I just came across a website that tracks all the magic blogs out there, check them out at http://www.magicforge.net/blogtrack/. My page isn’t linked yet, but I sent them a link to it so hopefully it will appear in the next few days.

If magicforge has linked to me, and you’re a new visitor, then welcome! Read the past entires and check out some of the free magic tricks in the right hand menu.

Just like everyone else I LOVE Derren Brown, he’s brilliant and everything he’s put out is done exceptionally well. Through some website today I came across this interesting article/interview with the man himself in TIMESONLINE some UK magazine/newspaper I guess. Check it out here.

“I’ve had about three weeks off in these past four years,” Brown says, with no evident weariness or ran-cour. “There are huge blocks of time with no evenings or weekends free. But if I had time off I’d only use it for evil,” he adds, with a devilish grin.

I’m constantly trying to updates my websites and provide the best information I can. Today I did just that, I updated my birthday party tips page after an experience today. The new tip reads:

Try to avoid inviting children who are sick. A coughing or sniffling child could easily pass it onto your entire family and the rest of the kids. Also, a sick child will take the attention away from your child’s birthday party and distract from the magic show.

That comes from direct experience! Today at a show a little girl wasn’t feeling too good and she sneezed all over the place. It became distracting when the host was helping her clean up. The girl looked flush and almost looked like she was going to puke. She was insistent though that she wasn’t going to. The show went on without a hitch at all, but I can just imagine it now. A child becomes sick and vomits all over the living room during a show! So here’s the tip, Don’t invite kids to your childs birthday party if they’re sick.

Here’s another tip for the older people reading this blog. Don’t goto school if you’re sick. You’ll get everybody else sick and the teacher. At my college in my program it was so bad. People would come to school sick all the time because if you missed class you’d be so far behind it was impossible to catch up.

I’ve read on a couple blogs now about how Mark Wilson commented on how he thinks that Criss Angel has set television magic back 48 years.

I have mixed feelings about actually.

Mark Wilson is talking about how Criss Angel uses movie magic and camera tricks to accomplish some of his magic tricks. The problem with this is that some of the things on his TV show can’t be done in real life at all. The problem comes when audiences expect that these types of tricks can be done in real life as well, which of course they can’t.

I don’t even know how many times I’ve been asked to levitate, or if I can levitate from building to building like Criss does on TV.

Up until a few weeks ago I always felt that he cheated his audience. He can’t really do those things without the help of a camera crew and an editing room. But, in the latest MAGIC magazine there was an article with Cyril. He basically explained how the things that he does on his show can be done in real life. If you were there at the filming, it would look exactly the same to you, as it did to the camera. The thing that blew my mind is when he explained just how much money it costs to produce these “done in real life” effects. Pulling a card through a submarine window for example. When Cyril did it they spent an enormous amount of money to create the effect. Whereas, with a few stooges and some fancy editing and you can do the same effect for free basically. Which would you do? The end result on TV is the same (or nearly).

Cyril can’t REALLY do that trick in real life either, but, he DID do it in real life. Does this distinction matter to the home audience?

How could Criss possibly produce a whole season’s worth of episodes if he blew the whole budget on a single episode? He couldn’t. It becomes a trade off. Sure, there might be a way to create this effect in real life, but, the home audience isn’t watching it in real life- they’re watching it on their TV sets.

Love Criss or hate him, he’s put magic out there in the mainstream. I’m for one am grateful for that.

I’m very interested to see what type of Illusions will be in Criss Angels Cirque show. I hope I get a chance to see it!

I love performing magic because it lets me do things that ordinary people don’t get to do. Two nights ago I had an amazing opportunity to help someone PROPOSE to his girlfriend! Lets call him David and Jessica. David and Jessica had seen me at a Christmas party back in December and they both loved my performance. He thought it would be the perfect way to do something unique and to pop the question.

