Magic by Gosh!

•May 3, 2010 • 2 Comments

Albert Goshman re-invents the dinner show.

In a community crowded with ‘one of a kind’ individuals nobody has ever come close to replacing Albert Goshman. I first met Goshman at the Magic Castle outside the Close-up Gallery. It was Friday lunchtime and I had just finished performing my show. Proudly featured in my performance was Ken Brooke’s sponge ball routine. I was using the set of ‘Goshman Sponges’ that I had purchased a few years before in London.

After the show Albert stopped me as I passed by and said, “Those sponge balls aren’t clean enough to make someone hold. Buy some new ones!”

In England genuine Goshman sponge balls were not only expensive but also hard to find. The tendency was to use them as long as possible. The moment I thought about it I knew Goshman was right. I mention this story because it might just make me the only magician ever to be chided by Albert on the topic of personal appearance!

The most amazing thing about Goshman was the difference in how his magic looked and how he looked. The magic was neat, smart, organized and a joy to behold. Albert on the other hand consistently looked a mess! He always looked as rumpled as an unmade bed dressed in clothes that needed dry cleaning a week ago!  Albert really liked his food and he was a messy eater, it was easy to track his meals for the day by the trail of the stains on his clothing! When at the Castle performing in the dining room Albert was a frequent visitor back in the kitchen area where he ate a ‘progressive’ supper.

One evening Albert was hired to entertain a group of VIP’s in the Houdini room. The event planner wanted to impress her guests and let it be known that she wanted Goshman to look his very best for the group. In fact she paid a premium to ensure that this would be the case. Albert’s wife packaged him of the Castle in a spotless tuxedo and even a pair of gloves to keep his hands clean. He looked as elegant and sophisticated as anyone could remember seeing him. The event planner, aware of Albert’s natural tendencies, even came up with a plan to keep him looking that good. The Maitre ‘D and kitchen staff had all been visited and cash had changed hands to ensure that no food would be given to Albert prior to showtime. Albert was not happy about this.

When it came time for his show, an immaculate and stain-free Albert Goshman, sat down in the Houdini room behind a freshly polished saltshaker and as always wowed the crowd with his brilliant close-up show. The event planner sat in the back of the room delighted that her plan had worked so well. However, just prior to Albert’s rising cards routine, he made direct eye contact with the party planner and proceeded to pull a large beef rib from his inside jacket pocket! Never breaking eye contact with the astounded party planner he ate a few bites of the rib and then casually replaced it in his pocket before proceeding to finish his show. Game, Set and Match to Goshman!

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A Chance of a lifetime for a select few,

•April 29, 2010 • Leave a Comment

Well, I have spent a thrilling few weeks traveling around in Europe dodging volcanic ash. I am sorry to have missed a week (did anyone notice?) but things were really chaotic.

When I return to Las Vegas I am putting into effect the next stage of my career. I have traveled enough and done enough shows for this lifetime! I’ve been very lucky to enjoy the blessing of two of the greatest mentors in comedy magic: Ken Brooke and Billy McComb.

I have also worked full time in magic for 40 years and it is becoming time to think about retiring somewhat from performing and expand upon my writing, teaching and videos. It is time to upload my knowledge, however, I plan to do so in a rather unusual and unique manner.

During my 40 years I have performed for Presidents and Royalty,opened for major stars, made over 60 television appearances, had my own on-man show in Las Vegas for five years (the very first,) had a TV and radio series, won awards, headlined in the VERY best comedy clubs for 16 years, worked the classiest cruise ships afloat, made a ton of money in corporate work and made a wonderful living while still finding time to raise a great family.

I have been very lucky, however, if you think it is all luck then you are asleep and dreaming! Billy McComb referred to me as “Nick Lewin my mate, who makes the big bucks!” I am now going to be releasing the information that has made this a reality. I am going to be selective though and I do not want to dilute this information by tossing it out to freely.

I am beginning with a series of seminars on the ‘Multiplying Martinis,’The ‘Himber Linking Finger Rings’ and the ‘Elmsley Newspaper Tear.’

These three tricks are at the heart of the act that has kept me working and making money for many years. All of them can be found somewhere in some form, but what I am offering is a hands on A-Z personal coaching. I will cover details that people who have written books on these tricks know nothing about. I can cut the learning curve of anyone wanting to make money and work as a comedy magician by a decade! We are talking more than tricks here.

