BLAINE AT BLACKPOOLE (2011 UK TOUR?)

David Blaine is back in London says the Daily Mail. According to the article, "On a rare trip to London, illusionist David Blaine is going back to his roots - executing brilliant tricks with a pack of cards. Over dinner at Scott's in Mayfair, where guests included tailor Ozwald Boateng and TV host Claudia Winkleman, the New Yorker's sleight of hand allowed him to rip up a card and make it reappear untorn, 'bend' a 10p piece and munch on a wine glass." In addition he's reported to be scouting venues for a three month UK tour slated for 2011 with The Roadhouse being a standout favorite. "I like intimacy,' Blaine said. 'It helps the audience believe in what you are doing." The Magic Man may also make a trip to the annual Blackpool convention. • Kudos to iTricks for also covering a story deeply buried in another news piece.

PAUL DANIELS & DEBBIE MCGEE STRIP

Well... Magician Paul Daniels continues his battle to show that his wife looks better than Madonna who is the same age as Debbie McGee. This feud began when some unflattering photos of his wife in a bikini surface in the news. Since then they have released several photos of McGee recreating Madonna-esque poses. The most recent is the above photo recreating an Emporio Armani ad by David and Victoria Beckham which was published in the Daily Mail. "He (Daniels) even posted bikini pictures of her on the internet, as well as a snap of himself wearing blue trunks and a black SAS-style balaclava." • iTricks is also reporting on this story.

MNW #91 :: JOHNNY THOMPSON

Johnny "The Great Tomsoni" Thompson is our guest on this episode of the Magic Newswire's Spirit of Magic Podcast. Johnny is much more than an extremely well respected performer and one of the funniest magicians performing today. He is also a much sought after magic consultant and has worked for such performers as Lance Burton, Penn & Teller and Criss Angel. In addition to talking about his career, Johnny talks about other performers including Herb Zarrow, Jay Marshall, Marshal Brodein, Francis Carlyle, Paul le Paul, Paul Rosini, Joe Bergen, Cardini, Channing Pollock, Carl Balentine, Al Koran, Dai Vernon and Charlie Miller.

LISTEN TO MY CONVERSATION WITH JOHNNY THOMPSON:

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OTHER WAYS TO LISTEN: GET IT AT ITUNES :: MP3 DOWNLOAD HTML 5 PLAYER ::

"MAGIC IS MY LIFE, MY LIFE IS MAGIC"

A performance by Juliana Chen at Vancouver's Winterfest Weekend prompted a profile of the magician on BCLocalNews.com. “Magic is my life, my life is magic. I really enjoy it,” she says in the interview . “For me it’s the movement, the facial expressions and the connection with the audience. People watching sometimes forget to watch my magic because they’re watching my face and my movement.“Every time I’m on the stage I feel very powerful,” she says. I feel pretty on stage. You have to have that confidence—after the show I don’t care—but on the stage I think I’m No. 1.”

TV REMINDER :: MONK & THE MAGICIAN TONIGHT

At 9pm EST tonight on Monk’s “Mr. Monk and The Magician” is former Crossing Jordan star Steve Valentine playing a magician with the stage name The Great Torini. Torini plays head games with Monk when the legendary detective suspects him of murder. Here's a preview:

MAGIC TRICK NO TREAT FOR POLICE

Suburban Chicago Police were called to a local hotel after "an explosive device" was reported in a guest's room. According to News Reports, "The officers who initially responded to the scene were unable to determine what it was they were dealing with, Bormann said. Other officers were summoned as police worked to identify the device, which had slots in which two of the user's fingers could be inserted. Investigators after several hours concluded the device was a hand-held "trick" often used in magic shows, Bormann said. The device consists of a battery and flash paper or cotton, and allows the magician to create the illusion of sparking or holding fire in his or her hands, Bormann said."

