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We’ve been in touch with Michael “Six” Muldoon, an New York City magician who’s part of a pretty awesome cause. Magicians Without Borders is designed to bring the a magic experience to people who would most enjoy it in impoverished areas across the world.

Most recently, Six and fellow MwB member (Devonte) Roque Rafael Rosero went to El Salvador.

They are perfect for the children in El Salvador,” (Founder Tom) Verner said. “They are like ideal older brothers or young uncles for these children.”

Since that first trip in 2008, Rosero said, he’s traveled to El Salvador three times, and hopes to return again in July.

“Living in poverty, you sometimes ask yourself, what’s so special about me?” Rosero said. “Magic adds that uniqueness.”

Very cool stuff, Six is sending us a video from his latest trip which we will post here.

According to Wrestling news site SEScoops.com, Penn & Teller are currently at odds with WWE brass over how much control the wrestling writers will have over what they say during the RAW broadcast they’re set to host on September 20th. The negotiations are so tight that they’ve again been pulled off the schedule.

To be fair, the comedy bits written for guests on RAW aren’t exactly David Mamet and Penn & Teller could probably freestyle something just as entertaining that keeps kayfabe.

Either way, it’s a cliffhanger, which considering the venue is pretty fitting.

Available at Outlaw-Effects

Recently acquired from the estate of Dr. Hans Berlitz. A fully functional Re-Animator, circa 1915. Dr. Berlitz experimented in re-animating small animals like bats and parts of animals such as a monkeys paw.

It was also rumored that he could use the machine to teleport in-animate objects and open holes into other dimensions. The device comes inside an old aged wood box (and itself is primarily wood) about 14 by 12 inches and 14 inches tall. It has laboratory labels in German on the box.

When you unlatch the bottom, the top of the box pulls off to reveal the Re-Animator.
A machine with working brass gauge, dials, switches, lights, plasma chamber, sound and even a working smoke exhaust pipe.

The machine is activated by inserting a key into the lower front control panel. The second tier of the device has an “engine” made of wood on the outside with lights, brass tubes, steam vent and an active “plasma” chamber.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY AFTER THE JUMP!

Sitting next to the “engine” is a scientific bell jar dome. It is connected to the machine by various brass tubes and electrical wires.

You are provided with a “specimen”. A tiny dead bat preserved yet still has fur on it and is slightly decayed. It is hand made with hand stitched fur and 100% real looking. Trust me, your spectators will not want to touch this bat.
It is lying on a clear glass petrie style dish. You place the dish with bat inside the glass dome.

From the machine you pull out two electrical aged cotton covered cords. On the end of each cord is a conducting probe that you have a volunteer grasp in their fist. You explain that “this will drain a small amount of your life force into the device, you might get a little light headed, but don‘t worry, it will be over very quickly“.

You insert the brass key and fire up the machine.

Within a few moments the machine begins going through its systems “power up” phases. The dead bat starts to twitch and convulse as “lifeforce” is drained into the machine through the hand held probes. It appears you have successfully given some “life” to the previously dead creature. After several moments you tell the spec to release the probes.

They release the probes they‘ve been grasping in their hand and the bat stops moving.

Just as everyone starts to relax, the bat suddenly flies up off the dish with one last residual burst of life. And then crumples in a dead heap.

Available at Outlaw-Effects

The hokey pokey continues with Penn & Teller’s listing as guest hosts for the September 20th RAW show has again be removed from World Wrestling Entertainment’s official site. It could very easily come back but for now… it’s gone. Penn tweeted about gearing up for the show on August 27th.

What does it mean?

Check out all the deets at HitFix.com.

Today I decided to post a bit of a rant that has always bugged me from time to time. Very similar to things I discuss on my site “Why Am I Stuck In Magician Hell“. Enjoy.

I have something I want to talk about today. It’s something that plagues magic to no end. It’s not endless performances of linking rings nor the bad choice of attire that some adorn themselves with. It’s money.

I have seen too many rich kids who decide they wanna do magic instead of getting a real job and thus populate the landscape with expensive props and mediocre performances. I have news for all of you people with more money than sense: No amount of cash can make you a great magician.

If you want to spend money on something worthwhile for your magic act, look into acting and movement lessons. Get a top notch director and voice coach. Throw cash at something that will make you a better performer. Don’t shirk on the important things man. I know these words might fall on deaf ears, but hopefully I can open the eyes of any of you who are fortunate to find a financial windfall drop into your lap.