This Spring I am giving a seminar in Las Vegas on the ‘Multiplying Martinis’ that will assure those attending an effect they can close shows with for the rest of their lives. Please contact me if you are really interested in what I am offering. As my favorite philosopher once said, “I have really good leather, if you want to make shoes.”

Some of my routines will only include TV performing rights for my early students. Other routines will be offered more freely to a larger market. I am going to accept a handful of students who want to learn

from my experience and use it to make a fine living. I am going to help them with act development and introducing them into work that I have been performing. I have always kept a low profile in the magic world because performing for magicians doesn’t pay the bills. Now I am ready to tip the real work.

I have been very impressed with Jeff McBride’s Mystery School. He has it right. I plan to work with smaller groups and customize their curriculum. Please do not be offended if I chose not to work with you,

I am much more interested in getting it right than in big numbers. It is not within everyone’s ability to be a professional comedy magician.

Comedy is not easy, but believe me “Funny is Money!”

Please contact me if you are interested in knowing more. My email is

Nicklewin1@mac.com or nicklewin@aol.com

And I will look forward to hearing from serious candidates for what I have to offer. It will be Work, but it will also be fun and you will have the ability to end up with a real act, not just a series of tricks. You will also learn how to market it and make it profitable.

If this is not something that is of interest to you personally please forward this column to someone who will benefit from itVery best wishes, Nick Lewin.

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The next Evolution of Magical Performance.

•April 14, 2010 • 4 Comments

I have recently written enthusiastic reviews of several magical productions that focus on short, focused appeal to essentially non-magician audiences. I am speaking of Monday Night Magic and Magical Nights in New York. In Las Vegas we have the highly successful show ‘Steve Dacri: In your Face,’ and Jeff McBride’s monthly extravaganza ‘Wonderground.’ I am yet to visit Boston’s ‘Mystery Lounge’ but my daughters rave about it and I can’t wait to attend their Tuesday night show.

Living in Las Vegas it is impossible not to notice the notice the sudden drop in the status and number (and numbers!) of magic shows on and around the strip. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that the luster has vanished in magic shows quicker than a dove into Lance’s tail suit. Ah, I haven’t even mentioned the loss of Lance to the Vegas list of landmarks—because I suspect he will be back as quickly as he wants to. However, I also  figure the poor guy needs a break for a while.

We are left with Criss Angel, who is considered by most residents as an embarrassment, and has had Cirque pull out their dancers from the show. In all fairness I have heard from many people that the Cirque element of the show was the weakest in their never-ending empire. Let’s be honest how many more Russian circus acts, pretending to be French Canadian can there be? They must run out eventually!

There are plenty of small ‘Four Wall’ magic shows that appear and disappear faster than Scarlett can throw a left hook. However, it is a long, sadway from the heyday of magic in the Neon City. I am tempted to say that magic really went into a hospice situation the day they removed the ‘Siegfried & Roy’ sign from the center of the strip. It was replaced by a billboard for the late Danny Gans and seemed to signal the start of the new era. Nowadays the only non ‘Cirque de Same’ shows seem to be dominated by impressionists and hypnotists. I think it is a shame, but then I’m a magician.

Maybe we had better start thinking of some well executed single night magic shows aimed at the general public. The Magic Castle has always proven an exception to all assumed rules about magic, a lot of this has to do with the brilliant Tom Sawyer ‘whitewashing the wall’ approach that Milt brilliantly built into the very roots of his brainchild. There really is no other performance venue capable of a seven day a week market.

Now, while this may seem a rather negative view of the magical state of the union, I really don’t think it is. I remember in the late seventies when my wife Susan and I co-opted the ‘Laugh Stop’ in Orange County (maybe the first one week/stay in a condo comedy club) and changing it every Monday night into the ‘Magic Stop’ We carefully replaced the pictures of comedians that adorned the walls with magic posters. We added two close-up tables and it became quite a success. In fact this once a week experiment developed fairly directly into the ‘Magic Island,’ which was owned by the same businessman.

Comedy Clubs came into being nationwide in a big scale in the early 80s when club owners realized they could replace a relatively expensive band, who needed lighting and sound boards, with a comic, a microphone and a spotlight. Plus they could clear the house and get two (or sometimes three) sets of paying customers a night. It was good business and blossomed spectacularly until the cycle played out. That is the nature of the entertainment business, just slightly more cyclic than the seasons!

There is not the same large-scale interest in magic that there was in comedy, mostly because we don’t get the TV exposure. However I believe it would be considerably more beneficial for our art form if there were more cities that featured ‘professional’ regular magic nights in established venues. It would also give the potential pros a chance to perform in front of real audiences, instead of inside the totally unrealistic hierarchy of a local magic club.

