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Home , Alan Shaxon, Alex Elmsley, Geoffrey Durham, Mentalism, Misdirection (magic), Pat Page (magician)

Page 1 Page 1 The Fylde Mystics Promoting the performance of

October 2014 Page 2

Magical Memoranda

Editorial by Paul Joyce. Page 3 News, Views and comments

Morgan & West Review by Page 4 George Jennings

Magic Decoded By Allan Clarke Page 10

Your Club need you - Alan Page 14 Mylecraine

Page 15 Magician FX Offer

DVD & Book Library Page 16

Page 21 Fylde Mystics Programme Page 3 Page 3 Editorial by Paul Joyce

Where there is no imagination there is no horror." Sir

Welcome to the October edition. I am sure you will agree that September has been a fantastic month for the Fylde Mystics and am sure October will continue in the same vein.

Looking ahead, I am looking at putting together the Xmas edition (sorry, I know it sounds a while off!). Ideally, I would like to be able to do a special Xmas edition, if you have any stories that you think may be of interest please do let me have them, all articles are appreciated.

See you soon

Paul Page 4 Morgan and West Chorley Little Theatre Friday Sep- tember 19th “A grand adventure”

By George Jennings

Just under a year ago we went to the Chorley Little Theatre to see Morgan and West and they came back with a different show in the same characters they had already established as Victorian travellers. I had thought that as they had gone down really well that word of mouth would have increased the size of audience, but if anything there were slightly less than before. Perhaps the audience did not realise it would be a new show. Page 5

However this time the number of magicians present had increased. Brian Sefton was back for a second time, but there were several more that I recognised mainly from the Manchester area, which was a surprise as they were doing the same show at the Lowry in October.

After they had introduced themselves in a rather novel way they talked about and made excellent use of changing focus between the two of them for a series of effects that registered well including the vanish of their magic book.

The plot for the rest of the show was based on their magic book of lies having disappeared, stolen, and their travels following a series of clues, a bit like round the world in 80 days, to get the book back.

In Magicseen they had said that their characters were Victorian educated and silly and that certainly describes this performance. I mean how many acts do you know that do jokes based on Latin, even though it was quite a good one? I am not sure that given the amount of chil- dren attending that this particularly registered well with all the audience. Page 6 They did an excellent presentation of the miser’s dream involving a child from the audience and the use of a full size puppet a bit like the Tina Lenert act. The head was a top hat with goggles on and it was operated between the two of them and it had a similar sort of effect on the lad as some of the monsters on Dr Who.

A double salt, or as presented here, a double sugar pour got a good reaction. Less effective was a series of effects that started with three runes being selected from a bag.

We were told by Morgan that they all had fir trees on them. The problem was that even in a small theatre these could not be seen. It would have been better if the person doing the selecting had said what they were before proceeding. These were then revealed to have been predicted on a document that had a whole series of runic characters on them. So by the time it got to the correct one it just looked like a series of outs and lacked impact. A tarot cutting was also too small to be seen properly, but the concluding section using two spirit slates did register strongly.

The Tony Stevens no tear paper and a version of the card sword without playing cards were both strong items, but going into the interval turned out to be an anti climax. Given the way they were presenting the story it needed a cliff-hanger of some sort a bit like the Dick Barton stories, for those old enough to remember them, to finish the first half. Page 7

Instead it just sort of stopped in a very low-key sort of way and the audience were just left bemused not sure what to do. In fact the only way we knew it was the in- terval was that the house lights came on and no one applauded as by then it was too late to react. Even to use the Dick Barton idea of a voice over with a series of questions relating to what was to happen on the rest of the quest would have worked in this situation.

In the second half they used a “previously” recap, like you get at the start on so many TV series as a joke and this, if we had been left wondering what was going to happen next, would have worked really well at the start of part two. Page 8 The second half was shorter than the first half. For me one of the stand out bits was the use of a mouth coil. This is where the use of a double act really scores. Nor- mally when you see someone use one you are restrict- ed to an arm length at any time of pulling it out. Here the use of a second person allows a much greater dis- tance to be used and it is far more impressive as it seems as though far more is being produced than is really happening and without the danger of it being snapped.

