I was delighted to be able to catch Murray Hatfield and Teresa this year during their Canadian Tour of “Magic ‘n Miracles“. They’ve been coming through Kelowna now for the past few years but I haven’t ever been able to make it due to being at my own shows. It was nice to be able to sit back, relax, and enjoy somebody else’s show. I had high expectations- and their performance exceeded it by leaps and bounds.

Each year they bring in new talent from around the world to join in their act. This year they had Juliana Chen, Darcy Oake, and David Kaplan. I know lots about Juliana Chen, and I even met her and saw her perform at the IBM convention a few years back in Calgary Alberta. It was outstanding to see her act once again that she’s been perfecting for all these years. The act she performed was essentially whats in the next two clips. Although, I did notice that she changed the music for the card manipulation part. It seems to suit her as a person much more

I had never heard of the other two performers, David Kaplan and Darcy Oake. Both of them performed very impressive magic, that was well rehearsed, well thought out, and executed perfectly. I expect that these guys both have a very long career in front of them.David Kaplan basically performed a vaudeville clown type routine with non-stop magic and visual gags. The part that blew me away the most is when a bowling ball floated away up into the rafters! The second best part of his act is when later on the bowling ball falls from the rafters onto a precious family air loom. Simply fantastic. Don’t ever a miss a chance to see this guy.

Darcy Oake performed a hip-hop street type dove and manipulation act. His slow style and cool glances to the audience made him instantly likable all the while performing classic effects that had his own spin on them making them new again. Apparently he’s already lectured in Vancouver, and won some awards, so it sounds like he too will be around for the years to come.

All in all, the evening was a great night out and although it doesn’t say anything on the Magic ‘n Miracles official site, I think they’re coming back in March to perform in Vernon. I’m not sure if the entire show will be the same, or if it will be something different… get out there and see their show. You wont be disappointed!

In the October 2007 issue of Magic Magazine there was an article on Erik Buss and something about his spring snake routine. Honestly I skipped past it at first because I had NO idea what they were talking about. The pictures showed some guy (Eric) smiling far too much in a T shirt in front of some weird contraption. I eventually went back and read the article, and still none of it made too much sense.

While reading the Magic Cafe forums I found the video of what the heck the whole article was about, and I’d like to share that with you now.

You may remember a few days ago I made a post talking about magic on the TV show House. I quickly looked online but I couldn’t find out much more information about it. Today my new issue of MAGIC magazine came in. In the “Magic Update” column by Shawn McMaster they had a story about the magic in that episode. It turns out that the sick patient is actually close-up magician of the year Steve Valentine. I couldn’t find any videos of him performing, but there is some clips on his site of his acting.

It also turns out that Tony Clark was the magic consultant for the episode. Tony Clark is amazing and I hope I have the opportunity to meet him one day. Here’s a video I found of him on youtube.

I hope you all caught tonight’s final episode of Phenomenon. Tonight they eliminated the rest of the contestants and gave first place to Mike Super along with $250,000. I thought his performance tonight wasn’t as good as the other routines he presented, but it was still very well done. He’s got a great personality and it shines through so well on TV.

Here’s a clip of Mike Super from last week’s episode:

For those of you who know me personally you’ll know that I’m a HUGE fan of the t.v. show House. If you got a chance to see it last night then you’ll know that the patient in last nights episode (S04E08) was a magician who becomes sick while doing the Chinese Water Cell Tortue Escape. I’m sure this episode will re-air again once the season is over, so keep an eye out. I’ve posted some pictures from the episode below.

Wow! I hope you got to watch Phenomenon last night! I though the whole show was awesome. If you didn’t get a chance to see it, the next episode will be on next Wednesday. Below is the promo trailer for the show.

I thought that the first performer Ehud Segev was the best. He was able to touch his forehead, and chin, and have somebody else feel it without even going near them. I thought it was great. I think as the show continues we’ll see some really amazing things.

The Ellusionist website also has some information about the show and a little video that you can watch.

A new magic tv show called “Phenomenon” is coming to NBC. On October 24th Criss Angel and Uri Geller will star and host in a live magic show that explores magic used to create paranormal effects (Like mind reading, metal bending, and even talking to the dead!). For more information check out the official website at http://www.nbc.com/Phenomenon/

You can find a small clip for the show right here: http://www.nbc.com/Phenomenon/video/#mea=164221

You can be sure that I’ll be glued to my tv set when it airs!

Hello everybody this is Ali K. Zam here. Welcome to my Online Magic Club! This site is designed for those who want to learn how to learn a few simple tricks to show their friends and family. Just remember to practice! There’s some really good stuff here. I’m in the process right now of getting the site online, so remember to check back in the future.

If you’re looking for entertain for your event check out www.alikzam.com. Or if you’re birthday is coming up, check out www.HassleFreeBirthday.com to have Ali K. Zam perform magic for you at your next birthday!

That’s everything for now.

Sincerely,
Ali K. Zam the Magician