TELLER TALKS ABOUT THE SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF

TNT Magazine has posted an interview with Teller during the appearence of he and Penn in London. The quieter of the two shared his thoughts on the presentation of magic and the importance of the audience's participation in it.

"Sit in a theatre or play a game and you are vividly aware that you are not in a room with something impossible seeming to happen," he explains. "It's no challenge to you; you go along with it. When you watch a magic show, you know there’s entirely nothing between you and the performer on stage. You are stripped down. It's very naked."

"You can watch a performer and if you make a mistake about where reality and make-believe begins, the consequences are only a little burst of pleasure and surprise and a laugh, rather than tragedy," he adds. "People do enjoy that."

READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE

LISTEN TO OUR INTERVIEW WITH TELLER

DAVID BLAINE LIVE IN DALLAS

Based on a reference in an unrelated email alert, I tracked down a listing for a live appearance by David Blaine in Dallas at the Winspear Opera House, also know as the AT&T Performing Arts Center. 

Billed as a part of the Brinker International Forum Series, "David Blaine - The Art of Magic" is slated for January 12th, 2012 at 8 PM.

There are no details as to the nature of the appearance, but I feel safe in assuming that attendees will see David perform and hear him talk about some of his more memorable stunts.

For more info and to purchase tickets, CLICK HERE

MAGICIANS ON SCREEN

The popularity of the George Méliès inspired Scorsese film "Hugo," there is a renewed interest in magicians and their connecion to the history of film. The Museum of the Moving Image has therefore launched a new exhibit entitled "Magicians on Screen."  The exhibit is a combination of lectures, presentations and movie screenings. From their WEBSITE:

In the 1890s, stage magicians were the world’s most popular entertainers. And then the cinema was invented. Always eager to incorporate new technologies, magicians quickly embraced the moving image, using it to create astonishing new illusions. Magician/filmmakers like Georges Méliès furthered cinema’s potential to make the impossible appear possible through their innovative use of editing and special effects in the genre they invented, the trick film. Unfortunately, as audiences fell in love with the movies, they abandoned the stage magicians, and the grand old magic halls disappeared or were converted to movie palaces. 

Hollywood, however, never lost interest, producing films about magic and magicians for distribution to theaters everywhere. Silents, talkies, melodramas, mysteries, comedies, horror movies, romances, documentaries—magic and magicians appeared, and continue to appear, in all these types of films. Television gave magicians the opportunity to reach even larger audiences; many viewers saw magicians for the first time on variety shows. Ironically, although the invention of the moving image may have ended one chapter in the history of magic, it gave magicians new life on-screen. 

FIND OUT MORE

MAGIC CASTLE BOARD SAYS CASTLE RESTORATION COMPLETE IN 2012

The Magic Castle Board of Directors has Tweeted and posted a statement regarding the ongoing restoration of the Magic Castle following the fire which occured there on Halloween. According to the BoD:

In the interest of full disclosure, though, we should tell you that recent revelations have caused us to revise our projected re-opening dates.  From our most recent information, we’re now projecting to re-open those first two floors sometime in mid- to late January, but please know that all parties are working hard to re-open ahead of schedule.

Until the Lane Mansion portion of the Castle re-opens completely, of course, we can’t support the large crowds we normally enjoy; as a result, we don’t have the staffing needs we normally do.  We’re currently in the process of evaluating those needs, and are making any necessary adjustments.

Read the complete statement HERE.

Listen to the Podcast interview with Milt Larsen, Erika Larsen, Irene Larsen & West McDonough HERE.

SCOTT ALEXANDER AND THE 21 PERSON CABINET

Scott Alexamder performing Guy Jarrett's "21 Person Cabinet" for the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Parade on ABC: (Thanks to Travis Winkler for bringing this to our attention!)

MARIA MENOUNOS MOONLIGHTING WITH DAVID COPPERFIELD

Extra's own Maria Menounos tries her hand as a magician during David Copperfield's Las Vegas show for Extra:

EVERYTHING ERDNASE EXHIBIT FROM MAGICANA

After one hundred years, Artifice, Ruse and Subterfuge at the Card Table by S.W. Erdnase, a pseudonym for E. S. Andrews, a railway worker from Chicago, remains the cornerstone of card conjuring and, for those who want to profit from play, a post-graduate course circa 1900 on the technique of cheating at cards.

Jason England and Julie Eng have created a new online exhibition for Magicana which artfully displays, the book which has appeared perpetually in print, and has spawned numerous variants, here and abroad as well as a slew of ancillary discourse, publications and products.

Find out more about this fascinating exhibition at EVERYTHINGERDNASE.COM

DAVID COPPERFIELD :: MAGIC JUBILEE 2012

David Copperfield helps to announce 2012's "all inclusive" magic convention, Magic Jubilee 2012! Find out more HERE.

HOUDINI MUSEUM FEATURED ON TV

The Travel Channel's Mysteries At The Museum will air a story from Scranton's Houdini Museum about one of Houdini's most controversial escapes on Thursday December 1, 2011, at 11:00 PM and on Friday, December 2, 2011, at 2:00 AM.  Following that The History Channel's Brad Meltzer's Decoded! will show a segment with Houdini Museum magicians and experts Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz about Houdini's unusual death that will air on January 4, 2012.  

The Travel Channel calls its segment, Keys to Houdini's Secrets. It features Dorothy Dietrich, celebrity magician and escape artist, who is a director of Scranton's Houdini Museum.  (Watch the Video promo)   

The History Channel story tells of the mysteries of Houdini's death and some never before revealed secrets about what happened in Houdini's dressing room when he was punched in the stomach that led to his untimely death.  

Yet a third television story from the Houdini Museum was shown Friday, November 11 at 9 PM throughout Canada on "Deals From The Dark Side" that is expected to air in the United States shortly.  Deals From the Dark Side... "stops in Scranton, PA, to meet with a crew of Houdini experts and the honour of placing a new bust on Houdini’s grave in New York"

Houdini continues to enchant the public's imagination with at least three Hollywood films being produced at this time about parts of his life, several Houdini related books just being published, and well a world wide New York Times half page news story, October 24, 2011, about Houdini's grave site being restored secretly by what has come to be called The Houdini Commandos from Scranton's Houdini Museum. 

When not traveling, Dietrich performs at The Houdini Museum in Scranton, PA, where she is also a director. She has been featured on numerous television shows and channels world wide including the BBC, CBC, CBS, NBC, ABC, Travel Channel, Biography Channel, History Channel, TV Land, etc. She has been called The First Lady of Magic as well as The Female Houdini. She also presides over the annual Original Houdini Seance every Halloween.  Ms. Dietrich also talks and lectures about Houdini in schools, corporate events, banks, and has the only continuous traveling Houdini exhibit in the world. 

SEVEN TRAGIC DEATHS IN MAGIC

Writing for the Huffington Post, Joshua jay delivers a very interesting piece on seven tragic deaths from the history of magic.   You should also have a look at Josh's latest Book, DVD & Magic kit combo,  "The Complete Magician," [$39.95, Workman Publishing Company] . It examines the tricks and history of magic & details over 100 magic effects. Not a single magician has died doing any of them.  Among the more obscure tales that he shares is that of Balabrega and his assistant who died while preparing for a performance of "The Moth & Flame":

On June 12, 1900, Balabrega and his assistant, Lew Bartlett were setting up his show at the Theatro Santa Roza in João Pessoa, Brazil. An acetylene gas-bag exploded and blew pieces of Balabrega and his assistant all over the surrounding cast and crew. Balabrega's manager, standing several paces away, was severely injured. Balabrega was forty-two years old.