There was also a very nice combination of being tied up and put into a bag with a triple prediction whilst appar- ently tied up before doing an escape from the ropes. The big trick in this half was a substitution trunk which spectators had sat on during parts of the show using the locks as the reason they needed to change places. There were other tricks with billiard balls, rope routines and a , but the finish was a verbal one as to how they travelled in time to recover the book to finish the act.

I am keen on using stories in magic and this is based on one huge story. The weakness in using stories is that sometimes it is difficult to get the magic to fit the story and there are times in this that there are too many words used to get to the magic. Page 9 Although I preferred the earlier show as it had more magic this is still worth seeing if you get the opportunity as it a rare thing to see an approach like this used on to how to present magic. As this is a show on tour I would not be surprised if based on the reactions of the audi- ence if they make some changes as the structure at the end of the first half does need changing if they are to get an audience to respond. If you go you can let us know if it does. Page 10

Magic Decoded? by Allan Clarke

Steve Cohen Lost Magic Decoded History Channel

Amongst a number of programmes I recorded from the TV this past year was 'Lost Magic Decoded'. I noticed in the advertising that it was being presented by 'Magician to the Millionaires', Steve Cohen who performs each weekend at a suite in the prestigious Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York.

The ‘magic decoded’ thing did worry me a little as I was afraid that secrets would be revealed in Steve's bid to re-create some of the lost magic of the past. I needn’t have worried as the out- comes left a lot more questions than answers. I watched Steve a couple of years ago when he was part of the line up for the 'Essential Magic Conference' and he was most impressive, not only with his magic but in the process he followed when trying to secure what must be some of the best gig's in the world and convincing The owners of the Waldorf Astoria that it would be good for their business. Now there's a book I would pay good money for!

However, back to the programme. His aim during the two hour 'special' was to explore and try to recreate some of the best known and often lost secrets of a number of puzzling illusions. His first foray was in 'Pulse stopping', first presented by Herman. This took place in a private suite of the Waldorf to an appreciative audience and followed a well trod path of having a physician tap out the beat of Steve's pulse in a glass as he slowed it to a stop and re-started it. The suspense he created was palpable and was a fitting demonstration of how performers played up the impossibility of what they were doing. Page 11

utomaton' of magic, 'The Turk'. 'AThe Turk was the brainchild of Wolfgang Von Kempelen. It was a chess playing 'robot' first displayed in Vienna in 1770 and became feted by Kings and Quens around the world. It went into the history books when Napo- leon himself challenged the Turk to a game. (and lost by the way - some- thing unheard of in Napoleons reign). Unfortunately, it's secret went to the grave with it's maker and the device itself perished in a fire in 1835. Steve set out to figure out how it worked with the help of legendary prop builder . The finished device was tested in front of a live audi- ence and was challenged by a Russian Chess Grand Master who tried and failed to win against this new incarnation.

We next went back to the Waldorf for a great presentation of 'any drink called for'. Called 'Think a drink', this is exactly what Steve re-created. Not just any old coke, orange or whisky shots either, but Tequila, Mohitos and a White Russian! This last one poured by the spectator themselves, BEFORE announcing the thought of drink! He also used a clever device, the 'Ideamotor reflex' I spoke about a couple of issues ago. A key suspended from a thread would spin according to the thoughts of the spectator holding it. He cleverly finished the routine by demonstrating that thought could also bend the key!

Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin, known as the 'Father of ', inspired Steve to re-create the 'Light and Heavy' box. Illuminating the effect with the true story of Robert-Houdin's in- volvement in bringing a rebel war to and end in Algeria by dem- onstrating to the Leader of the Mariba warriors that he could take their powers away. Steve brought it right up to date by visiting Klostermans 'Salon De Magie' to examine the original Houdin box before taking a replica to a weight lifting studio in New York and showing that he too had the power. Rivetting stuff! Page 12

ne of the great unsolved mysteries in OMagic is that of the ''. Cohen set off to Delhi to witness a modern day Fakir perform the effect. It was filmed and looks impossible. It was performed out- doors with a long thick rope apparently stiff- ened enough for a small boy to climb to the top. In this version however there wasn't the chopping up and reassembly of the corpse that was the stuff of the original. Steve sought out the secret but we'll never know if it was revealed to him.