You might be financially fortunate and be reading this saying to yourself, “Screw you hippy magician, you’re just jealous.” There was a time I might have been envious of the doors that money could open for some, but as I got older I became thankful for having limited resources at my disposal. It made me have to think at right angles. Find ways to create my art on a budget.

You have to spend money to make money, but there is no prop will give you the power to entertain people. There is no class you can take that will give you that ability. It takes constant performance and learning from your mistakes. Magic is one of the few performance arts where you can buy ONE prop that does the magic for you and dub yourself a “magician”. It seems money dictates some people’s job title and that to me is just wrong.

My plea to all of you with more money than sense is this – Stop doing magic with your CHECKBOOK! No pile of cash can hide how bad you are onstage. No illusion will make your audience come back again and again. Dariel Fitzkee said it best in Showmanship For Magicians, “People are more interested in people.” Your money doesn’t make you interesting. It’s a crutch that will hold you down like a fluttery anchor and eventually you will drown in a pool of your own nervous breakdown.

If this article is causing you a bit of distress, maybe you should take a step back and look at your life and bank account and see if there is something you can be doing different to make not only you, but all of magic, look better.

Cash in before you cash out.

Get an inside view on the America’s Got Talent whirlwind from a man in the middle of it, Dan Sperry.

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We will talk all about his chances on tomorrow’s Magic Stars podcast with our America’s Got Talent analyst Nathan Burton but for now, we no longer live a world where a magic act can’t make it to the final round of a televised (ed note: American) talent show. Congratulations for Michael Grasso for doing the improbable and going from eliminated to finalist on America’s Got Talent.

As for Murray, it’s hard to comprehend a guy with as much time as he had and the illusion that he presented going home but as a wise man once said, “dems the breaks.”

Looks like this may be a reversal of our favorite Derren Brown special The Heist but instead of the wizard using is powers for evil he is trying to make one man a hero.

Either way, this looks fantastic.

]]> http://itricks.com/news/2010/09/dan-sperry-live-show-9110/feed/ 0 http://itricks.com/news/2010/09/after-unexpected-massive-demand-magic-live-down-to-100-spots-left/ http://itricks.com/news/2010/09/after-unexpected-massive-demand-magic-live-down-to-100-spots-left/#comments Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:31:59 +0000 Editor http://itricks.com/news/?p=17388

Just got word from Magic Magazine seems as if they are alternately panicked and ebullient with the demand for Magic Live registration. According to an email set to go out to subscribers they’ve sold all but 100 spots for the mega convention in Las Vegas next August.

Here is the full text they are about to send out:

MAGIC Live — Going, Going…

August 14-17, 2011, Las Vegas

We have opened registration and the response has been completely
unprecedented. We’re really quite taken aback! When we opened registration
for 2009, we hit almost 100 within 24 hours, and we were elated. When we
opened Alumni Registration this year, we took well over 100 within 24 minutes!
Of the 920 places available, we currently have less than 100 left. I’m mentioning
this in the MAGIC eUpdate because it’s you, our subscribers, that we would most
like to have attend MAGIC Live! You’re part of our family. So, if you’re thinking
about joining us next August, please go directly to our website, Do Not Pass
Go, and sign up — now! It only requires a $50 deposit, which is fully refundable
through December 31, 2010.

Meanwhile, we are already told that if/when the full lot is sold out, officials are already negotiating with the Orleans hotel for more rooms and theater capacity. But nothing is for sure, so if you want to go, we’d suggest ponying up your scratch now.

This from Deadline Hollywood:

Ronald D. Moore is back at NBC Universal with a new drama project for NBC that has landed one of the biggest commitments so far this pitch season. The project from Sony TV where the Battlestar Galactica developer inked a two-year overall deal in May, is described as an adult Harry Potter set in a world ruled not by science but by magic. I hear the drama got pilot and series penalties totaling close to $2 million.

Read the full report at Deadline Hollywood.

In the tricky alchemy of what makes a successful magic performance on America’s Got Talent, we’ve seen the beginnings of a blue print emerge this season: theatrics, big illusion, personal interaction.

In our opinion, because he nailed all three elements last night, Michael Grasso will advance to the finals of America’s Got Talent on tonight’s results show. Conversely, it was the lack of a theatrical presentation and any personal interaction with audience or judges that will cost favorite Murray his chance to move on.