This would do some good in fact, because it would force the local magical collective to distinguish between real people magicians and magician magicians. It would give a new prospective on the local magic group and teach them more about the actual practicalities of performing professional magic than any amount of lectures where they sit around nodding sagely in agreement as they are told that it is entertainment that matters most. Actually it is the combination of the entertainment factor and good strong magic, but that’s another story, Or in the words of Buddy Young Jr; “Don’t get me started……”

I see signs of the green buds of a new beginning in the magic world. Think small but think quality, and realize that the coma in which magic has arrived in Las Vegas (except the irrepressible Amazing Johnathan!) might be the start of something better for regular high quality magic shows in cities across the country. This is what formed the comedy boom that created a tidal wave through nightclubs/discos in the 80’s, and there are lessons to be learned from that era.

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Thoughts on the Evolution of Learning

•April 12, 2010 • Leave a Comment

In a recent column I pondered about the various merits involved in learning magic from a book or by watching a DVD. I had a lot of interesting email on the piece and decided that I would return to the subject at a future date. What I hadn’t expected was that within a month of writing the column I would have received a couple of life lessons on the topic.

Like many other performers I have recently been spending a fair amount of time debating how to package some of my routines and market them within the magic world. I was reluctantly reaching the conclusion that a series of DVDs was the best solution and that in special cases I would augment the video with the written word.

I recently had the pleasure to work with the British mindreader Marc Paul on an exotic cruise run to the outer reaches of Norway. Let me immediately say what an impressive performer Marc is, his clean cut and carefully planned act was a delight. I will look forward to writing a full-scale review of this superb performer in the near future however at this point I want to concentrate on just one area that Marc introduced me too. That very twenty first century phenomena called an eBook entered my life.

I did own a couple of fairly ‘geeky’ eBooks hidden away in the documents folder of my computer’s hard drive but they certainly hadn’t prepared me for the excitement I felt when I realized the possibilities that learning magic from an eBook presented. I discovered that state of the art delivery and a perfect learning tool now existed.

Marc Paul has a series of really excellent routines available in PDF form via his website and I read them all with interest. Here are a string of first class effects that are worth their weight in gold to a pro and they are available instantly as a downloadable whim. With Marc’s routines it was the simplicity that caught my attention. There was exactly enough text and photos to teach the routines precisely as Marc performs them in his show.  No waste and no padding! I strongly suggest any other magicians with an eye for strong mental material check out Marc’s website at http://www.marcpaul.com

Marc gave me a crash course in the various state of the art eBooks that are available. As I watched Michael Close’s newest publication ‘Closely Guarded Secrets’ I literally gasped when I observed the grace and economy with which complicated ideas and routines could be communicated. This book’s style of mixing written word, photography and video was very definitely something special. I realized that this was the learning curve of the future and have since started work on preparing a series of comedy magic routines in this format.

About two weeks after my discovery of the gigantic potential involved in downloadable PDF files, I was working in Las Vegas filling in for Mac King at Harrah’s. I received a call from Jeff McBride who along with Eugene Burger were bringing their current Mystery School class to see my show. Jeff asked if I would mind doing a short Q & A with the group after the show. I replied that I would be delighted.

On the appointed afternoon Jeff and his group were in the audience and after the show we regrouped for our discussion. During the following hour I was amazed and impressed at the amount of information that I shared with the group. It was a crash course in how live interaction can extract information that can’t exist on any written page.

Of course this didn’t just happen automatically. Jeff had made a list of questions to ask me that cut to the very heart of the performance of comedy magic. Eugene added a couple of fascinating topics to the mix and before I knew it I was able to really express some truly valuable insight to the group. This was a perfect example of how the old-fashioned ‘one on one’ school of teaching and mentoring could not be beaten as a learning tool.

It is as easy to forget the importance of the traditional styles of learning, as it is to fail to notice the new methods that technology has presented us with. One thing that remains very clear to me is that in any learning situation the most important thing you can do is to ask the right questions. In fact if you ask the wrong questions it really doesn’t matter what answers you receive. High-tech or low-tech we are now presented with a myriad of ways to learn and it is our job to balance our forms of input and then to put the resulting information into application. Nothing is really learned until it is put into application.

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Musing on Cruising. A consumer’s report.