he programme finished with Steve attempting the most famous Tof all stage illusions, 'The '. During the course of the research it was noted that since the start of the effect being attempted, over 500 magicians have been killed during the per- formance, leading many to believe that the effect was somehow 'cursed'. Most notably of course was Chung Ling Soo aka William Robinson who toured Europe with the effect. Interestingly he didn't perform it at every show, maybe as a testament to the inherent danger. This of course meant that his final show at the Wood Green Empire in in March of 1918 was all the more poignant. Steve did research the effect and discovered how Chung's performance became 'faulty'. He also highlighted the TV episode where UK Magician, , performed it in 1990 but went on to suffer a breakdown because of it. This didn't stop Steve wanting to re-create the effect and the finale of the show was the most harrowing.

licenced marksman put a marked bullet in the chamber of a AGlock pistol. On the mark, he fired the round through a frame of glass intended to show that the bullet actually left the gun. Cohen hits the deck groaning and is soon carted off to hospital but not after having confirmed that the marked bullet was in- deed caught. It turns out (with some uncomfortable pictures) that a shard of glass from the frame became a projectile, hitting Steve in the chest and bringing him to the floor. It must have been a Page 13

he chest and bringing him to the floor. It must have been a tnightmare scenario for Steve and for the production team. ll was well eventually and Steve returned, vowing never Aagain to attempt the catch. Interestingly there were some notable cameos in the film, Eddie Dawes and Bill Kalush to men- tion a couple, together with some great footage of Houdini and a chat with Peter Lamont from the Magic Circle in London.

There were a couple of other effects demonstrated from the Waldorf such as the 'brick under hat' and my personal favourite, the nail through a solid block which encouraged me to try to find my version of it made by Eddie Gibson.

Interesting fact about me you never knew: Eddie Gibson and I went to the same schools albeit a couple of years apart. My Gran, who I spent most summers with, was a neighbour.

This was a great film which I think can still be downloaded from Amazon, although only from the US. It was a very entertaining couple of hours with some very instructive insights into the world of Magic.

Steve Cohen can be found here:

Check out the gallery and particu- larly Steve's appearance on the David Letter- man show! Page 14

Hello All,

I hope this email finds you all well and hope you all enjoyed our two lectures which we have enjoyed this month, both Roger Woods and Shawn Farquhar.

The next meeting is on Tuesday 7th October and will be a HANDS ON work- shop of card/coin sleights etc. This is a night where we will sit around the ta- ble and workshop, I have included this as a meeting night at a request of a few members, I hope everyone supports it. We have Mark Southworth trav- elling over from Chorley who is a fantastic technician and will be happy to teach whatever you like. If there is anything imparticular you would like some help with PLEASE EMAIL ME so that I can advise Mark prior to his attendance. He will bring cards, coins and anything needed to demonstrate and more im- portantly teach a particular sleight.

Lets make this a true Fylde Mystics classic night with lots of people partaking in the workshop.

I look forward to hearing from you all so that I can advise Mark in advance.

Alan Mylecraine Page 15 The Fylde Mystics and Magician FX

This month I have managed to secure an exclusive deal for all members of The Fylde Mystics.

A good friend of mine for some years is Gary Cardura and a couple of years ago he set up an online

http://www.magicianfx.co.uk .

Gary offers some amazing deals compared to a lot of the dealers and his prices are rarely bettered. Gary offers free postage on all orders over £40, plus a free trick or dvd, and, for Fylde Mystics members only I have negotiated an addi- tional 10% discount, just mention Fylde Mystics at the time of placing your order (Gary has a list of Fylde Mystic members to ensure it is only our paid up members eligible for this offer).

