Look
for this to be Criss Angel's breakout
year. The second season of his A&E
Mindfreak series premieres on May 31
with 20 new episodes that were filmed in
Las Vegas, Los Angeles and even Iraq.
The first two episodes will be
"Building Float" where he will float
across two buildings and "Vanish" where
he will vanish a spectator while
surrounded by thousands of people.
This time around A&E
is promoting the show with billboards
and commercials on the major networks
which should increase the viewership
from the already very successful first
season. On Jun. 27 the soundtrack
from Criss Angel's series will be
released by KOCH Records. The CD will
include music from both seasons by Angel
and guest contributors Sully Erna,
Jonathan Davis, Nuno Bettencourt, Andy
Johns, Klayton, and Micky James. A music
video will also be released. Also
scheduled for a Sep. 1 release is a
304-page magic book titled "Criss
Angel Mindfreak: Secret Revelations" that will be published by
Harper Entertainment.(5/15)
--To read the May 11 A&E press
release click:
HERE.(5/15)
--To read the KOCH Records
release titled "KOCH Records To Release
'Criss Angel: Mindfreak,' The Official
Soundtrack With Songs From The Hit A&E
Television Series" click:
HERE.(5/15)
Magic Christian
and the Magic Club of Vienna will
hold a special event to celebrate the
200th birthday of Johann Nepomuk
Hofzinser (1806-1875) on Jun. 18. The
event will include a brunch, a show and
two lectures. For more information
e-mail:
magicchristian@chello.at.(5/15)
Cesareo
Pelaez who is known worldwide as the
creator and star of "Le Grand David and
His Own Spectacular Magic Company" has
returned to the show six months after
suffering a stroke. An Eagle-Tribune
article reported that "After the show,
Pelaez said his left side, which was
initially paralyzed by the stroke, was
still weak. But he is gaining weight and
regaining his balance, he said. He plans
to perform in the Wednesday matinees for
five more weeks, then return to the
Sunday shows at the Cabot Theatre." To
read the Apr. 26 article by Paul
Leighton titled "Magician pulls
reappearing act" click:
HERE.(5/15)
Gerry McCambridge who has appeared
at the Rampart Casino for the last 47
weeks will be moving on Jun. 2 to the
Stardust Resort & Casino in Las
Vegas,(5/15)
Tom
Mullica will present highlights from
his Red Skelton Tribute show on Jun. 10
in conjunction with the grand opening of
the Red Skelton Performing Arts Center
at the Vincennes University in Indiana.
The show also features the Smothers
Brothers. For tickets and information
click:
HERE.(5/15)
Bob
White will present one of his very
rare seminars on Jun. 3 in New York
City. The seminar will cover his system
of managing sleights and techniques in a
natural manner and performances and
explanations to some of his standout
magic. The six-hour seminar will take
place at The City University of New York
Graduate Center (365 Fifth Avenue) from
10am to 4pm. For more information or
reservations e-mail: Eric DeCamps at:
jonramsay@aol.com.(5/15)
The
"Christian Fechner Collection Of
American & English Magic, Part II"
auction will take place at Swann
Galleries in New York City on Thursday
Oct. 26. The featured item will be the
autograph collection of Adolphe Blind
which is estimated to sell for US
$40,000/60,000. A large format catalog
will be available later in the
year.(5/15)
Prior to "The Illusionist" opening on
Aug. 18 it continues to be screened
at film festivals. The Magic consultants
for the movie were Ricky Jay, Michael
Weber and James Freedman. It's next
appearance will be at the Seattle
International Film Festival which runs
on May 25-Jun. 18. To read a Jan. 24
Variety review by Todd McCarthy titled
"The Illusionist" click:
HERE.(5/15)
--To read a Dec. 29 2005
Hollywood Reporter review by James
Greenberg titled "The Illusionist"
click:
HERE.(5/15)
Jason
Latimer is featured in The Acorn in
conjunction with the launching of his
new stage show. The article reported,
"Latimer's stage show will feature
several never-beforeseen illusions,
including the appearance of a
Lamborghini on stage, a real-life
version of the movie 'The Matrix,' a
laser that bends in half, and nearly a
dozen other new illusions." To read the
May 3 article by Sylvie Belmond titled
"Magician's success no illusion" click:
HERE.(5/15)
An
article about collecting magic appeared
in Forbes where they speak to Martinka &
Co. owner Ted Bogusta. Bogusta
explained, "When I first started, almost
all of my collectors were above 50 years
old… Now [David] Copperfield, Criss
Angel, David Blaine and Harry Potter are
giving magic an essence of cool, and
younger people are collecting." Also
mentioned in the article were the
Conjuring Arts Research Center, Swann
Galleries and Galerie de Chartres. To
read the May 4 article by Finn-Olaf
Jones titled "Presto: Your Own
Collection" click:
HERE.(5/15)
Chuck
King "The King Of Hypnosis" will
present a special one night only
Hypnosis show on May 19 in New York
City. The Event is being produced by The
Conjuring Arts Research Center. On May
20 King will present a Question & Answer
session where he will "explain the
complexities and possibilities of stage
hypnosis. Is hypnosis real? How does it
work?" and much more. The May 20 event
is free to all members of The Conjuring
Arts Research Center. Tickets for the
May 19 performance are only $20 per
person. For more information and to
purchase tickets click:
HERE.(5/15)
Persi Diaconis is featured in a
Minnesota Daily story about his
recent lecture at the University of
Minnesota. The article quotes him,
"When somebody says they’re going to do
a math-magic trick, it sounds as if
they’re going to deal cards in piles,
and you’ll all fall asleep… I try to
develop tricks that are good tricks that
don’t look like math, but that have real
math hidden in them." Comparing his
career as a mathematician and magic he
pointed out, "I don’t find it so
different, inventing magic tricks and
proving theorems… There’s just something
wonderful about finding the right
solution to a hard problem. It’s
intriguing to me." To read the Apr. 20
article by Elena Rozwadowski and Marni
Ginther titled "Mathmagician performs
tricks to teach, entertain" click:
HERE.(5/15)
More
news about the Houdini movie that is
scheduled to begin shooting this summer.