•April 9, 2010 • 1 Comment

I have just finished most of Leg 6 on the Queen Mary 2. It seems a good moment to contemplate on the state and art of cruising. There must be very few industries where prices are lower now than they were 20 years ago. Cruising is one of them. Now you still need a pretty serious bank account to take a 90 day cruise with Cunard but the necessity of being ‘Upper Crust’ as Virgin Airlines describe it, with the casual dry wit they have always employed, is no longer such an important factor.

Generally speaking cruising has become less invested in an outdated class system than by the choice of the Cruise Line that most suits your lifestyle. The key factor is still really all about location, location, location; and destination, destination, destination. The cabin you choose can dramatically affect the price you pay for a cruise.

Would you rather have a small inside cabin on a more expensive ship or a larger cabin with a balcony on one of the many newer style ships: or to be more precise larger ships. How much time will you be spending in your cabin? With a larger cabin, room service and a comfortable balcony you may never want to leave it; is your goal the ports of call that your voyage takes you to.

The trend towards gigantic ships has lowered prices dramatically. Fresh on the heels of the worldwide financial downturn, which hit the cruise industry just as the devastating effects of the 9/11 attack were starting to be resolved. Ships are designed, planned and ordered  many years in advance, and there are currently just too many cabins available and in need of filling.

The cruise industry was giddy with delight in the late 80s/early 90s with the figures that showed only a tiny percentage of the population had taken a cruise vacation. They may have got a little carried away. One of the next large cruise ships to be brought into service will carry 6000 passengers, and that same line already has 21 ships in service. These are heady numbers and are resulting in discounting of tickets on a large scale if you are prepared to book your trip close to the departure. A little flexibility can cut your costs in half.

The general theory was that by lowering ticket prices a huge influx of passengers would be attracted to the notion of booking a cruise for the first time. Where the theory went of course was in assuming that these same passengers would spend the money they had saved on their ticket price on onboard services. Many of them didn’t and suddenly the industry was giving away  cabin on a cruise ship for less than the price of a modest hotel room.

Some of the smaller ‘uber deluxe’ lines which were all inclusive, free alcohol and no tipping seem to have been worst hit.The smaller lines are now being hit with the problem that because of their cost passengers realize they can get a wonderful suite on a newer ship, pay for their own alcohol, tip the staff and still find an enormous amount of extra cash in their pockets. These smaller luxury lines are now having to make cuts in their budget that any discriminative cruiser will notice.

Onboard the Queen Mary 2, all the entertainers performed one show using their ‘A’ material On a recent trip on a ‘Silverseas’ ship, I performed three 55 minute shows. alternating with ‘mini’ production shows that were performed on a stage that was so small that the overall impression was of a high-school production performed in your living room. The passengers on these ships are pretty savvy business people and I was astonished by amount of passengers who spotted the shrinking of the budget. When you spend $1000 a day, but could be on another ship for $100 a day, you begin to wonder such things.

However, every industry has been hit by recent events, and I suspect the inherent ‘recognition factor’ of a line like Cunard that has kept it’s standards high, will keep their cabins filled with happy passengers looking for a little nostalgia in their mode of travel. I am just as sure that a line such as Royal Caribbean International will weather the waves of future economic changes with their ice skating, rock climbing, water surfing giants of the sea will attract plenty of passengers who want to explore these new elements on a cruise vacation.

My only thought is that eventually these ships will get so big that it becomes easier to leave them anchored in the Caribbean and ‘tug’ the islands to the ships! One thing I am certain of is that this singular industry will find a way to fill their ships and make a happy profit again. In the meantime there are bargains galore and with a little surfing (on the Internet!) and flexibility in planning your vacation, the perfect cruise is waiting out there for you to arrive.

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A work of pure stunning genius!

•April 8, 2010 • Leave a Comment

HERE LIES LOVE

I have never taken time on my blog to plug an album, however, this is a work of sheer genius. It takes a couple of times to get the mood of the piece straight, but you won’t regret it. Download it now. Living proof that there is still art left in the music industry!

David Byrne and Fatboy Slim have paired up for Here Lies Love, a 22-track song cycle about the life of former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos and her childhood servant, Estrella Cumpas. Due April 6 on Todomundo/Nonesuch Records, the album includes two CDs of music, a DVD with six videos, and a 120-page hardcover book detailing the project and a DVD. In addition to Byrne and Fatboy Slim, Here Lies Love features performances by Santigold, Florence Welch (Florence + The Machine), Sia, Steve Earle, St. Vincent, Natalie Merchant, Tori Amos, Sharon Jones, Nicole Atkins and many others. Along with the recording, The Public Theater in New York City is developing a theatrical version of Here Lies Love for a future production.

