they are doing is constructing a ‘reality’ show using performers as their fodder. As we are becoming sadly aware from the world of politics, judging the net worth of a person through tiny sound/video bites is a very different thing from accurately assessing their actual worth or potential value.

The judges need to be entertaining and act according to their ‘scripted’ character, as the producers want them to. Their comments are part of the scripted direction of the shows; their decisions are designed to move the series along as a commercial success. The performers involved fill in 90-second units of time, and magicians have a particularly tough time achieving any kind of representation of their true talents in the process.

A promotional video that a magician used to send to potential clients used to be his act. How quaint that now seems! Nowadays, if you send a video that runs over three and a half minutes, not only will it not get watched but you run the risk of appearing to be a dinosaur for distributing it! The only thing you can do is construct a series of ‘reveals’ from your show, interspersed with audience response shots to show that the actual show if funny. AGT just wants one easily digestible ‘wow’ moment and then they will decide how they want to present/handle it. Maybe they should rename the show ‘America’s Got Wow.’

There is a whole new breed of performers in Las Vegas who want to be Terry Fator, and why not, Terry is talented and has a highly successful showroom career. There is now a bunch of Vegas shows by people who simply don’t have a 60-minute show to save their lives. They got them by creating a series of 90 second video bites that are as representative of their talents as chalk is to cheese. That is why there are so many empty (and complimentary) seats in their showrooms.

Murray Sawchuck is an immensely likable and recognizable personality, but if you watch his actual stage show in Vegas, compared to those big illusion effects from AGT—hmmmmm, it just ain’t the same. What is needed in a live magic show is pacing, personality, continuity, linkage and the development of an arc in the show. These are certainly not factors in the ‘Wham, Bang, Thank You Man’ world of AGT. You need a little more time to assess the talents of a magician. It is easier to judge a singer with half a song, but only just!

 I really wish well to current semi- finalist Puck and everyone who tries to ‘Reach the Stars’ via a 90 second AGT spot, however there is one dirty little secret that needs to be fully understood. This new breed of talent shows are only interested in discovering talent. As enticing as it might be for name performers like Rudy Coby to appear on a show like AGT, their chances of becoming an ultimate winner are astronomically low. The key to Terry Fator’s success was that no one knew who the hell he was prior to his appearance on the show. That’s just good TV.

Maybe I would be a little better disposed towards reality TV if it was more based on reality, and talent shows if they had a little more respect/regard for talent. Most of these shows started to air when a writers strike threatened to decimate the upcoming season. The lack of substantial talent fees didn’t harm things either. I guess I’m just a bit of a grouch who hankers back to the days of ‘real’ (I guess I should say, old fashioned) variety shows.

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Ken Brooke—the ultimate pitchman.

•September 1, 2012 • Leave a Comment

I really don’t think that there is anything much more exciting in magic than attending your first magic convention. There may be other great conventions you attend, but none of them will be quite the same. This first magic convention was the IBM convention in Southport, in the mid-sixties.

What made it especially special for me was that I would be spending time with my mentor and hero Ken Brooke. Not only was Ken one of the magic dealers at the convention but he was also to be featured in one of the shows. This convention was my first great opportunity to study the ‘demming’ technique for which Ken was famous. I discovered why he was considered legendary in this area.

Arriving at the convention, I received my registration package and proudly put on my convention badge. This badge would grant me admittance to the multitude of fascinating events listed on my official program.  I marveled that this amount of magic could be packed into three and a half days. I was determined to see and do everything, and if they had only had invented ‘Red Bull’ in those days I might even have succeeded!

My very first stop was the Dealers Room, which seemed like an Aladdin’s cave to this youngster. The room was crowded with small booths dedicated to the various dealers in attendance. Each booth was filled with displays of tricks that I had previously only been exposed to in magic catalogues. Seeing these tricks ‘Live and in Person’ was overwhelming, I could wander from booth to booth and mentally select the props that I was convinced could make me a star!

Of course, this was my early years in magic, I hadn’t by then realized it’s not the props or tricks that make the magician but quite the reverse. However, when you begin your magic journey, the size and brightness of your props seemed like a sure fire fast track to success. In fact, I’ve seen quite a few magicians since then, who still haven’t figured this out, even years after they should know better.

