Newspaper Magic is back!

Way back when I was first starting out in magic, my first magic convention was Michigan Magic Day in Kalamazoo back in the '04. Gene Anderson was lecturing and performing in the evening show. His lecture, I recall, was mainly business and marketing centered, with a few tricks sprinkled in.

But his performance that evening was what really made an impression on the young rookie. An entire act done with newspapers? And it was funny? Where can I learn more?

Fortunately, I sought out a copy of Gene's seminal work, Newspaper Magic, just before it went out of print. Now, back again, is the best source for magic with newspapers. The added benefit to this edition is the inclusion of all new photographs to supplement the classic line drawings!

There's a lot of valuable magic in here, but the trick that really makes this book worth its weight in gold is Gene's now-ubiquitous Torn & Restored Newspaper. This is the place to start for anyone interested in performing the classic.

Quick personal story: I recently attended a reunion of former co-workers. I hadn't seen any of those folks in about three years. Three years later they were still talking about the Newspaper Trick I did for them one time! If that's not a testament to just how powerful Gene's creation is, I don't know what is.

If I had one available, I'd embed a video of Gene performing the Tear. Instead, I'll post Whit Haydn, another one of my favorite performers, as he presents Gene's Newspaper Tear. Check out the audience's reaction!

Brits Love Bannon

It's been too long since I made a post about gratuitous praise for John Bannon. This time, we hear from The Magic Circular, the periodical published by England's The Magic Circle. Editor Matt Field writes about John Bannon's Spin Doctor. I've included my favorite parts:

"I'm a big fan of John Bannon. His card magic has a visual flair, and this, the third in the Fractal Card Magic series, is no exception. The trick is a variant of Vernon's 'Twisting the Aces', and while there are some excellent versions around (especially Lee Asher's), John has taken as his inspiration Derek Dingle's 'We'll Twist If You Insist' which has a surprise colour-changing backs conclusion. That ending is a good one, since the 'Twisting' trick consists basically of having a card at a time magically turn over. But, as they say, if you've seen one back turn over, you've seen them all..." "This is an excellent trick with a very good ending. It's easy to do and surprisingly inexpensively priced."

Once again, John Bannon's genius shines, this time across the pond. Thanks to Matt for forwarding that review to us.

Podcasting Delayed

Sorry to all the FUNcast loyals, but our podcast recording session has been delayed...again. We'll be recording Thursday night. I swear.

Alakazam!

Ready to have your minds blown? WATCH THIS!


I showed this clip to many magicians...even some pretty heavy hitters. They were all fooled badly. Yes, the trick is easy. Yes, it's THAT clean. Even though THE GRAIL has been out for a while, it's new to us at FUN Incorporated. In fact, all of the ALAKAZAM products are new to us.

Not familiar with ALAKAZAM UK? Shame on you! Not only are all of their tricks as good as The Grail, but their packaging is absolutely fantastic. Some of the best packaging in the business! Throughout the past 3 months we've added 7 items from our friends at ALAKAZAM, please make sure to try them. They're ALL GREAT SHOP DEMOS and look as good in person as they do on camera.

• The Grail
• The Celebrity Deck
• Zenner Tech
• ES Perfect
• Erazer
• Z6 by Wayne Dobson booklet
• Director's Cut

Artist Profile: David Regal

Last year, David Regal came to town to do a lecture. He had just finished as the winning coach on "Celebracadabra" and recently published his excellent book, "Approaching Magic." Never really having read any of his previously published work, and not being familiar with any of his magic outside of Celebracadabra, I really didn't know what to expect.

What I encountered was a guy who, admittedly not a full-time professional magician, was a prolific inventor and thinker of magic. His first book of magic, Star Quality, written by Harry Lorayne, was published back in 1987, and he hasn't really slowed down since.

These days he reviews tricks for Genii Magazine and Reel Magic Magazine. Oh, I heard he's been pretty successful writing comedy in Hollywood, too.

Today I wanted to highlight a few items from this talented guy.

Prophecy Pack: I performed this one for Tomas earlier today, who was impressed. And Tomas is rarely impressed with anything I do. An impossible prediction of a card is made - and despite the spectator having control of the deck, shuffling and cutting to their personal whims, you are indeed found to have made the right call. A magician fooler for sure!

There and Back: From his published works (of which I now own all of them), you might glean that David is a hardcore card magician. Not true! His forays into other branches of conjuring prove his resourcefulness and versatility. This impossible transportation of a borrowing ring is a perfect example.

Pasteboard Massacre: David takes the phrase "cutting the deck" to the extreme with this trick. His handling is a perfect closer to a set of card magic. The instant reset of the deck also makes it ideal for table-hopping.

PASTEBOARD-MASSACRE - Hosted by Putfile.com

Knowing Where We've Been

One of the most important things any serious student of magic can do is study the history of the art. Like the old saying goes, you have to know where you've been in order to know where you're going.