Here Lies Love came into being when Byrne approached Norman Cook (a.k.a. Fatboy Slim) about collaborating after reading of Marcos’ affinity for the clubs and discos of the late 1970s and early 1980s. “The world of a royal court [is] surreal and, to my sensibilities, very theatrical,” Byrne notes, “but now there was an added soundtrack!” Byrne further elaborates: “The story I was interested in was that of Imelda’s rise alongside the tragic parallel story of Estrella, the woman who raised her as a child. I felt that this story was more universal, revealing and profound than that of the shoes—which anyway weren’t discovered until the mobs descended upon the Manila palace after the Marcoses fled. For me the Marcoses’ departure from the palace was the end of the story.”

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Magic doesn’t get much better organized than this!

•April 7, 2010 • 4 Comments

I recently had the pleasure of performing at the legendary ‘Monday Night Magic’ in New York. What a pleasure it was to be incorporated into one of magic’s most successful events. I have been trying to include this event into my schedule for many years and finally the stars aligned perfectly.

An added bonus to my visit was that I got to stay with Peter Samelson, this was a two man magic convention all on it’s own. Peter is a really accomplished and thoughtful magician who is quite unique in the attention to detail and subtleties he brings to his art. I suspect we could have chatted magic for many more nights without any significant break in the conversation.

Peter picked me up on Sunday morning at Port Liberty cruise terminal in New Jersey, which was well beyond any call of duty. To pick up a disembarking passenger at this port requires, patience, dedication, several cell phones and a great deal of luck. Fortunately we seemed to be blessed with all the above.

I visited the ‘Magical Nights’ at the Legendary ‘Feinstein’s at Loews Regency’’ that first evening and got my first taste of the careful planning and minute attention to details that have made such a success of this event well as ‘Monday Night Magic.’ No wonder their success has been as extended and thorough as it has.

‘Feinstein’s’ boasted an audience as sophisticated as any I have ever seen. Neil Sedaka was in the audience with his grandchildren enjoying the perfect family entertainment. The pre-show close up by David Condon and Peter Samelson was superb, it was wonderful to see the process of table-to-table close up turned into an art form. In fact I couldn’t resist working a table or two myself and was delighted to find I hadn’t lost my touch at this delicate and delightful style of magic.

The stage show opened with the astounding sword swallowing of Todd Robbins. To be absolutely honest I didn’t quite believe it was all totally genuine or I might have been a lot less happy watching, being of a slightly squeamish nature! His dry humor added greatly to a unique performance. The headliner that night was Asi Wind  who performed some highly original and totally baffling magic and mentalism, the show was very tightly constructed and the crowd loved it; so did I. The entire event was a home run!

The following day Peter took me to visit Charles Reynolds and his lovely wife Regina. We men happily talked magic while poor Regina was toiling away at the tax returns in a back room. It didn’t seem fair, but I suspect it is a scenario being enacted in many a magician’s home!

We then drove to the Bleecker Street Theatre for ‘Monday Night Magic’ and my part in the proceedings began. The theatre was just perfect for a magic show with not a bad seat in the house. The technical staff was not only helpful and friendly but also really great at their craft. It was a smooth, professional production that really showed of the performers at their best.

I certainly wasn’t surprised at the quality of the show, in fact by now I really expected it. The amount of phone calls and communication that goes on between the producers to ensure quality control and smooth sailing was astounding.

The show began at 8:00pm and was hosted by Todd who again showed his skill as both a performer and an M.C. He began by introducing David Oliver from Boston, whose comedy and magic struck a giant chord with the audience and he received a well-deserved ovation for his performance.

The fine comedy juggling of Michael Dubois closed out the first half of the show on a really high note. He is a performer who is going places—remember his name. During the evening Michael Chaut performed some top-notch close up, which had his audience amused, confused and amazed. Michael seems to have the highly desirable ability to combine the mind of a business and the sensibility of a fine performer, a very nice combination indeed. Michael was ably assisted in the close-up section of the show by the performances of David Condon and Prakash. The second half of the show consisted of yours truly, performing my stand-up comedy and sleight of hand magic show. I had a blast and the audience seemed to enjoy the proceedings as much as I did, which is saying a lot.

If this sounds like a rave review—it is! The brainchild of Michael Chaut and co-producers; Peter Samelson, Todd Robbins, Jamy Ian Swiss and Frank Brents, is something very special. Maybe it is because they are all such skilled performers themselves that they seem to instinctively understand the right moves. They collectively succeed in presenting magic as a true art form, sophisticated but friendly, and have created something very special.