It was easy to spot Ken Brooke’s booth. It was surrounded by the biggest crowd in the large room, all pushing forward to get a better view of what was going on. I later discovered that other magic dealers suffered instant cases of deep depression when they discovered their booths were located to close to Ken’s whirlwind of attention! Ken’s presence was an electric factor to all the conventioneers.

A great magician, Ken Brooke was also a supremely gifted salesman at a magic convention; he made the Energizer bunny look like a slacker! Ken had the style and attack of a grifter selling his wares at an outdoor London street market. He talked, shouted, did shtick and performed magic; he sold a lot of magic too. The wad of money cash and checks in his back pocket grew bigger and bigger by the hour.

You never knew what Ken would do next! He would ask for ten magicians to buy a prop ‘blind,’ “Give me a ‘tenner’ and I’ll give you piece of magic you’ll use for ever,” he would say.  After the hundred pounds was in his back pocket he would pass out ten wrapped packages with strict instructions, “Don’t open them now! Don’t let these other cheap buggers know what you got…” I don’t think anyone ever grumbled over what they received! In fact often they would receive items worth two or three times their investment.

Another favorite ruse of Ken’s was to refuse to sell someone some item that they wanted. “It’s no good for you.” He would say, “You couldn’t do it, if I sold it to you anyway!” Needless to say this would cause the magician to keep working at it until he ‘persuaded’ Ken to allow him to buy the item. He mercilessly worked the crowd surrounding his booth and played them like an instrument. I remember it fondly as being pure theatre and far in the way the greatest show at the entire convention.

I attended many events during the convention but I was drawn back to the dealer’s room like a magnet to see what Ken was up to next, and I was not the only one. Long before the convention was over Ken had sold out the entire stock of product he had brought with him to Southport. You could almost feel the sense of relief from the other magic dealers present when this happened.

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An Evening at The Mystery Lounge.

•August 23, 2012 • Leave a Comment

I had one of those rare ‘everything was great’ evening performing last night at the fabulous ‘Mystery Lounge’ in Cambridge, MA. Maybe I’m getting a little cynical as I get older, but I seldom just really enjoy a gig from the moment I walk through the door until after I have left. I did last night!

It was my good fortune to be booked at the ‘Mystery Lounge’ last night with my friends Joe Howard and Steve Kradolfer, they were wonderful hosts and tremendous performers who had the crowd screaming with their polished and laugh packed acts.

The ‘Lounge’ was created over 13 years ago and is Boston’s longest running magic and comedy club. It has become a very real part of the fabric of the always fun Cambridge scene. It must be very gratifying to its two founding producers, Steve Kradolfer and Jon Stetson to see the continued success of their ‘brainchild.’

I remember, back in the height of the comedy club era, always looking forward to playing in Cambridge at the ‘Catch a Rising Star’ club. One of the reasons I enjoyed it was that I got to spend some time with Jon Stetson—one of magic’s very nicest people! On one visit Jon told me about the Magic Lounge idea, and its Tuesday night occupancy. 13 years later the project is still going strong!

The audience in the Mystery Lounge is a great mix of ages and people. Magicians are scattered in the crowd with magic lovers, and they are so enthusiastic that it truly warms one’s heart. The 8:00 pm show started promptly at 8:15 and then the action never stopped. The audience really got their money’s worth and it was tough to keep the show to a sensible length.

The core group of performers, who are at the centre of the ‘Lounge’ are Jon Stetson, Steve Kradolfer, Mike Bent, Joe Howard David Oliver and Bob Riordan. That is quite a line-up of talent for the talent pool, other local and visiting magicians add too the performance roster. What is amazing is how fresh the whole event feels and how genuinely friendly things are.

I love the structure of the show they present each Tuesday, no boring opening/middle/closing format at the lounge. Boston is famous in the comedy world for the way their shows are usually hosted by the headliner–who goes into overdrive and whips the audience into shape. He introduces a couple of acts as his special guests and then finishes the show with his actual set. This system really works!

Joe Howard opened up the bill last night with a ten minute set that had the audience, eating out of the palm of his hand. He was funny, street savvy and smoother than silk. In ten minutes he took the crowd from zero to 100, and that was just for openers.

