You are currently browsing the loose ends category.
-This word/mind trick has gone viral over the last week or so. For the few people that missed it, here’s one of the versions I’ve seen floating around:
7H15 M3554G3 53RV35 7O PR0V3 H0W 0UR M1ND5 C4N D0 4M4Z1NG 7H1NG5! 1MPR3551V3 7H1NG5! 1N 7H3 B3G1NN1NG 17 WA5 H4RD BU7 N0W, 0N 7H15 LIN3 Y0UR M1ND 1S R34D1NG 17 4U70M471C4LLY W17H0U7 3V3N 7H1NK1NG 4B0U7 17, B3 PROUD! N07 3V3RYB0DY C4N R34D TH15.
-Quick programming note: The weekly magic updates/loose ends have been phased out due to miniscule traffic numbers. People don’t really care about obscure magic trivia. That said, brilliant magic finds and info WILL continue to be posted here regularly.
Follow me on Twitter for the cool day-to-day magic: @vladkraven
Posted September 11th, 2011. 1 comment
Still trying to work blog updates into my new schedule. All-video edition of Magic Notes:
-David Copperfield on Funny or Die.
-A classic from a classic: Paul Daniels Chop Cup routine.
-You may remember my mentioning Ricky Jay in the old Celebrity Magicians post I made some time ago. On youtube I just found Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants, an entertaining and intellectual show directed by David Mamet.
-Speaking of Ricky Jay and Funny or Die: Ricky Jay on Funny or Die.
My apologies on the late weekly update, but with the long weekend things got a little off-track.
-Penn & Teller have a wicked T.V. show out in England. Seems like every week there’s a brilliant clip coming out of it. This week, we meet Piff the Magic Dragon. LOL.
-On June 30, the late Harry Blackstone Jr. (1934-1997) would have turned 77. He is fondly remembered.
-Another sad anniversary. July 1 marked one year since the passing of mentalist legend Tony Corinda. His seminal work, 13 Steps to Mentalism, has become the core foundation to mentalists worldwide.
-Video of the week is a classic but disturbing routine from Tom Mullica.
Loose ends in magic this week:
-Video of the week is an amazing trick from Penn & Teller’s Fool Us, their hit British TV show currently airing. The magician fooling them (and us) is Mathieu Bich. Fantastic!
-Magic on TV: David Blaine announced a new special for Spring 2012. Also, the Discovery Channel will be airing a new magic sshow called The Supernaturalist with Dan White.
-On June 20, magician Topas turned 39. Happy birthday to the current Magician of the Year.
As my readers know, I have been reviewing Keith Barry’s Deception show on the Discovery Channel. You may also know that they weren’t glowing endorsements of the program. Well, Mr. Barry decided it appropriate to call me out on Twitter last Friday, and thought that insulting me would be a good way to get back at my sincere review.
He wrote: “@vladkraven you’re right.I’ve set the bar so low someone like yourself should easily get their own show. Right?You can do it.Go on.lmfao”
Followed by: “My tolerance level for thick people is at an all time low. The rottweiler is out with his teeth sharpened”
I guess independent thought constitutes stupidity in Mr. Barry’s book. Good going Keith Barry, a true class act through and through. You may be trying to rip off Derren Brown’s material and persona, but you sure aren’t half the gentleman he is.
Anyway, moving on. The show is done, now Discovery can move on to quality magicians with the upcoming Penn & Teller show.
Back to our regularly-scheduled program:
-Video of the week is a clip from Derren Brown. That looks familiar! Did Keith Barry borrow it for his Deception show?
-And just for fun, another Derren Brown clip. Hmm, the material looks strikingly familiar to a segment in the Deception Finale…
-Earlier this week, Teller announced that the off-Broadway show he co-created, Play Dead, will be closing on July 24. You MUST go see it before it’s too late — one of the best theater experiences I’ve ever had. My Play Dead review.
-On June 13, we celebrated the birthday of legendary Las Vegas performer Siegfried, of Siegfried & Roy. Siegfried turned 72…Happy birthday!
-Also on June 13, we remember Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin who died on June 13, 1871, 140 years ago.
-Finally, on June 17 we marked the somber day that Milbourne Christopher passed away (1914-1984). He was an author, illusionist, magic collector, skeptic, historian, magical explorer and adventurer. Milbourne Christopher realized early on that “Magic is the most universal of arts,” and devoted his life to a personal quest of learning the deepest secrets and most obscure lore in magic.
