~The Gary Michaels Magi & The Craft Grotto




Gary Michaels' Quasi~Cynical Magi & The Craft Grotto


Click HERE for RnT II's new page!
Yup ~ sorry, Reesman ~ Brazill is back with a vengeance ;)



To save you a lot of time DLing this page, click here if you're looking to check out what I've bought in the last two years or so, and those items which I wish I'd been able to afford... emphasis here is on Chop Cups and Cups & Balls, but there's quite a bit more.


George J. Cook's "The Breakaway Table" (Circa 1959-1962)
The Basis for Collector's Workshop's well-received "Jumbo Sidekick"



The EBay Sale of the Late Richard Ross' Incredible Act



This Page Is Dedicated to the Memory of Doug Henning

Alternate Theme: Several Reasons to Hate David Copperfield, Without Mentioning his Hair or Frequently-Cracking Voice, Let Alone his Sexual Orientation (Whoops -- I Mentioned ALL THREE! And Several of my Best Magical Pals are Gay so I'll Skip that Last One...)

(Written Feb. 10, 2000) We mourn the loss of the last great internationally~known magician/illusionist, Doug Henning, who passed away this week. Doug was a genuine treasure: one of the few who are adept at stage magic and, more importantly, closeup in~your~face stuff.

Imagine Copperfield attempting to vanish a half~dollar, with a camera in a tight shot only on his hand, then making it reappear. No sleeves and the camera never leaves his hand. Across the world, magicians were blown away. And Henning opened the show with this... whose was that anyway? John Kennedy or Cornelius? No matter. That was the real world's introduction to invisible thread.

Doug was one of the coolest, classiest guys I ever met during my magic career. His annual television show was perfection: an ideal melding of the past and present. His greatest gift to us was perhaps his neverending search for wonder, and the fact that his shows also always included a few of the world's greatest magicians. Many of us would never have seen Shimada or Slydini onstage were it not for Henning.

Copperhead has never, ever invited another magician to join him on a single one of his shows.

Worse: Henning is the sole reason that Dave has his gig. My wager is that many of you have no idea how Dave came to be a household name (like that of the housefly): Doug had a long~term contract with Pillsbury when he retired from network stardom to pursue his interests in transcendental meditation. When he did so, Pillsbury, left in the lurch, went on a search for a replacement. They found it in Chicago, where spoiled rich kid Copperfield was performing a nearly note~for~note rip~off of Henning's four~year Broadway hit "The Magic Show." Calling his "The Magic Man," Copperfield was found by those network executives and the rest is history. Hope he showed up for Doug's funeral.

After all, you wouldn't have ever even heard of him had Henning stayed in the game.



The Jester Is Dead, Long Live The Jester
George W. Kirkendall II (4/14/32~9/29/01)
Now THIS is a cat I wanted at my wedding, dammit



Click HERE for my tribute to the master.



Every Time I Phone These Guys I Feel Like a Magician Again

Dusheck, LeClair, Moore and of course, Bauer -- although a recent convo with Burger didn't hurt much ;)



Laura's Valentine's Day, 2003 gift to me -- a cool shadow box of a magician, made of Tally-Ho #9's, using my business card and logo as decor (check out the collar, tie & cummerbund)...is my gal great or what?


Oh yeah, you might need DSL or a cable modem to experience the pix on my site ~ sorry, but welcome to the 21st century...



Pssst: if you haven't yet figured it out, if you're a Dave Copperhead fan in any way whatsoever,
you might want to move along to one of Dave's "I Love Myself" sites ;)


Not updated nearly as frequently as I'd like: last time was on 08/3/03 to add some pix of Milt Kort & Mike Brazill -- and a short obituary of the former

Laura and I bought a new home in May, 2002 (in Karrell Fox's old neighborhood), got married on 8/30/02, then were off to Waikiki for our honeymoon: check out the terrific John Hirokawa if you make THAT scene.

~News for the magically-impaired~ Do all of your audiences a favor and get over to my good friend RON BAUER's site! -- Ron was too sick to make the wedding but, thanks to Webmaster Dowdy, has some very cool new stuff on his site...

And speaking of the wedding, here's a shot of a few of the luminaries: from left -- Co~Best Man Tim Moore, Gertner, RnT founder Mike Brazill and Bauer compadre and killer magician, John Dowdy; not pictured: Past IBM Prez Jack Greenberg, who was there as an old friend of Laura's family and we were grateful to have him, and P.I.P. and my old friend, Kenny Klosterman, who sent a VERY nice gift but probably didn't come due to the presence of Jack -- those in the know realize what's going on with the politics of the IBM these days...




While we're on the subject of the wedding, I was married in Richard Himber's actual *personal* Himber ring (the one he was married in as well -- for the last time: I believe Himber said the vows at least twice); we purchased this from Tim Moore, who bought it from another old friend of mine, Kenna Thompson -- we have the authentication; Dick's fingers were a LOT smaller than they look in pix of him -- this ring's a full size smaller than any other ring I wear, so I can't actually use it to perform an effect; this is odd because I basically have "magician's fingers," aka "piano fingers," but here are two shots anyway:










Reesman Becoming a Mere Skidmark on the Undershorts of the RnT Saga


8/22/03 Update

For the (Al) Baker's dozen of you who actually care, Chris Reesman has apparently finally paid for the Rings 'n Things stock (chucks, jigs, blueprints etc.) which he has had in his possession, and owed upon, for so long. Eight years, to be exact, with no payment for said goods until September of 2003. Made an elderly woman -- Kenny Summers' widow, Evelyn -- so happy that she told Brazill to "thank that young man who helped me."

So you can bet your ass that my haranguing on these pages the past few years had more than a bit to do with it. Otherwise why on earth did he wait eight years? And why did he actually send the copies of the documents claiming same to editor/author supreme, Richard Kaufman? Kaufman is of course Genii's editor and had removed future postings re: RnT's origins and current ownership some time back. At the same time one might wonder why Chris felt the need to broadcast his allegedly-settled affairs through Richard, who really wasn't a party to any of this until I approached him asking why he'd put an end to the posts. And I might also say here that I've never posted a mot, bon or otherwise, on the Genii forum. Someone who knew me as a RnT collector (and who realized that I was a close friend of Mike Brazill's) pointed it out to me. And I did email Kaufman about the odd ban, and have continued to update him on the facts of what happened, what continued to happen, etc. Jim Riser even wondered about this odd connection between Kaufman and Reesman (and you can trust me when I say that Riser is as non-committal about this sort of thing as anyone in the business).

Whatever. Bottom line: despite what some may have you believe, Reesman is still forbidden from selling anything bearing the Rings 'n Things name -- such as that Reesman-produced "Don Alan Chop Cup" I purchased last year, whose box bore the name... you guessed it: "RnT Don Alan Chop Cup."

For that matter Reesman can't sell said cup made from the original chucks, as Don Alan didn't design the cup - Brazill did (and those rights were not sold in the alleged deal); Alan agreed to let Mike use his name but would NEVER allow the resale of those rights. Had you known Don (or if you own the Stevens tape/DVD of Alan's work), you're well aware that Don advised viewers not to even perform the effects which were on the tape. Don pretty much disliked most magicians and particularly the thieves among us. Are you listening, Chris?

Finally, Harry "Monti" Monteith has retracted his agreement with Reesman to produce the "Monti Cups" -- which are still listed as "Coming Soon" on the latter's site.

Chris and your pals? You're out of ammo.

Stop selling stuff you don't own.

It should be mentioned that I admire Richard quite a bit -- have met him and he seems a very cool sort. He's also been kind enough to help see this mess through, via extremely courteous and well-phrased emails. Still it seems odd that Reesman sent the photocopies of the so-called "legal documents" to Richard, when clearly his beef was with me -- the only one who dared to bring up his eight-year charade. Trust me, the Genii boards haven't been clamoring for a resolution to this hypocrisy.

I was.

Coming soon: A few more of the smarmy details: all of which can and shall be backed up by each of the parties involved with the original RnT company and those most intimately familiar with the sale of their goods.



But if you can't wait, click HERE to read what I wrote on this topic before it was (at least partially) cleared up...



We remember Milt Kort ~ who preferred to be called by his surname ~ a short obit



Milton Kort. The first time I met him, at one of Ron Bauer's "underground" meetings in 2001, I was surprised to hear young magis calling him "Kort." When I mentioned that a bit of respect might be in order, they said that Milt *asked* them to call him by his last name. AOK. Once again, Michaels stuffs a size 11 in his yap. If you didn't know Kort, you've certainly read him: he's the primary contributor acknowledged by J.B. Bobo in his "Modern Coin Magic" (1952) -- check the credits and you'll see. Most of Kort's contributions were made via "real" letters: they rarely spoke and only met a few times. Kort didn't travel a lot -- he was busy running his own pharmacy -- so magicians primarily visited *him* at his shop. And you probably at least bought the M.I.K.O. effect at one time or another... that's right: M.I.(L.T.O.N.) K.O.(R.T). See how this works? Or perhaps you own an Okorto Coin Box... you also may know his daughter, Sandy: a tremendous illustrator of all things magical, including Minch's opus on her father's life, "The Magic of Milt Kort" and all of Ron Bauer's publications. Kort passed away on Friday, August 1, 2003. His farewell ceremony was very well-attended, although it was a sad day for all. Again, we've lost a terrific magician and an even better man. Our prayers are with his wife Reva, who made all visitors feel like family, and the rest of the Kort clan. The above obit unfortunately painted Kort as a "local" Detroit magician, ignoring the fact that the likes of Cardini himself made a point of visiting Milt from the '40s until the former's death. It's unfortunate that hometown journalists still view the giants of our art as "local" talent. Perhaps that's because so many greats hail/hailed from these parts or just live/d in the general area: Karrell Fox, Claire Cummings, Bauer, Harold Sterling, Warren Stephens, Tim Wright; or made Michigan their homes-away-from-home (Blackstone, Sr.).



Great. So now I have the honor of being the only person alive who attended the funerals of Gen Grant, Milt Kort, Clare Cummings and George Kirkendall. That's one mean poker foursome. (We'll skip the nastiness that was the Don "Tab" Halley funeral).

Here's a picture of the legend, to the right of me at his home on April 7, 2003:




And one of Brazill and Kort:






On to some good news: my pal and master machinist Jim Riser is now crafting some limited edition (and VERY sweet) micro-chop cups, so get your orders in early ;)





(Written early in 2001, pre-Kirk's passing, but the concept still applies)

WANTED: 10" set of Rings & Things linking rings, exc. condition, with the red bag & golden drawstring; email me at bottom of page if you have the eight-ring set and name your price...

