Biography Events&Services

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Biography Events&Services MAGICIAN ILLUSIONIST ENTERTAINER RSJ Press Kit - Award-Winning Magic & Entertainment BIOGRAPHY For the past 20 years, Rick has been amazing audiences with trademark card throwing, close up magic, sleight of hand, and stage shows with unbelievable feats of mentalism. Grand Illusions include appearances, disappearances, levitations, cutting his assistants in half, and Harry Houdini’s famous metamorphosis. Rick has had guest appearances on national television including “ABC’s Shark Tank”, “America’s Got Talent”, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”, “Last Call with Carson Daly”, “Steve Harvey’s Big Time”, “The Wayne Brady Show”, “Ripley’s Believe it or Not!”, “Master of Champions”, “Time Warp”, “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno, and many more. EVENTS&SERVICES Offering jaw-dropping magic & illusion for events globally, Rick Smith Jr. has the ability to entertain any audience in any environment. • Corporate Banquets • Stage and Illusion Shows • Tradeshows • Strolling Entertainment • Private Events • Card-Throwing Appearances • Colleges & Universities • Brand Promotion & Marketing • Emcee Services CLIENTS INCLUDE: www.RickSmithJr.com 3 Time Guinness World-Record Holder for Throwing a Playing Card the Farthest, Highest & Most Accurate RSJ Press Kit - Award-Winning Magic & Entertainment STUNNINGILLUSIONS From New York to Las Vegas, Rick is equipped with the abiilty to present cutting edge magic and grand illusion for your next event. EVENTS&SERVICES Rick and his team can handle full event production for your company or private event. Enhance the production value of the show with video, lighting and professional sound. • Lighting Packages • Green Screen Photography • Uplighting and Gobos • Special Effects & Decoration • DJ and Event Music • Professional Photography • IMAG and Live Video • Special Guest Entertainers AS SEEN ON: AND DOZENS MORE... www.RickSmithJr.com RAVINGREVIEWS “Phenomenal, amazing, surprising, astounding are only a few ways to describe Rick Smith Jr.’s illusions and magic. You have to see it to believe it.” - Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. “I’ve used Rick Smith for a couple of our corporate events. From one-on- one interaction to larger corporate audiences, Rick does a great job as an entertainer. His card throwing ability is nothing short of spectacular and his card tricks are simply amazing. He is very personable and goes the extra mile to ensure everyone is engaged in his performance.” - American Greetings Corp “Thank you for your high-energy performance at our 75th anniversary celebration! Rick captured the fun and energy we wanted our parties to have, and we were glad the crowd got on their feet, ready to celebrate!” - Third Federal Bank BOOKINGINFO Rick Smith Jr. Inc. 440-821-9549 www.RickSmithJr.com [email protected] P.O. Box 470169 Cleveland, OH 44147.
Recommended publications
  • Attention and Awareness in Stage Magic: Turning Tricks Into Research
    PERSPECTIVES involve higher-level cognitive functions, SCIENCE AND SOCIETY such as attention and causal inference (most coin and card tricks used by magicians fall Attention and awareness in stage into this category). The application of all these devices by magic: turning tricks into research the expert magician gives the impression of a ‘magical’ event that is impossible in the physical realm (see TABLE 1 for a classifica- Stephen L. Macknik, Mac King, James Randi, Apollo Robbins, Teller, tion of the main types of magic effects and John Thompson and Susana Martinez-Conde their underlying methods). This Perspective addresses how cognitive and visual illusions Abstract | Just as vision scientists study visual art and illusions to elucidate the are applied in magic, and their underlying workings of the visual system, so too can cognitive scientists study cognitive neural mechanisms. We also discuss some of illusions to elucidate the underpinnings of cognition. Magic shows are a the principles that have been developed by manifestation of accomplished magic performers’ deep intuition for and magicians and pickpockets throughout the understanding of human attention and awareness. By studying magicians and their centuries to manipulate awareness and atten- tion, as well as their potential applications techniques, neuroscientists can learn powerful methods to manipulate attention to research, especially in the study of the and awareness in the laboratory. Such methods could be exploited to directly study brain mechanisms that underlie attention the behavioural and neural basis of consciousness itself, for instance through the and awareness. This Perspective therefore use of brain imaging and other neural recording techniques. seeks to inform the cognitive neuroscientist that the techniques used by magicians can be powerful and robust tools to take to the Magic is one of the oldest and most wide- powers.
