MAGIC, The Magazine For Magicians



By Jaq Greenspon He’s had a long and varied career, with numerous successes in a number of guises, yet Mark Kornhauser still finds it necessary to be bad. His trial-and-error approach to comic magic ultimately results in plenty of laughs, but the path to comedy enlightenment is rarely a direct route.

By Ben Robinson In his day, John Mulholland was one of the best-known magicians throughout the world. A master at keeping secrets, his knowledge of illusion and deception ranged farther than people knew, his activities for the CIA only recently coming to light.

By Mark Nelson Over sixty magicians were drawn to Hollywood for the taping of a new television series of Masters of Illusion. Premiering this month, the thirteen hour-long episodes will showcase a marathon of magic.

By Mark Nelson He produces live butterflies off his arm and rabbits from his hair. Andrew Goldenhersh is a close-up magician who is not only making a name for himself, but clients have successfully found him just by describing the act.

By Nick Trost The late Nick Trost released hundreds of effects over the past fifty years, and left notes for many more that have yet to be published. Here are three card tricks from one of the forthcoming volumes of Trost’s material.

By William Pack Hailed throughout the globe as a leading practitioner and famed character in magic, the now-legendary Max Malini never shied away from keeping his name before the public. Yet in death, he seems to have disappeared with hardly a trace.

News stories in this issue include the announcement of a musical on Houdini heading toward Broadway, a sitcom on Criss Angel heading to television, and a circus with magic heading toward a city near you. A cast of who’s who light up an evening in December to honor Marvyn Roy, while escape artist Dean Gunnarson lightens things up by escaping from chains — while going through a car wash! We also say farewell to Christian Fechner, Vanni Bossi, and Sam Schwartz.

Twenty-six products are covered this month by Michael Claxton, Peter Duffie, Jason England, Gabe Fajuri, Brad Henderson, David Kaye, and John Lovick. The Shakespeare Experiment by the Miracle Factory Grillz by David Leon iPhone Magic Trick Exit by Mickael Chatelain Magic for Older Children by Pat Fallon The Prodigal Aces by Cosmo Solano Buccaneer Booty by Mentalism Unlimited Outflushed by Derek Dingle The Capitulating Queens by James Swain The Encyclopedia of Card Tricks by Jean Hugard Expert Card Technique by Jean Hugard Tattoo Joe by Joe Russell Old-Time Radio Magic by The Mircale Factory Royal Tonte by Bob Sheets Blockbuster by Jay Sankey The Disappearance by Jay Sankey Vanishink by Jay Sankey The Spritz Switch by Lonnie Chevrie Exorcism by David Mann and Jon Maronge The New York Coin Magic Seminar DVDs, Volumes 5, 6, and 7 by David Roth, Michael Rubenstein, and Mike Gallo Split Up by Docc Hilford David Hoy: The ESP Lectures First Nuremberg Wooden Toy Factory C. Baudenbacher by Helmut Schwarz and Marion Faber Milbourne Christopher: The Historic Magic Specials

From Submission to Publication A trick can change drastically from submission to publication, but only if the creator keeps an open mind. This is exemplified in Acextraction, which started as a submission from Harapan Ong and ended up inspiring a polished handling by Andi Gladwin. The result is a fresh, practical take on one of magic’s classic card effects. January “Talk About Tricks” also features a visible Coins Through Glass Table from Angelo Carbone, as well as two typically fancy card routines from Salvadore Sufrate.

Speech Loss DEAR SHOW DOCTOR: I’m not really comfortable talking onstage and prefer working to music. I’m not sure what to say to the audience after my opening routine. How can I begin to get comfortable speaking onstage and what should I say to my audience? — Everett H.

Working Weddings and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs Of all the different venues that magicians find themselves in, there are two that present special challenges to performers: weddings and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. On the surface, both can seem like fairly straightforward strolling gigs. However, there are definitely pitfalls that can trip up a performer.

Ring Around the Doggie Magic with a borrowed object is always stronger than magic with a strange object. And magic with a personal borrowed object, such as a finger ring, is always stronger than magic with a common borrowed object. In this effect, a borrowed ring openly penetrates the neck of a balloon doggie, becoming a collar; the balloon is popped to return the ring and then the doggie is magically restored. We’ve provided two endings. One uses standard props and the other uses Jeff Hobson’s Balloon Bag.

Wished Out This month, we’ll explore a routine that makes use of the uber-nifty Pilot brand FriXion pen. For a while, these special pens were only sold in Europe, but FriXion pens are now widely available on the Internet from non-magic retailers. A FriXion pen is an improved erasable pen that doesn’t leave residue on your hand after you finish taking a page of notes. The ink in this pen is heat sensitive and loses its color when you rub it with the butt of the pen, just like an eraser. The awesome part — for magicians, anyway — is the ink also disappears when exposed to fire. Here is a FriXion application using multiple outs.

MAGIC, The Magazine For Magicians (ISSN 1062-2845) is published monthly for $54 per year by Stagewrite Publishing, Inc., 6220 Stevenson Way, Las Vegas, NV 89120 USA. Periodical Postage Paid at Las Vegas, NV, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to MAGIC - Attn: Circulation Dept., 6220 Stevenson Way, Las Vegas, NV 89120 USA