And while we're at it, let's get into a Dennis Miller rant sans la comedie:

Just settled for an 8" RnT set thanks to Dr. Dale Houck but why on earth didn't someone pick up where Mike Brazill left off when R&T folded? Why is no one making a serious quality set of professional solid nickel plated, then chrome plated rings these days? Or a Don Alan chop cup similar to Rings & Things'? Or decent cups & balls that don't cost $300? Or a P&L or Kirkendall~quality reel?

Must be rough for the kids just starting out these days, trying to buy quality equipment. Klamm's the best they can do for medium-priced rings? Or Bumper? Hell, the WELDS are visible. Missing is the audibly beautiful singing of the rings.

Or the ability to do the chop move on even Owens' $400 hollow rings without denting them (and that's per Owens themselves).

What gives here?

I traded my R&T rings to Kenna Thompson in 1990 or so for a signed Bobo, a signed "The Dai Vernon Book of Magic," as well as near-mint copies of "Expert Card Technique," "Magic Without Apparatus," "Magic With Small Apparatus" and Maskelyne & Devant's "Our Magic." A good trade but I foolishly presumed that R&T rings were aplenty in the community.

Searches on EBay and Yahoo auctions yield crummy pamphlets & videos, but no great rings. Who's holding all of them? I WANT A SET! Google.com, which searches more than ONE BILLION sites, yields 203 sites using exact match of "Chinese Linking Rings"... just using "Linking Rings" nets 1360 results. Nearly all of which are selling Royal's crap or Klamm. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.....

Anyway, thus far I've spoken with R&T's founder, Mike Brazill, KT, Ken Klosterman, Ron Bauer, Ron Allesi, Artie Kidwell, Kirkendall, Tim Moore, Bob Little, Bob James, Lee Jacobs, Norm Nielsen, virtually every other magic collector of note and several other magic dealers, etc. and have come up empty.





If you didn't check out the Kirkendall Tribute page, please disregard the above -- I now have three sets of RnT 8" rings and George's set of 10"...





Just a Bit on Valentino (FOX's Masked Magician)

The possibility of FOX-TV's allegedly world famous Masked Magician, "Valentino," ever working again anywhere significant seem remote. Now I don't want to get off on a Dennis Miller rant here, but this Valentino clown turned out to be a complete fraud: an unknown who was working as a cabaret act in hotel lounges when FOX signed him. If you're reading this and have any knowledge of magic whatsoever, you could've been Valentino. So I've no problem with his giving away Copperfield's box trix. Hell, I applaud that. But his close~up "revelations" were some of the worst trix from Henry Hay's generally excellent The Amateur Magician's Handbook. No. My beef was which versions of some illusions which he "explained." The best example I can provide was his Bullet Catching. The dork used the safest method possible, not the one which has killed several of our brethren. To me, his worst offense was that he was a virtual unknown and, hence, a fraud of the highest order. And his final explanation of why he'd done it? To promote magic in the face of the Nintendo & Sega video~game revolution? To force stage magicians to invent new tricks?

Memo to Valentino: David Copperfield never invented an effect in his life. That's what he pays the real magicians for. And you claimed that you'd be back in 2000 with all~new illusions which have never been seen? Ummm... unless you're the second coming of Robert Harbin, I'll wager a week's salary that we never see you again on a national television network. Unless FOX finally airs that long~awaited special:

Who Wants To Marry A Magician Who Scammed Millions Into Believing He Was Famous? He *IS* The Weakest Linking Ring ~ Goodbye!

Penn & Teller remain tres cool. Occasionally they explain trix but in such a way that, by the end of Gillette's patter, the average Joe or Jill has no idea what he or she just saw. Which is perfect.





Some Nonsense from Copperhead (reported 10/14/01)


"Copperfield Says German Lottery Forecast No Trick"



BERLIN (Reuters) - "American illusionist David Copperfield said Sunday he was bombarded by requests for tips on the winning numbers in Germany's national lottery Saturday night -- numbers he said he had predicted seven months ago.

Copperfield wrote down his forecast on Feb. 17 for the multi-million mark lottery drawing due Saturday Oct. 13. The prediction was sealed by a notary and locked in a box that was kept under round-the-clock surveillance.

One hour after the winning numbers were drawn, the box was opened on a live television broadcast and the numbers on the slip of paper matched the winning draw: 2, 9, 10, 15, 25, 38, 4.

'It wasn't a trick,' Copperfield told Bild am Sonntag newspaper after the Saturday night performance on the popular 'Wanna Bet?' broadcast on ZDF television. 'It was more an experiment and mental exercise. We only use about 10 percent of our brain capacity.'

Copperfield said he doesn't participate in lotteries because 'I find them boring. I'm not a gambler.' He said he isn't tempted to play the lottery himself because then he wouldn't be able to 'see' the numbers.

'I used to try it out by giving friends the numbers, but then it would never work,' he said. 'If the numbers aren't kept secret, it doesn't work.'

Copperfield said hundreds of people had written him since February begging him for tips on what numbers to pick.

'It was incredible. Hundreds of emails, so many letters and requests from people in despair. There were so many people in tough situations, with debts and similar problems.'"

ME: Very compassionate of you and a nice try, Dave. Good line about that "10% of the brain" though...





And Now a Bit About David Blaine and his Alleged Levitation


First off, I like David Blaine. Who among our profession could not appreciate a cat who came out of nowhere, had killer skills but was totally unknown and sold his act to a major network?

Who cares if he was doing "normal" close-up magic and calling it "street magic"? The fact is that the guy's a pretty good technician. If you can do the legitimate effects that Dave's performing (which in fairness most of the people reading this cannot), you too have a future in magic.

Skip the stooges -- and David's a lot like his better-paid compadre with the same first name in his use of those, and the tricks that cost several hundred dollars and can't possibly be performed on Dave's so-called "street" the way Dave does (John Kennedy's "Card Thru Window" -- see link below), I still think that Blaine's input challenges us to be better. Despite his awkward friendship with Wacko Jacko.

That said (I say that a lot, don't I? -- guess I need some new material -- as does David), Blaine might try out some actual street material if he's going to continue to bill himself as a street cat. Try a cups and balls routine, Dave. And don't shy away from cherching la femme.

No more forced cards placed into inflated basketballs for NBA players, a feat which is completely impossible without employing the help of those who MADE the ball. No more "cards through windows" without stooges. No more STOOGES, Dave.

And because Blaine blatantly lied in his "Street Magic" TV special/video about not using wires for his so-called levitation, here's how it's really done... the wrath runs deep for the heathens who can't back up what they claim on TV, as we all suffer the consequences. I don't generally reveal how effects are accomplished, but given the fact that Blaine chose to cheat the TV audience (I can't tell you how many lay people have approached me and stated that Blaine was literally several inches off the ground, with a wall seen behind and beneath his feet) and the more obvious fact that the Balducci version is nearly impossible to perform, angle-wise, and the further knowledge that a far better method is available using PK, in this case I'm making an exception.

On To Blaine's Latest Non-Magic Stunt (Added 09/05/03, revised 9/18/03)



First I'll mention that several co-workers asked me today what magicians thought of Blaine's recent TV attractions: I said that my magic pals generally don't even discuss him (unlike Henning for instance). Examples: In the past few weeks I've spoken with Paul Gertner, Tim Moore, Ken Klosterman, Ron Bauer, Steve Dusheck, Michael Brazill, George Robinson of Collector's Workshop, Mario Carrandi, Jim Riser, Kenna Thompson, Ron Alessi, et al and no one even mentioned Blaine's name. But here's the so-called "story":

Blaine Begins Starvation Stunt in London
By JACK GARLAND, Associated Press Writer

LONDON - David Blaine, the American illusionist and street magician, began his latest feat of endurance in a blaze of publicity Friday night, entering a plastic box where he will attempt to live without food for more than six weeks.

The 30-year-old New Yorker entered the cramped see-through box at 9:30 p.m., watched by television cameras and thousands of cheering fans.

In a live TV show, Blaine was checked over by medical personnel and searched by a security guard before waving goodbye, hugging his friends and climbing into the top of the box in a small park near Tower Bridge overlooking the River Thames.

A crane lifted the box up 40 feet, where it was to remain suspended while Blaine pursues his goal of spending 44 days and 44 nights alone with only a supply of water, a quilt, a pillow, a journal, a change of clothes and a photo of his mother.

"It's all a bit banal. I'm not very impressed. It's like watching an animal at the zoo," said one spectator, Mick James, a 39-year-old a writer from London.

But Sonia Schaile, 24, a saleswoman in the city, was impressed. "I'm definitely coming back on a hot day because that's when he will have to take his shirt off," she said.

Blaine waved at the crowd, ignoring a spectator who threw an egg that splattered down the exterior of the plastic shell.

This is Blaine's first major stunt outside the United States. The street-magician-turned-endurance performer has already spent 35 hours standing on top of a 100-foot-high pole, and three days encased in ice — both stunts in New York.

Blaine has said that the latest stunt will give him the chance to search for his "truths."

"This is worth it for my art, even if I drop dead," he said.

The New Yorker insists he won't eat, and said he has fattened himself up to over 205 pounds so he can survive on his own body fat. Blaine has said he expects to lose at least 45 pounds.

ME: Righto, Dave. Is it magic? Is it an escape? Pure endurance? Does anyone give a f*ck? Dude, I don't get it. It's not even creating good pub. What the hell are you trying to accomplish? Back to the stooges with you. You've worn out in record time. Something which I'd hoped Copperhead would do.

Dateline 10/20/03: Blaine made it out alive (really? no way!) and was scorned by the British media, the British public (not to mention sports~clone Jim Rome, who had some particularly funny takes on your "Ethiopian stunt" -- which sadly included ALL magi thanks to your bullshit) and last but NOT last, magicians everywhere. In fact, Laura and I spent yesterday afternoon with several dozen locally~, nationally~ and internationally~known compeers at the tribute for the late legend Milt Kort. Not a one mentioned the Daver. So much for your 15 minutes, Blaine. Stick that fork (or that fake I.V. from the fake ambulance from the "private hospital") in yourself, for you my friend, are quite done. Now get over yourself and join Uri Gellar in the geeky sham wing of magicdom.


