I’m a huge fan of Banachek and his work. The man is brilliant and he really lives his material that he performs. Below is an impromptu interview that a guy named Matt did with Banachek after a show which I can only guess was at a college.

http://media.theory11.com/1048-Interview-With-Banachek

Apparently Banachek no longer works as a consultant on Criss Angel’s Mindfreak, which I never knew. There’s a few people talking about it on the comments to that video as well.

I found this over at Matthew’s blog. Here’s a video below of some Korean’s doing a routine that they took from Penn and Teller. Check out the Korean version first, then Penn and Tellers.

Penn and Teller version:

Check out what Penn had to say about it on his blog.

The world’s largest magic convention was held a few days ago, and reports are coming in that it was less than steller. The first few things I read about it I figured were just sensational journalism, but it looks like the event really let everyone down in far too many ways. Its unfortunate to hear really. The only thing that can compete with the Worlds Largest Convention is the intimacy of a small magic convention. It sounds like the friendships that were made and re-established was still apparent at Blackpool though.

You can read more about the convention at Tim’s blog, and at Shawns blog(although it appears to be down right now for me, I’m sure it’s only temporary.)

I look forward to attending events like that in the future Maybe it’ll happen sooner if its a bit closer to home!

Well I woke up today and got right down to business and confirmed my booking for tomorrow’s magic show in Penticton. I’ll be doing a birthday party down there, but its a big family type event so its going to be lots of fun.

I also got a bunch of new magic in the mail today. I love getting magic in the mail and then sitting around and playing with it. Every time I order something, I always get some sort of puzzle or trick that I don’t really need, but could be fun just to play with. This time I got the nail puzzle. I haven’t figured it out yet, but I’ve only played with it for about a minute. I’m just making this post before I forget then Its down to business again.

I wanted to share a link with you that’s been making its rounds on the top blogs. The site describes and gives examples of “Five great auditory illusions“

While wearing headphones listen to this:

It’s an example of using 2 microphones to pick up noise in a room where our ears would normally be. Then our brain figures out where in the space around us the objects are coming from. It’s a simple idea, but its quite amazing when you think about it. There’s a few others listed on the site too, check them out they’re really cool!

I’m also feeling a bit better, I got some weird head cold yesterday but I’m feeling much better today. Hopefully it was just a 24 hour thing, I’ve got a show to do tomorrow!

Yesterday I got to check out Ted and Marion’s magic show, and it was superb! There’s lots of original stuff in their show with some clever thinking and it plays really well. I also took my girlfriend Melissa too, and it made for the perfect date. She even got to go up on stage and help out!

[Left to right: Myself (Leif Thordarson), Marion Outerbridge, Melissa, and Ted Outerbridge ]

I had some flyer’s printed up advertising the local magic club, and after the show the ushers handed them out. So hopefully that will spark some interest and maybe a few might even join

After the show Melissa and I stuck around and chatted with Ted and Marion for a bit. It was really nice and its too bad they weren’t in town longer, but, hopefully next year we’ll get a chance to sit down for dinner or something.

I never shop at Penguin magic, and, in all honesty, I probably never will. My main reason is the fact that it isn’t run by magicians to help magicians. It’s owned by a company to make money. All dealers need to make money, but, there are enough other choices out there who have a love for the art of magic and just want to help it (and make a living while doing it).

None the less, I thought my readers would want to know about the Valentines day special going on over at Penguin magic right now.

Orders over $50 and get your choice:

* Visu-Antics by Jim Pace (DVD)
* Table Hopping Cups and Balls with Carl Andrews (DVD)
* Reparation by John Lovick (DVD)
* Jay Sankey’s Create Your Own Magic (DVD)

Order $100 or more and get your choice:

* Pyrotechnic Pasteboards with Gregory Wilson (DVD)
* Liquid Metal Starring Morgan Strebler (DVD)
* Bill in Kiwi with Carl Cloutier (2 DVD set)
* Lake Tahoe Bar Magic with Randy Wakeman (2 DVD Set)

Order $150 or more and get your choice:

* Sankey’s Greatest Hits (3 DVDs)
* Gambling Moves w/ Cards featuring Simon Lovell (3 DVDs)
* Complete Card Magic with Gerry Griffin – The Definitive Set (Volumes 1-7) (7 DVDs)
* Escapology with Dixie Dooley (4 DVDs)

Over at Ellusionist they blogged about TOXIC PLAYING CARDS! According to their site some cards in China have toxic levels of formaldehyde residue…

To help the situation I decided to make this photo guide to help avoid any confusion.