    [Show full text]
  • Perspectives
    Nature Reviews Neuroscience | AOP, published online 30 July 2008; doi:10.1038/nrn2473 PERSPECTIVES involve higher-level cognitive functions, SCIENCE AND SOCIETY such as attention and causal inference (most coin and card tricks used by magicians fall Attention and awareness in stage into this category). The application of all these devices by magic: turning tricks into research the expert magician gives the impression of a ‘magical’ event that is impossible in the physical realm (see TABLE 1 for a classifica- Stephen L. Macknik, Mac King, James Randi, Apollo Robbins, Teller, tion of the main types of magic effects and John Thompson and Susana Martinez-Conde their underlying methods). This Perspective addresses how cognitive and visual illusions Abstract | Just as vision scientists study visual art and illusions to elucidate the are applied in magic, and their underlying workings of the visual system, so too can cognitive scientists study cognitive neural mechanisms. We also discuss some of illusions to elucidate the underpinnings of cognition. Magic shows are a the principles that have been developed by manifestation of accomplished magic performers’ deep intuition for and magicians and pickpockets throughout the understanding of human attention and awareness. By studying magicians and their centuries to manipulate awareness and atten- tion, as well as their potential applications techniques, neuroscientists can learn powerful methods to manipulate attention to research, especially in the study of the and awareness in the laboratory. Such methods could be exploited to directly study brain mechanisms that underlie attention the behavioural and neural basis of consciousness itself, for instance through the and awareness.
    [Show full text]
  • Beyond-Secrets.Pdf
    BEYOND SECRETS By Jay Sankey “Strip away illusion. Retain the mystery.” - Philip Toshio Sudo To Lisa My dearest friend and darling wife ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Heartfelt thanks to my friends and fellow magicians Jason Maloney, Jeff Pinsky and Richard Sanders, as well as to my parents Lloyd and Deborah, my brothers Christopher and Yashin, and my sister Gretchen. Special thanks to friends and magi David Acer and David Peck for their generous editorial help, to Jon Racherbaumer for always being in my corner with a bouquet of roses, and to Len Cooper for showing me my first magic trick. TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword ..............................................................................................................9 Preface ................................................................................................................. 12 A Dance of Glances ........................................................................................ 14 Is Magic An Art? .............................................................................................. 16 Begin By Connecting..................................................................................... 18 The Myth Of Speed ........................................................................................ 20 Incomprehensibility ..................................................................................... 22 Magic As Blood Sport ................................................................................... 23 Orchestrating Focus.....................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Twentieth Century Hall of Fame 8 (Pdf) Download
    Percy Abbott Alex Elmsley Doug Henning Robert Lund Slydini This month, eleven more are placed Michael Ammar S.W. Erdnase John Northern Hilliard Jeff McBride Jim Steinmeyer on the list of "the 100 who shaped Theodore Annemann Dariel Fitzkee Professor Hoffmann Billy McComb Harlan Tarbell Al Baker Al Flosso Harry Houdini the art in America"" As the final Max Malini Floyd Thayer Harry Blackstone Sr. Neil Foster Jean Hugard Ed Marlo Howard Thurston eleven are added in September Harry Blackstone Jr. Karrell Fox Guy Jarrett Frances Marshall Eddie Tullock there will be a ballot, and readers David Bamberg Lewis Ganson Ricky Jay Jay Marshall Don Wayne are asked to vote for "The Top Ten Theo Bamberg Martin Gardner Larry Jennings Charlie Miller Dr. A.M. Wilson of the Century." The results will be Roy Benson John Gaughan Fred Kaps Gary Ouellet Mark Wilson published in December, the 100th J.B. Bobo Uri Geller Richard Kaufman Penn & Teller Tommy Wonder issue of MAGIC. Eugene Burger Walter B. Gibson William W. Larsen Sr. Channing Pollock Those who have appeared since Lance Burton A.C. Gilbert Bill Larsen Jr. John Ramsay Ben Chavez Horace Goldin Milt Larsen Richiardi r the series began in January are J . David Copperfield Will Goldston Rene Lavand Marvyn Roy listed here. Paul Curry U.F. Grant Nate Leipzig John Scarne T. Nelson Downs Jack Gwynne Servais Le Roy P.T. Selbit Joseph Dunninger Robert Harbin Harry Lorayne Siegfried & Roy AIKoran (1914-1972) Was he mindreader or magician? After an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in the late '60s, Al Koran informed an inquisitive journalist that his entertaining brand of mentalism was simply “a branch of the craft"’ a form of “mastered amazement.” British magicians first knew of him as hair-dresser Eddie Doe, a proficient amateur who became the London Society of Magicians’ youngest member ever awarded their gold medal.