~ Quick highlights of IBM - Orlando 2001 ~
Well, as expected, Shimada was larger than life while tiny in stature and a truly gentle man. First time I caught Shawn Farquhar's close-up (particularly his cups and balls to the wall routine -- the best I've seen since Gertner's -- his close left my jaw on the floor with me mumbling to my British pal Jon Allen "where the hell was the switch?"... to which he replied "there wasn't one"). Should've been a Gold Cups winner. At any rate, time for the IBM to wake up and give the Cups where due... that's two years in a row of misdeeds. Other great points were Henry Evans & Boris Wild's excellent close-up performances, Fukai's parasol act, attending the outgoing International President's invite-only party (Pittsburgh's Jack Greenberg, a close friend of my fiancee Laura's family), Mullica's dead-on Red Skelton tribute, helping the legendary Nani Darnell get back into the Dealer area (after she was "carded"), seeing Oscar and Melody Muñoz again, continuing to wonder how in the hell Murray beat that amazing Asian act last year and having to sit through his bad CD act again this year without the benefit of a cigarette break -- I quit smoking this year.


~ Detailed Highlights of MagiFest, 2003 ~


How much can you say about old friend Dave Williamson? Killer close-up, killer lecture (devoted to Goshman -- the first time I've ever seen DW break down), killer surprise cameos, a nice tribute from his old Dayton Ring and appearing nightly for HOURS (and for fun) in the lobbies with the "regular" guys/gals. The funniest magician I've ever seen (let alone known a bit) is also among the most humble and genuine. And born in my mother's hometown, Xenia, OH. Thanks for the time, Dave ;)

David with the lobby~rats (we Michiguyz and a few others (ok, the room was packed); funniest moment of the session might have been when Chuck was doing Bauer's "The Feminine Side" and asked Dave to smile:
Dave: "Nope"
Chuck: "C'mon, it's part of the trick"
Dave: "Not gonna happen"
Chuck: "Just a little one?"
Dave: "I don't even smile for pictures" -- (leans back, looking dour)
Chuck: "OK, here's how it goes..."
Oh -- and I believe that's Arthur Tracz on the left -- can't miss those glasses ;)



Dave & MagiFest regular (who was given an award for being at the last 40 or so Fests, Linking Ring columnist, premier magish and most excellent guy) Tom Craven; to Dave's right in the shot is Harlan's old partner and one of Laura's oldest magical friends (in the grey shirt), Marv Leventhal -- editor of "Minotaur" and a cool dude:



And performing his Matrix/Coins Across/Chink-A-Chink/Whatever Dave calls it, for Marv and the throng:



Here's Dave doing close-up (called me Ansel Adams for taking so many pix, most of which didn't turn out); the little girl in this set (missing both front teeth) was cute as a button! --- ummm, how cute are buttons anyway?:







Ya got lemons? Ya make lemonade:



Yeah, the requisite "I broke down and asked for one with me" -- could DW look less interested?



Spending a few hours of quality time with the great Aldo Colombini and newly-great Linking Ring cover~girl (February, 2003), Julie Eng -- two very special people who are as down to Earth as they are classy. Aldo also lectured and was MC for the Saturday night show, during which Julie performed a very nice Okito Cabinet presentation with terrific patter and extremely unfortunate spotlight placement. Very elegant, at any rate, and a real sweetheart; that's the three of us here, performing Himber's GIANT WINE GLASSES AND BEER BOTTLE, followed by the two of them sharing a laugh:





The always fun Tom Jones and Rachel Wild (Wild Magic, see links), with whom Laura and I shared a table for a drink and magic talk.

Arthur Tracz's easily "best of show" parlour act, involving manipulations centered around a really cool art theme. Catch this cat soon.

Running into very old friend Harold D. ("ShowStopper!") Russell in the bar on Saturday night; this is one of the legendary cats in magic, having broken the color barrier for magis at the St. Louis Playboy Club and other major venues in the early '60s. An absolutely wonderful gentleman with some all-too-credible tales; I love you, Harold!



Shawn Farquhar fooling me again with his cups and balls, as well as his terrific card effect/finale to the Saturday night show, which was timed and performed to a Sting song ("That's Not the Beat of My Heart"? -- close if not correct). Very nice. In the below pix, his hand may not be quicker than your eye, but they're quicker than my brand new Olympus C-4000 digicam ;)







Shawn's wife Felicity and their latest "production," Hannah...



Bob Sheets hanging out in the lobby, doing his superior Shell Game (as well as his version of Sachs' "Fourteen the Hard Way" with jumbo dice) and not overtly begging us to buy his stuff. Oh -- his close-up for the "real" show was awesome as well. Here he is, with the Incredible Shrinking Man, the legendary Howie Schwarzman, demonstrating the size that Howie will be in two years ;)



Still being amazed by the wonderful Karl Norman not only making trips like this, but fooling everyone in his presence -- ummm.... that's EVERYONE.

Speaking of elder statesmen of our craft -- I never tire of watching one of my best old dealer friends, for whom I used to demo in the '70s, Bob Little -- "I'm the WIZ, the best there is!" -- hawk his wares. Keep it up, Robert! Bob might be the only senior citizen who can get away with cargo pants -- love the "I'll Make You A Star" sign ;)



Tom Gagnon blowing all away into the late hours with his tremendous card work; here he is with Bauer pal Tom:



Seeing the Ron Bauer contingent -- Tom, Andy and Chuck (my compadres from the Detroit suburbs) -- demoing Ron's "Private Studies" series to delighted audiences, myself included. These guys are terrific. The Motown boyz chatting up Williamson's head (Bauer's "Chick Trick" is on the table in front of Chuck):



Being with Laura for the Saturday night show mentioned above, where we met two years ago at 7:20 PM! In the shot below, she assists Tim Shegitz during the very nice close-up presentation of his "Card in Egg"...



Tim also did a fine version of the Axtell AxTrax board:



Running into Richard ("Richie") Kaufman for the first time ever -- a surprisingly nice guy, given his cred (he had a booth for Genii, which most of you know he now edits, finally giving it credibility). Wish I'd brought all of the books from my library which he's written, just for the autograph -- ah, hindsight; here he is with Bob Sheets:



Purchasing the late Jim Rector's (engraved by one of his best friends, RnT founder Mike Brazill) RnT copper cups from the always reasonable Bob James -- one terrific guy who sells items for far less than they're worth (with the possible exception of the Merv Taylor wrist chopper which was owned by Orson Welles; price tag -- $4K... purchased by Kenny Klosterman? That was the plan. All I know is that it was gone when Bob left). Oh yeah -- Bob's wife's a cutie and tres cool as well ;) -- and here's that chopper with case:





Chatting about magic in general on the bus ride to and from Veteran's Memorial with Jay Mattioli, a very cool young dude from PA, who it turns out I saw win the Junior Stage competetion in Buffalo (although I didn't realize it at the time); so humble that he never mentioned it, or the fact that he was competing the next morning in the Senior division -- he just turned 21 this year. Of course, he won it. He does a great bird act involving computers and CDs/diskettes. Look forward to seeing you again soon, Jay.

The sheer comedy of listening to some young blowhard on the same bus ride, telling all within earshot (very loudly) that he'd just taken the Guinness Book of World Records record for card scaling (although truth be told, he never used the words "card scaling" so I'm not even certain that he knows what his feat is called). "I beat Ricky Jay by two feet!," he exclaimed, then kept spewing garbage such as "See that building? I could throw a card past it if there was no wind!"... his "partner" was also bragging about getting free meals in Buffalo by calling ahead (as his "agent") and asking if they knew this great magician who was in town. I literally could not stop laughing at these two clownies, and Jay was enjoying my running commentary. The best part? The dork finished THIRD in the Junior Stage contest -- the winner? A six-year-old (I'm not making this up). I'd mention the not-funny, no-impression-making, non-winning asshole's name (Rich Smith? Rick Smith? Something like that) if I thought Ricky Jay was worried -- caught him getting his picture taken with Jessica Reed later. Now THERE's a match.

Disappointments: The stage shows basically continue to blow at the Fest, especially those at the Friday night "Headliner $how" at Veteran's Memorial. Consecutive dove acts: the first, by the much-anticipated Ice McDonald , was marred by the VERY early appearance of his final load -- a large and beautiful multi~colored macaw, who flew out from under his table and into the wings, appearing back onstage a bit later -- but not late enough to actually be PRODUCED. Worse for Ice: he was charging $50 a head for a special Sunday lecture. This showing couldn't have helped sales for that event. Sadly, the best act of the evening was a mime (and he WAS terrific but come on, he's a MIME! They KILL them in Frisco!). I'd like to say that MC Trevor Lewis (introduced as "Martin Lewis" -- need I say much more?) held things together, but it was a difficult task.

Losing a RnT Don Alan aluminum chop cup in mint condition, with instructions, bag, etc. while I was explaining to Bob James' wife that it was indeed RnT. Price? $50.00. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.




~ Never Added MagiFest, 2002 Comments -- that's how unimpressive the entire convention was! ~



~ Quick highlights of MagiFest, 2001 ~

Laura, Megan, how well the convention was run, the incredible number of the offspring of my friend of 26 years, Bill Krech, showing up as "assistants" on show after show, Ammar (perf. & lecture), Palmer (ditto), Ed Ellis, Nielsen, Lefler & Wade kid show lecture (even for a close-up guy like me), Wade kid event lecture and especially the three Germans' chapeaugraphy act, private sessions with Nielsen & wife Lupe, Warren Stephens, Howard "The Wizard" Flint (the guy who inspired me to learn to stack dice after seeing him do the aerial pickup from the back of a spectator's hand!), Karl Norman, John & Gene, and... ummm... did I mention Laura?


Disappointments: The Majestix (enough already ~ quit printing the pub photo with the tiger if you never use it in convention shows), the German vent (way too blue material for a family show), the Saturday night show's emcee (although his act with his wife and $20k worth of cool feather flowers was fun... when the flowers finally arrived), the adult stage contest winner and his bad blazer (the gent manipulating crystal balls should have won by all accounts)


Whatever. Remember to reload the page each time you return: it's updated occasionally ~ the MagiFest rant was 06/18/01, when I was still seriously pissed about the above state of affairs (now that I've nearly ruined the $80 set of rings Bob James gave me at a major discount at the Fest), but ecstatic about the state of one other area of my life ~ hello, Laura... marry me ;)


Speaking of which:


On May 3, 2001, at precisely 7:20 PM, I finally met the woman I'd been waiting 45 years for: my one-and-only ~ the gorgeous Laura ~ at MagiFest in Columbus, Ohio no less. Completely unbelievably, she too lived in MI.


