Friday, April 29, 2011

Criss Angel in a Popcorn Commercial?

I wonder what brought this all together and did Criss need to pay for a new car or something?


Thursday, April 28, 2011

Register Now for EMC 2011

Today launched the second Essential Magic Conference. It will take place on the 7th, 8th, 9th of July. The first Essential Magic Conference in 2010 was a watershed event in magic, the world’s first digital conference for magicians. It achieved an ‘Epic’ rating from registrants in the online poll. And sensational reviews the world over. This July it is promised to do it all over again. 3 days of incredible online lectures from 33 of the world’s finest magicians.

Registration costs $90/ €70. It includes full access to the 3 days of conference presentations. One year’s access to an online archive of all the presentations. Plus a set of DVDs featuring all the conference content, plus bonus materials, mailed directly to you, anywhere in the world, post free.

Speakers for EMC 2011 will be announced shortly. And there are some very big surprises in store. Register now at http://essentialmagicconference.com/

Magic Magazine Site Not Safe For Browsing

What's the deal Stan Allen? Should we worry about iPad apps too?

Warning - visiting this web site may harm your computer!

Suggestions:Or you can continue to http://www.magicmagazine.com/ at your own risk. For detailed information about the problems we found, visit Google's Safe Browsing diagnostic page for this site.

For more information about how to protect yourself from harmful software online, you can visit StopBadware.org.

If you are the owner of this web site, you can request a review of your site using Google's Webmaster Tools. More information about the review process is available in Google's Webmaster Help Center.
Advisory provided byGoogle

What is the current listing status for www.magicmagazine.com?

Site is listed as suspicious - visiting this web site may harm your computer.

Part of this site was listed for suspicious activity 2 time(s) over the past 90 days.

What happened when Google visited this site?

Of the 86 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 12 page(s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2011-04-28, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 2011-04-28.

Malicious software is hosted on 1 domain(s), including globalpoweringgathering.com/.

This site was hosted on 1 network(s) including AS26347 (DREAMHOST).

Has this site acted as an intermediary resulting in further distribution of malware?

Over the past 90 days, www.magicmagazine.com did not appear to function as an intermediary for the infection of any sites.

Has this site hosted malware?

No, this site has not hosted malicious software over the past 90 days.

How did this happen?

In some cases, third parties can add malicious code to legitimate sites, which would cause us to show the warning message.

Next steps:

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

From ITricks.com: Rick Thomas To Riveria After Sahara Closes

Rick Thomas finds himself at another failing casino
Skitched 20110420 135754

The Sahara might be closing but Rick Thomas has found his next gig at The Riviera.

The new show will open July 1, and he will be adding “three or four major pieces” to it. And yes, apparently “major pieces” means animals.

Meanwhile, he’ll be performing right up to the very end of the Sahara – his last show there will be May 15. Not that he’ll be going out with a thanks-Sam-Nazarian bang – he said there won’t be anything out of the ordinary for the last show, other than saying goodbye. Hearing the tales from Sahara employees about how they’ve been treated, we’re not surprised, either.

Big props to Vegas Chatter for getting the scoop. Riviera’s last foray into magic was the Scarlett’s cult nude/magic review Abra-Ca-Sexy. No word on if Thomas will slot into the same theate

Monday, April 18, 2011

This week at the Magic Castle

Its going to be a good week at the Magic Castle. Check out Bill Goodwin who always blows me away. The Palace will be awesome with Eric Buss' wacky magic and puppeteer Scott Land.



Friday, April 15, 2011

Frpm the Magic Newswire: NEIL PATRICK HARRIS :: AMA PRESIDENT


nph250The AMA By-Laws and Standing Rules provide for the naming of a new President when a President does not finish his term. The Vice President is automatically named President. Accordingly, Neil Patrick Harris is President of the AMA until the end of his current term (March 2012).

At its regular meeting held Tuesday, April 12, 2011, the Board of Directors discussed possible replacements for the vacancy on the Board created by the resignation of Robert Lamoureux. Due to the number of possible candidates under discussion and the importance of this action, President Neil Patrick Harris suggested that the Board schedule a Special Meeting to be devoted entirely to interviews and a full and complete discussion by the Board. Although the AMA Bylaws state that a replacement be appointed at the next regular Board meeting, it was the sense of the Board that it should devote more time than was available on April 12, 2011 to reaching this decision. The Board scheduled a Special Meeting for April 27, 2011 for this purpose. Any Magician Member wishing to be considered for this position should send a resume to Rich Cowley, Secretary, to be received not later than April 20, 2011.