PIPPIN OPENS WITH STEINMEYER

As mentioned byJim Steinmeyer when he was our guest on the Spirit of Magic Podcast, a production of Pippin has opened at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Pasadena Weekly offered their thoughts on the show's opening night by saying, "With “Pippin,” Calhoun’s conceit is a magic show with illusion design by Jim Steinmeyer. This is markedly different from the anime-inspired version of this Roger O. Hirson and Stephen Schwartz musical at the David Henry Hwang Theater in Little Tokyo last spring. This production had a few technical glitches opening night, but that’s a minor quibble when everything else has so much snap and polish. The magic created here isn’t just the magician’s illusions, but the fabulous fusion of song, dance and social commentary and the seamless melding of two communities — hearing and hearing-impaired — on stage for an intermissionless yet fleeting two hours."

VEGAS MAGICIAN SEES BOTH WORK AND LIFE SAVINGS VANISH

Thanks to Richard Kaufman and a post at Genii's forums, we were made aware of an article at CNN discussing the tough economic times and their impact on magic entertainers in Vegas. "Las Vegas magician David Shimshi used to work as house magician at the famous Mirage hotel and performed with the World's Greatest Magicians show at the Greek Isles Casino. Now Shimshi, as he's known to everyone, including his wife Janelle, has seen his gigs disappear, a victim of the struggling economy. Shimshi is no vanishing act. He's working on a business plan to perform at trade-show display booths for major companies. He's willing to work just to prove he can bring in the crowds. He even says he's willing to take his pay later, when the company's business improves." 

*iTricks is also reporting on this story.

IT'S ALL GOOD NEWS FOR MASTERS OF ILLUSION

The AP Reported yesterday that My Network TV was essentially getting out of the business of producing original content in the fall. This created some speculation as to the possibility that Gay Blackstone's original series "Masters of Illusion" would not return to complete its' thirteen week run. Though we had not yet spoken directly with Gay at that time, we did speak to Ed Alonzo who told us what he'd heard from a MyNetworkTV Publicist. UPDATE: Having just gotten off of the phone with Mrs. Blackstone, I can happily share the following:

• Masters of Illusion has consistently beaten the ratings received my the Masked Magician show airing on the same network and ratings have increased by at least one point per week with each airing. In addition, with the help of Associated Television International's programming, MyNetworkTV has ranked fourth place among major network ratings and has occasionally bumped NBC and taken the third slot.
• Because Masters of Illusion was shot entirely in HD, it requires two and a half weeks per show to edit. This time is also used to overcome the challenges that HD presents when filming magic (Flashing, etc...) The addition of four days of street magic filming also contributed to an already heavy workload in post production.
• The decision to rerun the first four episodes was planned by the network from the beginning, and for good reasons, all complimentary to magic and the popularity of Masters of Illusion.
• Episodes 5, 6, 7 & 8 will begin airing for Sweeps Month on March 2nd.
• Beginning with Episode 5, the show will move to the more favorable time slot of 8PM EST.
• Episodes 5, 6 & 7 will be re-broadcast beginning on April 6th.
• Episodes 10, 11, 12 & 13 will begin their run (again in time for Sweeps month) on April 27th.
• Show 8 will be re-broadcast on May 25th.

Thanks to iTricks for reminding us of this story. 

AUSSIE MAGICIANS STAGE BENEFIT SHOW

The arsonist induced fires that killed more than 200 people over the weekend are still raging in Australia. From the Magic Unlimited Blog we learn of a Magic event staged to benefit the Australian Red Cross. On Satuday March 14 at 7pm and 9pm, The Australian Insitute of Magic will be staging a Gala Magic Show at the Northcote Town Hall with 100% of the proceeds going to the Australian Red Cross Bushfire Appeal. Tickets $25 each, on sale tomorrow by calling 03 9481 9500 or online at www.NorthcoteTownHall.com.au ! All our best wishes to those impacted by this tragedy.

Kudos to our friends at iTricks for helping to promote this important event.