This is the same convention where I performed in 1976 (see below for pix).


The same convention where Laura's mother Susan, a magician at the time, won the adult competition in the mid '60s.


The same convention over which Laura's grandfather presided as President of the International Brotherhood of Magicians in 1962...


Tim Moore, Jep Hostetler and even Megan (see below) had a hand in our meeting in a night that quite literally cannot be explained here.


Laura and I were married August 30 of 2002 ~ somebody up there still has a soft spot for me, which is puzzling but certainly appreciated beyond words. Psssst.... if you click here you can see a pic of us just after arriving at the 2001 Orlando convention.





The above logo and "Illusion At Arm's Length" are ® registered trademarks of Gary Smith Michaels
(and the address and phone on the second one haven't been valid since 1976)

Many thanks to graphic artist extraordinaire Rich Cantrell for the logo design...

Old magicians never die, they just very slowly fade away, like one of my old business cards or the pages of John Northern Hilliard's essential Greater Magic... from right to left (depending I guess upon which page you're looking at).

Or like the alleged magical skills of DC.



Proof That The Craft Is In Trouble

Monday February 5, 2001 7:46 PM ET
Siegfried & Roy to Appear in SI Swimsuit Issue


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - What do Siberian tiger tamers Siegfried and Roy have in common with scantily clad supermodels posing in bikinis?

Not much, one might say at first blush. But hold that thought until later this month.

The quixotic pair of Germans, known for their magic act featuring Siberian tigers and lions at the Mirage in Las Vegas, will be prominently featured in this year's Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue due out later this month, according a source familiar with the situation.

A spokesman for Sports Illustrated declined to comment, saying the magazine does not discuss its famous swimsuit issue in advance of publication.

But the source confirmed a media report stating the flashy duo will indeed be prominently featured in the swimsuit edition. They were chosen, he said, because Sports Illustrated wanted to photograph some of the issue in Las Vegas and wanted to feature a local ``icon'' in the mix.

But while Siegfried and Roy appear in the same issue with women clad in swimsuits, nary the two shall meet on the individual page, according to the source.

The supermodel photos were shot late last year at Caesar's Palace on the Strip, while Siegfried, Roy and the pairs' ``pets'' were photographed in their home, known locally as the ``Jungle Palace.'' The issue is also reportedly set to include an interview with the pair.


Scary stuff, eh?

Then this:

Tuesday, February 20, 2001
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

COLUMN: NORM!
Siegfried & Roy announcement might entail more than meets the eye

Are Siegfried & Roy about to disappear?
Something tells me there's much more behind this upcoming big announcement than a lifetime contract that's supposed to be unveiled at an MGM Mirage news conference.

So much national pre-publicity is being orchestrated that the hunch here is the announcement will shed light on how much longer the illusionists intend to continue the long-running show.

Sports Illustrated is featuring the German duo and their animals in the annual swimsuit issue this week. The making of this year's swimsuit issue airs on MTV tonight.

I don't think it's a coincidence. My hunch is that it is all being orchestrated as part of a farewell publicity push to shine the light on Siegfried & Roy.

The guess here is they're close to turning the show over to someone else who would keep the act going under the name "Siegfried & Roy Presents."

Insiders tell me Darren Romeo, a handsome young talented magician, has been seen working behind the scenes with Siegfried & Roy. It makes sense. I keep hearing Siegfried, who turns 62 soon, wants to lessen his work load, especially after the illness last month that caused 25 shows to be canceled.


Hmmmmm... cat~food for thought ;)



Even Older Magical News (9/23/00): Just got off the phone with the Wunderful Steve Dusheck and guess what? This amazing talent finally retired from his day job and is at long last a full-time working magician (how the hell did it take 35 years for THAT to finally happen?)... he's working a couple of nights a week in the Poconos and is still as cool as ever. Steve's also working on a long-overdue book. When he emails me I'll add details on where specifically to catch him and will update all on his book (he was just leaving for a gig but spared me 15 minutes or so: you just can't buy old friends like Steve). I was fairly blown away, and deeply honored, to hear that he still has my old publicity shot hanging on the wall in his basement magic room! What a guy ;)



July 9, 2000 (updated with additional info 9/2/00): Back in town from the IBM Convention in Buffalo ~ I'd forgotten what it was like to be in a bar at 4:30 AM and run into guys I hadn't laid eyes on in 20 years. My personal highlights were my friend Paul Gertner's equally exquisite and expertly sentimental "Ten Fingers" play (and a special thanks to Paul and his co-writer/director/all~around~cool~guy, Marc Masterson for the extra attention); kissing Juliana Chen's hand backstage (I may never wash my lips again!) and getting to rub it into the face of the exceedingly hip young Brit~wit Jon Allen when he and close-up competition runner-up Chris Hannibal ran into us on the way out of the theater ~ because they didn't get the same opportunity and now want to have me killed ===;~O (just received I nice email from Jon and added his excellent site to my links below); spending some quality bar~time with Paul Cummins, Ed Alonzo, Tom Jones & Rachel Wild (the coolest ~ and likely the best~looking ~ dealer/couple act around), Karl Norman, old friend and IBM Past Prez Kenny Klosterman and others; seeing IBM Past Presidents Abb Dickson & Bev Bergeron again; catching Giovanni, Muñoz, Allen & Cummins for the first time; watching my 12~year~young mentee, Megan Carol Gennette, a tiny beautiful ball of exuberant wonder with cajones the size of Texas, running all over the place meeting people: instead of asking the big boys to show her a trick she was asking if she could show them something, just to get their insights (by the end of the convention, every single dealer and most of the major talent ~especially Oscar~ knew her by name); staying up all night with Ed Alonzo and a few other folks helping Canada's Jason Chessar (an excellent young manipulation man) with marketing advice; and screaming in fits of laughter at Mike Finney's hysterical MC job Saturday night, even having heard him do many of the same gags more than a couple of times before ~ just cracked me up again and again (but hey Finney~dude: I hold that stuff with the minister onstage directly responsible for the several FEET of rain we encountered on the way home through Canada on Sunday, costing us a few hours delay, and the fact that I lost my voice for the entire following week)...

You really must see Gertner's "Ten Fingers" ~ one of the many times I ran into Paul in Buffalo was just as he and another chap were discussing taking the play on the road to some hip cities, then trying it off~Broadway. I recommended bringing the show to Detroit's Majestic Theatre, which was the site of Houdini's final performance (October 24, 1926, although the incident with the two students from McGill University resulting in his burst appendix occurred in Montreal on October 21). The Majestic is still in business and would be an ideal locale for this tremendous act. And this is also the town where Houdini's famed underwater trunk escape in the frozen waters of the Detroit River failed, nearly killing him (one of the very few things which the 1953 Tony Curtis film got right). So Detroit seems the most logical stop on the "Ten Fingers" tour...



IBM 2000 Pix


Here's my second-favorite female on the planet, the yummy Juliana Chen...(eat your heart out, Jon!)... I edited this with Adobe Photoshop to add a sepia~tone to this somewhat stark B&W 8x10 in orfer to give you a better idea of her cat~like beauty in velvet:


OK, so my camera's batteries died when my friend Pat (Megan's dad) tried to take a photo of Ms. Chen and myself: these are a few he took with his Nikon of Juliana with Meg & me; yep, I look my absolute worst here, but it's the only photo of me with my dream magical~lover so you're damned right I'm posting it... she was so self~deprecating and sweet that she practiced writing our names on a manila envelope before signing autographs on her 8x10s for us ~ this woman is a true find (read all about her early struggles to reach the top of the heap under extraordinarily difficult conditions in the September, 2000 edition of the Linking Ring). Paul Cummins and I had discussed how her costume changes had become so much faster since we'd both been eagerly watching her from her earlier days ~ so that's what Juliana and I were talking about when the shot was taken...


Paul & Kathy Gertner with friends & family, following his final day "Ten Fingers" performance:


And the aforementioned Brit~wit Jon Allen ~ one of the few really great comedy magicians I've seen (he asked if I wanted him to do a "set" pose and I told him that I'd rather shoot him pitching a sale ~ it's all about the money, dude):


Here's a current 8 x 10 of Jon ~ I still say he looks better with glasses, but what do we heterosexual Yanks know? Ummm... perhaps I should mention that Jon's happily married (in case one might think I meant something by that comment)


The tannest super~couple in the world, Rachel Wild & Tom Jones with Megan (I tried to whiten you guys up, but simply couldn't ~ thanks for all of your help with Meg); Rachel and I had a rather spirited discussion in the bar one evening as to Copperhead's worth in the magic profession, which shall be continued at a later date ~ my argument was that Henning used to occasionally show up for at least a day at the IBM International convention; and I still want that Tally Ho (blue~backed) deck for your beautifully~crafted "Zig Zag Deck" ;~)


Ed Alonzo: hilarious lunatic onstage (and truly great guy off ~ a rare combination ~ he was a big part of the all~nighter we pulled with Jason & his dad), stopped just before returning to LA to graciously pose with Megan. If Ed looks familiar to any of you non~magi who stumbled upon this page, in his earlier life he played "Max" on the TV series "Saved By The Bell"... Ed's still doing filmwork as well ~ he just wrapped a shoot with Rachel Hunter (who he assured us is still ultra~hot, despite the Rod Stewart years)...


Another of our profession's truly wonderful guys, Abb Dickson. I've been acquainted with Abb off and on for 20+ years (since just before his mammoth "Presto" show debuted in 1976) and have never known a nicer, more caring magician. This guy's heart is just so big, as is his dedication to furthering our art ~ and he's one of the SECRET SIX to boot ;)

His Karrell Fox Memorial lecture and fundraiser was a thing of beauty, especially for those of us who had seen Fox work. And, as you see, Megan was right up there onstage with him, doing her best Vanna White impression when Abb asked her to do so (Vanna used to be in Abb's act before moving to LA for the big $). Seriously, could this girl have had a better first~ever convention experience? Thanks for that, Abb. And for the great tribute to Karrell and his mind (read all about it on the link to Abb's site at the bottom of this page).