If you are visiting New York and fail to visit these shows, you are missing the best that magic has to offer, both onstage and behind the scenes. Bravo to all concerned, I was proud and honored to be part of the proceedings.

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The Always Amazing Johnathan

•March 18, 2010 • 1 Comment

I realized recently that it had been way too long since I caught the Amazing Johnathan show. This decision was possibly related to the opening of the newest franchise of ‘Pink’s’ hot dog stand on the Vegas Strip, located on the sidewalk in front of the Hollywood Planet Hotel.

To those in the know ‘Pink’s’ is a legend among hot dog lovers, and best of all, is just a short hop from the Magic Castle in Hollywood. At 2:00AM there are lines that form a block long to buy the best chili dog in the world, I realize this is a bold statement, however I will fight to the bitter end any debate or disagreement with this statement. Their hot dogs are messy, greasy, sloppy and unbelievably enjoyable  which is pretty much the case with the Amazing Johnathan’s show.

While Johnathan’s show may, like ‘Pink’s, be a tad low on the magical nutritional level, it is quite simply one of the funniest entertainments on the strip. It is living proof what can be achieved by a Road Warrior in his prime. There is also a surprisingly high degree of structure involved in the gags, bits, comedy and shtick that comprises his show. As a performer, I LOVE structure, and all the more when it isn’t paraded on the surface. Over the years, Johnathan has made his act tighter than most ten-minute silent manipulative acts even dream of.

I have seen ‘Amazing’ perform in all of his Las Vegas showrooms and his current home is the Harmon Theatre, which in spite of its name is less like a theatre than an ultra-cool nightclub. It has a great seating pattern and serves strong drinks. The staff all wear a custom tee-shirts that reads “F@#K YEAH,’ which perfectly sums up the spirit of the occasion.

Before the show begins, a roving video camera scours the audience and lingers on audience members just long enough to flash extremely politically incorrect statements about the ‘victim.’ The results are hysterical and get huge laughs; ‘A.J.’ knows his crowd and this is an audience that looks like it would rather catch H1N1 flu than a dose of political correctness. This way they know they are in the right place before the show even begins.

The show officially began with a ten-minute segment by Charlotte Pendragon. She began with a curious card in shoe routine, continuing with a four-ring Linking Ring routine. She closed with a sub-trunk routine, assisted by a stunning female assistant. Big props to Charlotte for being back onstage.

The Show really begins with the appearance of ‘Amazing’ and the party starts along with it. When you laugh once at Johnathan,the rest is history and you won’t stop laughing for the next 65 minutes. He can get more comic reaction from a raised eyebrow thanmost performers can with a trunk full of jokes and props. I’ve said it before and don’t hesitate in saying it again, Amazing Johnathan is the funniest comedy magician in the world, a one of a kind force of nature. If you don’t agree, you are probably the kind of person who craves a ‘Der Wienershnitzel’ hot dog as the finale to a night on the town.

I was particularly impressed by how many new one-liners and bits ‘A.J.’ had seamlessly added to his act. They were perfectly integrated into the show and kept things fresh, without changing the basic format, which works like clockwork. Sometimes it takes a great deal of wisdom not to keep tampering with something that works— until it doesn’t! I did notice that he had dropped any references or jokes about drugs in his show. As a performer, I found this very satisfactory, as their absence did nothing to detract from his impact, he just doesn’t need them.

One thing I did miss, however, was the opening segment with Psychic Tanya but I suspect that will return after Johnathan films his new TV special. The part of Psychic Tanya is played by the very talented Penny Wiggins. Penny just gets funnier and funnier each time I see her. She has the rather difficult task of playing giddy, blonde counterpoint to ‘Amazing’s’ uber macho/brash charm. I really must catch Penny’s solo comedy act ASAP as I have a definite feeling that in the very near future she will be whisked away by a TV producer for a sit-com.

What more can I say about the show, I think it is brilliant, and I would be delighted to see it again tonight. Of course, the ‘Pink’s’ chili dog wouldn’t be any handicap to that scenario! However in all honesty ‘Pink’s’ would only be the shredded cheese on top of the Vienna Dog (in a bandana) that is the Amazing Johnathan. If you haven’t seen this show it’s a must see on your next Vegas visit, unless of course you are a prude in which case Donny & Marie are at the Flamingo.