Don’t: Eat cards from China. Do: Eat 1800 Series cards from Ellusionist.

Well, this might be starting to sound like a blog run by www.magic.org, but I want to let you know about just 1 more thing then I’ll shut up. Recently Aaron updated his best kept secrets page, and its a whole heck of a lot nicer and easier to read. The last design didn’t render properly in FF and for that reason alone I didn’t read it. Anyways, On that blog he’ll be pitching new items that have come out and other magic news. So check it out at http://www.magic.org/secrets/.

(I’m still waiting to receive an email before I’ll post about my magic show maple ridge, hopefully in the next few days)

Again, I love magic. I just have to shout it out to the world. This weekend I had a show in Maple Ridge BC. I’ll talk about the show itself in my next though.

Today I got a chance to visit Clownin Around Magic Store in Grandville Island. I’ve only ever been to just a few magic shops. We got lost on our way though and we made it there just before they closed. I was able to pick up a couple things I didn’t want to order online because of the size. There wasn’t really anything too special but Joe who was running the counter stayed a few minutes after closing and helped me with a couple questions. It’s sad that physical magic stores are a dying breed, I never got the chance to hang out in a magic shop like lots of the stories i hear about from the old timers It’s all web stores, newsletters, and hyped up media clips. Oh, don’t worry Aaron, I’ve still got an order for you too.

I don’t really get a chance to see other performers very often. It reminds me of the PCAM convention. They had 2 big screens so everybody in the room could see fine. Even though sometimes I couldn’t tell what was going on, or my visability was limited, I chose to watch the people live instead of the screens. I can watch magicians at home on DVD or on my computer, but I dont get to see them live. Often the routines were things I had already seen on Tv/DVD before, and I didn’t go all the way to Calgary to watch it again on a screen, even if it was “live footage” heh.

Anyways, thats all for now. I’m posting from the hotel room right now, but once I get back home I have some photo’s I”ll show of my show and some other stuff that happened on my trip.

I made a post earlier today about Penn and Teller and a few of their online clips. I was going to search for some clips of Teller speaking, but I ended up getting sidetracked and working on something else. Anyways, on the Ellusionist blog they posted a video of Teller explaining the psychology of magic.

I remember reading an article about this presentation about a year ago on reddit.com I thought, but I can’t seem to find it now. Anyways, it’s much better to see the video of it anyways.

I also found some other videos of Teller speaking as well.

Here’s a clip of Teller speaking in a deleted scene from “Fantasticks”

Online magic friend David Garrity was featured today on Boston.com!

“This isn’t your grandfather’s magic show,” says Comedy Studio owner Rick Jenkins. Every Tuesday at the club’s long-running Mystery Lounge, top magicians from throughout the country perform their mysterious arts. Tonight catch the magic of special guests David Garrity (below) from Six Flags New England, Erik Starkey from Pittsburgh, and David Oliver from Broadway’s “Monday Night Magic.” “Such a big show in such a small, cozy room,” says Jenkins, “is a rare spectacle.” 7:30 p.m. $10. The Comedy Studio, 1238 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. 617-661-6507. thecomedystudio.com

To learn more about David Garrity goto his website.

I must say I’m continually impressed with the magic depot – www.magic.org. For the past couple of weeks I’ve been slowly adding items to my shopping cart but I haven’t purchased anything yet. Well today I received this email.

Hello Leif! Aaron Smith here from http://www.magic.org I noticed you have a
couple of items in your cart but haven’t checked out yet. Is there anything
I can help you with?

My 20% OFF Sale ENDS Wednesday! http://www.magic.org/secrets

How very cool! Now thats a great marketing lesson. If you shop for magic online, I’d check out The Magic Depot- great service, free shipping, and if you sign up for their newsletter they have specials every few weeks or so.

PS: If you live in Edmonton/ Calgary check out http://www.vanishingrabbit.com/. Brent Smith will take your online order as well and shipping is probably next to nothing. I think I heard he also gives you a deal if you’re an IBM member. Check out their site for more info. But, if you’re from that area, you probably already know this.