And for the shot with me ;~)


Oscar Muñoz's reputation preceded him for me, as I'd never seen nor met him but had heard about his Gold Cups win in '99 and the word was that he was one fine worker. It's a rare thing when the buzz proves to be underhype ~ but in Muñoz's case it was true. The guy is just terrific. BRIGHT purple suit. Said suit can apparently only be appropriately photographed using a Hasselblad, because my $1000 Canon and Pat's even higher~priced Nikon, plus my fairly~good image-editing skills STILL show the damned jacket as being blue. BRIGHT yellow shirt. Opens with a really tremendous rope routine with a BRIGHT yellow rope. Someone mentioned to me that it's a famous rope act from the old days which no one performs anymore (yep, drop that old difficult stuff and produce fifty-two doves all of you magicians out there). In Oscar's hands it was superior. He also did some nice manipulations but it was his persona that really grabbed me.

Oscar's was the first convention close~up act that Megan had ever seen so of course she immediately became an integral part of the act. I'm telling you, this kid is gonna be huge if she keeps working at it, and it seems that she will. Oscar and his lovely wife Melody (or is that Melodie?) also spent a lot of time with her. Many thanks, you two. Even cooler, Oscar's joining the same IBM Ring that Megan's moving into. Talk about leading a charmed life.


A candid shot of Paul Cummins chilling in the bar (the only place we could smoke in the hotel ~ sheesh); shown seated on the right is Jason's dad. Along with Oscar, Paul was probably the most accessible of the big boys at the convention and I had the great fortune of spending a good deal of time with him during smoke breaks at the evening shows and occasionally in the bar. If you haven't seen this guy's card and coin~work you're missing one of the very best in the business. Check out Paul & Doc Eason's FUSILLADE, which he performed at the convention: this is a really beautiful multiple card selection - at least 18 in our room, with excellent revelations.


The final day's autograph session: left to right, the very funny Tom Burgoon, Oscar Muñoz & Paul Cummins. That's most of Jon Allen on the left behind them ;)



While we're still discussing my protegé's successful entry into our craft, here's the new logo I designed for her ~ pull that silk off of it for the revelation, Dave...


The above logo and "Megan Carol ~ Clever Magic" are ® registered trademarks of Megan Carol Gennette and Gary Smith Michaels, so if you're a magician named MEGAN, please do not steal this. It was one of the presents I came up with for her 13th birthday ~ and we WILL track you down and pelt you with 4" dice ;~)

Obviously the logo borrows heavily from Rich's creation of my own logo, but it suits her, I believe (the dots on the "E" represent the first close-up effect she bought at her initial convention: the old standby Hot Rod paddle effect, which she was performing table to table two hours later in the Buffalo micro~brewery where we had dinner that first night); the "clever magic" is a tribute to my own mentor, the great Kirkendall...




What Magic Means To Me

Updated 2/19/01

Yep. Everyone's got a philosophy on our craft, but since my old pal Tom Ogden laughed at the idea of my sticking it on here I'll just pass along a couple of thoughts and an explanation of my true beginnings in this art in which we dwell...

I saw my first close-up effect when I was ten, although I'd been buying and mastering The Multiplying Rabbits (which Giovanni recently mentioned was better than any sponge ball routine whatsoever, based on audience appeal), The Rope in Vase, The Nails Thru Coin effects etc. for a few years. An elderly British friend of my parents, Reg Sear, showed me Walter Gibson's "Nickels to Dimes" (the Brema version) and knocked my little sox off... each time he and his wife visited for dinner, the elegant Mr. Sear would make sure that he spent a few minutes with me, divulging the wonders which would eventually consume me. Sleeving coins. Palming all manner of objects. Minor billiard ball manipulations. Cheap ADAMS 5" linking rings. Vanishing dice. Within a few months I was doing shows in our garage for a nickel a head. Three years later I was was riding the bus to downtown Milwaukee every Saturday morning to demonstrate magic in the legendary Moon Fun Shop in exchange for a few new tricks (as I was technically too young to work at the time, co-managers Ted Weston and Rex Preston let me select a few goodies in exchange for my demo'ing)...

In 1974 or thereabouts I'd moved to Columbus, OH. I'd been spending a lot of hours demo'ing in Columbus' only combination magic dealer/costume rental shop, Kampmann's, then heading across town to Don O'Neill's much better shop (which also served as the home of MAK Magic) to sit in the smoky back room and listen to Don, Nick Trost, Tom Stelzer, Frank Harmer, Bob Moreland, Dick Campbell (pronounced "Camel") and some other locals spin their tales and reveal the inner secrets of the close~up game. T'was in that back room that Bob hand~painted the lettering on my first close~up case: "The Close~Up Magic of Gary M. Smith."

One Saturday the O'Neill back~room boyz told me that the IBM's international convention was coming to nearby Dayton, OH the following weekend. I didn't know much about the IBM but the guys explained that the dealers at the convention would have a lot cooler stuff than I'd seen so my brother Scott and I took off that next Saturday ~ just to check out the dealers.

This was when you could visit the dealer rooms without having to register. This was also at a time when the only magicians I personally knew were at least twenty years older than I. Anyway, just outside the dealer area was this young guy with long hair like mine, sitting at a barren folding card table equipped only with a close-up pad and a stack of business cards, performing the cups and balls with steel ball bearings. Obviously it was the most incredible thing I'd ever seen (equally obvious should be the fact that I'm talking about Paul Gertner).

Between his shows we introduced ourselves, my brother and I complimented him on his amazing work and talked a bit. I asked if he was part of the convention and he explained that he was just there to practice in front of the "big guys" and get his name out there (if I'm remembering this inaccurately, Paul will hopefully correct me). This is when his final load ~ "the biggest one of all" ~ was a tall thick lucite #1 on a round stand which filled the cup. T'was also before he changed his professional name from Gaertner, because of the perception that some of his clients might be uncertain as to how to pronounce it. And it was also before I changed my name from Gary Michael Smith to Gary Smith Michaels (rendering my close~up case unuseable). After at least two hours, Scott and I wandered off to the dealers and Paul was gone when we left.

So I joined Ring 7 in Columbus. I remember the act I did before the Ring for my required routine: "Strat~O~Spheres," which I'd purchased from U.F. (Gen) Grant himself; plus a Siberian chain escape with huge chains, Fantasio's dancing cane, a few of his vanishing candles and a big ugly square circle I'd made myself (the production from which included the requisite silks, plus a giant toothbrush and a rubber chicken). Despite that, I was taken under the wings of some of the Columbus greats: Jim Wheeler, B.J. McGory, Del Copley, etc. Future IBM Prez Jep Hostetler was my Ring~mate in those days, as well. Mark Wade was also a member of our Ring, when he was only performing magic. One night he showed up at our meeting and told us that he'd been working on something new: a ventriloquist act. So I was there for his first performance as a vent. Way cool ;)

Mark went on to found the International Ventriloquial Association (I'm probably getting the name wrong) and is now the Executive Director of the annual international gathering of ventriloquists in Ft. Mitchell, KY: The Vent Haven ConVENTion. I had a two-hour chat with my old friend 8/31/00 and really romped down memory lane. Mark's still performing 400+ shows a year, serves on MagiFest's board of directors (yep, he's a redcoat) and has written a book called Kid Show Ventriloquism, which may be ordered through Amazon.com or by emailing Mark directly. Ask really nicely and Mark might even autograph it for you :)

In 1976, our Ring hosted the MagiFest and I was lucky to be among the four close-up workers on the Friday night show. Steve Dusheck's Wunderbar had just been introduced and I decided to perform it with gloved hands (pictured below), because everyone I'd shown it to thought that the gaff was connected to my fingers (ala Kaps' Cork). Tommy Windsor was at one of my tables, as was then-IBM President Walter Williams. When the gloves came off and the bar kept floating there were a few real gasps at the table. I got a booking at Milwaukee's SAM Conclave on the spot ~ which was sorta sweet because I hadn't even done my dice stacking finale yet ~ and every dealer sold out their entire stock of Wunderbars that night ;)

Anyway, I worked several more magic conventions and had the opportunity to get to know Gertner and Ogden really well. More on that in a few... All of this led to my meeting and becoming fast friends with master magician, superior metalworker and certainly the best coins/reels/locked boxes craftsman this side of P & L, the creator of "The Philosopher's Stone" illusion and my dear friend, George W. Kirkendall, Jr.

George drilled the following into me: skip the BS and read the older better works: Greater Magic, Expert Card Technique, Professor Hoffman's Modern Magic and its follow~ups, Sach's Sleight of Hand, Bobo, Maskelyne & Devant's Our Magic, Magic With Small Apparatus, Magic Without Apparatus, a clean photocopy of Harbin's Book (found one via a certain rotund genius who shall be known only as a member of The Secret Six), etc...

Then step outside the box and rethink it. Hell, throw the box away: box tricks suck anyway (cleaned up a bit for any youth which may be reading this).

Kirk's the only lecturer I've ever seen who could actually spend 15 minutes of a one~hour lecture discussing the importance of the serious close~up worker's care of her/his hands. And not a single magician budged from their chairs. Pumice stones. Lotions. Even clear nail polish. Now there's a guy who really thrives on presentation.

Presentation? In 1990 or so Kirk, who wore dentures, had Tim make him a fake set which were a perfect fit and were so odd that it's nearly frightening. George could replace his real ones with the fakes quicker than the gorgeous & immensely talented Juliana Chen dumps a mask. And that's saying a thing or four.

In May of 1976, George got me a slot at Eddie Fechter's invitation~only Fechter's Finger~Flicking Frolic (now known simply as the FFFF or 4F), which in those days was held annually at Eddie's Forks Hotel just outside of Buffalo. This place was a close~up worker's dream: an ever~so~sleightly run~down place with rough~hewn paneling on some of the walls, comfy booths & large dinner tables, a good~size bar (and a super~sized bartender: Fechter himself) but most importantly, a hand painted "sandwich~board" sign out front which read simply, "Magician Nightly" (Mentzer used those words for the title of one of his excellent books on Eddie ~ the other was "Dice Holdout Methods" - I highly recommend both for those dice~folk out there reading this drivel). So every magician who ever passed through Buffalo stopped in to pay homage and to entertain the bar patrons... and if tips were to be had then so be it ;)

This was the weekend during which I was introduced to Tim Moore (in absentia), the aforementioned dentist... in a way. Kirk knew that Tim was a terrific stage performer (having just won the IBM as a "Junior"), but he wanted to get into close~up. And he was self~conscious about what he perceived as a slight oddity in the windows one of his hands left "open." I enthusiastically agreed to meet this kid and the rest is... well, you know.