An RTE News article reported that
"Catherine Zeta-Jones is in negotiations
to star opposite Guy Pearce in 'Death
Defying Acts', a biopic of the magician
Harry Houdini. …Zeta-Jones would play a
psychic whom Houdini has an affair
with." To read the May 4 article titled
"Zeta-Jones now eyeing Houdini film"
click:
HERE.(5/15)
Barry
Wood's one-man show "Wonders Never
Cease" which runs through Jun. 4 at
the National Conservatory of Dramatic
Arts in Georgetown, Washington DC is
discussed in a Diamondback Online article
that reported, "A professional magician
and mentalist (fancy for “mind-reader”)
since his days at the university, Wood
displays his character’s superpowers
using a few tricks of his own, pulling
audience members into the act just as he
would in a magic show. He uses the X-ray
specs to see the contents of a random
person’s pocket, hypnotizes the audience
with the spiraled hypno-disc and
manipulates a realistic raccoon as a
sidekick." A Loudoun Connection article
described the show as "…a
semi-autobiographical play about Wood’s
childhood, growing up as a magician, in
his parent’s basement. Wood plays his
mother, father and himself as a child."
To read the May 8 Diamondback Online
article by Alia Malik titled
"Multi-personality with order" click:
HERE.(5/15)
--To read the May 11 Loudoun
Connection article by Kim Centazzo
titled "As Seen on TV" click:
HERE.(5/15)
Mike
Applegate is profiled in a Stars and
Stripes story which quotes him,
"Preparing for magic shows involves a
lot of preparation to ensure foolproof,
split-second timing of your tricks.
Teaching also involves lots of
preparation." As to future goals
Applegate offered, "In the long term, do
magic shows for kids on U.S. military
bases around the world." To read the May
1 article titled "Mike Applegate, a
teacher with something up his sleeve"
click:
HERE.(5/15)
Fantasma Magic's new magic shop in New
York City officially opened on May
11. At a time when many brick and mortar
magic shops are closing around the
world, New York now has two major stores
that are a walking distance from each
other. Perhaps the most interesting
attraction (and there are many) in the
store is famed David Roth as a regular
demonstrator. The store is located on
the second floor of 421 7th Avenue at
33rd Street. They will be launching a
lecture series later this month
featuring David Roth (5/31), Jeff
McBride (6/10), and Darwin Ortiz
(6/21). For more information phone:
212-924-8345.(5/15)
David
Blaine's Drowned Alive television
special and stunt are now over after
receiving a massive amount of press on
television, print and all over the
radio. The overnight ratings were
positive, giving ABC close to a 10%
increase over the previous week's viewership for that time slot. Even
though he almost killed himself, he did
not accomplish his goal of holding his
breath for nine minutes. He did however
stay inside water longer than anyone and
his impressive feat of holding his
breath for seven minutes and eight
seconds is an unbelievable
accomplishment. Additional benefits from
the stunt were expressed by his trainer
Kirk Krack in a Saskatchewan News
article, "We got a lot of good data and
science out of it. We drew just about
daily blood samples. We were able to log
his adaptation in the water." In a New
York Times op-ed piece Kenneth Silverman
observed, "If nothing else, his feat of
endurance brought a diverse crowd of
thousands of New Yorkers together,
renewing for a while the city's waning
spirit of democratic community."(5/15)
--To read the May 13 New York
Times article by Kenneth Silverman
titled "When the City Was Magical"
click:
HERE.(5/15-Subscription)
--To read the May 13 Saskatchewan
News article by Lana Haight titled "Key
role for P.A. diver" click:
HERE.(5/15)
--To read the May 10 Contra Costa
Times article titled "Magician's water
stunt leaves him out of breath" click:
HERE.(5/15)
--To read the May 9 Associated
Press article by Pat Milton titled
"Magician David Blaine Leaves Hospital"
click:
HERE.(5/15)
--To read the May 9 Associated
Press story titled "Trainer: Blaine Was
Unconscious, Had Convulsions After
Stunt" click:
HERE.(5/15)
--To read the May 9 BBC News
article titled "Blaine fails in water
record bid" click:
HERE.(5/15)
--To read the May 9 Digital
Journal article titled "Magician David
Blaine Chokes on Underwater Record
Attempt as Thousands Turn Out to Cheer"
click:
HERE.(5/15)
--To read the May 7 New York
Times article by Edward Wyatt titled
"It's a spectacle, but is it art? Street
magician wowing N.Y." click:
HERE.(5/15)
--To read the May 2 Earth Times
article by Alan Cross titled "Escape
artist to ape a fish for a week, Houdini
later" click:
HERE.(5/15)
--To read the May 1 Associated
Press article by Pat Milton titled
"Magician Spending Week in Water Bubble"
click:
HERE.(5/15)
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