Please do show him some support, a few of his products and prices on the following pages. (click image to see a video) Page 16 MYSTICAL DVD LIBRARY 1 Card College 1 & 2 (4 discs) Giobbi, Roberto 2 Gambling Protection Series (3 Discs) Forte, Steve 3 The Minotaur (2 Discs) Harlan, Dan 4 Bullets After Dark Bannon, John 5 Bullet Party Bannon, John 6 Red Mirror Guimaraes, Helder 7 Pat Page 8 Magic By Gosh Albert Goshman 9 Corporate Close Up 2 Volume 1 RSVP 10 On The Spot Gregory Wilson 11 Complete Intro to Michael Ammar 12 Blackpool 2006 DVD RSVP/BMC 13 The Session 2007 Alakazam Magic 14 The 52 vs Joker Project Gary Jones & Chris Congreave 15 Exchange Rate Inc Cameron Francis 16 Elegy Shift Alex Ward 17 Interview with Jay Fortune 18 Reel Magic August 2009 19 Razzamataz Aldo Colombini 20 Fibre Optics Richard Sanders 21 The Classics George McBride 22 Skip Switch Project Ollie Mealings 23 1 Below Zero Andrew Normansell 24 Magic Tricks Tutorial DVD Tricks 4u.com 25 The Cullfather Iain Moran 26 Card Through Window David Forrest 27 Linking Cigarette Akira Fujiis 28 Easy To Master Card Miracles Vol 1 Michael Ammar 29 Easy To Master Card Miracles Vol 2 Michael Ammar 30 Easy To Master Card Miracles Vol 3 Michael Ammar 31 Easy To Master Card Miracles Vol 4 Michael Ammar 32 Easy To Master Card Miracles Vol 5 Michael Ammar 33 Easy To Master Card Miracles Vol 6 Michael Ammar 34 The Magic of Vol 1 Alex Elmsley 35 The Magic of Alex Elmsley Vol 2 Alex Elmsley 36 The Magic of Alex Elmsley Vol 3 Alex Elmsley Page 17

37 The Magic of Alex Elmsley Vol 4 Alex Elmsley 38 Fylde Mystics Close Up Comp 2012 Members 39 Secrets Of Card Across Worlds Greatest Magic 40 Hands Of Mystery Gordon Dickson 41 Bright Ideas Christopher Williams 42 Mike Austin Lecture Notes Mike Austin 43 Smoke & Mirrors John Bannon 44 Standing Room Only Aldo Colombini 45 Dobsons Choice Wayne Dobson 46 Learn Magic with Kaymar Card 1 Kaymar 47 Learn Magic with Kaymar Card 2 Kaymar 48 Learn Magic with Kaymar Card 3 Kaymar 49 Learn Magic with Kaymar Card 4 Kaymar 50 Learn Magic with Kaymar Card 5 Kaymar 51 Learn Magic with Kaymar Card 6 Kaymar 52 Magicbox EXP Magicbox 53 David Jones Basic Coin Magic International Magic 54 CrowdPuller Peter Wardell Page 18 My s t i c a l L i b r a r y BOOK S e c t i o n

1 Born To Perform Lecture Notes Oz Pearlman 2 Totat Paul Hallas 3 Pool Table Aces Joe Riding 4 A Prefoessionals Repertoire Ian Keeble 5 UK Sankey Tour Lecture Notes Jay Sankey 6 The Cheap Close Up Book Paul Hallas 7 Cards Within Al Smith 8 Mental Mix Paul Hallas 9 Little Miracles 10 Kidshows List Of Lists David Ginn 11 Old Ideas New Twists Pat Fallon 12 Into The Abyss Oz Pearlman 13 Almost Unpublished David Ginn 14 Nearly Unpublished David Ginn 15 Crossing The Fine Line Trevor Duffy 16 The Even Cheaper Booklet Paul Hallas 17 Pocket Power Jarle Leirpoll 18 Aspects Of Entertaining Children Colin Ceekay 19 8 King Set Up Frank E Blaisdell 20 The Magic Party Mark Leveridge 21 Indian Cups & Balls PK Ilango 22 Lecture notes From Underground Joe Rindfleisch 23 lecture Alan Shaxon 24 One Minute Miracles Petrick 25 Elastrix Ed Mishell & Abe Hurwitz 26 Kind Of Magic Lecture Notes Wayne Dobson 27 Gobsmacked Lecture Cody S Fisher 28 Insight Devib Knight 29 Rub The Lamp James Breedon 30 Mind Blasters Peter Duffie 31 From Page To Stage Neil Roberts 32 Encyclopedia Of Card Tricks Jean Hugard 33 Bread & Butter Shawn Farquhar Page 19