Back at the FFFF... come Saturday night I had the very good fortune of being second to last on the bill. After my version of Wunderbar, I performed my best creation for the first time. People had been stacking dice for years. Particularly our most excellent host, Eddie, who was easily the best dice~man I've ever seen, Clark Crandall withstanding.

So I stacked steel hex nuts. On end.

Looking out over the audience, I was pretty excited to see jaws dropping and smiles widening all over the room: Walter Gibson (who, as I said, invented the first effect I'd ever learned). Tom Ogden. The dice~maestro himself, Fechter. Art Emerson & Larry West. It remains quite simply the highlight of my magic career.

OK, except for that time I kissed Juliana Chen's hand...mmmmm...

Of course, some punk stole the hex nut act and won either the IBM's or SAM's close~up competition with it the next year or so, which was sorta a "welcome to the big time" experience.

OK so that was me. But there's no way I could face any one of you reading this if I didn't also explain that the amazing Gertner closed the show on that perfect Saturday night. Paul blew the collected minds of precisely 89 of the greatest international magicians right off the board with his close~up. From his excellent coin matrix to some brilliant card work to his perfect dice routine (concluding with a double giant die production while standing up) and his incredible cups & balls routine with those damned Pittsburgh steel ball bearings.

Talk about clever magic. More on my post~'70s magical past later. At any rate, ignore Copperfield's ripoffs, blow off most box trix and work it. You might just surprise yourself with what you come up with...

Per Paul, here's the only existing photograph of Gertner and Fechter talking together, which I shot after the Saturday night show described above (you'll want to save this pic: in Netscape, right-click on it and click on "Save Image As")...




These are a few pix I took of Paul (with Fechter watching over his right shoulder) performing an extra show in the kitchen of the Forks that night. Gertner didn't even know these existed until we began phoning one another again in 2000 (can we really be that old? 2000?).



Here's a water~damaged 8x10 of Paul's from 1988; we'd just had dinner after the taping of one of his trade show demo vtapes, shot in Detroit, which I'm honored to appear in (uncredited front left spectator with geeky hair ~ to my right is Paul's director Marc Masterson); in case you ever have the opportunity to see the tape, this was the year that Gertner did a combination close-up/illusion act at trade shows; it was Paul's first time performing large-scale illusions and he fared well, although close-up remains his forte. The best of those presented was my 1st-ever viewing of the DaKolta Chair. Close-up (10 feet away, nary a sound, dead-on ballsy magic). Of course I've known how the effect was accomplished for 30 years, but I'd never seen it in performance. Have you? Why don't we see more of the older, better than the Majestix (and worse, over Copperfield's head), illusions anymore?




I've also got a few of Thurston's crypt in Columbus' Greenlawn Mausoleum, which I'll get to sometime (these have also never been seen, as the mausoleum is completely private; more on how I took the shots later). All of these are really difficult scans, due to the fact that the pix were peeled out of an old photo album, unfortunately destroying them.



This is almost certainly the only photograph of U.F. "Gen" Grant (inventor of the Arm Chopper, Super X Levitation, Strat~O~Spheres and so many more)(on the left) with Dai Vernon (on the right of course)



I took this during The Professor's Farewell Tour on April 19th of 1976 (you can see his legendary cups and wand on the left, his kits on the right). Gen was dead nearly two years later (3/1/78). He was one of the original revolutionary minds in modern magic, with a hundred or more manuscripts on the market at one time, mostly involving impromptu magic. For years Grant had a standing offer to pay anyone $100 if he couldn't perform an illusion with any object they could hand him. Damned bold. Even Tommy Ogden came in for the funeral. He stayed at my apartment and we spent the entire weekend working on card maneuvers... It was a memorable time. Grant's heirs now run MAK Magic.


Here I am in 1976 working the close~up rotation, doing my Wunderbar routine at a magic convention (Columbus' MagiFest or Milwaukee's Magic Conclave, I think). Having just forced the silver bar to rise from its corked test~tube (the cork's there on the early close~up pad), I'm removing my gloves, to reinforce the fact that the floating silver bar just above my right thumb is in no way connected by invisible thread to any of my limbs ;)... The man with the camera on my right is F. Bruce Fowler, who mailed me several excellent photos from this show. None of which I can find.




Guess the above was MagiFest after all, because this could only be the Galion Magic Convention (and yes, pantsuits on 21~year~old dudes back then were cool so don't even ~ Ger Copper wore one too ~ so there!). In the '70s, this was a great 2~day convention, which has since shrunk to a lone Magic Day. Too bad: at the one I'm working below, the headliners were Norm Nielsen, Gertner, Ogden, Ger Copper, Al "the baker who is a faker" Goshman (remind me to add a few hilarious Albert Goshman stories, and do yourself a favor and buy the 1985 book about him and his perfect act, co-written by Patrick Page), Kirkendall and two card technicians whose names escape me (mostly due to the fact that I spent so much time watching Paul and that damned double giant die production ~ took me three tables to figure the bloody thing out).



This was back in the days when the close~up rotation was done at a local Lodge (just look at those patches!), the compensation for most of the close~up workers was gas & food money, free registration and a hotel room for four. This was one of those weekends where, after the last close~up show, we headed for the motel and shared a bottle of JD and tried to one~up one another at informal sessions until four in the morning. All except Gertner, who was there of course but couldn't partake of Monsieur Daniels because he had to do the Sunday morning lecture.

Almost forgot, on Friday night we went to the tiny local tavern in the parking lot of the motel. We're all sitting there at a table, fooling each other, drinking heavily and talking magic. Kirk vanishes a full shotglass covered by a four cocktail napkins. It reappears. No pull involved. Nick Trost (who showed up just for the hell of it) does some of his killer cardwork. All of a sudden master~bat... errr, I mean master~baker, Kenny Klosterman (who, if you're anyone in magic, you now know as one of the biggest collectors in the world and a Past International President of the IBM these days -- back then he was just a friend) does a totally impromptu dove production using Kirkendall's napkins. Blew us away.

Here I am doing the aerial pickup at a private party that year.



That summer several of us either worked or attended the 1st Magic Dealers Association convention at Cedar Point (where my best friend in magic since 1976, Tim Moore, had been the main magic attraction that season and a year earlier). There were some of the most memorable after~hours close~up sessions I've been in on: all held in this gigantic lobby of the ancient Breakers Hotel.

Here's Tim's publicity shot from back then. Thanks for all of the memories, my friend. Every single one of them.





And Tim and I getting ready to do close-up for my late Gramps' surprise 70th birthday party (Mom and Gramps are at left)...



This is Tim, myself and our magical pal Carroll Baker, taken mid-September, 2001 after one of Carroll's gigs:



Me, stacking dice and hex nuts the same eve, and a shot of Laura and myself:









Here's a shot of several of us at Carroll Baker's wedding (12/21/02) -- another magic~themed wedding a few months after ours (from left: Glenn Mackie, Tim Moore, Carroll and myself -- yep, it's cool to be tall; just ask Williamson)... more of their wedding pix are here...



Getting back to talking about dealers ~ here's my favorite eccentric magic dealer this side of the brutal Paul Diamond and his exceedingly cheap coins: Bob Little. I demo'd for him at several magic conventions back in the late '70s~ and did the best impersonation of him on record: "I'm the Wiz, the best there is!" I spoke to Bob in June, 2000 and he sounded exactly the same as ever, even at 68 ~ though he hadn't the faintest idea who I was (true to form, Bob! I'll just skip that "my idol always" bit); he was at FISM in Portugal last year and just got to do the above impression face to face at this year's Magi-Fest... "Ohhh G-o-o-o-d-d-d" was all he could say ;)





Having dropped out of the IBM years ago, in May of 2000 I found out that my good friend Dr. Jeptha (Jep) Hostetler, a co~Ring 7~mate of mine in the olden daze, had been President of the IBM a few years back. Man did that make me feel old, but I was certainly happy for Jep. This guy and his family did a pretty impressive "entire family appearing out of a huge cardboard box which was previously seen to be empty" routine to win the Magi~Fest adult championship in 1976. He also used to have a really tremendous annual magic auction, featuring some of the best of international acts' (living and dead) effects. Cookies by wife Joyce. Jep was there when I did my short routine to qualify me for membership in Ring 7 in 1975. He also helped to acquire my first for magicians only gig at Magi~Fest. It only made sense to have Jep and Tim co~sponsor my re~application to the IBM, so that I could go to Buffalo last year... M-F 2K1 was the 25th anniversary of both of our original convention debuts. Scary stuff ;)



A shadowy 1976 publicity shot (I know it sucks but hey ~ I was only 20 and had no $$$ so cut me some slack)...





Performing The Crazy Man's Handcuffs at John and Patty's wedding in 1990...






Choosing a Close~Up Case


Your close~up kit is obviously a matter of highly personal choice, determined essentially by 1) what sort of items you plan to cram into it and 2) your style.

My own first close~up case was recommended to me by the guys in the O'Neill shop: a red and black RCA Electronics technician case, approximately 24" long by 20" high by 10" wide. In 1974 its cost was around $40. A unique case utilized by the guys who used to carry around tubes, capacitors and other electronic repair stuff to fix radios and TVs, it resembles a stout little suitcase. The cool thing is that the bottom third of it (the black part) is 24" x 10" x 7" or so and is wide open and perfect for large items. A pair of latches lock the top two upper (red) sections together, which open into two separate enclosed hinged, snapped & lidded areas with all sorts of room to add partitions to keep your decks, sponge balls, cups & balls, etc. safe from banging into one another. The bad news is that "RCA Electronics" is emblazoned in black all over the damned thing. I spent at least a two hours each night for an entire week removing the lettering with acetone and several rags. A true labor of love. I replaced one of the inner lids with a piece of plexiglass from the door of Columbus' Greenlawn Mausoleum where Howard and Harry Thurston are entombed, so that you can see the contents of that section (and the case now had magical & historical value as well). After I finished adding partitions and swiveling brass legs to keep the two upper halves s table when open, Columbus insider and professional sign~painter Bob Moreland finished it off by adding my (then) name to each side, as mentioned above. I'm sure I'm not explaining this to your satisfaction, so I'll try to get some pix of this cool case on the site soon.

When I got my "carry~around" act down to a smaller size, I built a wooden briefcase~like case, with more partitions and a removable tray, lined with felt and basically built for the rigors of restaurant/rowdy bar magic.

In 1980 I also built a case slightly larger than the RCA kit, emblazoned with my logo on both sides, with casters and a nylon dog leash, so I could pull it along behind me through airports, etc. That one holds a dice~stacking mat and a padded seat with a pull~out servante to hold large loads (eliminating the need to lap two 4" dice), as well as a ton of magic.