Steve Kradolfer followed Joe and kept the pace moving perfectly. He is a very funny man and he does some great magic. His ‘Cards Across’ was a perfect exercise in how to handle two assistants onstage and get laughs without any sense of embarrassment. He has a line for everything—and they are all funny. You realize instantly with Steve that you are in the hands of a real pro and just settle back and enjoy the ride. His closing ‘bit’ is an inspired and original comedy/magic routine that perfectly concluded his 25-minute performance, I was ready to watch much more!

Joe returned to the stage and picked up the energy still further, by the time he had finished his 15 minute second set the crowd was roaring. Joe truly has one of the greatest routines for the ‘Cups and Balls’ and it is visible and perfect entertainment even in a full showroom setting. I am usually not a big fan of the ‘Cups and Balls’ onstage, however Joe made me realize how wrong about it I could be.

Next on the bill, local Stand-Up comedian, Langston Kerman performed a smooth and effective ten minute set of pure stand-up. He was a nice addition to the show and as the audience had seen plenty of great magic and were ready for a ‘comedy break.’ It made a very nice touch to feature a classic comedy monologist at this point in the show.

It is a rare thing to fall into a beautifully oiled machine, designed to maximize your working environment. Thank you all for letting me participate in the evening. If you are not familiar with the Mystery Lounge check out their website www.mysterylounge.com and if you are in the Boston area, block of that Tuesday on your calendar—you won’t regret it!

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Great new magic footage on my webstite…….

•August 20, 2012 • Leave a Comment

The Max Maven interview on ‘The E-Files.

I just felt inspired and did the minor editing necessary to place a really cool interview with the masterful Max Maven into Cyberland. Max just killed with his one-man show back East and is one of my favorite ‘magical minds.’ I was delighted to have Max as a guest on my weekly entertainment series. ‘The Entertainment Files.’ It was a fun interview to film and I think it still look great a decade later. Plus …..Max does a great live trick on the show!

The theme of the show was movies and not magic, hence the many movie related lines of communication. I loved Max’s answers to his favorite movies.

Check out the 21 minute interview on my website. I think you will enjoy it

http://lewinenterprises.weebly.com/whats-new1.html

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Magic, Mentalism and stuff!

•August 14, 2012 • 4 Comments

I have been a fan and student of mentalism since I was a teenager, studying the performers and literature of this genre very carefully.  I grew up watching Al Koran, Chan Canasta, The Great Fogel and David Berglas on British television, and consider them powerful early influences. I was lucky enough to become a friend of the great Maurice Fogel and learned much from him. Mentalism has come a long way since I sat watching those performers on our old black and white ‘telly’ in England.

At this time mentalism is probably the fastest growing and most commercial form of magic. There I said it! However, in spite of my love for this branch of magic, I have never been tempted to become a committed ‘Mind Reader.‘ I guess it largely falls back on a slightly abstract and existential belief/observation.

If you construct a show entirely of ‘mental magic’ it is easy to get caught up in an, ‘I’m smarter than you, and have powers you don’t’— kind of syndrome. This has never felt comfortable to me; I find it somewhat distasteful, rather like the ‘I’m fooling you……’ school of magic.  If you are not careful you can end up looking strangely precious and pretentious, without even knowing it.

I have seen many lesser mentalists bask onstage in the reflected glory of non-existent powers that their audiences just don’t buy into. In fact sometimes it looks like the ‘Mind Reader’ is fooling himself more than his spectators. When this happens it makes me highly uncomfortable.

Most of those early mentalists I used to watch perform in the 60s, made quite a deal of proclaiming that there was nothing supernatural or indeed psychic about their work. A disclaimer early on in their shows would impress upon their audiences that everything they accomplished was done so by purely natural means. My guess is that they didn’t want to be confused with some of the charlatans populating the fringe areas of their world. I can understand this, but can’t help feeling it was a little counter intuitive to their best results.

I liked the easy authority that Koran brought to the art when he blended magic and mind reading into one show. He saw no problem mixing the two together—and neither did his audiences. In fact the mentalism was strengthened by his synergistic approach to the mixing of the two elements and it never weakened the audience’s reaction to his feats. Here was a remarkable man who did remarkable things. Isn’t that enough!

The opening words to Koran’s show were, ” Tonight I’m going to read your minds, but some of you may think it’s a trick, so what I’m going to do is show you a trick and then read your minds, and let you tell the difference.” I really like the attitude and style contained in these words. They left some ‘wriggle room’ in the mind of his audience. This approach remains my preferred way to create a powerful impact without backing yourself into a corner.

