In 1978, a crowd of people standing around a cabinet attracted the attention of eighteen-year-old Steve Brooks. It turned out to be an early video game called Space Invaders. He was fascinated. Soon, Steve was reading everything he could about computers, teaching himself BASIC language, and designing video games. Twenty-three years later, Steve Brooks launched the Magic Café, and since then, thousands of magician have logged on to the site to share information about magic.

Child cyclist, teen acrobat, vaudeville exhibitionist, one (shapely) leg of a showbiz love triangle, inferno survivor, singer, magician, and sex symbol. Jerry Bruckheimer should make a film about Lalla Selbini. Best known in our circles for her connection to the eccentric magician Lafayette, Selbini had a long and eventful theatrical career. While she may not be remembered as the most gifted female magician in the art, she had the beauty, daring, versatility, and endurance of a star.

It’s Saturday night and you are about to go to a party. Most of the people at the party know you are a magician and will expect you to do some magic. Or at least that’s what you tell yourself as you load up your pockets, just in case. Cards… check. Coins… check. Thumb tip…  check. Pockets bulging, you are ready for a good two to three hours of your best stuff. But wait; what do you plan to bring to the hosts? Why not bring some magical wine? No, Gary Mandelblatt is not talking about a set of multiplying wine bottles or a floating wine glass. He means a nice bottle of wine, with a magical touch.

He stands motionless, an iconic figure smartly dressed in long black coat and white gloves, a top hat obscuring his features. As a melancholic melody suggesting love and loss floats in the background, the figure slowly lowers the hat, revealing wholesome and handsome features. He begins a slow, stylish routine, transforming his gloves with a flick to a bouncing ball, followed by the instant production of a white silk scarf and black cane. The iconic attire of a magician thus produced, he calmly attaches the white ball to the head of his cane as a ferrule, then slowly extracts a red envelope from his pocket, from which he withdraws a single playing card: the Ace of Hearts.

This is the opening of Portuguese manipulator David Sousa’s award-winning magic act, which created a considerable impact at the 23rd FISM World Championship Competition in Stockholm last year.

Exiting the stage after her performance of a Billiard Ball routine that was reminiscent of Adelaide Herrmann, Margaret Steele was stopped by an emotional stranger, who gently took hold of her hands.  Eyes moistening, he said, "I felt like Adelaide had come back to perform just for me.”  That stranger was James Hamilton, the world’s foremost authority on the Herrmann dynasty. That first meeting sparked a bi-coastal collaboration of research and performance, and  Magic of the Golden Age, a merging of performance and history, is its fruition.

For the first time in its almost sixty-year history, FISM is considering changing its rules of competition after a complaint was lodged at the 2006 gathering. Who lodged it, and what was the nature of the complaint? Find out in this month’s “Update.” While there, read about Eric Buss’ appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, Steve Valentine’s appearance on House, and a report on the most recent edition of It’s Magic at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Plus you’ll be able to get a look at recent magic-themed books that will be hitting the market, witness an Asian Teleportation, and spend “A Moment With” Sandy Marshall, Jasper’s son, as he talks about the current status of Magic, Inc.

Twelve items are covered this month by Gabe Fajuri, Michael Claxton, Peter Duffie, Brad Henderson, and John Lovick:

• The Wisdom of Solomon by David Solomon & Jeffrey Siegfried
• Star Trick by Lee Earle
• The Potassy-Wave Deck by Levent
• Fresh Mint by Cameron Francis
• Holey Sh*t by Anthony Owen & Pete Firman
• Phantom Band 360 by Brian Rodgers
• Breakdown by Dan Army
• The Session 2007 DVD
• The Magical Life of Marshall Brodien by John Moehring
• A Dangerous Love by Nick Morton
• The Tossed Out Book by Steve Hollifield
• Traverse DVD by Calvin Lauber
• Link! by Nabil Murday

Harry Willard to Jim Willard

The month features an assemblage of contributors, new and old. Raley’s strange utility sleight has several interesting applications. Technicians will enjoy Felix Brauer’s startling all-at-once production of a royal flush and Olivier Twist’s work on the Greek force. But not every effect this month is tough. Iain Moran gives us his take on Jason Dean’s wildly popular Threesome [from February 2006], David Boothe offers a tidy sandwich routine, and Michael Muldoon contributes a pretty card routine with a kicker ending. Lastly, Roy Walton makes a return to the column with a short, sweet Triumph effect.

’Tis the holiday season and David Kaye offers several routines and ideas with Christmas themes. First up is a great routine from Chubby Harris about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Mark Strivings offers a routine using Christmas garland. And, finally, there are several nice ideas for your holiday shows from Elbert Gardner.

David Starr describes Wunder Tunnel, which is another production of a person that doesn’t rely on a magic base. Inspired by the challenge to create new effects using a variety of geometrical shapes — squares, triangles, tubes, polygons, and the like — Wunder Tunnel has parallels with the classic “drum” illusions, but without the illusion base.

We get another two-for-one column from Gaetan Bloom this month. First, with Heads & Tails, he shows how to create a routine — or even raise money for charity — based on nothing more than the flip of a coin. Then, he explores magic with food. Magically delicious.

Diagnosis: The Common Cold an overabundance of effects and routines that are currently being performed by other, recently seen magicians. Symptoms include: Members of the audience groaning, “Oh, we’ve seen this before!” Children pointing and yelling, “I know this one!” Agents and show bookers asking you if you do anything different than “those other guys.”

What are my performances about? Are they about meaningful things or am I just talking about my props? Lawrence delves into Eugene Burger’s big idea that “magic is about life, not the props.”