Posted June 18th, 2011. 4 comments
No update last week, but but some sweet new stuff for you this time around.
-Crazy magic fail video. Warning, this one is graphic.
-I’ve been reviewing the Deception with Keith Barry series, and one of my biggest criticisms was that he has an absolute lack of humility. In response to that, the video of the week is a routine by Guy Hollingworth on World’s Greatest Magic. A perfect and pleasant gentleman.
-Earlier this week (on June 8 ) marked the birth date of Fred Kaps (1926-1980). Watch this classic Fred Kaps Video to remember him.
-The image below is of mad scientist Dr. Takeshi Yamada. Read more about his mythical creatures.
Apparently it’s Discovery Channel Magic week on my blog.
-Penn and Teller seem to be busier than usual. In addition to the Penn & Teller Discovery show, they’re also starting on a secretive new movie project, according to word on the street
Penn Jillette’s Twitter on May 21: “P&TFU is done. I have new hats One more day here overseas and we’re taking a train to a secret place to work on our secret movie project”
-Speaking of Discovery, mentalist Keith Barry is launching a new show show called Deception. More on that soon.
-And to top off our Discovery trilogy, the channel has a Mythbusters marathon today (5/28/11). Earlier this week, I wrote an article about Mythbusters Magic, so maybe you’ll catch some of those episodes!
-Enough about that stuff, let’s talk about me. I’m more than just a Brooklyn Magician, I’m a Brooklyn Magician that just re-did my home page. Feedback appreciated.
-Video of the week is a rare clip of one of my idols, Jeff McBride, performing his old mask magic routine. It’s dark, deep and different.
Myself (much younger) with Jeff McBride
The weekend already, and a ton of cool updates for you.
Rudy Coby
-Earlier this week I posted an article about some of the craziest illusion failures caught on video, today I present to you a montage from America’s Got Talent of magic failures.
-Let’s take the talent show around the world, this time to Australia. Thankfully, Adam Murby and his sister are quite excellent performers. (Video of the week)
-On this day, May 25, in 1995, Rudy Coby’s first magic special, The Coolest Magician on Earth aired.
-Happy 44th Birthday to illusionist Greg Frewin.
-Playing card facts: While standard American cards (stemming from French-designed cards) typically contain 52 cards, Italian decks often contain only 40 playing cards, while Spanich playing cards only have 12 cards per suit (instead of our usual 13). In the rest of Europe, you will typically find 36 card decks.
Hello all! Back after an almost two-week hiatus. Was out of town, then had a few pressing matters that needed to be taken care of. Now I’m back, and renaming the “Loose Ends” section to “Magic Notes.” It sounds cooler that way.
Frank Garcia
-I was travelling late last week, so I failed to mention two important birth dates: Frank Garcia and Tim Ellis, both on May 8. Tim Ellis turned 48 and Frank Garcia (1926-1993) would have been 84.
-Video of the week is from a comedy magician decades ahead of his time, Roy Benson. Hysterical.
-For those of you that like psychological illusions, here is a site with some great visual mind tricks.
-People love playing card facts, did you know that the reason for the Ace of Spades having such a large design had to do with 18th Century European taxes? Since the Aces had so much room on them, when playing cards began to be taxed, the Ace would be stamped with a symbol indicating that the duty was paid.
-Also need to mention that yesterday would have been the birthday of magic author Dariel Fitzkee (1898-1977). According to Wikipedia, Steve Martin claims that his book Showmanship for Magicians is “More important that the Catcher in the Rye.”
-Yesterday was also a somber day, as we mark the day that Harry Blackstone Jr. died (1934-1997).
Wow what a busy week. Later than ever on the loose ends, but between my birthday over the weekend and the completion of my new office, I just haven’t had a chance to spend too much time with the computer. But of course, better late than never!
-For anyone interested in important magical events, my new blog project to showcase critical dates in the lores of conjuring is up and running. Check back often to see if anything cool in magicdom happened on a given day. Just recently, we celebrated the birthdays of Joseph Dunninger, Kevin James and Doug Henning.
-Video of the week is a great mind trick from Derren Brown, the great psychological illusionist. Watch here.
-Card facts: While some debate exists about who the four kings in a deck represent, there is a general consensus that during the reign of Henry the IV, their identities were set as:
King of Spades – King David
King of Hearts – Charlemagne
King of Clubs – Alexander the Great
King of Diamonds – Caesar
So each time you play a game of cards, it’s actually a war of historic proportions! Okay, maybe not.
