Maybe, someday, some famous magician will die that is not a close personal friend of every blogger and poster on the Internet, but I doubt it.

I never saw Tommy Winder perform live and he, sure as hell, never heard of me, but I felt some small connection with him through his L&L DVDs. I’ve often said that you don’t know the value of a book or DVD until you’ve had it for a while. Those that you revisit over and over are the true values. Visions of Wonder are in that class for me.

There is very little that I actually use from the demonstrations. His Two Cup Routine is second only to David Williamson’s, in my estimation, and there’s a sequence there that I’ll probably incorporate. Likewise, his Ambitious Card is different, effective and, actually, magical. A somewhat novel idea for most card tricks.

You don’t have to read this blog long to know how much I abhor silly premises, juvenile stories and stupid presentations under the guise of entertainment. Tommy used none of that, but was he ever entertaining! Tommy, in some respects, reminded me of Del Ray, in that there seemed to be no limit to the lengths he would go to totally knock the socks off the most sophisticated of audiences.

I’ll bet you never heard Tommy say – that just flies past a laymen. Implying that the layman was some simpleton, barely capable of wiping the drool from his chin on a good day. He was out to fool you and fool you badly. That he accomplished and it is his magical legacy and a wonderful legacy it is.

Adios, Tommy Wonder……..

Take care………

Independence Day

It’s time for my annual rant that we should just go straight from July3rd to July 5th, as our independence has dwindled to the point of nonexistence. Actually, no one seems to care anyway, so I’ll just say Have a Happy Fourth!

I seldom seem to have the time anymore to just sit down and enjoy a magic book – at least that is what I tell myself. As my oldest son is fond of saying, people make time to do the things that are important to them. He’s dead ass right.

Anyway, I spent a couple of hours today with Jim Steinmeyer’s The Conjuring Anthology. This is a compilation of the series that ran in Magic Magazine from 1992 to 2004. There are 85 effects in 75 chapters. It’s a big book of over 500 pages.

Jim Steinmeyer is considered a genius by many that know him. I don’t personally know him, but his writings reflect a great intellect.

I pulled out the April 2006 Magic interview with the author and particularly looked up the items he pointed out as his and his readers’ favorites. What a treat. The Piano Trick with apples and oranges is worth the price – and I SELDOM say that.

This is good stuff! 

Take care……… 
 

I don’t know if this thread on Stalag Fat is true or not, but the thought scares the Hell out of me. 

I think these threads are generally started to bring up some of the old venom for past transgressions, but they seldom seem to work. I’ve left no doubt what I think of this clown and the return of his holiness, would not be a good thing.

Take care……… 
 

How to tell it’s time

Today is my birthday and the older we get, the more these occasions are sad affairs, causing us to reflect on our own mortality and realizing that the time someone mercifully throws dirt in our face, is drawing ever nearer.

It’s a fact, that the men in our family tend to go totally nuts before the body gives it up. It’s damn ugly for those around them. There’s NO doubt in my mind that my father would have killed himself if he would have known the pain he caused as his mind rotted away. Not a pretty prospect at all…..

Anyway, I’ve tried to give my boys some clues to know when my time is near. Here’s the current list:

• I’m driving a Winnebago
• I’m spending time in a mall
• They hear me say, That George Bush is one clever son of a bitch
• They hear me say, those illegals are just doing jobs Americans won’t do
• I laugh at Henry or Nancy
• I listen to rap and / or Hip Hop and am not puking my guts out
• I invest in the stock market
• I think CEOs shouldn’t roast in the hottest pits in Hell

I trust they will take the necessary steps when that time comes.

This is just too easy

I generally stay away from the easy stuff, but I can’t pass this up. Here’s the latest from the infamous MagicChris:

It would be nice if the Café had a gift shop where we could buy things like a Magic Café logo sharpies,Steve Brooks bobbleheads for our cars, etc. Just a suggestion.

Write your own material. I’m not going to do all the work!

I know many of us belong to and regularly attend magic clubs. Personally, I enjoy most of the meetings and the Dick level at most clubs is fairly low, even though we must admit the government mandated minimum, I guess.

A few weeks ago, I was visiting a club and it was member performance night. To put it bluntly, many of them stunk up the room. A giant fart in a contained area. They got the requisite applause and encouragement from the other members.

I know it is damn tough to perform before other magicians, especially for the newbies, but are we doing them a disservice by encouraging terrible performances and choices of material.

I haven’t got an answer. Criticism can be so cruel, but at the same time I hate to let these people loose on the public, denigrating the word magic. 

Thoughts?

Take care………