Theatrical Magic

 French Illusionist Dani Lary

Back in my first round of college classes I took some electives in theater because I wanted to learn acting and theater dance to make my magic better.  I wanted to learn how to move on stage, to make my magic believable and convincing.  I learned all aspects of the theater; i.e., production, set design, make-up, movement, etc.  Even though I was passionate about magic and cared less about a step-ball-change I learned a lot.  For example a small movement on the stage gets swallowed up.  Watch a lot of modern magicians and you will discover they make tiny motions with their hands when they should be making large movements.  Watch some magicians prance around the stage and they seem to have a stock set of movements- they point at the audience repeatedly, they spread their legs as if they've had an enema, they shout, "Let's do this," or "Hey, hey, hey."  Then enters French Illusionist Dani Lary.

I came across this incredible artist late one night and was absolutely convinced he was from India, from watching the above video.  The costume, the make-up, the movements, everything created the impression that he was from downtown New Delhi.  I don't know what shocked me more.  The magic or to discover that he was French.  (The magic didn't fool me- it is an old effect that has been dressed up and themed- I just loved the way he did it).

I've tried to watch all of Dani's posted magic and he never fails to amaze me with his grasp of theater.  I will post a video of his entire show (available on the internet).  It is a masterpiece of magic and drama and theater.  I wouldn't recommend that you do the illusions he does- figure a way to do your own.  But study how  he does what he does.  He has his own style.  He doesn't have to point at the audience, spread his legs or shout "Let's do this."  He is a consummate actor.  One moment he is a dangerous man, a conjurer with dangerous powers that at any moment may be unleashed.  At another, he is at a retro-beach party.  Another moment, he's in the future and vanishes in a spinning fan only to appear in another part of the theater. 

Lesson learned: take your own path, but learn the basics of theater- dance, acting, makeup, stage craft.  Then learn the basics of magic and create them for yourself for your audience

A Prolonged Abscence

Sorry I've been away for a while.  Sometimes events overtake me.  Sinus surgery and other events overshadow things.

Been thinking about a lot of what has been going on in the magic world.  Due to some health issues I've had a lot of down time recently and so I spent quite a bit of time watching some of the world's best... and worst magicians performing on one of the best Cabaret shows in the world, Le Plus Grand Cabaret Du Monde.  After hours and hours of watching magician's, here's what I've discovered.
Some of the world's greatest magicians have appeared there.  They are simply incredible.  They will fool you and fool you badly.  And some of the world's worst magician's have been there as well.  How in the world of holy hot pockets they ever made it on is beyond me.  But byinlarge most of the magicians, to me, seem to be manufactured in some factory in New Jersey made by Adams Novelty.  Here is the outline of their act:

• Walk on stage in a tuxedo that no one would ever wear
  (wear jeans and call your assistant "babe if under 30)
• Look like a poor imitation of Channing Pollock and Lance Burton
• Take off your gloves and produce a dove
• Produce a candle- monkey with the candle at least 4 times
• Produce a dove, several cages
• Produce a deck of cards and spend the next 5 minutes producing cards
• In between this produce a couple of more doves
• (Prance about the stage to disco music pointing at the audience is optional if you are under 30)
• (Hang your head and do things 2x as fast if you are under 25)
• Kiss your doves several times
• Produce several scarves and then produce a bird or two- dog is optional
• Make the cage vanish

 Re-read the list for a moment and look at what I've underlined.  Lest someone think I'm being unduly harsh, the underlined portions are what I DID IN MY OLD ACT from the late 1970's.  And I wanted to be Channing Pollock- a handsome, smooth, incredible magician.  Now, 60 years later, magicians are still doing his act.  (I'm not by the way).  I worked very hard to learn card manipulations.  And did it and do it well.  But I find it incredibly boring whether they or it is done fast or slow.  Because it fails to answer one simple question: why?

The now late magician Tommy Wonder once said when a magician does something we ask the question, "Why did you do that?"  If the answer is "because I can," then one probably ought to re-think whether or not he should be doing it.  The example he used was taking a deck of cards and making it appear.  So what?  Who cares?  There's simply no point to it.  But if you need them for something else then there's a point to it.  So for example, if a magician makes a scarf appear then pulls one out of his pocket, why did he make one appear in the first place?  Answer: Because he can.  There was no point to it. 

Looking at all these acts I have to wonder, why do they all put a neck scarf around their neck?  When Lance Burton walked out in a tux he had a scarf around his neck and proceeded to do things with it.  The neck was a place to hang it while he did something else.  I watched a magician who was doing an act as a 50's rock and roll fellow in a leather jacket and produced a white silk scarf who then put it around his neck... only to then take it off again immediately, then dump it in his table.  Why?  Because he could.  Why rant about a scarf?  Because I can.  And it's my blog.