    [Show full text]
  • Page 1 Sanchez 1 C O N J U R I N G the M O D E R N W O M a N
    Sanchez 1 C O N J U R I N G the M O D E R N W O M A N WOMEN and THEIR REPRESENTATION in the GOLDEN AGE of MAGIC _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Angela Marie Sanchez Eric Avila, PhD. ▪ Dept. of History Spring 2012 – Winter 2013 History 198: Senior Thesis U N I V E R S I T Y O F C A L I F O R N I A L O S A N G E L E S Sanchez 2 Recipient of the UCLA Library Research Prize Ruth Simon Award “Most Adventurous Research Journey” Mary Ritter Beard Award “Best Women’s History” Carey McWilliams’ Award “Scholarly Distinction” No portion of this thesis, “Conjuring the Modern Woman,” or images used may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author. Sanchez 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Extending many thanks to all the magicians, magi-demics, and all-around amazing people who have assisted me in my magic quest (in order of acquaintance): My godparents in magic, Goldfinger and Dove, who have welcomed me at the Magic Castle with open arms. Professor Eric Avila, my faculty mentor who indulged my card tricks and chatter galore. Erin Clancey, Curator of the Skirball Museum’s Masters of Illusion exhibit, who permitted me a private afternoon to absorb the displays. Margaret Steele, who responded to my first inquiry about Adelaide Herrmann books and who brought Mm. Herrmann’s memoirs to light.
    [Show full text]
  • Twentieth Century Hall of Fame 1 (Pdf) Download
    Those who impacted the art in America We begin a year-long review of significant people on the American panorama of magic during the 100-year period known as the 20th century. It is by no means a chronology' of the successes. failures, or the evolution of the craft within this time frame. Instead. it is a month-to-month enumeration of those people who - in some eventful or consequential way - have influenced. shaped. or impacted the performing art of magic in the United States of America. Embodied will be the celebrities as well as the amateur. trailblazers and stvle-setters. teachers and artisans. the inventive. the literate. and the legendary. as well as an eccentric or two. Certain contemporaries have had insuffient years to assert their influence. therefore. they will not likely appear. Each month. ten or so of magic’s significant will be saluted. There will be no ranking of the file as each cadre proudly passes in review. As the year’s end nears. and when the procession of 100 reaches its culmination. top honors and decorations will be bestowed. Our readers will be invited to select the //e plus ultra of those who most impacted the art in this century. It has been written that the history of the 20th Century actually begins in the 1870s, with the advent of the Technological Revolution. If true, it’s conceivable that Modern Magic, first published as a volume in 1876, is prologue to magic literature of the 1900s. The first edition of 2,000 copies of Modern Magic sold out in Great Britain within six weeks.