I would have to say that Uri Geller has been the most important and pivotal figure in the steady transformation of mentalism as a contemporary force in magical entertainment. He did something very simple—he pretty much implied that what he did was real!  Once the initial uproar over Geller’s claims to legitimacy was over, for the most part, things moved in different direction. Magician/mentalists began to suggest that their ability to influence ongoing events was due to a superior understanding of psychology and psychological processes.

Max Maven, for whom I have the utmost respect as a thinker, performer, person and magical philosopher, created a truly elegant framework for his persona based on his (pretty darn realistic) statements about his psychological and linguistic skills. He made the presentation of mental magic seem more realistic and reasonable without ever allowing his effects to be less devastating in their impact. His exploration and transformation of mentalism has revolutionized the field. Max’s books, treatises and video output is a phenomenal gift to the magic world—study them.

Recently, in England, Derren Brown has captivated an entire nation with his contemporary take on mental/psychological magic. He looks and acts in a highly effective manner, which allows his viewers to ascribe any skills or powers to him without being hokey for even a nano-second. He acts, speaks and dresses like a successful young businessman and entertainer. Does this mean that large segments of the public do not believe him to be a true psychic? Of course not!

Suddenly every magician seems to want to be a mind reader! However I am a firm believer that the future of mentalism, lies not in every magician proclaiming himself to be psychic, but in a steady progression of intelligently combining these two aspects of our craft. Currently mindreading is a highly commercial act for a buyer to book, but I think this is a golden goose waiting to become an overworked cliché with overexposed golden eggs.

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There is nothing like a good book! Here are three!

•August 8, 2012 • Leave a Comment

When I arrived in America it was a joy to discover the wonderfully written books of Harry Lorayne. They contained great tricks that were meticulously detailed and had an exciting blast of the author’s abrasive personality fully intact within the pages. You could make a great living just by mastering the content of Lorayne’s first three books. Heck, I did for several years.

It has recently been my joy to be reading three brilliant books simultaneously, learning and enjoying each of them to the utmost degree. I want to share them with you, if they can give you a fraction of the pleasure they have afforded me, then I have done my good deed for the day.

 New Zealand is the home to one of magic’s most prolific and talented authors Richard Webster. Richard is a master of both ideas and craft in his writing. He has published over a hundred books, which have been translated into 29 languages! No wonder I am proud to consider him my major inspiration as a writer of magical works. It was with a great deal of excitement that I just mailed him a copy of my first two books, in honesty, it made me just a touch nervous as well.

I have been dipping into Richard’s latest book on mentalism, ‘Neal Scryer and Friends,’ like some lucky sorcerer’s apprentice with sudden access to the Philosopher’s Stone. It is an amazing work that should be savored by anyone interested in this deliciously complex and exciting area of the magic world. It is not an inexpensive book—GOOD! This kind of information should not be scattered at random as it is too special.

 

 

Now he wasn’t actually christened or given the birth name of Handsome Jack, in fact many of you will know him by his ‘real world’ name John Lovick. Handsome Jack is the delightfully quirky alter ego of the scholarly and rather serious Mr. Lovick. They are a mighty fine pair of magicians!

I’m not saying that Jack isn’t handsome, but it sure gets a huge laugh when he walks out after being introduced as the Castle’s resident sex symbol. In many ways it is quite difficult to fully define what ‘H.J.’s character really is all about. It is self-depreciating and carefully considered, all at the same time. I’m going to revert to the word I used before quirky.

I have also been really enjoying John Lovick’s ‘Switch.’ It is an encyclopedic and scholarly study of dollar bill switches, and a goldmine to someone like myself who makes a living largely through the $100 Bill Switch. Like Richard’s recent book, it combines the author’s insights with wonderful contributions from his illustrious friends and colleagues. Fabulous information.

 

 

 

Most recently, I have been glued to David Regal’s ‘Approaching Magic’ book. Wow, what a great read! I have been a huge fan of David’s work, ever since reading the Harry Lorayne book describing his earliest routines many years ago. His ideas just keep getting better and even more commercial as the years go by.

‘Approaching Magic’ contains great tricks, good advice, fabulous theory and some great comedy lines! What more could you hope for in a book? It is going to be my travel companion for many months to come, and then take a position of pride in my bookshelf right next to Ron Wilson, Billy McComb and Mr. Scryer’s work! I have no higher praise.