The difference between the two is most striking at the beginning and end of their performances. To begin, Grasso is silent, slinking with his gorgeous blonde assistant to the prop. Their moves are elegant and flanked by the stage dressing of speakeasy patrons at dimly lit tables on either side the whole presentation seems like it owns on stage. At the end, listen to the crowd reactions through his finish. The pops build on each other ever larger for the three successive beats: first the disappearance which gets middling applause because everyone knew it was going to happen, then the reveal of the disguised assistant which gets a big reaction because the audience suspects they’ve already seen the end of the trick and finally Sharon’s surprise when Grasso is behind her with a rose. The last beat is absolutely made for TV, when the home audience sees the familiar face glowing with joy, that resonates.

Murray on the other hand made some puzzling decisions when dressing up his big train disappearance. He relied almost exclusively on his patter which to this point has not been his strong suit. He also brought up volunteers from the audience to bear witness to the disappearance and never referred to them again. This eliminated both the theatrics and personal reality of what should have been a slam dunk effect.

When the semi-finals began, a reasonable depth chart for which magician was most likely to advance would read: Murray, Dan Sperry, Antonio Restivo and Michael Grasso. Our reasoning for putting Grasso last was partly because we’d seen little of him on the AGT stage as well as his already demonstrated tendency to over think a performance with his first elimination.

Yet tonight, on the merit of their performances, we believe Grasso will be the last one standing. Let’s hope we’re right.

Are you in the LA area and would like to learn magic? The reality makeover series Character Fantasy will make it happen! Here is their craigslist listing:

USA Network Reality Show: Become a Magician! (LA area )

Date: 2010-08-17, 11:28AM PDT
Reply to: gigs-rqq7s-1903969347@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

Fascinated by magic? Want to learn some tricks? Here’s your chance to
learn from a PROFESSIONAL MAGICIAN!

Currently, USA Network’s Character Fantasy is looking for someone who
wants to learn magic tricks from a real magician and perform in front
of an audience!

Don’t be shy, we WANT to hear from you! Please respond with your name,
age, a current photo of you, and a few sentences as to WHY you deserve
this. We look forward to hearing from you!

Email: usafantasy@gmail.com

NOTE: Must NOT be a magician nor know magic tricks! Just looking for
someone who wants to do this for fun.

Location: LA area

it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Compensation: no pay

Thanks to TommEE Pickles for passing this along.

For our money, what you see above is magic’s last chance to make the 2010 America’s Got Talent finals. Michael Grasso gave an elegant performance that transformed the well-worn “popping up behind the judges” into the swagger-rich “strolling up behind the judges and giving Sharon a rose.”

As for Murray, his big train disappearance lacked the requisite emotion to really make it one of the night’s most memorable performances. Tack on Piers outright knighting Grasso as the Better Magician Of The Evening and Howie highlighting the similarities between Murray’s train caper and David Copperfield’s disappearance of a Orient Express car. Not great.

Full analysis tomorrow but in our humble opinion, there is a very good chance the America’s Got Talent Magic Curse could go a perfect 4-4. Grasso gave a slick, polished performance that could be easily appreciated by a demographic friendly audience. He deserves to be in the finals, hopefully America agrees.

Check out Murray’s video AFTER THE JUMP.

Criss Angel’s Platinum Magic Kit has a commercial. It features Luke Dancy DESTROYING a pretty girl at a club. It plays out over a dance remix of the Mindfreak theme song. If features little kids doing magic kit magic tricks.

Lovers! Haters! There is more than enough for everyone! Enjoy!

Craig Ferguson has been a good friend to the magicians of the world by giving them his stage each year for magic week but now he’s gone as far as recruitment. Enjoy this clip of a giggling Ferg turning a slip of the tongue into a pretty silly bit of Late Night television.

Sure this was in the context of Australia’s recent hung parliament but Adam Mada makes some salient points about artists as entrepreneurs and how the government could best help out folks looking out for themselves.

Many have scratched their heads over Dirk Arthur’s move to the O’Sheas Casino theater with his big illusion show. But when it comes to big cat productions he won’t be breaking ground for O’Sheas. In 1995 variety show That’s Magic featured Dixie Dooley making a liger appear in the cozy venue. Yes, that liger.

Dixie wrote us and described the act:

At the time many people told Dixie it would be impossible to do such an illusion on such a small stage and in such a small room! But Dixie felt if it could be pulled off it would be an even more spectacular illusion because the audience would be so close! It worked and each night the audience could not believe there eyes!

Check out Dixie’s website for more information on him or if you’d like to get DVD of the That’s Magic show.