Eventually I settled on a cool old traveling salesman's fibreboard case (sorta like the old Fuller Brush Man cases, with an art deco design outside and gilded gold "seals of approval" on the inside lid, circa 1930). By now I've found several canvas or velvet or felt bags, pouches, boxes etc. which hold my most oft~used items in their own padded containers. My larger stuff I also carry in a leather briefcase.

As I said, it's a highly personal choice. Gertner's act is so streamlined that he uses a sleek stainless steel or brushed aluminum briefcase. Tim and others use an old leather doctor's bag. Some can get away with a knapsack.

There are some terrific cases on the market today: made of walnut, teak, mahogany and other high~quality wood products. Price tags on these babies are $300 ~ $1200 so if you have the cash, go for it. Lots of magicians can get by with the trusty "waist case," a wrap~around deal with built~in servante and pouches and nice load~steals~from~your~back features.

Think about your act, who's going to see the case, and what you need. Remember ~ it's all about you.




An Appreciation of Clare Cummings ("Milky the Clown")


When I moved to Michigan in 1983, Kirkendall told me to look up an old friend of his ~ Clare Cummings. Said he was the best in the area. Equal to, or better than, local genius Karrell Fox (who rarely performed ~ or even appeared ~ in the area back then).

Having pretty much dropped out of magic several years earlier, I didn't get around to actually calling the fellow until 1989 or so. When I mentioned George's name, Clare immediately invited me into his inner circle ~ his weekly meeting of the better local magi: "The Clare Cummings Round Table of Magic" at a quiet sports bar across from the Silverdome.

So I showed up one Monday night, and traded all things magical with Clare and his crew. Most of the fellows were around my age, although Clare was 77 at the time. Everyone treated me like a longtime friend & compadre except for one other older man, a former professional wrestler (really!) named Chuck. He was from the Golden Era of Television: the '50s. The other magi told me that wrestler~boy was jealous of me. Who knows. Who cares? Not me.

Anyway, the next day at work I mentioned to a few friends that I'd spent the previous evening with Clare and his gang. Everyone I told was completely in awe. You see, not being from Michigan, I had no idea that he was an exceedingly well~known local figure: Clare had starred on his own live TV show (as Milky the Clown) for fourteen years in the '50s and '60s. My friends had grown up watching this man do great kid~show magic in between showing movies in the afternoon. He was literally a local legend.

His weekly program was sponsored by a local dairy called Twin Pines. Hence, the answer to "What are the magic words, kids?" was... "Twin Pines, Milky!"

This man was so well~known that he was honored by the mayor of Detroit with a "Milky Day," even being awarded a key to the city (back when they did cool things like that). And had his image on 60 billboards at one time, with only this as text: "What are the magic words?" No reference to Twin Pines. The implication said it all.

Here he is, in full makeup, delighting an exuberant audience member (photo by Charles Deak, and scanned from Bob Lund's magic collectors' magazine, "MAGICOL," November 1993, Issue #109, which was passed out at Clare's memorial service)... the other pic is from a Detroit News tribute.





What my friends at work didn't realize was that Clare was also among the most talented magicians in the country. Or that he'd invented "Out to Lunch." This guy had the best patter I've ever seen used in completely informal close~up. Genuine, heartfelt, witty and just a bit devious. Patter was always my forte, as I was never nearly the technician that my contemporaries were, so I took to Clare like a wise grandpa. He knew practically everything that had ever been invented, could tell you the history of it and perform any close~up effect I'd heard of. And several thousand that I hadn't.

Clare, with loving wife Peg, from when I knew him:



This is his promo flyer from the late '40s / early '50s:



After a few years, I dropped out of Clare's gatherings, basically due to the pointless but ongoing feud between the ancient wrestler and myself. I loved the guys and the magic, but this dolt was too much for me.

I received this letter from Clare after Chuck died:



Note the wit ~ and the whimsy ~ even at 80 years old. While I did phone Clare several times to swap tales, I never returned to his roundtable.

The next thing I knew, Clare was also "doing magic for the dead," as he'd passed away.

Clare's memorial service was a thing of wonder, as his life had been. Thank goodness there was a special section for magicians, or I'd never even have gotten in. Several thousand of his well~wishers were stranded in line outside the chapel for the entire service.

One by one, magicians, friends, family and even people who had only seen "Milky" on TV as youngsters, stepped to the podium to pay homage to this great man. T'was a day of tears and cheers. I'll never forget it. I, like so many before me, had grown to love Mr. Cummings. I was priveleged to have known him better than so many of his fans. And I miss him.

Bob Lund, proprietor of the famed American Museum of Magic in Marshall, MI gave the superb eulogy. Now that's a tribute. Here's the card given out at the service ~ this isn't provided out of morbidity, but because many of those who knew Clare may not have made it into town for the service...



Almost fittingly, Clare's wife Peg joined him in peace within the year.



Trix Which Will Never Leave My Repertoire

My own Dice Stacking with The Stack of the Steel Hex Nuts finale, my enhanced Don Alan Chop Cup routine (with the jumbo crocheted cut~in~half ball and the giant mirror ball loads), Mike Ammar's terrific The Crazy Man's Handcuffs, Roy Walton's Card Warp (likely the best $2.00 I've spent on magic), Gertner's Dice Matrix and That's Ridiculous coin matrix, the brilliant I'll Start Again paddle trick or alternately, Daytona Magic's great brass version of Hot Rod with the double finish, Dusheck's Wunderbar with Thunderbar finale,Doc Daley's Last Card Trick (Four Aces Transposed In The Spectator's Hands), Danny Tong's working of Stewart James' Further Than That (partially seen above), Del Copley's Fourteen The Hard Way , based upon Dr. Sachs' 7 The Hard Way, Kamillion Koins, Fancy Dan Harlan's Thumb Twist (hey, I'm married to his ex-fiancee, the least I can do is hawk one of his moves), Chris Kenner's Missing Link, Aldo Colombini's Knotty Knots and Tight Rope> routines...



Let's Get Real Close

The Best Close~Up Workers I've Seen

Last updated 02/26/03

Dai Vernon, Don Alan, Eddie Fechter, Paul Gertner (whom I still think is the greatest close~up man working today on any continent), Steve Dusheck (almost certainly the finest inventive magic mind still functioning -- just ask Bob Kohler, who used Dusheck's sliding shell for his "Ultimate 3-Fly" (while also crediting the guy who stole it: Steve invented the sliding shell in 1963 -- at 18 years old; Dusheck's had more magic STOLEN than most inventors have even come up with; certainly more than you or I have even considered for a moment -- THIS cat goes to the trouble of actually WORKING THEM OUT, writing them up, marketing them, and is always willing to help with several ideas when we talk; now THAT'S a thinker: I literally mention an idea and Steve has five ways to do it, then five more revisions by the end of the conversation; this is a guy you need on your cell phone!), Tom Ogden, Ger Copper, Albert Goshman, Al Baker, John Carney, Dave Williamson, Mike Ammar, Johnny Ace Palmer, Doug Henning, Penn & Teller, Artie Emerson & Larry West, John Mendoza, Johnny Thompson, Mike Skinner, Eugene Burger, my mentor George Kirkendall, Kevin James, Jerry Mentzer, Tony Slydini, Paul Harris, Clark "The Senator" Crandall, Derek Dingle, Max Maven/Phil Goldstein, Tom Mullica, Karrel Fox, Jim Wheeler, Clare Cummings (aka Milky the Clown : see above), Tim Moore (my best friend in magic and the only one who consistently nails me with the classic force), Chris Kenner, John Kennedy, Karl Fulves, Paul Cummins, Giovanni, Dan Harlan, Jon Allen, John Cornelius, Ron Bauer (the best-kept underground mind in the business, who was really screwed in Racherbaumer's Don Alan book), Bauer's protege John Dowdy, Warren Stephens, Karl Norman, Shawn Farquhar, Henry Evans, Boris Wild, Columbus' Carroll Baker (a better-looking dead ringer for Jason Alexander and one helluva performer), Howard Flint, Jim Cellini, Mike Rogers, Mike Caveney, Roger Crabtree, Rick Johnsson Roger Klause, Tom Craven, Howie Schwarzman, Frank Garcia, Harry Lorayne, Nick Trost, Harry Zavitz, Mike Close, Mike Rogers, Al Cohen, Harry Allen, Aldo Colombini, Bob Sheets; I'm missing quite a few so gimme some time on this one...



All The World's A Stage

The Greatest Stage and/or Parlour Acts I've Encountered

In Order Which I Thought of Them but Starting with the Best I've Seen; updated 09/05/03

Anything from Paul Gertner, but especially his Miser's Dream and Flip Stik Variation wands routine (circa 1977: I've witnessed an awful lot of magic in my time, and this one was unquestionably the single most amazing cabaret act I ever encountered; Paul was in his mid-twenties at the time and it seems to me that he only performed these particular miracles a few times at international magic conventions; a house fire in 1983 destroyed the only film of this act which is known to exist ~ and it's a huge loss ~ but see below), Doug Henning, Howard Thurston (on vtape), Flip, Norm Nielsen's floating violin routine (which was as beautiful in 2001 as it was in 1976), Ger Copper's manipulation, Dave Williamson, Jay Marshall, Mike Ammar, Penn & Teller, Paul Kozak, André Kole, Lance Burton, Tom Mullica, Shimada, Abb Dickson, George Kirkendall's The Philosopher's Stone, Juliana Chen, Jeff McBride, Phil Goldstein/Max Maven, Oscar Muñoz, Mike Finney, Ed Alonzo, Howard Hale, Earl Ray Wilcox, Del Ray, Fukai, Richard Ross, John Carney's "Mr. Mysto" act, Junge Junge ("A Gentleman In New York" act)... and the finest illusionist I've seen since Henning -- and I've pretty much seen them all at this point -- John Hirokawa, who performs five nights a week at Waikiki's Beachcomber Hotel -- doing an amazing blend of Wayne illusions, along with a superior cast of Hawaiian dancers, great blocking and some things I hadn't seen in years: "Things That Go Bump In the Night" for example (last seen by me when Henning did it), and an impeccable Asrah with a terrific Bengal Net finish... the killer was John's "Ralph Adams' Dancing Hanks" performed with tiny light bulbs -- very smart! (Copperfield should be ashamed for not using this cat: but DAVID never shares the stage. Sheesh again.), Julie Eng's presentation of the Okito Cabinet, Richard Ross' watch and manipulation act.





