Recently in Magic Category
(be warned, I'm about to YouTube your eyes out)
Penn & Teller were the first magicians that really caught my eye (pun intended - see below). They had a limited run on UK's Channel 4 at about the same time I was recommended "The Royal Road to Card Magic" by a magician working the floor in Harrods. Seeing them in gory, humourous action was such a departure from the stiff, well-mannered methods presented in the book. Consider the following two examples from 1994's "The Unpleasant World of Penn & Teller":
Since then, I've always kept the duo in periphery - they are perhaps most famous now for debunking all sorts of common misconceptions in their Emmy award-winning show, "Bullshit!" in the US (sadly, not available here in the UK on DVD - else I'd have 'em all). Penn also went on to host his own radio show on Free FM (archives of which can be found on PennFans.net), and his own video channel on Sony's Crackle, which unfortunately has no RSS feed at present, so I can't get it delivered which you can subscribe to in iTunes here. All this and two shows a night in Vegas.
Of course, most recently, Penn Jillette was on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars", the US-alike of our "Strictly Come Dancing" and was voted off on the second show. Here's the entirety of his performance from the first outing to the Kimmel interview and then Penn's final say.
Penn Jillette remains one of my favourite people in the world. If I ever go back to the States, I'm making a side-trip to Vegas just for the Penn & Teller show.
Last month I wrote about Prince Charles delivering a speech using modern holographic technology that hearkened back to 19th century technology - the Pepper's Ghost Illusion. Leafing through the newest edition of MAKE magazine (alas, my last subscription copy - I'm not using credit cards any longer) on magic, there's a section on a little known corner of the Google-verse called "Google Patents Search".
Why is this cool? Well, using the patent search will let you find out the inner workings of some of the older tricks around, including sawing a person in half, pulling a rabbit out of your hat, and, of course, Pepper's Ghost.
Viewing these patents with their technical drawings and explanations doesn't immediately give away any of the trickery, but it is fascinating to see both the complexities involved in some of them, as well as the simplicity of design in others.
Even if you're not that technically-minded, this quarter's edition of MAKE has some superb articles, including one entitled "Making Magic" by illusion designer John Guaghan, who has designed illusions for the likes of Siegfried and Roy and David Copperfield.
Click above or here to go to YouTube
In a strange turn of synchronicity, I happened to be reading the above article, which opens with a quote by Arthur C. Clarke just moments after I heard about his death last night. This statement certainly rings true for anyone working in IT:
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
Alison's away this evening, so I get to do things I wouldn't normally do when we're both in the lounge...
Sirius and I get to engage in a little mutual co-ordination exercise.
Click above or here to go to YouTube.
And hey! Not meaning to, I finally embed a card in the scratching post, a la Ricky Jay...
No animals were harmed during tonight's proceedings.
I only leaned in the window of the charity shop on the high street this afternoon to get a better look at the hardback copy of "Houdini on Magic". When I went in to enquire about the magic book in the window, the lady behind the counter asked "Which one? I'd like to sell them all as a set. They're somebody's life's work."
I had no idea what she was talking about, so I asked how many she had, and then she showed me. My eyes were suddenly too big for their sockets. She sold the lot to me for £20. A lot of the books are stand-alone magic tricks, published by the performing artists themselves, but there are a couple of proper books in there too. Here's what I hauled home this afternoon in a spare duty free bag:
- The Big Book of Magic by Patrick Page
- On Magic by Harry Houdini
- Open Sesame by Lewis and Tyler
- 150 Comedy Props by Patrick Page
- 100 Classic Houdini Tricks You Can Do by Dunniger
- Oriental Conjuring and Magic by Will Ayling
- Another Book by Karrell Fox
- The Great Illusionists by Edwin A Dawes
- Magic Around the Wizard's Table by Jan Torell
- The Art of Ventriloquism by George Tollerton
- Hot Heat "Fascination" by Eddie Joseph
- Handbook of Horror by Charles W. Cameron
- Vis-Ability by Val Andrews
- How To Pick Pockets by Eddie Joseph
- Flash Paper Tips by Stuart Robson and Ralph W Read
- The Professor's Nightmare by Patrick Page
- Hypnotism by Hugh Miller
- Annemann's Club Act of Magic Jinx Programme No 1
- Club 71 - Spring 1990
- Club 71 - Christmas 1990
- Club 71 - Mayday 1991
- The Theory and Practice of Hypnotism by William J Ousby
- Fire Magic by Clettis V Musson
- Card Magic by Manipulation by Lewis Ganson
- Tricks and Stunts with a Rubber Dove by Ian Adair
- The Osman Thumb Tie by Cliff Osman
- The Hindu Thread Trick by Lewis Ganson
- The Floating Bill by Michael Ammar
- Spooky Stunts with Luminous Paint
- Spook-Show-Stoppers by Val Andrews
- How To Get More Applause by Ken de Courcy
- The Bu$ine$$ of Restuarant Magic by 'Amusionist' Al The Only
- Club Gags by David Charles
- How To Make Flashes, Bangs and Puffs of Smoke by Micky Hades
- The Sorcar Collection: Nine Effects by the Great Socar of India
- Hat Loading Methods - A "Supreme Magic" Publication
- The Great Masoni Presents Showmanship Out Of the Hat
- Zombie: The Floating Ball by Lewis Ganson
- Zombie Fire Climax by Dicky Dean
- Phoa Yan Tiong's Cut & Restored Silk
- Miracle Shell-Coin Routines by Roy Baker
- Close-Up Comedy by Val Andrews
- Indian Cups and Balls by PK Ilango
- Close-Up Floating Bulb - A "Supreme Magic" Publication
- The Real Secret of the Electric Chairs - A "Supreme Magic" Publication
- Comedy 'Pro-File'! by David Hemingway
- Mere Dee-Tales by Leslie Dee
"Dircks was surprised to see producers assigning little value to his astonishing spectral wonders, calculating them on a balance sheet as calmly as one would account for a new set of costumes. After all, the producers reasoned, Shakespeare had done pretty well without the Dircksian Phantasmagoria. Did Banquo's ghost really necessitate rebuilding their theatres? Dircks's invention was greeted with cursory interest and quickly ignored."