If you want to reward yourself with a treat, go to David’s website www.regalmagic.com and order a signed copy for a (currently) discounted rate of $60. You will thank me for the tip—and so will your audiences!

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‘Michael Finney’s Dry Heat Classic Heat 2001’

•July 13, 2012 • 1 Comment

Everyone in the magic world knows what a gem we have in our midst with Michael Finney. He is a brilliant comedy magician, a true patriot and a philanthropist, and also performs the funniest rope routine in magic! As promised in my last blog, I want to take the time this week to tell you about a project that is near and dear to his heart.

In the past 15 years ‘The Michael Finney Foundation’ has nurtured the ‘Dry Heat Classic from modest beginnings and transformed it into one of the countrie’s most eagerly anticipated charity events. Michael Finney is Arizona’s master comedian magician and he has added magic to the lives of all the people who have been affected by his tirelessly philanthropic nature.

As a result of Michael’s foundation, over $900,000 has been donated to a variety of worthwhile charities in the last 15 years. This isn’t how much money was raised, but is how much cash has actually ended up going to assist needy children. Every donation of $6000 can provide open-heart surgery for a child, surgery that would normally cost $150,000. That is an amazing amount of lives touched and transformed, and each year the numbers keeps increasing.

The recipients from ‘The Dry Heat Classic 2012’ charity golf tournament also include ‘Gift of Life,’ ‘Operation Smile,’  ‘Wounded Warriors’ and ‘The Arizona Spinal Cord Injury Association’—a chapter of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. The ‘Dry Heat’s’ sweet sixteen celebration will spread some very sweet relief to a wide range of excellent causes during the year ahead.

At the heart of the foundation, and supervising every step of the tournament, are Michael and his multi-talented wife Lori SooHoo Finney. Together they have developed an unbeatable format for making ‘The Dry Heat Classic’ a highlight event for all their attendees. There formula is simple, they do it by throwing a great three-day party where golf, fine food and world-class entertainment are blended together into an irresistible package.

I had the pleasure of taking part in the ‘Dry Heat’ two years ago and can tell you first hand just how much fun it is. If you have the chance to attend I can promise you an event you will never forget. Whether you attend for the golf, the magic or the comedy you are in for a treat.

The beautiful ‘Wild Horse Pass Hotel and Casino’ and the ‘Whirl Wind Golf Course’ are the location of the ‘Dry Heat Classic’ and they are the perfect place to house an event of this nature, making a superb base for every aspect of the activities. They comprise a perfect blend of design, location and spirit, which elegantly highlights each facet of the three-day celebration.

One of America’s most sought after stand-up performers, Finney persuades many of his best friends in the world of comedy, magic, sports and entertainment to join him each year for this special event. In fact the various shows that accompany the tournament have become so popular that a special package is now available for non-golfers who just want to attend the fine dining and entertainment events.

A multi-award winning magician, Michael succeeds in presenting many of the world’s most prestigious magical entertainers during his gala events. This year is no exception and the tournament is hosting a special tribute to one of magic’s most iconic teams, the legendary, Mark and Nani Wilson. As stars of groundbreaking network TV series, such as the ‘Magic Land of Allakazam’ Mark and Nani’s live and television appearances have been a huge influence to entire generations of magicians.  Mark and Nani will be accompanied at the tournament by their son Greg and his beautiful wife Ayako.

During the festivities, guests of honor Mark and Nani Wilson will be joined onstage by such magical notables as; Steven Bargatze, Mike Douglas, Kenton Knepper, Max Krause, Fielding West, Greg Wilson, Larry Wilson, Ken Scott, Luna Shimada, and Brad Zinn. The magic featured will be world class and unique in its breadth and scope. From dazzling close-up miracles to stunning full-scale illusions, there are guaranteed to be gasps of amazement throughout.

Adding laughter to the shows will be a host of comedians familiar to television viewers.  Adding comedic pizzazz to the event are funnymen; Nate Bargatze, Bruce ‘Babyman’ Baum, David Gee, Denny Johnston, Jack Mayberry, Tom McTigue, John Mendoza, and the emotional and highly anticipated return to the ‘Dry Heat’ by the beloved comedy team O’Brien & Valdez. A host of other celebrities from the sporting and entertainment world will also be in attendance.

