Thanks iTricks for rounding up youtube clips of all the magicians that performed on Letterman’s Magic Week. You’ll notice that Friday nights performers, Penn and Teller are missing. They performed what seems to be their new “signature effect”. I had heard about it, but never seen it, so it was a joy to finally see it myself.

Here’s the clip roundup:
David Letterman-Lance Burton-May-5-2008

David Letterman-Mac King-May-6-2008

David Letterman-Magician Steve Wyrick-May-8-2008

Dirk Arthur on David Letterman 5-07-08

And again, sorry no Penn and Teller I looked for the clip just like iTricks but wasn’t able to find it either.

I forgot that all this week its been “Magician Week” on David Letterman’s Late Show. Tomorrow night is Pen and Teller. If I come across any clips of the magic acts I’ll try and post them.

I’m a huge fan of Derren Brown (Who isn’t?) and he’s just come out with his new season of “Trick or Treat”.

Trick or Treat S02E01 Part 1

Trick or Treat S02E01 part 2

Trick or Treat S02E01 part 3

Trick or Treat S02E01 part 4

I’m glad I found it online, this show only airs on Uk’s “Channel 4″.

Over at iTricks today there was a wicked interview with Chris Martin who’s the creator and executive producer of Celebracadabra. If you’re interested in the show at all check out the interview, its quite funny and he even reveals some information about upcoming shows.

I was sad to hear that they snuck in some decoy footage into the opening to mislead you on who stays or gets eliminated. I was totally checking it to see if I could tell who was going to get eliminated

Chris said that he’d answer any questions about the show, so I’ve sent an email to him with the following questions:

• Who were other possible celebrities?
• Who were other possible judges?
• How did Ellusionist become the sponsor for the show?
• Do you have future projects in mind?
• I’m amazed by the quality of magic that has been performed and the thought that the judges put into it. The judges have been brilliant and come up with effects that are both visual/powerful for TV, and yet can be taught with very little time. Did the judges ever get together before shooting the show to share ideas?
• What’s a funny story that happened on set when cameras weren’t rolling?
• Will the series come out on DVD? Will there be bonus material on the DVD’s?
• Can you send me some Celebcadabra stuff for free?
• What was the biggest obstacle in putting together the show?

I’ll post the answers once I get them back. They might do another interview apparently, so I’ll post the link once its online

In a previous post I mentioned that my Dad is a Kelowna Shrine Klown known as “Rusty”. Last Saturday the Kelowna Shrine Klowns were doing a hot dog sale outside the IGA in Rutland to raise money for charities. Between two shows I had that day I took a minute to stop by and see what was going on. It isn’t often that my dad and I get pictures of us together in our costumes so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

In the background there you can see the Shriner “Stage Van”. During parades and things like that the clowns ride around in it and play different instruments while music plays.

Thats me playing around Both of us are kind of squinting in the photo’s because the sun was right in our eyes.

Here’s some clips from Celebracadabra S01E02: (SPOILER ALERT! You find out who was eliminated in the clips below)

Here’s a clip from Celebracadabra Episode 2 speak peek: Ant’s clown freakout. As with all the clips from the VH1 site you need to be in the USA to watch them.

video.vh1.com

I’ve been a part of the magic community now for 14 years and I’ve come to learn that magic isn’t about the tricks, or the props, but about the audience and the different people who contribute to magic. For me its never been about Houdini, Dai Vernon, or any of the past legends, but the people who have contributed to magic during my lifetime.

Tony Eng was a magician from Victoria BC and he owned “Tony’s Trick and Joke Shop”. I first met him at the IBM convention that was in Kelowna when I was 8 years old. I remember him encouraging me and spending time with me at the convention. We crossed paths again when I visited his shop, and at IBM conventions in Calgary and Vancouver. I didn’t know him very well, but I always knew that he played an important role in the magic community of North West Canada.

R.I.P. Tony. Your contribution to our world will never be forgotten.

When people book me for a birthday party magic show, I send them a PDF that they can print off, fill in the information and send out. Its great because everybody needs invitations, and printing them off yourself at home is so fast, so easy, so cheep, and can be fun too.

I’ve decided to share that joy with the entire world by putting my birthday party invitation online. Just click the download link to open up the PDF. I hope to design more and when I do I’ll post them up on that website.

Actually, the invitations aren’t even on my Birthday Guide right now, but once I make a few more I’m going to include a link there as well. My guide is a work in progress! I did a birthday party just a few days ago for an 11 year old girl and at the start of the party the girls were making crafts with beads. It was the perfect activity for a birthday party so in a future edit of my guide I’m going to include that as well.

Yesterday I was invited to perform at a Volunteer Appreciation dinner in Penticton. I knew from when I took the booking that the venue was going to be difficult because:
A) It was in a long room with tables down the sides
B) I was going to be surrounded.

Thankfully I knew about these potential issues before the show so I was able to plan for them. My sound system and wireless microphone made sure that even if at points they weren’t able to see what was going on (since I’d be performing surrounded) at least everyone would be able to hear what was going on. I was able to perform most of my standard act, but I made a few minor tweaks since I’d be surrounded. I changed a few routines to things that were a bit more visual with longer “magic moments” so everyone could see.

I felt really great about the show. The audience was simply amazing, and lots of people came up to me after the show to tell me how much they enjoyed it.

Here’s what the event coordinator had to say:

“Thank you so very much such a professional performance, I have been flooded with phone calls from volunteers thanking me and commenting on how well everything was ~ especially your act! We all felt we were on a cruise ship! I will be recommending you to 5 other facilities!”

Thinking about Mars or playing on the Monkey Bars

After the original post on itricks it looks like there’s another better quality version of the final minutes of David Blaine’s stunt. Check it out:

Here’s a quote from Brian C. who was in the Oprah audience during the stunt:

I was very lucky to have been in the Oprah audience and see David break the record. Here are just a few comments regardng the event. When we entered the studio, the first thing you noticed was that the temperature was very cold. We were informed the studio temp was lowered to help David lower his own body temp before entereing the tank.

In the show warm up it was explained to us just how dangerous this attempt at the record really is and that it was not a “magic trick”. Then they had everyone in the audience raise their hand and hold their breath. When your breath ran out, you lowered your hand. One woman made it to the 2 minute mark, but that was it. Most people never made it past 30 seconds or so.

From the time the show began and David entered the tank, the tension was thick. You could hear a pin drop and during the commercial breaks Oprah would try to make jokes about how quiet everyone was being. Nervous laughter scattered the crowd and you felt the tension release just a little, only to build again once we were back on the air (this was broadcast live in the Chicago market). I am not sure if the tension came across in the braodcast or not, but in the studio everyone was very tense and really into it.

When David released his feet and floated to the top of the tank at about the 16 minute mark, people began to cheer him on. As the 16:32 mark past and the record was broken the woman in front of me was pleading to “get him out!” It was very exciting to watch the clock and see it move to over 17 minutes.

We also had a view of the heart monitor screen the whole time and that was fascinating as the heart rate angle played up to make the story even more compelling.

Listening to the comments of the people on the way out of the studio, I think David and his people should be proud. The comments all comfirmed that the drama was good and the show a sucess. For me, it was a great morning watching a master showman.

(Thank you Holly for getting me the reservations and puting up with nonsense.)

Very cool It was one of the best things I’ve seen on TV for a long time.

A bowling ball magically appears