Quite honestly, I was really nervous about it all. What was I going to perform? How was it all going to work? We talked back and forth by email and phone and arranged all the details in about 2 days.

The plan was he was going to propose over dinner at “The Fixx Cafe” just after they received their drinks. I would be at the bar having a drink until the right moment when he was to signal me over.

I arrived super early and brought my girlfriend along as well. We sat around playing with cards and showing some of the wait staff and the bartender some tricks.

They arrived, ordered drinks, and he motioned me over just as planned. I was really nervous- I never get that nervous anymore. I knew what was a stake though- they were going to remember this performance for the rest of their lives! I went up and pretended I didn’t quite remember which show they were from and I asked if they wanted to see some magic. They both eagerly agreed and I showed them some of my classic performance items. It felt great to perform. As soon as I went into my material I was calm, collected, a zen moment. Cards jumping around to impossible locations, flash mathematical calculations, and metal softening and melting between my fingertips- I was born to do this.

During my performance he made lots of comments and asked lots of questions, He was clearly nervous, nobody ever makes that many comments. But I was in the zen mastering the situation, nothing could shake me now. I finished my last regular item and prepared to launch into the big trick! I asked if they would like to see one more trick before I left, something new.

This was the big moment. I could see David reaching into his pocket and pulling out the ring box, not that Jessica noticed. She was busy listening to me set-up the trick. David knew exactly how the trick was going to work, we had discussed it at length that morning. I adapted a trick that I’ve only performed a few times especially for this occasion. She would win an envelope that “contained a description of a prize that she could take home and keep forever and ever”. She joked “Maybe it’s you inside” while looking to me, “That wouldn’t be a very good prize” I said as I laughed. I completed the routine and she won the correct envelope. I then excused myself from the table and instructed them to open the envelope together.

She had no idea what was in store!

Inside the envelope was, of course, a description of her boyfriend and how they are perfect for each other. She opened it up, and read it out. He pulled out the ring box, set it on the table and pushed it towards her. He then got down on one knee beside the table.

At this point I was back over at the bar with my girlfriend, the bartender, and the entire waitstaff. We all watched on. We were too far away to hear, but she suddenly through her arms around him and began to kiss. And kiss. And kiss. Another table in the back corner began to clap. He then went back to his chair, and that’s when she got up and went over and sat on his lap.

She said yes.

I’m just glad she won the right prize!

Seth Godin posted an interesting video about curiosity. I think he’s right. Most people I know aren’t curious about the world around them, they don’t come to appreciate the wonder, and they don’t try to discover the unknown. Magic is a great thing for me in my life, and I think it’s taught me more than I realize. It’s shown me that even though something appears impossible, it can still be done. That mommento is something I try and live my life by. Always searching, exploring, and trying to better myself.

Have you ever heard of snow ice cream before? Neither had I. But, since both Snow, and Ice Cream is magical– kind of- It’s getting put here in my blog!

My new online friend Norris from Alabama was excited when they got some snow the other day. Apparently it doesn’t snow there and he was so excited that he sent me the following recipe:

Fill a 2 quart bowl with “powdery ice” (as opposed to hard frozen); Add 3 teaspoons of vanilla flavoring, 3 cups of milk (we used fat free), and 30 packets of Splenda (sugar may be used; add to individual tastes); stir until well mixed.

Again, this mixture is what we prefer; you may prefer more vanilla or more sweetener, etc. It’s an individual thing.

He said that thats just a “best guess” recipe and that you should change it to suit you as much as you want. Although there’s snow on the ground right now, it’s been there for a few days and I don’t think its really “powdery ice”. Hopefully we’ll get some more soon so I can try this one out.

Thank you Tyler Wilson, ( I mentioned him in another post) for linking me to the new Darren Hayes music video “Words”.