From July 26th to the 28th, the stars will be shining as brightly inside ‘The Wild Horse Hotel and Casino’ as in the desert skies above the resort. Best of all, when the party winds down, there will be a wonderful residual benefit, another sizeable contribution to some truly deserving charities. Congratulations to Michael and Lori are in order for the wonderful job they do year after year with this event.

For registration and full details of ‘The Dry Heat Classic’ click on their website at www.dryheatclassic.com

If you want to check out my website go to www.nicklewin.com

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Magnificent Magic at the Magic Castle.

•July 6, 2012 • Leave a Comment

I spent two nights at the Magic Castle last week and was rewarded by seeing some World Class magic and a new Magic Castle tradition that is shaping up to revolutionize the already magic nights at the world’s greatest magic club. I was delighted to spend some of this time at the Castle with visiting Aussie magicians Steve Walker, Peter Rodgers and Graham Etherington. Let me take the time this week to share these events with our Magic New Zealand readers.

The Palace of Mysteries was lucky enough to act as home to two of my favorite magic acts last week. By the huge reaction from magicians and laypeople alike I am not alone in my admiration for Michael Finney and Jason Andrews. They are two very different performers who are both at the top of their fields and combined with opening act Mystina they totally rocked the house.

At 25 years old, Jason Andrews is developing into one America’s most elegant and accomplished manipulative magicians. With over 25 International Awards to his credit, Jason is fast becoming one of the most in-demand performers on the scene. His ‘Contemporary Classic’ act was on display at the Castle and it is the freshest and most entertaining show of its kind since Lance Burton first took the magic world by storm.

What sets Andrews apart from his contemporaries is more than just his easy combination of charm, skill and talent. Jason has mastered the all too rare ability to add a vulnerability and accessibility to his performance that gives him an instant appeal. His facial expressions and self-depreciating manner, as he shares his miracles with an audience is quite unique. In this regard he reminds me a little of the young Fred Kaps and this is as high praise as I know how to give.

Anchoring the show and providing more laughs per minute than would normally be expected from any three performers rolled into one, was the inimitable Michael Finney. Not only does Michael have a perfectly crafted comedy line for every situation, but he also has the timing of a true master as he delivers them. The jokes and lines are great but he also gets huge reactions by his looks, takes and mugging. Not many performers can get a roar of laughter just by scrunching their face up—Finney can and does!

I was excited to hear from Michael that this year his annual ‘Dry Heat Classic’ charity golf tournament, is going to be dedicated to magical treasures and icons Mark and Nani Wilson. The ‘Dry Heat’ has become one of the most prestigious gatherings of comedians, magicians and entertainers on the top-rung charity circuit. It will take place in Phoenix July 26th-28th and in next weeks column I am planning to give more details about the event and the performers taking part in the ‘Mark and Nani Wilson Tribute. If you are a golfer or a lover of fine food and entertainment it is not to be missed!

I made a repeat visit to the Castle to catch the special show in the ‘Peller Theatre’ this week. ‘The Peller’ is fast becoming the hottest ticket in the Castle on Friday-Sunday nights. It is a jewel box of a theatre that boasts a two-act format, which is becoming a showcase for some highly unique magical performances.

Rather than just having the entertainers appearing back to back, the recent trend has been for the performers to blend their talents into something unique and special. Recent weeks have featured shows that have been rated as Castle highlights by people whose opinions I trust. I was determined not to miss last week’s appearance by Shoot Ogawa and his magical mentor Mashiro Yanagida. It was very definitely worth the visit.

The ‘tag –team’ performance by these masterful performers was a joy to behold. The obvious bond and respect between them created a synergy that made for great magic and strong theatre. It was a non-stop 45 minutes of magical delights that were made all the more special by the fact that the program had so obviously been designed and constructed for just this occasion. The show was charming and delighted the audience from start to finish.

My congratulations to Jack Goldfinger who is working hard to nurture this gem of a theatre and use it to create something new and different. Sometimes the Castle can seem a little static when performers present the same show on each appearance. This combining of talents is a great addition for members and guests alike and I hope it continues and expands throughout the club.