If you really want to watch an artist at work, a magician who understands magic, theater, art, and illusion watch French Illusionist Dani Lary.  This incredible magician is astounding, not only for his magic but for his grasp of all of the former branches of the art.  More on him later.

Been Reading

In my opinion, Harry Lorayne is the best magic teacher around. The first book I ever bought of his was Personal Secrets. I was blown away by his effect "Leap Frog." Essentially a thought of card vanishes from a packet and reappears elsewhere. But it was the thinking behind the magic that I really enjoyed. So starting in 2001 I started collecting everything that he wrote. I was a long-time subscriber of Apocalypse already. Then Harry Came out with his Personal Collection (a great book in itself) along with L&L's reprints of Apoocalypse, Best of Friends 1 & 2, and others. The hardest to find was his Epitome location. I wrote Harry and he kindly told me that it was going to come out in his Classic Collection series- another great buy.

Harry makes a big deal out of learning his effects the way he teaches them. This is because he has thoroughly thought out most of, if not all, the routes he uses to get the biggest bang for the magical buck. I've seen guys do what Harry pleads us not to do- they take a simple straight forward effect, "simplify it," then add to it. What happens is they simply muddle the effect.

Another thing I like about Harry's magic is that when you learn one of them, you often can use the sleight or ideas in other effects. For example, Harry has a devastating Ultimate Peek effect in Personal Collection. Then he keeps going with #2, #3, etc.

Some time ago I sent a copy of one of the magic magazines to Harry and asked him to sign it for me (of course I sent a pre-paid Express mail with it). He graciously signed it and sent it. (As he does for most of the books of his that I now own).

So I've been reading through his material again lately...many of the effects are now earmarked for my repertoire. By the way, one of his card to wallet effects in Classic Collection 2 is absolutely devastating. I plan to use it with Steve Draun's wallet.

Let me highly recommend ANYTHING that Harry puts out. You can find many of them directly from Harry himself.

Dual Control Revisited

Sorry it has been so long since I've blogged here- been taking care of health issues. But I'm back.

Dual Control Revisited is another entry from Alakazam Magic that is just incredible. The basic effect is items such as cards, spoons, pencils, chop sticks, etc., stick to your fingers invisibly. Also, you can do a rising card from the pack, apparently impromptu, and all can be examined. Here's the video.

Firstly, what I like about Dual Control is what I like about ALL Alakazam magic products- you get exactly what they tell you and it just works. I've quite a few items from Peter Nardi's vast number of offerings, and these always have a high quality of production and that killer factor in magic. I've NEVER been disappointed with anything they have produced.

Next, you get the gimmick and a DVD that goes into EVERY aspect of how to install, practice, and utilize the gimmick. Michael Vincent is a patient teacher and walks us through all the set-up and different effects. He gives proper recognition to Alan Alan, and there is a bonus video of Alan Alan doing the effect at the Magic Circle (with a rather "cheeky" magician who is not so cooperative). This is an incredible offering for so little- they could have sold it for twice the amount than they do.

New Cervon Notebook Coming

From the LLPub website:
Bruce Cervon’s­ Castle Notebooks Volume 5 – the final volume includes a complete index of all 5 volumes Bruce Cervon’s Castle Notebooks are a holy grail for students of close-up magic from the golden years of the Magic Castle. Within them are held countless tricks, sleights and secrets that were kept exclusive by Cervon for many years, and are still ahead of today’s cutting edge. Respecting Bruce’s desire that this information remain exclusive, his wife, Linda Lipps Cervon, in conjunction with L&L Publishing, is releasing Bruce Cervon’s Castle Notebooks in a facsimile set of hardcover books. Each page scanned from the original hand-written notebooks. Volume 5 containing Cervon notebooks 12 and 13, composed from 1967 through 1986 — 403 pages— is now available in a limited edition —just 500 copies will be sold! A must-have for the serious student of fine, advanced, close-up magic. $200

My Take: if you have the money, go for it. If you don't...borrow, beg, go on welfare. I've seen the first four volumes go for over $1000 on ebay. My guess is that for magic book collectors this volume will up the price.

I have the first four volumes. When I first received Volume 1, I was a bit disappointed. LLPub makes no bones about it- these are cleaned up scans of Bruce's meticulous notes from his years at the Magic Castle. And yes, using the books, you can track down where he published certain items. But there is nothing like looking at the thinking that went behind the effects. The contents are mostly card magic, as Bruce was mentored by Dai Vernon. I met Bruce back in 1986 and my wife said he was the best magician she had ever seen, which is saying a lot (she's very discerning). I purchased some items from Bruce over the years and he was always kind and had a wicked sense of humor.

You'll have to dig through the books for material if you want to perform them. There are little presentation notes but heavy on moves, and routines. They are, in my opinion, a great legacy from a great magician.

Masonic secrets?

Its been a while since I posted but I ran across this on the MSNBC website: it makes for a quick topical presentation for a dollar bill trick-

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