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Home , Aldo Colombini, Billy McComb, Dai Vernon, David Ben, David Roth (magician), Harry Lorayne

Genii Speaks Richard Kaufman Contact us by calling 301-652-5800, e-mailing [email protected] or surfing our website at www.geniimagazine.com

JUST AS WE WERE going to press, the award banquet of the Academy of Magical Arts took place phone call came: yet another great has in April and Dustin Stinett was there—and he puts you in died. One of magic’s most beloved magicians, the audience on p.60. • Waiting for another illusion plan Billy McComb, left us on Sunday April 30. We’ll from Paul Osborne? You can all vanish your ducks on p.16. have a tribute to Billy next month. • This month • ’s “Inquisition” is always one of our most I’m pleased to present another issue eagerly-awaited features—transport yourself back to of Genii (our first, in December 2001, sold out grade school on p.15. • Finally, Mike Close, David Regal, very quickly). It coincides and Joe M. Turner let you know the best with the publication on May of the latest books, tricks, and videos 14 of our book The Vernon Touch, on the market. which is a 608-page collection of all of The Professor’s “Vernon Touch” , the magazine of the I.B.M., columns which ran here in Genii from will see many changes as longtime edi- 1968 until 1990. Every word has been tor Phil Willmarth steps down at the newly typeset and hundreds of never- end of this year. The I.B.M. has set up a before published photographs have committee to conduct a search for can- been added, all beautifully designed didates for the post of editor. Contact by Michael Albright (see ad p.57). In ebster Don Wiberg, the International Secretary, late June you’ll also be able to pur- at [email protected] by July 15th chase volume one of ’s if you wish to apply for the position. remarkable new book, Dai Vernon: A

Biography—the first truly compre- Photo by Damon W Our major feature next month will be an hensive story of Vernon’s life (see ad Billy McComb, 1922-2006 exclusive on , whose one- p.66). We have an excerpt for you beginning on p.52 that hour special on CBS, Keith Barry: Extraordinary, aired on will amply demonstrate the depth of author Ben’s research May 12 (shortly after this issue went to press). After meet- as he takes us back to Vernon’s escapades in the early ing Keith in London at the International 1920s and his meetings with Dad Stevens, the night he last November, then interviewing him for three hours last famously fooled Houdini, and his courtship of his future week, I was looking forward to seeing a wife, Jeanne. • At FISM in Holland several years ago I met preview of the show and was not disap- Hakan Varol, a marvelous German dealer and craftsman pointed. He’s an interesting and talent- who manufactures a unique line of magic you won’t find ed mentalist/magician. The TV special anywhere else. While he produces many items, the one focuses on Keith performing which caught my eye was a complete Flea Circus in a for celebrities and climaxes with a pub- handmade wooden box whose lid opens up into a stage. lic hanging—it was suspenseful, enjoy- The invisible fleas perform remarkable and incomprehensi- able, and well done. And it was nice to ble stunts and tricks—I’ll tell you more about it on p.46 see someone on American TV who’s (but you can go directly to his website and see it for your- not copying or Criss self: www.hakan-varol.de). • Jack Parker is a name rapidly Angel. Brad Henderson, who knows a becoming known among lovers of card magic—he’s damn lot more about mentalism than I do, clever and I couldn’t be more pleased to present a double- will be turning the interview into our Keith Barry sized “” this month with David Acer describing July cover story. • On May 8, just days before the Keith 10 of Jack’s finest creations, complemented by 63 line Barry special airs on CBS, David Blaine: Drowned Alive, will drawings by magic’s finest illustrator, Earle Oakes. Sounds air on ABC. The two-hour special will climax when David, like an e-book you’d pay $20 or $30 for … but it’s right who will enter a water-filled glass sphere on May 1, will here in Genii this month—no extra charge. Jack has also attempt to break the world record for holding his breath posted videos of most of the tricks on his website, underwater after spending most of the preceding week in www.jacksdeck.com, where he also sells booklets. • At the the sphere. Word is that there will also be some great Conference on Magic History last November, magic in the show— has spent many months in Patrick Page spoke about the unique act of British magi- New York with Blaine in preparation. • I just returned from cian Francis Watts in which he performed a lengthy Las Vegas for a quick trip to the set of the second series of sequence of tricks using objects borrowed from the audi- ’s Mindfreak, which begins airing weekly May ence. I’d never heard of Watts before, but Pat’s apprecia- 31st on A&E. As in season one, I might pop up as one of the tion for what he did intrigued me. Pat agreed to describe talking heads between effects. They were about halfway the act for Genii—you’ll find it on p.38. • The 38th annual through filming the 21 episodes by the end of April and I