In fact, I loved the combo-performance in the ‘Peller Theatre’ so much that I had to revamp plans for my upcoming engagement there! I am booked in the ‘Peller’ from July 13th-15th with the one and only Joe Monti, and I realized that we should do something different! Joe was game for it and we are going to cook up something special in our ‘Three Day Only’ special engagement. We have entitled the show ‘We’re no Angels!’ and I suspect it will make my first Castle engagement in 27 years very special for me.  I will also be lecturing on the July 15th—-so come visit if you can and say “Hi.”

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Some reflections on Finger Ring Linking!

•June 30, 2012 • 2 Comments

It is with a great sigh of relief and also pride that I have concluded the one-year project of releasing my ‘Ultimate Linking Finger Ring Routine’ today. The book is written, edited, illustrated and published. The CD is recorded and re-produced. The DVD is filmed, edited, mastered and burned. It was a true labor of love.

It was a lot of work, to try and do full justice to describing this eleven-minute chunk from my show. However, it has taken me over 35 years to get this trick right and I was determined to take the time and effort to do it right. This particular piece of magic has done very well for me and I wanted to repay it in kind.

The trick was the brainchild of the fine magician, dedicated practical joker and famous bandleader Richard Himber. Or was it? There has always been a powerful current of opinion from knowledgeable magicians that it was actually created by mathematically genius magician Persi Diaconis. I suspect it was something of collaboration, but Mr. Himber’s name was the one that was firmly attached to it from the start.

The first time I heard about this effect was when I was a kid, and magicians described (in almost hushed voices) the reaction to it when the great Al Koran performed it. Sadly, I never got to witness Koran presenting it. In fact I never saw anyone perform it before I added it to my show. There were very few routines in print in those days and after reading all of the ones that were available in the Magic Castle library, I then created my own from scratch. I had hated all the ones I had read!

The reason I wanted to perform the trick was simple; Marvyn (Mr. Electric) Roy told me that I should! When I was 21 years old I worked a gig with the awesome Marvyn and Carol Roy and during a late night breakfast at Denny’s, Marvyn created an entire act for me that consisted of linking things together. I was to become ‘Link Lewin’ (not a bad name actually) and the centerpiece of this show was to be the Himber Linking Finger Rings.

Well, I never created an entire ‘linking’ show or changed my name to Link, but the seed was sown and I was determined to perform this trick. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. There are few tricks in magic that create the emotional response that the Linking Finger Rings do. I had been introduced to an effect that would shape my entire magical career.

The two things I was determined to make central to my routine were that I would never use a plant to loan me a ring and that I would never link just three rings. The more I looked at the routine the more I realized that ‘borrowing’ a phony ring from a stooge in the audience was not the way to create the true miracle that was possible with the effect.

The trouble with using a stooge is that people talk (especially after an effect like this) and if you link just three rings then all the attention is on the center ring. I wanted to perform the effect anytime, anywhere and give the appearance of freely linking four or five rings in a chain before having them examined. I still believe these are two vital points for the performer to overcome in presenting this effect.

The routine was originally created and shaped during my Magic Castle performances in the 70s. It was also the key to my first national television appearance on ‘The Merv Griffin Show’ in 1979. Two years later I was asked to perform it for Orson Welles during the star studded Hollywood Foreign Press tribute to Mr. Welles. That remains one of the most memorable engagements of my career.

Since then I can only guess how many times I have linked and unlinked spectators finger rings. I was even nominated for an ACE award for its presentation of it on a Cable Television appearance. I have performed it in clubs, bars and theaters until it became the most vital single ingredient in my act. One tiny ring!

As I slow down from my crazed performing days, I am now excited to see if I can capture the essence of this routine and pass it on to other performers. It took me a year to do it (along with my brilliant graphic designer friend—Steve Mitchell) and now I am excited to know I have succeeded: I am even more excited to see what other performers can add to the mix when they perform it. I have also booked my first Magic Castle date in 28 years from July13th-15th in the Peller Theatre. This will bring a circle to completion when I perform the Linking Finger Rings there again. This semi-retirement thing looks like being fun!

I have recently taken some ‘time out’ to create a couple of new web sites, one of them just for magicians. I am uploading some really cool video of conversations with master magicians taken from my 90s Las Vegas interview show ‘The Entertainment Files.’ Currently featured is an interview with Mac King. Interviews with other magic icons such as Max Maven, Lance Burton and Jeff McBride will follow.

Please check out the sites by logging into www.nicklewin.com and bookmark it to catch the updates. I think you will enjoy them.

 

 

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