13-Mystery Muses

#13 – Mystery Muses [6/27/1996]

The Great World Magic Show:

From Sunday June 16th through Thursday the 20th, 78 (the number of cards in a Tarot deck) magicians attended Jeff McBride’s Mystery School. On Saturday the 22nd a few of the performers stayed around to do a full evening show which was open to the public. It took place in the Cardinal Hayes Auditorium at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in the Bronx.

Opening the show was Luna Shemada with a very nice parasol act. Next up was, the dean of the Mystery School, Eugene Burger who did some hat tears and a very powerful two-phase card routine, where he seemed to influence the spectator’s choices under impossible conditions. This is the type of material Burger excels at. The third act was Margaret Steele, she performed her new act and it was beautiful, elegant and magical — what else can you ask for? Scott Hitchcock was next with fire eating. Then came Bob Fellows who did a very entertaining and convincing mentalism act where he seemingly read the thoughts of the audience members. Closing the first half were Jen Adams with assistant Steven Vincent. They opened with a version of her famous father’s Merlin act and closed with a sub-trunk.

During the intermission I overheard raves from the audience members, with each one having their own favorites, from the little girls who could relate to the three female performers to adults who were debating whether Fellows really read their mind.

Jeff McBride did the second half of the show and he was great. I have known Jeff since we were both teenagers in NYC. He has always been one of my favorite performers. The audience went nuts over his exciting, energetic, skillful and magical show.

After the show the cast came out to sign autographs and talk to the audience members. A nice touch was prior to the show’s opening Jen Adams and Steven Vincent invited the group outside and did some street magic for them. Overall this was an excellent show, it’s too bad more people couldn’t experience it.

Lectures:

On Wednesday June 5th I attended Guy Hollingworth’s Lecture. It was exceptional — All cards, all great, all magical, all foolers everyone there was entertained and fooled. The next time he comes to the U.S. to lecture don’t crawl but, run to see him — you won’t be sorry. Guy is part of the new wave of close-up magicians coming out of England. At the young age of 24 he is already considered one of the top cardmen around, his technique is superb and his creativity in effect, method and construction is exceptional. His Torn and Restored Card routine has already been acclaimed to be the best in existence — and I concur.

Lectures & More Lectures:

On June 11th I lectured in Toledo, Ohio. On the 12th in Columbus, Ohio. The 13th in Louisville, Kentucky and on the 18th in Wallingford, Connecticut. On the 19th I rested.

During all four lectures I took photos of the audiences — if you want to see the magician’s of Ohio, Kentucky and Connecticut see the “Lecture-Cam” below.

CSICOP 20th Anniversary:

Congratulations to the “Committee for the Scientific Investigation Of Claims of the Paranormal” (CSICOP) on their 20th Anniversary. Their mission for the past 20 years has been to objectively investigate and inform the public of their findings about claims of psychic healing, psychokinesis, immortality, reincarnation, astrology, UFO’s, exorcism, poltergeists and dozens of other paranormal claims. Despite extreme adversity, ridicule and legal action they have held their own and all of us have benefited for it.

CSICOP’s members and investigators include many magicians. Their Bi-monthly magazine “Skeptical Inquirer” regularly features articles by magicians Martin Gardner, James Randi and Ray Hyman. A one-year subscription to the “Skeptical Inquirer” costs $32.50. To subscribe you can call toll-free: 1-800-634-1610 or write to: Skeptical Inquirer, P.O. Box 703, Amherst, NY 14226-0703, USA.

You can visit CSICOP on the web at: http://www.csicop.org

www.uelectric.com/meiryedid:

If you didn’t recognize it, the photo is my new cover page. Once there all you have to do is click on the face of anyone of the people whose magic I manufacture and you will be instantly (depending on you modem speed) transported to that area. Once there you will see lots of color photos and exact descriptions of the items you can purchase. Ordering has also been simplified, once you click on the “Place Order” button on the bottom of the page, a screen will pop-up with six easy ways for you to purchase the magic.

Constantly updating my Website, catalog, magic shopping mall. Have been re-designing the cover page. Hope to have all of the items I produce on the web by the end of July (or maybe August). If you have not visited the site yet, feel free to click on the photo to the left and you will be immediately sent to my site. This is the most comprehensive listing of the items I produce.

Good news! The much awaited A.O.L. software (AOL 3.0 for Windows, AOL 2.7 for Macintosh) is now available online and will be shipping soon. If you haven’t updated, please, please, do. As soon as you do, you too will be able to view the Web the way it was designed. And you will be able to see my opening screen (the one above) when you log on.

Pit Stops:

Here is where I will be. Come by and say hi.
• June 29 to July 4 – Have booth at I.B.M. National Convention in Norfolk, Virginia.
• July 7 to July 12 – Have booth at S.A.M. National Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.
• July 29 – Performing at The Udder Club @ Holy Cow, New York City.

MAK Magic:

While in Columbus I visited MAK Magic, which is one of the leading manufacturers of quality magic equipment made of wood and metal. I am willing to bet that everyone reading this column, who has been into magic for longer than six months, has a MAK Magic product somewhere around the house. Their merchandise is a major part of every magic dealer’s catalog. I took lots of photos and hope to feature them in one of my upcoming columns.

Lectures & More Lectures:

From June 11th through June 18th I had to do four lectures. Each lasted about three hours. After the intermission of each lecture I had the group pose for a picture. Even though they don’t look like they are having fun in these photos, take my word for it — they are.

I would like to thank everyone who came to the lectures and to my hosts: Michael Night, Bill O’Keefe, Dave Blevins, Jimmy King, Earl Bullard, Bob Escher, and Neal and Tom Prete.

The way I see it is I had to stare at these faces for three hours while lecturing — the least you could do is glance at them and see if you recognize anyone.