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Billy McComb: Thanks to the Godfather of Comedy Magic

•March 16, 2010 • Leave a Comment

I ultimately planned on becoming a comedy magician just after I decided not to follow in my father’s footsteps as a chartered accountant. It really wasn’t too tough a decision. I loved magic, and when it came to numbers I could make one and one add up to three quicker than a quantum physicist.

Growing up in post war England made being a comedy magician seem like a logical choice. With logic like that maybe I should have been a quantum physicist! Now, being an entertainer is my life but I have no real way of proving it.

One of the best parts about being a young magical devotee in London were all the great comedy magicians you could watch, absorb and learn from. As you are probably beginning to realize nearly everything I learned about comedy magic came from two people: Ken Brooke and Billy McComb. I don’t think you could find two better or more different teachers.

I want to take this opportunity to share some of the insights I learned from Billy McComb. They have shaped me into the performer that I finally became, after I realized I could never become Billy.

You have never seen a comedy magician take his comedy as seriously as Billy did, he gave the comedy in his act the same meticulous attention he gave his magic. Billy’s timing and delivery of a comedy monologue was that of a comedian, not just a magician with time to kill. His casual asides and offhand delivery were as precise as a Johnny Thompson dove steal.

There is no question in my mind that, but for his love of magic, Billy could have been one of England’s top comedians.  Billy has noted Jay Marshall as one of his inspirational mentor so maybe it‘s no coincidence that this same statement applies to Jay in the United States.

Before we talk about the McCombical approach to comedy, let me give you some of my ideas on comedy as it applies to magic. Having made a comfortable living for over thirty-five years performing comedy magic I’ll state one thing upfront: the comedy is tougher than the magic. It can take years to perfect a trick, but you might never learn to be funny.

There are no books that teach you the ABCs of being funny and it makes no difference how long you practice in front of a mirror. Only by performing to a live audience can you improve your laugh ratio and even with copious experience this doesn’t happen automatically. Along the way you need to take a lot of notes and then you have to put the notes into application.

If you want to save time and effort and be funny, it is much easier to be a humorous magician than to perform stand-up comedy. A humorous magician is someone who lets the situation create the comedy and then comments upon what happens.

Monologue comedy is a much more exacting mistress. A stand-up comedian chooses and uses his words with the same care a surgeon utilizes in choosing where and what he cuts.  Cut being the operative word. After fifteen years headlining in comedy clubs I can assure you the way comedian’s improve their acts is by cutting out unnecessary words.

The great Henny Youngman demonstrated this to perfection when he said: “Take my wife, please.”  He packaged a set up and punch line into just four words and ended up with a trademark joke that will live forever. Brevity is truly the source of all humor.

One thing I learned very quickly in the comedy circuit is how little respect the average magician and juggler receive from comedians. By the time I had started to learn the ropes I had begun to understand why this was the case.

Comics, generally speaking, think that magicians utilize stock lines and get away with stale material only because they have the magic to save their rear ends. It is certainly true that people tend to laugh during a magic show simply because they realize they are supposed too.I call this the “Patter Syndrome.”  Just what the heck is this thing called patter that pops up so often in magic literature? The dictionary defines it as: ‘Meaningless empty chatter: to speak rapidly and glibly or to repeat something quickly in a mechanical way. When a comedy magician wants to give a stand-up comedian a run for his money, he must throw away his ‘patter’ and in its place use words that are well chosen and conscious, and don’t even get me started on heckler stoppers!

Comedians spend a lot of time working on their character, which (believe me!) has nothing to do with improving any ungentlemanly or lady like traits. What they are doing is making sure they don’t sacrifice their performing persona just for a fast laugh. Comedy is only real, then, when you are.  Once the audience thinks that they know where you are coming from and who you are, then the comedy takes on an extra dimension.

I could go on telling you my thoughts on comedy, but I have a better idea. I want to continue by sharing some tips Billy McComb taught me over the years about performing comedy magic.  Billy had a secret prop and it is one you can’t buy in a limited edition, sterling silver version from the Joe’s Porper or Stevens.

McComb used a small digital tape recorder that fitted into his top pocket and he audiotaped almost every one of his performances. After each show he would listen carefully to the recording and make note of what worked and also how to make it work even better.

While listening to the recording Billy applied the Bob Hope rule. If there isn’t a laugh every thirty seconds then there should be.  This is one of the reasons that Billy worked well into his eighth decade and was able to open shows for Amazing Jonathan in Las Vegas into his eighties winning an audiences of crazed A.J. fanatics.  These were the kind of audiences were would give short shrift to most contemporary performers, let alone someone who looks like their grandfather.