Outstanding magic, and great music. I’m going to have this song stuck in my head all night, I just know it. Come to think of it, damn you Tyler! *hums “I just want to listen to yourrr words”*

I find it amazing that James Randi is still out there debunking Uri Geller. In an age where anybody can go online, spend some money, and learn “the secret” to bending metal. Uri has explained countless times over and over again that he does what he does for entertainment. Sure, he claims he’s legit, but, the reason he does that is to add to his performance. This is nothing more than the rest of the performers who appeared on “Phenomenon”.

I guess if you know that Uri Geller isn’t “legitimate” then he becomes a joy to watch.

Just by searching “magic” or “magic tricks” into google and you’ll find lots of websites, and nearly all of the suck! But, never fear! With a bit of digging you can find lots of information on magic, weather you’re looking for magic news, new magic tricks, or even the latest magician gossip. Here is my list of the top magic websites online:

1. Without a doubt the top magic website online is www.iTricks.com. They cover basically everything going in the magic community at large. In fact, they cover so much, that sometimes you can hardly tell where the magic part comes in Dispite this, I check their website everyday and I never miss a post.
2. Coming in at number two is the highly controversial www.themagiccafe.com. Easily the best resource when looking for specific information on something magical when you don’t have something better in your own collection. Lots of the time they’ll mention sources that you might even already own, or can borrow from somebody, or get from the library, etc etc. I use this site all the time when I’m researching something new, or before I make a purchase.
3. I’m going to give #3 to www.Magic.org. This is where I buy almost all of my magic from. Their customer support is helpful, and I think the site was even designed by my Internet friend Ryan Philling. Go Ryan! Also, if you sign up for their newsletter, every couple of weeks they run a special where you can get 25% off everything, or other specials. (But shhh, it’s a secret!)
4. Here’s another blog that I read everyday. It’s Magic Unlimited run by Tim Ellis and Sue-Ann Webber alllll the way from the land down under. Although not _every_ post is magic related, he always dishes up some good stuff. He also runs the “magic fakers” page that everybody links to online. He manages a list of all the copy-cat tricks out there so that you stay away and give your money to the inventor. I mentioned Tim in my last post too, I posted the same movie he did
5. Love em, or hate him, Ellusionist has made a splash in the community. Although I think most of their stuff is overpriced, watching their magic trailers is entertaining. For the beginner magician, there’s better things to spend your money on rather than a $25 one trick DVD, but the production value on them is great, and if nothing else, again, it’s entertainment for an hour.
6. I’m giving slot six to MYSELF! It’s my blog, so I can rank things however I like. Check out www.alikzam.com and you can see all the different types of shows I offer, past clients, and all of that sort of stuff. I also have an interview clip on that page, hopefully soon though that website is going to be changed. I’ve got something in the works and I’m not going to reveal what it is just yet. Hopefully it’ll happen within the next month or two. But, in part that website will be changed, and the current interview thats on that page will be edited down into something else along with other footage.
7. Some people are going to disagree with me on this one- well- half agree/half disagree. YouTube is without a doubt a place where you can find some of the worlds best magic, some good magic, and some awful awful magic (sadly it took me like 2 seconds to find that). Please please please, don’t use youtube as a place to learn magic! And, don’t use youtube as a place to get feedback. thanks
8. Although not magic related, Seth Godin inspires me to work harder on my business, my magic, and on life in general. More often than not he challenges you to excel at what you do and become great while doing it.

That rounds up my list for now, If I think of any more I may come back later and edit this post. I hope you found something of use! Cheers.

A video post over at Tim Ellis’ blog inspired me to post a collection of quick change artist videos. According to wikipedia a quick change artist is “a performance style in which a performer or magician changes quickly within seconds from one costume into another costume in front of the audience.”

First off here is the famous David and Dania performing their act on America’s Got Talent!

The next is Sos & Victoria as they perform the world record for number of changes.

I tried looking for other ones too, but those are the best ones I could find. If you search on youtube you can find a few more as well.

For your enjoyment here are all three David Blaine parody video’s: