A fire occurred at the Hollywood Magic Castle, in the attic around noon today. Doesn’t appear anyone was hurt, the extent of the damage still to be determined.
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A fire occurred at the Hollywood Magic Castle, in the attic around noon today. Doesn’t appear anyone was hurt, the extent of the damage still to be determined.
2011 marks the 85th anniversary of Houdini’s death. Since his passing on October 31st, 1926, the devoted have gathered on the anniversary to try and contact the spirit world’s most famous debunker.
The Houdini Museum of Scranton, PA will again honor Houdini’s memory with their annual séance, held at 1:26PM, the official time of his passing. Though it is uncertain if the escape artist will materialize, there will be plenty of magic afterwards from Devin Knight and a rare public showing of some Houdini’s films. The Houdini Museum made news this Fall for their ninja-like restoration of Harry Houdini’s gravesite in New York City. The event is open to the public, but reservations are recommended. More information can be found here.
The Official Houdini Séance®, held annually in Holyoke, MA will be an even more solemn affair this year, as the group also marks the passing of their leader and Hardeen protégé, escapologist and magician Sidney Radner. Radner became a confidant and friend of Houdini’s brother in the 1940s and took over the annual séance ritual from Hardeen. The 85th Annual Official Houdini Séance is a private event, by invitation only; however, should Houdini make an appearance, be sure that it will make headlines befitting the worlds most famous magician.
When I think of classic over the top blood soaked horror, I think Herschell Gordon Lewis, the genius behind Blood Feast and Two Thousand Maniacs! Whenever I think of grisly deaths caused by psychotic magicians (more often than one would imagine, by the way), I think of his 1970 film The Wizard Of Gore. It is a true masterpiece of grindhouse cinema (and that is not something I say lightly).
The Wizard Of Gore has a very simple premise: All of the illusions performed by Montag the Magician (standards such as chainsawing a woman in half or running a lady through an industrial punch press) go off like any normal stage performance but later his lovely volunteers suddenly acquire the wounds they appeared to receive onstage (and die violently as a result). There is a framing story with a bit of philosophical fluff and a looping frame of reference meant to question the nature of reality but it really isn’t important. What is important is that this film not only features a bunch of ridiculously violent deaths caused by an insane magic act but that it is also the work of Herschell Gordon Lewis, who is kind of a magician in his own right.
An adman turned filmmaker, Lewis started in exploitation movies and almost single-handedly invented the splatter film. His works are low budget affairs, shot far from Hollywood and without the benefit of specialists in things like “cinematography” or “special effects.” Faced with daunting tasks he came up with ways to make the impossible look possible, much like a good magician. Also like a good magician, he used surprisingly simple methods such as convincing an actress to hold a real sheep’s tongue and as much stage blood as possible in her mouth to simulate her tongue being ripped out by the faithful worshippers of Ishtar. If you can find a version of The Wizard Of Gore with a feature on the making of the film, or any Herschell Gordon Lewis film, it is probably worth watching it as well. I prefer the out of print release introduced by drive-in historian and critic Joe Bob Briggs.
A few years ago The Wizard Of Gore was remade with The Suicide Girls portraying the assorted victims and Crispin Glover stepping into the role of Montag. I’ll admit that I haven’t ever seen it. I have been told by people I trust that it is entertaining enough, but I love the original too much to give a remake a fair chance. This shouldn’t stop you from adding it to your Halloween viewing list, especially because it may be easier to find than the original.
Both versions of The Wizard Of Gore are unrated and neither is suitable for children. However, they are the perfect cap to our Halloween season of magician related horror flicks. Happy viewing and happy Halloween.
A magician forced to abandon a trained dove in a Las Vegas airport in compliance with regulations in now suing the airline.
Minnesota Magician Bernard Poston had regularly travelled with his bird Magic in his coat pocket during flights. But on a trip home from Sin City, an AirTran official informed him he’d have to leave the bird with an untrained employee while he flew to Minnesota.
“The bird was priceless,” Poston said. “I’m talking about – it was a part of my family. The bird is worth its weight in gold. The bird – that’s what amazed the people.”
Poston has still not recovered Magic. He tells the Saint Paul Pioneer Press that he lost the number of the employee who offered to take care of him.
The suit is for $50,000 including losses for damaged luggage, emotional distress and lost business.
As was promised, the fake David Blaine is back for a fourth installment. He again terrorizes his favorite victims with a forced street magic demonstration that’s beyond belief. And our time stream.
Please be warned, there is occasional screamed profanity in this clip. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Are you ready to pull the Trigger? Check out Valdemar Gestur’s crazy new effect with a rubber band and deck of cards.
Trigger by Valdemar Gestur from Dan and Dave on Vimeo.
Trigger is a stunning and surprising effect that looks like trick photography. The solution is impossible to reconstruct, yet seems fair and is easily achieved.
After a card is shuffled into the center, the deck is wrapped tightly with a rubber band, sealing the card within. At your command, the band passes through the entire deck with the exception of a single card, which shoots out from the center for a dynamic and visual effect.
Available exclusively at dananddave.com