Portal by Kainoa Harbottle
Many respect Him. Many study him. All fear him. His name is Kainoa Harbottle. In this body of work, Kainoa offers a structurally and visually beautiful one coin routine that should be studied, dissected and admired. This is PORTAL.
First up, an interview from WJAR NBC News 10 with Mat Franco, who will be seen on the first live episode of America’s Got Talent next week.
UPI is reporting that Colin Firth, who plays a magician in the new Woody Allen film Magic in the Moonlight, has no talent for magic. Magic fan Allen tried to teach Firth a card trick, but Firth said “There was only a little sigh at my eighth attempt at doing this very simple thing with one card, which he could do brilliantly and I simply couldn’t.”
Want to be invisible? The Guardian recently nicely summarized five methods being researched to create invisibility.
After last night’s second Judgement Week special, there were still questions about several magicians who had passed through the audition rounds of America’s Got Talent. Rogue, Smoothini and Mike Super were nowhere to be seen although Mat Franco was shown getting the nod to go to Radio City Music Hall. It was also announced that both Franco and the magic duo David and Leeman, who had been fast forwarded through Judgement Week, would both be appearing on next week’s live show.
According to NBC.com, Mike Super and Smoothini are both on the list of the 47 Finalist (a 48th has yet to be picked by the Today Show audience) despite not being seen in last night’s judgements. Smoothini confirmed that he would be gong to Radio City Music Hall last night on his Facebook page and announced the birth of twins Liana and Noah, who were born as the show was airing in the Eastern and Central timezones!
With four acts in the Top 48, magic has a real chance to make it on to the finals. It is interesting to note, though, that of the four magic acts that have survived so far this season, none are stage illusionists!
Let’s tie up this Wednesday with a little bit of music. Dennis Lau is a professional musician, producer and songwriter working in Malaysia. The latest video on his YouTube channel is this cover of John Legend’s All of Me featuring Malaysian magician Andrew Lee. Andrew is the house magician at the Genting Highlands resort in Malaysia.
First up is the trailer for the CGI family film House of Magic, which is being released this Friday in the UK. Still no word on a US release date on the movie, which features the adventures of a lost kitten who stumbles into a magician’s home and act. Speaking of movies, the New Zealand film Everything We Loved, which features a magician as a main character, is opening this week in film festivals in Auckland and Wellington and then will be available on demand (but basically only in the Australian continent) through the film’s website. While we are talking films, Woody Allen’s new Magic In The Moonlight, which features a magician and spiritualist debunking, is getting lukewarm reviews.
If you have listened to the latest iTricks Magic Week in Review podcast with Ariann Black then you are familiar with BeAmazed.TV. They have announced a special limited time offer that will give all new yearly subscribers two free months and PDFs of Mandrake the Magician comics… Be sure to tell them that iTricks sent you!
The Syracuse New Times has posted a transcription of an interview with Larry Wilmore, whose new show Minority Report with Larry Wilmore will take over Stephen Colbert’s Comedy Central timeslot when Colbert jumps over to The Late Show. In the interview WIlmore discusses how he recently came out of “the magic closet.”
Finally, The National Enquirer’s Mike Walker is reporting that Neil Patrick Harris lost some of his magic collection during a recent move. A reward is being offered if the props are recovered.
America’s Got Talent two part Judgement Week special started last night with several acts being told that they were going straight through to the live shows. Heidi Klum visited the Magic Castle to inform David and Leeman that they would be going to Radio Music Hall. According to their website, the boys will also be appearing on multiple episodes Masters of Illusion later this summer.
After the select acts were informed they were rocketing ahead to the live shows, magic was the first style of act featured. Up first, with a bit of a feature segment, was Mike Super. He is still trying to sell his supernatural assistant Desmond and performed a spirit slate routine. Psycho Jack was up next. He had a bit of trouble with his box illusion and was immediately eliminated from the competition. Franklin Saint, who iTricks does not remember being shown on the audition shows, partially crushed a water bottle with his mind and then restored a crushed soda can. Unfortunately, Howard Stern maintained he could not see much of the effect. The magic performances ended with a feature segment on Mat Franco who performed a novel card reveal (above) but Howie Mandell wondered if his work was too small to play on the Radio City Music Hall Stage.
The rest of the show did not feature any magic nor did it reveal the fates of the acts seen in the episode. Several magicians that were said to have made this round, including Smoothini and Rogue, were not seen. Perhaps they will be on tonight’s episode.
Speaking of Smoothini, he might not be watching tonight’s show. He is expecting twins this morning! iTricks wishes the best to Smooth’s family.
We had an Amazing time with Rick Merrill last week. He showed us a great combination of comedy and magic as well as taught us routines from his FISM winning act.
This week continues the heat with John Guastaferro
John Guastaferro is a dynamic performer, author and creator. His published works are acclaimed by magicians worldwide, including his Brainstorm DVDs (2003) and book One Degree (2010). In this new lecture, John will cover a broad range of effects, predominately with playing cards, featuring some new material and old favorites. He’ll also talk about the creative process and how the one-degree approach can create great impact through small refinements.