In the age of videotape it is easy to forget how effective it is to concentrate just on your words and the audience reaction to those words.  In McComb’s case it was astounding how little you really needed the visuals while listening to his show. Billy had a simple rule, he told the audience what he was going to do, he described it as he did it and then he told them what he had done after he had done it.

Sometimes when people are laughing they don’t pay as much attention to the tricks as they might desire. This is such a simple technique that it’s almost impossible to grasp how effective it is until you try it for yourself.

One other practice that I’ve learned from Billy is keeping your jokes in a particular sequence and attaching them to specific tricks. This is a great way to keep your comedy fluent and yet consistent. It is tempting to think you can shift hunks of comedy around in your act, moving them from trick to trick. However it isn’t nearly as easy as it seems. It is much more effective to keep those comedy building blocks separate and solid.

When you get a sequence right, keep it that way. Many of Billy’s props had a list of punch lines written on them. Just knowing the list is there allowed him to relax and concentrate on his real job, which was telling jokes.  It enables you to relax and make things look effortless.

A reporter once asked movie star Gary Cooper about his technique as an actor. Cooper replied: “ Acting is great, just never get caught doing it.” It’s the same with comedy, make ‘em laugh but just don’t get caught doing it. The funniest jokes are the ones that seem to happen on their own. This is comedy 101.

Thank you, Billy. You were the Godfather of Comedy Magic. Without you I wouldn’t be the comedy magician I am today: in fact I might even have ended up as a chartered accountant, and that would have been no joke.


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Don Lawton: one of magic’s true gentlemen.

•March 9, 2010 • 4 Comments

It was my very first evening at the Magic Castle. Quite an occasion for any magician and to a twenty-one year old Brit it was very exciting indeed. I arrived at the front desk and introduced myself to the receptionist. She was very friendly and said she would page the host and have him give me a bit of a tour. I waited in front of the sliding bookcase and after a few minutes a tall gray haired gentleman wearing a tuxedo arrived and greeted me. That was the first time I met Don Lawton.

I didn’t know who Lawton was but he quickly introduced himself and told me to walk towards the bookcase and say “Open Sesame” to the small golden owl with the flashing red eyes. Once we stepped through the bookshelf/door I was astounded by the amount of people in the club. Don pointed out the “Close-up Gallery, the “Irma Room” and the steps to the Palace of Mysteries and was about to leave me to my own devices. Then he seemed to think better of it and said that if I waited till after he had introduced the next show he would give me the proper tour. I decided to wait. Five minutes after he left me, Don reappeared with a mug of beer in his hand and the tour began.

What a tour! We explored every room at the Castle including the library where Dai Vernon was sitting playing cards with two friends. Everywhere we went Don introduced me to staff and magicians alike and in ninety minutes I was made to feel as welcome as a person could ever feel. About every twenty minutes Don had to dash off and introduce a show, but he always returned with a fresh beer in his hand and picked up where he had left off. I was fully aware that he had other things to attend to but you would never have guessed it from Don’s manner. He showed a kindness and consideration for a new member that was way beyond the call of duty. He wanted my introduction to the Magic Castle to be done the right way. I later realized that this was a typical action from one of magic’s true gentlemen.

I very soon got to see Don Lawton introduce a show at the Castle and realized that this distinguished looking host was also a very funny man. I still remember the way he would stick his head through the curtains in the Close-up Gallery and say “Oh, Porter, which station is this? ” instantly letting the audience realize that the showroom really did look a lot like a Pullman coach on an old fashioned railway train. In the Palace of Mysteries Don would notice a drink in the hand of an audience member and ask if he could try a taste as he pulled out a six-foot straw! “My doctor told me to keep away from alcohol!” None of Don’s jokes sound as funny in print as they did the way he told them. The jokes were corny but there was a little glint in his eyes that let you know that not only did he realize they were corny but that was the way he liked them.

I had plenty of occasions to watch Don Lawton perform his full show at the Castle. I truly believe that I laughed just as hard at each performance. When Don started his act it only took one laugh and you were going to be laughing till the show ended. One-liners, sight gags and some very smooth magic were stacked together in such close proximity that the show had a life of it’s own. Don had mastered the art of comedy magic and every time I watched the show I learned something performing. However the fondest memory I have of my friend Don Lawton was the ninety minutes he spent making me feel at home in the Magic Castle. He really didn’t need to spend all that time but he did, he was just that kind of a person!

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