    [Show full text]
  • From Spirits to the Screen: a Cultural History of Magic and Magical Entertainment
    From Spirits to the : Screen A Cultural History of Magic and Magical Entertainment A thesis presented by Gala Hingston BA (Hons) to The School of Culture and Communications Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts (by Thesis only) in the field of Cinema Studies in the School of Culture and Communications The University of Melbourne September, 2010 Produced on archival quality paper 1 Abstract This thesis examines the history of magic in Western culture, particularly focusing upon the contemporary period in which magic is performed within a context of secular entertainment such as that of cinema. It begins with a conceptual discussion of magic that defines the term through the cultural attributions of its performance, namely, that magic is a descriptive term used to make sense of unknown or ambiguous phenomena. This thesis then goes on to ground this assertion historically, by suggesting that magic is a culturally contingent term that has been defined through two main phases. These are the periods of Spiritual Magic, a pre-Enlightenment context in which magic was an efficacious principle of causality, and that of Entertainment Magic, in which the belief that once gave magic its efficacious powers is eliminated by the secular turn of culture and magical performance becomes a form of entertainment. Entertainment Magic relies upon the conjuring of magical appearances and experiences, or effects and affects, through illusion. This thesis examines one strand of this illusion making: that of screen displays which instrumentally construct projected visual illusions as magical appearances. These instruments, which include the Camera Obscura, Magic Lantern, Phantasmagoria and the Kinetoscope, provide the technical legacies of illusion making and magical performance that come to inform the cinematic medium as the apotheosis of this form of visual illusion making.
    [Show full text]
  • UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Los Angeles City of Magic
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles City of Magic: Aesthetic Value in the Los Angeles Magic Scene A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology by Dalila Isoke Ozier 2020 © Copyright by Dalila Isoke Ozier 2020 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION City of Magic: Aesthetic Value in the Los Angeles Magic Scene by Dalila Isoke Ozier Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology University of California, Los Angeles, 2020 Professor Sherry B. Ortner, Chair In the vast Los Angeles entertainment complex, magic is often deemed one of the lowest forms of performance art, unworthy of respect or critical evaluation. In response to mainstream aesthetic evaluations that routinely devalue magical performance, Los Angeles magicians engage in a variety of strategies designed to re-legitimize the world of magic. Chief among these strategies is the construction of a competing aesthetic value system, one that allows magicians to reject mainstream assumptions about magic’s artlessness and instead reassert magic as a form of genuine artistic expression. However, this new aesthetic system comes with its own brand of hierarchization, one that aligns the concept of “good magic” with the white, heteromasculine subject. Because of this, female magicians and magicians of color can often find it difficult to penetrate the upper echelons of the magic community. By exploring the roots and consequences of magic’s devaluation, this dissertation uses participant observation and in-depth interviews to interrogate the ways in which Los Angeles magicians navigate the aesthetic value systems that undergird magical performance. In this way, we can investigate the broader impact that aesthetic devaluation has had on how magicians ii are debased, derided, and disregarded within the modern entertainment machine—not just by laymen, but by each other.
    [Show full text]
  • The Magic Collection Of
    THE MAGIC COLLECTION OF JIM R AWLINSPART IV • JULY 25, 2020 POTTER & POTTER AUCTIONS • JULY 25, 2020 1 Public Auction #88 THE MAGIC COLLECTION OF JIM R AWLINSPART IV AUCTION CONTENTS July 25, 2020 APPARATUS .......................................................3 10:00am CST BOOKS, MANUSCRIPTS & PERIODICALS ............73 PROPERTY FROM OTHER INQUIRIES COLLECTIONS & HOUDINIANA ...........................83 Gabe Fajuri POSTERS & EPHEMERA ...................................102 [email protected] [email protected] phone: 773-472-1442 Potter & Potter Auctions, Inc. 3759 N. Ravenswood Ave. Suite 121 Chicago, IL 60613 2 THE MAGIC COLLECTION OF JIM RAWLINS • PART IV he last two years have passed quickly, and during that time, second guessing the decision to auction my collection has never occurred (although I will say there are a few individual items that I think about often!). Ultimately, my collection has achieved its purpose - to provide me with thirty years of satisfaction, teach me about the history of an art I love, introduce me to a T host of new close friends, and, in the end, help with my family’s long-term financial security. There are dozens of people who helped develop my early fascination with magic’s history and the collecting of its relics, and for that I thank them all. I hesitate to name those who influenced me – the list would be a long one! - as I will undoubtedly leave someone out, but I’d be remiss without naming a few: Harold Puff for starting it all, and his close friend Ken Klosterman for creating a road map to what my dream could be. Terry Harris for being my friend and mentor.
    [Show full text]
  • 2010 Toronto Star
    Houdini’s Inescapable Influence By Peter Goddard Published in the Toronto Star, Visual Arts Section Dec. 30, 2010 One can understand why TV fans of a certain age might think — hope, even — that The Cape, a new NBC series premiering Jan. 9 might be about a magician. Once upon a time the caped swirling magician with mysterious powers of prestidigitation and escapology made for a rare superhero: a living one. We learn instead that NBC’s is about a caped crusader, a comic-based character; we should have known. TV killed the magician long ago. It didn’t give away the tricks as much as it conjured up bigger and better magic of its own design. Today’s few famous magicians — David Copperfield, James Randi or David Blaine — maintain their high profiles despite TV. They’re wonderful curiosities from another era, like pilots of hot air balloons. Then there’s Harry Houdini whose reputation is very much alive among today’s magicians such as Penn and Teller and with contemporary artists such as Americans Matthew Barney and Raymond Pettibon and Brazilian Vik Muniz. At the Jewish Museum, on Fifth Avenue in New York, Houdini’s extraordinary impact on his times and ours is chronicled in “Houdini: Art and Magic,” a modest show with broad ambitions that strives, not entirely convincingly, to frame Houdini’s hold on the contemporary artistic imagination. Houdini in chains (for now), as seen at the The exhibition curated by Brooke Kamin Rapaport also Jewish Museum. places Houdini’s career — and those of other magicians and early show business stars — at the heart of the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • March 2019 Oakland Magic Circle Newsletter
    March 2019 Oakland Magic Circle Newsletter Official Website: www.OaklandMagicCircle.com Meets the first Tuesday of every month except July at Bjornson Hall, 2258 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94602 . teach-in of Ball and Vase. This classic effect is Next Meeting: March 5th simple but with the right routine can be a baffling ​ 6:30- Doors Open addition to any close up or parlor act. 7:00 - Business Meeting 7:30- Teach In- Ball and Vase The first published reference to the Ball and Vase was in Sports and Pastimes (1676) and in The 8:00ish- Open Stage ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Whole Art of Legerdemain, or Hocus Pocus in Perfection (1722). All current OMC members will More info below. ​ be given a free Empire Ball and Vase set. Mark will show the basic routine and some variations. MARCH MEETING You are urged to show your own favorite Ball and TEACH-IN- Ball and Vase Vase routine and offer tips. OPEN STAGE The OMC is lucky to have a full stage with lighting and curtains and March is your chance to show off a favorite effect or new trick and routine for an audience. Close Up, parlor or stage magic are welcome. If you are open to feedback and ideas just ask and a discussion can follow your performance. If you would like to perform either email Mark Tarses ( [email protected] ) or inform him as ​ ​ ​ you arrive. At the March meeting Mark Tarses will led a The Oakland Magic Circle March 2019 Newsletter 1 Glen Micheletti has honed this character into a very THE 94th OAKLAND MAGIC CIRCLE funny and loveable backwoods teller of tall tales ​ INSTALLATION AND SHOW while performing homespun magic.
    [Show full text]
  • The Magic of Lyn
    MAGIC OF LYN STUDY GUIDE INTRODUCTION This study guide has been prepared for educators who, along with their students will be attending the performances of ILLUSIONIST LYN DILLIES. Lyn is a self-taught illusionist who captivates audiences across the United States with her unique style of choreographed, high energy magic. Teachers will find an interesting history of magic and also simple magic tricks to teach to their students. In 2007, Lyn released an award winning DVD, called Learn Magic With Lyn. Lyn uses ordinary objects to teach beginner’s magic to children. There is also a bibliography for additional magic books which give expanded information and magic tricks for beginning students. This guide is written for the teacher. It is hoped that each teacher will be inspired to reinterpret the enclosed information for their appropriate grade level so that whether teaching primary grades or upper level students, teachers will have the opportunity to investigate, along with their students, new, educational and exciting projects and activities. Magic can be very therapeutic for a child. Especially for a student prone to shyness, magic can be empowering. Learning how to do a trick and being trusted with the secret can teach a child a sense of responsibility. They must learn the trick and do it well. The result of their efforts is shown by the spectator being amazed at his or her magic. The magic of lyn From the grand stages of New York City’s Lincoln Center to the glitter of Hollywood, Lyn Dillies has captivated audiences of all ages with her spellbinding powers of prestidigitation.
    [Show full text]