With that in mind, FUN has always maintained a healthy number of books on magic history. We've gotten a few of them in recently, so I thought it might be good to highlight them.

Around the World with a Magician and a Juggler by H.J. Burlingame: this seminal text by H.J. Burlingame includes biographies of two important magicians, Baron Hartwig Seeman and William D’Alvini (who toured with Alexander Herrmann, as well as his own show). Information on Ernest Patrizio and Bellachini (including Bellachini’s presentation and method for the Eggs from Mouth effect, which he is said to have originated) rounds out the volume. Also included is Max Dessoir’s essay on the “Psychology of the Art of Conjuring,” making this book a delight for students of the art as well as collectors.

Hugard's Annuals, 1937-1939: This is really a wonderful book with some clever and forgotten secrets of magic. Jean Hugard, co-author of Royal Road to Card Magic, published his magazine, The Magic Annual, from 1937-1939. Now the entire run is available to own in hardcover!

Edd Patterson: A Lifetime of Magic and Art: This book describes the story of Edd Patterson, The Magic Artist. During his career his programs were endorsed by literally thousands of school administrators and parent teacher groups in the eastern United States. Now retired, this book brings Edd Patterson alive to a new generation. Apart from his life story, there are included some 33 time-tested routines for children's shows along with ieas and thoughts from his life as a master school show performer. Included is a bonus DVD with footage of Edd Patterson on stage.

New podcast is up!

We recorded the podcast after work, but I really burned the midnight oil getting it ready.

Episode 2 of FUNcast is now up. Those of you who have subscribed via iTunes probably already have had the new episode downloaded for you automatically.

If now, you can click here to subscribe via YFM. That's magic shorthand for "your favorite method." If you read a magic magazine you probably recognized that acronym.

A fun Australian magic vodcast

Here's something I ran across not too long ago. In my aimless web wanderings, I found this video podcast put together by two Australian magicians. Dean and Kamal work (and possibly own) The Magic Store in Melbourne. I enjoy their banter - I wish Tomas and I could banter this well on our podcast.

Visit www.magicmornings.com.au to view their current episode and their archives. Keep up the great work, fellas!

Next podcast coming Monday!

FUNcast is recording tomorrow night. Tomas and I will discuss a few of the newest products, and I'll get a chance to share some of my experiences as a part-time pro.

But we're also open to suggestions! If you have something you like to ask or something you'd like us to talk about, drop us a line at john@funinc.com or leave a comment here in the blog.

Doc Dixon hits the market

I had the good fortune to meet Doc Dixon in 2007 when I was the talent chairman for the Michigan Magic Day convention that year. Chris Capehart, Denny Haney, and Bob Little were our lecturers that year, and then it was recommended to me to book Doc Dixon. I recognized the name, but I had never met or seen him perform before. Doc drove all the way from Pennsylvania to Lansing, MI just to do our lecture, then drove back to PA the next day.

Doc's lecture was an absolute stitch! He definitely had me laughing so hard my eyes watered. Naturally, I got a lot of credit for booking him to lecture for us, and I was also smart in keeping in touch with him via email from time to time.

So when the time came that Doc was ready to release his book, he called to offer the book to us. I jumped at the chance. Doc's book, MonkeyShines Vol. 1, contains a lot of very worker-oriented material for close-up and platform. What else would you expect from a true worker?

I'm pleased as punch that we're able to offer this book out to the magic community at large, and give kudos to Doc for putting out a book instead of a DVD. Fortunately, Doc has put up a video demonstrating a routine from the book. Check it out below, and tell YFD (your favorite dealer) to get these in stock before they're gone!

Click here for the video!

Curses!

When I took my trip to Las Vegas in December, I had a great fortune to meet several fine magicians. One of the people I met was Bizzaro, The Optical Illusionist. Bizzaro is an outstanding magician; technically gifted, creative, and very entertaining.

He showed this product to me while I was visiting the open mic night at Denny & Lee's. I was happy to see it, because I knew it would be something special for us to carry here at FUN Inc. Now, in cooperation with Firecat Studios, we're now a proud distributor of Foiled Again!

When I brought the trick back to the FUN office, despite my obvious lack of practice, talent, or skill, our little review committee agreed it'd be a great product to bring to the masses.

Check out the demo video, and tell your favorite dealer to get Foiled Again from FUN Inc!

Tomas on TV!

Because he's too modest to put it up himself, I wanted to let everyone know that the Geek of Magic, Tomas Medina, made a TV appearance recently on Chicago TV.

No stranger to TV, Tomas has appeared on national television on the daytime talk show The Loop and on USA Network as part of their "Characters Wanted" campaign.

Here, Tomas performs on WCIU, Chicago's independent TV station.