Have You Heard The One About The...

The Funniest MC's I've Watched

In Order Of Perfection: updated 02/09/03

Jay Marshall, Michael Finney, Rich Bloch, Harry Allen, Aldo Colombini



Doh!

The Single Best Illusion I Never Saw (Until 7/7/00)

Paul Gertner's Ring on the Hourglass ("This Trick Gets Better All The Time"): the winner of the "Vegas $10,000 Challenge" and the FISM world championship I believe; this incredibility was performed only a few times before Paul traded the rights to Copperfield in exchange for a minor illusion (The Origami Girl) for his trade show appearances; as expected, Copperhead dropped the difficult parts and used it on a TV special ~ botching it badly, of course, by eliminating everything leading up to the climax and even then, not being capable of performing the sleight necessary for said climax, relying instead upon a raised silk for cover... Dave "relies" a lot in his shows, if you smell that drift. Those who know about this close~up miracle are tuned in to what I'm talking about and are now screaming arrggghhh!... I can hear you ;)

But wait! Not to worry. This effect is now available on one of Paul's videos, and better yet can be seen in its full version in his one~man play, Paul Gertner: Ten Fingers , which he performed daily at the 2000 IBM convention in Buffalo (all roads lead home to Fechter~Town, eh?) and periodically books...

Paul called me in June, 2000 and filled me in on said play, letting me in on the fact that the show also contains a shorter revision of his perfect Flip Stik Variation in this show. Having seen it in Buffalo I really must write a full review of the entire wonderful play... and why on Earth did the Linking Ring's Buffalo edition skip mentioning it altogether? Arrrggghhhh ;)



A Few Good Magic Sites (Updated 10/14/03)

Magicians & Tribute Pages

Excellent Doug Henning Tribute (includes online videos)

Paul Gertner's Official Site

Ron Bauer's Underground Site: HIGHLY recommended

My friend Jon LeClair's excellent site (get his LeClair Animator, autographed books, lecture notes and more here)

Penn & Teller's Official Site

Other Penn & Teller Linx

More Penn & Teller Linx

Mike Ammar's Official Site: Probably the best magic teacher/lecturer/videographer/author/performer around -- sorry, Harlan ;)

Johnny Ace Palmer's Official Site

Aldo Colombini's Official Site: Also selling his wonder~wares

John Fabjance's Official Site: Remember 'Fabjance Studios'? Or Perhaps You Own An 'Airborne Glass' or 'Confusing Die'? Thank John!

Juliana Chen's Official Site: Check out her Pictures section

Shawn Farquhar's Official Site: Should've won the Gold Cups for his close-up in Orlando/2001

Julie Eng's Official Site

Jon Racherbaumer's oft-misspelled-but-still-informative article on / interview with Blaine

Jon Allen's Official Site

Shimada's Official Site

Abb Dickson's Official Site

Kevin James' Official Site: with exc. message boards

Similarly~coiffed funnyman Michael Finney's Official Site

Very Appropriate Joe Karson Tribute: He Invented the Zombie

Lance Burton's Official Site

Daryl's Official Site

Max Maven/Phil Goldstein's Official Site

Jeff McBride's Official Site

Jeff McBride's Unofficial Site

Norm Nielsen's Official Site

Carl Andrews' Official Site (never heard of this fellow until I did a search on "The Fohrman Cups" but he looks quite good)

My magical pal Jason Chessar's home page (the kid's very talented for his age)

Carroll Baker ~ a terrific close-up man and very cool guy

FASDIU ("From a Shuffled Deck In Use") Enterprises: Paul Cummins' Official Site

International Stars of Magic (including Randi)

An Agent's Site With Linx To Several Worthy Magi

Decent Listing of Magicians (From Yahoo)

David Blaine's Official Site (could this cat BE more shameless?)

Wiz Wingo: Never heard of this dude but he sure has a lot of pix of himself with famous guys I know; found him while searching for a Paul Kozak site



Online Magic Magazines & Message Boards

Magic Times: An Excellent DAILY 'Zine

The Magic Links: "The Magic Pages for ALL Magicians" (this one's a must)

Magic and Illusion: A Great Magik 'Zine

ONYX: An Excellent Close~Up Magic Quarterly

Visions: The Online Journal of the Art of Magic

Magic Magazine Online

Magic Interactive Online

The Magic Lounge: Message boards, Live chat about the craft

Steve Bryant's Little Egypt Magic: A Cool Online Magic Gazette

The Magician's Corner: A Good Magic Forum Site



Organizations

The I.B.M. (Internatonal Brotherhood of Magicians) Home Page

The S.A.M. (Society of American Magicians) Home Page

The W.A.M. (World Alliance of Magicians) Home Page

The Second Deal: A Hardcore Underground Subscription Card~work Site (read about it by clicking on the FASDIU link above)

The S.M.N. (Singapore Magicians Network) Home Page



Dealers, Authors & Book~Sellers and Manufacturers (Updated 09/05/03)

Owen Magic Supreme: Simply the greatest equipment on the market, originated by Floyd Thayer

Silk King Studios: Harold's daughter Ruth kept a cache of ORIGINAL Rice silks & props: for sale here at GREAT prices!

Jim Riser's items -- all are perfectly hand-crafted; Jim is perhaps the finest spinner of cups in the world, but there's more

P & A Silks: My friends Peter & Cynthia White -- the best silks I've seen since Harold Rice passed on (but see above as well)

KT Magic: My old friend Kenna Thompson's excellent rare magic

Ron Allesi's Great collectibles, with online auctions which I never win

Martinka & Co.: Legendary magic shop, with online auctions

Mario Carrandi Magic Co.: Superior vintage magic

John Kennedy's expert magical apparatus

Johnson Products: From TheMagicWarehouse.com; including pure silver coins

Johnson Products: From MagicLegends.com; The best coins & metal stuff available with Kirkendall in permanent retirement

Magic House of Babcock: Superior wood products, primarily dice stuff

Chalet Magic: George Kimery's excellent (mostly wood) equipment

El Duco Magic

Haines' House of Cards: Bill & Betty Winzig... if you don't know by now...

Mike Caveney's official site (home of the "Magical Pro-Files" and more)

Cards by Martin: Neil M. Lester's amazing selection of gaffed cards & decks

Al's Magic Shop: The very nicest guy in the business (Al Cohen)

Daytona Magic: Great online and off (Daytona Beach) store with fair prices and the most excellent funnyman Harry Allen

MAK Magic: UF (Gen) Grant's Daughter (Mary Ann King, hence MAK) and husband Jimmy run things now; also Mark Mason's exclusive dist. for his "JB Magic" line

Viking Mfg. Co.: Classics

Collectors Workshop: Ditto

Viking, Collectors & More: Combo page

Roy Kueppers' superb handcrafted close-up items

Sweden's Harries Magic (Brazill plucked Tim Star from these folks in '78) Check out their inexpensive Bosco cups

Fellow Dice~Stacker Jim "Zee" Zachary's Site

Rochester, NY's Empire Magic: Great magic from great folks; they have nearly everything

Repro Magic: High quality from across the pond in Britain

Kurt Flickner's tremendous magic auction site -- LOTS of cool bargains here

Elmwood Magic: Very nice Buffalo folks with a lot of original merchandise, specializing in Jay Sankey's items; also have a great monthly newsletter

MagicSmith: An excellent online catalog with virtually anything you might need most

Denny & Lee Magic Studio Pretty much everything you'd want at retail prices; one of the best sites on the web

Close-Up Magic Inc. Excellent deals on EBay and at their quality site; ask for Jim

Hocus Pocus Online Store: Mikame's quality items and more; an excellent site

Sasco Coin Magic: Decent~quality coins @ exc. prices

Magic Max: Good online shop with lots of unique items (and some pure garbage); a bit full of themselves

The Big Easy Magic Co.: Tres cool guys operating out of New Orleans; ask for Mark

Charlie's Electronic Magic Store: Includes videos, honest reviews and a seems-like-weekly newsletter

Meir Yedid Magic: With links to several magi's videos

Magic Inc.: Jay Marshall's all~purpose supplies (a site in progress)

Abbott's Magic Co.: Includes the Get~Together info

Lou Tannen's: Say no more

Joe Stevens' Magic Emporium: I like the guy ~ despite his love affair with Siggy & Roy

Hank Lee's Magic Factory: Decent shop with lots of items

Tenyo's Official Site

Reviews of ALL of Tenyo's Items

Dakota J Magic Shop: Check out true gentleman Dale Houck's excellent collection of antique gems

Dakota J Hidden Page: with Rings 'n Things items ;)

QualityMagic.com: Excellent old and new items

MagicAuction.com: Can't vouch for the quality but good stuff

Pete Best's Discount Magic & Cool Stuff Warehouse: Nice guys, 24-hour service

MagicFinder.net: Brits focusing on Clocks but check them out

Alt.Magic list of magic dealers

Maher Ventriloquist Studios: Everything for the vent



Conventions

Magic Convention Listings

Columbus (Ohio) Magi~Fest (one of the US' oldest & finest 3-day conventions)

My old Ring~mate Mark Wade's Vent Haven ConVENTion Site (everything you ever wanted to know about ventriloquism, with excellent linx as well)



Miscellaneous (Updated 09/05/03)

Jim Riser's brilliant treatise on the history of cups & balls with excellent photos of virtually all of the good sets

Brett Sherwood's cups for the cups and balls -- the finest Riser and Biro have ever seen (good enough for me); $1,000+ but gorgeous

Funny & fairly accurate assessment of Blaine (and an opportunity to respond via a message board)

Card MSG Magic -- Cool Card Stuff for you Flickers

Douglas Atkinson's Guide to Ring to Keychain (Ring Flight) Effects

Andy Martin's Magic Collection: One of the better collections you'll find online and a great guy

"Magical Past-Times'" Cool Article on the Sale of the Egyptian Hall Collection (by Mike Caveney & George Daily)

Interesting Chop Cup Page

David Acer Interviews Simon Lovell

TV Magic Guide: See who's performing on TV this week

The Linking Page: Linx To 1300 Magic Sites

The M&M Magic Product Review (brutally honest)

The Houdini Historical Center (Appleton, WI)

An Interesting Treatise on Magic

MagicTricks.com: Click on their LIBRARY

A Great History of Abbott's & Colon, MI

The Magic Castle's Official Advertisement (!)


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