34 165 Card Tricks & Stunts Jean Hugard 35 Magic & Card Tricks Wilfred Jones 36 Self Working Table Magic Karl Fulves 37 Modern Coin Magic JB Bobo 38 Magic Everywhere Matthew Costello 39 Locksmiths Training Manual 40 Feature 3 Roy Johnson 41 Teach Yourself Magic 42 Encyclopedia Of Card Tricks Jean Hugard 43 202 Methods Of Forcing Annemann 44 Tricks for the travelling trickster Ken De Courcy 45 Now you see it, now you don't Bill Tarr 46 Traditional Pub Games Arthur Taylor 47 Magic With Everyday Objects 48 Mysterious Book Of Magic Peter Eldon 49 Mark Wilsons Greatest Magic Tricks 50 Dubblekross & Simulkross Ken De Courcy 51 Clear AntiGravity Lewis Ganson 52 Time Flies Roy Baker 53 Thirty Card Trick Supreme 54 Routines In Rhyme Bill West 55 Coin And Money Magic Eddie Joseph 56 The Magician Jan 2005 Repro 57 The Magician Feb 2005 Repro 58 The Magician March 2005 Repro 59 The Magician April 2005 Repro 60 The Magician May 2005 Repro 61 The Magician July 2005 Repro 62 The Magician August 2005 Repro 63 The Magician September 2005 Repro 64 The Magician November 2005 Repro 65 The Magician January 2006 Repro 66 The Magician March 2006 Repro 67 The Magician May 2006 Repro 68 The Magician June 2006 Repro 69 The Magician December 2006 Repro 70 The Magician Xmas 2006 Repro Page 20

71 The Magician January 2007 Repro 72 The Magician March 2007 Repro 73 The Magician May 2007 Repro 73 The Magician Holiday 2007 Repro 74 The Magician Summer Repro 75 Balloon Magic Marvin Hardy 76 All Wind & Twists Finale Doug Brearley 77 Second Wind & Twists Doug Brearley 78 Rainbow Balloons Shirley Ray 79 Balloon Toons Bob Wooding 80 Balloons Mad Jack 81 Entertaining Balloons Jean Merlin 82 Card Magic USA Peter Duffie 83 Card Conspiracy Duffie/Robertson 84 Card Conspiracy 2 Duffie/Robertson 85 Beyond Compere Terry Seabrooke 86 A Pocketful Of Miracles Hugh Miller 87 Mind Blasters Volume 2 Part 1 Peter Duffie 88 Mind Blasters Volume 2 Part 2 Peter Duffie 89 Subtle Miracles Peter Duffie 90 Diamonds From Goal Duffie/Robertson

Don’t forget to let Paul know if you want to borrow any books. He doesn’t always bring the library to the club but he can bring along any titles you need. Just give him a call.

Please note: Thanks to the generosity of members there are a few items that will be added to the lists in time for next month. Page 21 2014 / 2015 Programme:

5th August 2014 Trick a Tape Session - Perform, Video, Critique... simples! 2nd September 2014 STAR LECTURE with Dr Roger Woods - The Magic of Jessie Demaline. 7th October 2014 Card Sleights Masterclass - Hands on Tuition. 4th November 2014 STAR LECTURE with John Carey, the Card Man's Card Man 2nd December 2014 Christmas Meal (open night) 6th January 2015 Childrens Magic - Perform two ef fects suitable for childrens party 3rd February 2015 STAR LECTURE with Mark Southworth 3rd March 2015 Table Hopping on a shoestring.... hop, perform, hop again. 7th April 2015 Close-up Competition Night - Open night - guests welcome. 5th May 2015 BOOK CLUB: Perform effects from a book. 2nd June 2015 /Stage Night. But then you knew that didn't you? 2nd July 2015 Mini AGM and Trick Session

Thanks to all who contributed to this months edition, with- out the contributors and the readers it wouldn’t be possible!