10 GENII Now Performing THE LAS VEGAS think you can look forward to seeing more magic performed MAY 29 TO JUNE 4 Compiled by David Neubauer Close-Up Gallery (www.dnmagic.com) on each episode compared to the first season. One of the big Amazing Johnathan stunts you’ll see is Criss put into a strait jacket and tossed out Early: 7:00, 7:45, 8:30, 9:15 Mike Barger 10 pm, (Dark Thurs.), Sahara of a plane. He’ll have 20 seconds to escape in order to pull Late: 10, 10:45,11:30, 12:00 Jason Bird the ripcord on his parachute in time. Later this year, after the Joycee Beck The Shops in Desert Passage— entire series has aired (so we can discuss things without ruin- The Parlour of Prestidigitation Aladdin. Main stage, near the “V” ing any surprises), we’ll have a full report on all the stunts and Early: 7:30, 8:45, 9:30 Theater, Thurs.-Mon. Various times from 1:15 pm to 8:15, Free effects and a nice surprise for Genii readers. Mark Haslam Late: 9:45, 11:15, 12 Buck Wild Shawn McMaster Nathan Burton (as a redneck Every time I’ve seen Shimada perform I’m reminded of what a Palace Of Mystery magician), 7 pm covered shows truly wonderful magician he is. On p.71 of this issue you’ll 8:30, 10, 11:15 Mon.-Wed. & Sat. 9 pm Topless see an advertisement that offers the chance of a lifetime: five Derek Hughes shows (Over 18), Sahara (Dark Fri.) , Master Magician days of personal instruction with the master in the art of pro- Joel War Danny Cole 7 pm Tues.-Sat., ducing doves and fanning cards. It’s not cheap, but it’s hard JUNE 5 TO11 10 pm Tues. & Sat., Monte Carlo to imagine that if you’re truly serious about learning the art Close-Up Gallery David Copperfield of dove magic you wouldn’t find it to be well worth the price. Early: Jon Armstrong 7:30 & 10 pm, 4:30 Sat. & some Late: Ivan Amodei Sun. MGM Grand On Sunday April 23, as David Copperfield left the Kravis The Parlour of Prestidigitation June 1-14, 20-30 Center in Palm Beach, Florida, at 11:15 p.m. after perform- Early: Chase Curtis Collin Foster—Quicker Than The Eye ing several shows, he and two women who are in the crew Late: Alfonso 4 & 6 p.m. (Dark Mon.) Palace Of Mystery Comedy Zone, Plaza were robbed at gunpoint by four youths. After the two Matt Marcy Tyas Frantz, Chris Karpiak, women were relieved of their valuables, the robbers de- Arthur Trace & Seth Grabel manded David turn over his goodies as well. He did some- Jason Byrne Beacher's Madhouse 10 pm, thing that turned out to be clever—he pulled out his pockets JUNE 12 TO 18 Hard Rock and showed they were empty. I’m assuming he did the old Close-Up Gallery Haunted Vegas Tour & Show Pocket Dodge. This enabled him to keep his cellphone and, Early: Nathan Gibson Robert Allen & Jac Hayden & Late: Jonathan Levit Zamora, 9 pm tour and show as soon as the robbers got back into their car, they called the The Parlour of Prestidigitation (Dark Fri.), Greek Isle cops and reported the license plate number. The criminals Early: Joe M. Turner Illusionary Magic of Rick Thomas were captured 10 minutes later. While David’s ruse had a Late: George Tovar 2 & 4 pm, Stardust (Dark Wed.) positive outcome, it could just as likely have had a negative Palace Of Mystery La Femme one—if the robbers thought he was being cute, and they David Deeble Stephan Vanel, 8 & 10:30 pm searched his pockets and found he was hiding stuff, he could Michael Grasso (Dark Tues.), MGM Grand easily have been shot. So I wouldn’t suggest emulating his Mystina Comedy Magic Show JUNE 19 TO 25 actions, though I have to say it’s pretty cool that David used 1 pm, 3 pm, (Dark Sun. & Mon.) Close-Up Gallery Harrah's Clint Holmes Theater a magical technique to avoid being robbed. Early: Jason Tong Penn & Teller Late: Dan McKinnon 9 pm, (Dark Tues.), Rio An enormous pile of excellent DVDs washed over my desk in the The Parlour of Prestidigitation Bite (Vampire Strip Revue) past month. Murphy’s Magic quietly put out a boxed set of Early: Bob Dorian Antonio Restivo (magic & fire nine DVDs containing over 17 hours of material this past Late: manipulation) 10:30 pm (dark January—the original Tannen’s Stars of Magic videos from the Palace Of Mystery Thurs.) Stratosphere 1980s. While not new, the staggering amount of material they Terry Elton V, The Ultimate Variety Show Kyoko contain is well worth the $150 asking price. Most of the DVDs Jeff Hobson, Nathan and Sarah, Magic Wave 7 pm and 9 pm, Aladdin contains several tapes combined—the two DVDs devoted to JUNE 26 TO JULY 2 World’s Greatest Magic Show Close-Up Gallery Paul Harris contain all five original tapes, the Frank Garcia , Joseph Gabriel, DVD contains two tapes (and where else can you see Frank’s Early: The Majestixs, Kozak. Derek work?), the two DVDs contain four tapes, and Late: Damian Nieman Roberts, Billy Fergueson & Chris The Parlour of Prestidigitation there’s more from Bernard Bilis and Eric DeCamps, as well as Randall (pre-show). June Guest Early: Arthur Benjamin Stars: 1-25: Ardan James, 26-30: an All-Star DVD. The quality of the material is superb. • R. Late: Andrew Goldenhersh Shimshe. 6 pm Sat. - Thurs., 8:15 Paul Wilson on The Royal Road Palace Of Mystery Fri., Greek Isle. to Card Magic is a mammoth Chuck Jones & Co Xtreme Magic Starring Dirk Arthur set of five DVDs in a nice digi- Magic Castle Information 2 and 4 pm, (Dark Fri.) pack foldout, with Paul lead- Those with guest cards, Tiffany Theatre, Tropicana ing the viewer on a compre- and those who belong to Restaurants the IBM or SAM, are Eric Allan hensive basic course in card admitted to The Magic Castle Outback Steakhouse, magic. Edited and marketed with dinner reservations. (Green Valley), Fri. & Sat. by L&L, it’s a superb set— Please call 323-851-3313 Jayden LaCross highly recommended for all for more information. TGI Fridays, Wed. & Sun. Updates to the performing those who love cardmagic. • schedule can be found at Las Vegas Magic Organizations At a convention in Las Vegas www.MagicCastle.com. I.B.M. #257: 7 pm 1st Monday of awhile back I saw Asi Wind per- each month at Boomers, 3200 Sirius Ave. www.ring257.com GENII SPEAKS, continued on page 13 JUNE 2006 11 GENII SPEAKS, continued from page 11 cution was as close to perfect as it gets. I’ve seen it many form a great effect where a bill I times and, aside from the sheer joy of watching it, I am still signed vanished and reappeared fooled by his multiple flawless productions of full Martini under my wristwatch. Tried to get it glasses while wearing a well-fitted for “Magicana,” but Asi was intent on Tuxedo. The outlook of his act was very putting it out on a DVD: Time is traditional and what many would call Money has just come out and, while old-fashioned. But he stood out in the the $35 price tag is steep for a single most legitimate way: on sheer class trick, it’s a doozy and could be a real and quality. reputation maker. (There are a few “I had the good fortune of working bonus items on the DVD based on with him several times, staying in the dollar bill fold used in the same hotels, and enjoying his the routine.) • I grew up watching pleasant conversations during meals. do card magic in New He was very opinionated and had very York City and he’s one of those guys who can make any personal views on everything. Salvano trick look good—he has a unique manner of performance “Here is a little story, on a more (“pell-mell” as Jon Racherbaumer has called it) that moves personal level, to shed some light on his human side and straight ahead like a bullet with mile-a-minute patter. L&L sense of humor. He used to say, Why should people Publishing has re-released the 10-volume videotape set always ask you how you are if they are not prepared to put they did of Harry as a set of four DVDs up with a real answer? Why not just say hello? Some peo- (each of which has the contents of ple even say ‘How are you?’ and walk away. Ever since he three videotapes on it) called Harry made that comment, and realized that I took note, he Lorayne’s Best Ever Collection. made me fall into the trap several times. I would meet All told they contain about 16 him a year later and ask, ‘How are you?’ And he hours of material. Aside from would start: ‘Uhhh, my knee is cracking, oh and my the value of the tricks (there’s a stomach, and this headache ... ’.” lot of good stuff that isn’t par- Not only does the Greater Magic Video Library ticularly hard to do), there are offer two excellent DVDs on Salvano’s work, but several lessons to be learned. less well-known is Losander’s A Day with Salvano One is the importance of watch- ($35 at www.losander.com). Salvano was truly a mas- ing your audience rather than your ter of his craft. hands while you’re working. Harry knows how to sell a card trick like almost Department of Inevitable Corrections: Max Maven writes, “In no one else and watching him do these tricks brought the May issue’s ‘Magicana’ David Acer wrote, ‘While there back many fond memories. From the 1960s to the early is precedent for converting stage-illusion plots into close- 1980s he was the best-selling author in magic and these up card tricks, Rob James may be the first to make the DVDs may help viewers remember why. leap with the Substitution Trunk.’ Not even close. I had just such a plot in The New Tops back in 1980, and I was Salvano (Tomasz Chelminski, 1929-2006) died of cancer in by no means the first to come up with the idea.” In April at the age of 76. Rafael Benetar reports: “Salvano was fact, many people on the Genii Forum chimed in with one of the true masters of our art. His extremely polished (as numerous versions of card transpositions using “Meta- well as Polish) act was wonderfully structured and the exe- morphosis” as a plot. •

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