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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

Today and Oprah David Blaine set the new world record for holing ones breath underwater. The old world record was 16 minutes and 32 seconds but David set the new time of 17 minutes and 4 seconds.

While I was watching it I had no idea if he was actually going to make it or not. Just 30 seconds before he beat the record he moved up to just below the surface of the water and I thought “oh this is it, he’s not going to do it”. He managed to break the record though and last a bit longer. David was even really impressed with himself because his heart rate was so much faster than what he’s used to. He said he was nervious about the audience and being aware of breaking the record. I’m glad he was able to do it, I find his stunts inspirational.

You can read more on about.com, Reuters and Oprah.com.

Coins magically fly from one hand to another…

Tomorrow on LIVE on Oprah, David Blaine will attempt to break the world record for holding his breath underwater.

Tune in to see if history will be made on The Oprah Winfrey Show: David Blaine Risks His Life to Break a World Record—LIVE on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 (check local listings).

Skip a stone or spend the day on the phone? - KMBC

Last weekend was busy with shows. I had two shows on Saturday in Kelowna, and a show on Sunday in Kamloops. Two of the three shows were birthday parties and they both got Magic Goodie Bags with the show. I love when people get the goodie bags because the kids always get so excited. Its fun teaching the kids the magic trick inside. They love playing around with it and figuring out how it works. After I finished one of the birthdays this weekend, one of the girls said “This was the best birthday party I’ve ever been to!”

After the show in Kamloops I met up with another magician Clinton W. Gray. We just sat around talking magic and showing each other tricks back and forth. I’ve been working on a new routine for my birthday party show and Clinton gave me some suggestions and jokes that really add to the routine. I’m excited to work out the routine and get it into my show. We ended up going out for dinner as well, and if you’ve never been to dinner with a couple magicians at your table you’re really missing out on a unique experience. By the end of dinner we had done tricks with milk creamers, drinking straws, coins, pens, napkins, sugar packets- just about everything on the table! We actually made a pretty big mess, but we’re good customers so we cleaned it all up before we left. After dinner it was getting pretty late but we started working on some rubber band magic. My girlfriend Melissa snapped a few photo’s as we showed each other different effects.

We finally called it quits just a little after 9:00pm for our two and a half hour drive back home to Westbank.

All in all it was a great weekend, and I’m looking forward to more magic sessions with Clinton W. Gray.

Steve Trash performs the famous MisMade Girl - KMBC