Monday, April 11, 2011

This week at the Magic Castle

Wow, Darryl is back in town, Robert Baxt and Arthur Trace are in the Peller too.



This Year Winners of the Academy of Magical Arts Arards

Although I did not go, I feel it's important to announce the winners.

Close-Up Performing Fellowship - Bob White
Stage Performing Fellowship - Franz Harary
Special Fellwoship - Jules Fisher
Literary Fellowship - Stan Allen
Creative Fellowship - Dean Dill
Lifetime Achievement Award - John Daniel
Masters Fellowship - Lance Burton
Award of Merit - William Scott Anderson
Junior Achievement Award - Jeffery Black

The member-voted award winners are:

Lecture - David Regal
Stage - Dana Daniels
Palour - Andrew Goldenhersh
Close-Up - Suzanne

The 2010 Magician of the Year is Topas

Friday, April 8, 2011

TV Events for Magic

Make Believe to air on Showtime beginning April 12thThe Simpsons: The Great Simpsina
Sunday, April 10th, 8 p.m. E/P, FOX
With their 22nd season now on the air, The Simpsons has turned to magic as a plot device for an episode titled "The Great Simpsina." When Lisa is forced to run into what appears to be an empty old house, she is startled when the owner shows up. When the old man is revealed to be The Great Raymondo, a famous magician, Lisa begs to be taught the tricks of the trade. Thus, Lisa Simpson becomes The Great Simpsina.

Cover: The Simpsons™ ©2011 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Make Believe to air on Showtime beginning April 12thMake Believe
Tuesday, April 12th, 7:30 p.m. E/P, Showtime
The film documentary that follows contestants on their road to the 2009 Teen Stage Competition at the World Magic Seminar debuts April 12th on the Showtime network. The teenage conjurors are Hiroki Hara of Japan; Bill Koch, Krystyn Lambert, and Derek McKee of the US; and Siphiwe Fangase and Nkumbuzo Nkonyana from South Africa. The film also airs on April 16th (11:30 a.m.), 18th (10 a.m.), and 24th (11 a.m.), as well as other showings on Sho 2 and Showtime Showcase. Click here for a listing of dates and times. Make Believe is also slated for limited theatrical release in May.

From iTricks: Gary Darwin Back Home After Leg Amputation

Skitched 20110407 142540

Gary Darwin, a staple of Las Vegas underground magic scene is out of the hospital and back to doing what he does best after a scary medical emergency that saw his leg amputated.

According to Rick Lax’ story in Las Vegas Weekly,Darwin (a diabetic) stepped on a screw which led to a series of complications and ultimately the surgery. Darwin credits the strength of his community in helping his get back to normal.

“When Lance [Burton] heard I was in the hospital, he came over and slept on the floor beside me. All night long. He followed me to surgery. And when I got out, there were 20 magicians in my room to misdirect me from the pain.”


  • I know we were all wishing the best for Gary when we were at World Magic Seminar and I am glad that he is home.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Penn & Teller, Ricky Jay, David Copperfield Lend Voices To This Week’s Simpsons Episode

Lisa Simpson becomes the apprentice of an old magician and somehow David Copperfield, Ricky Jay and Penn & Teller somehow get involved. At least that is the plot on the next episode of The Simpsons Sunday. All four magicians lend their voices (or lack thereof) to this week’s installment of the veteran cartoon series.

Penn talked about the experience on his series Penn Point in August of last year. BEWARE, he has a FOUL MOUTH that uses IMPOLITE LANGUAGE.

The Simpsons airs this Sunday at 8 p.m. on FOX.

This Week at the Magic Castle

Its an amazing week at the Castle. Check out Aye Jaye and Farrell Dillion in the Palace and my pal Rafael Benatar in the close up room.



Friday, April 1, 2011

tommEE pickles to perform for the Children Hospital


Hope is planned for June 5th 2011 and tommEE will perform his magic. Children's Hospital Los Angeles is a nonprofit, academic, pediatric medical center. They provide the highest quality healthcare for children who are the sickest and most seriously injured in this region and beyond. Each year, they treat more than 93,000 children who need care that is so complex, it can only be provided by medical experts. They provide care in more than 100 medical specialty and subspecialty areas. They are a research hospital and believe that it is through research that they can improve the delivery of care to the children of the future.