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Month: February 2015

‘Magician’s Lie’ dabbles in deception..

‘Magician’s Lie’ dabbles in deception..

BY TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER for the GazetteXtra..   THE BOOK“ The Magician’s Lie” by Greer Macallister; Sourcebooks (320 pages, $24).

Now you see it. Now you don’t.

Why? Because a good magician knows how to hide props behind fingers, beneath clothes, in pockets. And yet we love seeing that sleight of hand, the illusion, the chance to be awe-struck, entertained and fooled.

In “The Magician’s Lie” by Greer Macallister, the one thing this magician might be hiding is the truth.

The story follows Virgil Holt, a small-town police officer who figures that his life is over. Just that week, Virgil learns that the bullet he carries in his body could kill him at any time. Virgil is sure he will lose his badge, his wife, his home—everything he has worked so hard to earn.

When a dead man—gruesomely chopped in half—is found in a theater basement, Virgil almost wishes he could trade places with him.

But something happens that could save Virgil: He captures the Amazing Arden, an illusionist and the wife of the dead man. Virgil has seen her stage show and knows she can cut men in two. Now he has her, and she’s triple-handcuffed to a jailhouse chair.

Virgil wants a confession, but instead, Arden tells him a story.

Long ago, Arden was known as Ada. Her mother taught her to dance, and she had big plans. But a cousin ruined everything by throwing Ada off a beam onto a barn floor. Just before fleeing for her life, Ada learned that she had healing powers.

As a runaway, Ada took a job as a kitchen maid. She met a boy and ran away with him to New York, but he left and broke her heart. She eventually found work with a magic show, where she learned the art of illusion and how to please a crowd.  Read more at…..

http://www.gazettextra.com/20150225/magicians_lie_dabbles_in_deception

A CLOWN who assaulted children by luring them with magic has been cleared to practice tricks again..

A CLOWN who assaulted children by luring them with magic has been cleared to practice tricks again..

From the Melbourne Herald Sun..

Owen Daniel (not his real name) interfered with 12 boys and girls over a 21-year period, plying some with alcohol and pornography before sexually abusing them.

In one set of circumstances in 2005 Daniel performed magic tricks to four girls, pulling his pants down during the game and encouraging the girls to do the same.

The predatory illusionist is now allowed to practise magic again after a condition on his supervision order banning him from performing his hobby on his own was scrapped.

It follows a bizarre Supreme Court tussle that devoted a large amount of time debating the “inherently ambiguous” meaning of “magic”.

In a Court of Appeal decision published this month, Justice Phillip Priest said the definition of a magic trick was “far from clear”.

“Does pulling a rabbit from a hat qualify?” Justice Priest questioned in his judgment.

Paul Holdenson, QC, for the Secretary to the Department of Justice, argued magic “involves the deception of the observer” and simply shuffling cards didn’t qualify.

The court heard that discouraging Daniel from practising magic could discourage him reoffending.

“For the appellant to continue to build a lifestyle around that activity, so it was submitted, reinforced the very behaviours in which the appellant had engaged when he offended,” Justice Priest said.

Lawyers acting for Daniel said restricting him from the hobby in private was “manifestly unreasonable”.

angus.thompson@news.com.au

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/sex-fiend-clown-who-lured-children-with-magic-free-to-perform-tricks/story-fni0fee2-1227226092495

A Magician Happy to Reveal the Secrets of His Tricks (on Mondays)

A Magician Happy to Reveal the Secrets of His Tricks (on Mondays)

On Monday night, a dozen young magicians gathered around a long table in the Atrium public plaza just off East 54th Street and began fanning decks of cards and making coins disappear.

The leader, Eli Bosnick, 27, called the meeting to order with some announcements, and then began checking members’ assigned homework on tricks or self-promotion.

Mr. Bosnick is a professional magician and a leader of a new guard of magic enthusiasts in New York. He serves as a self-described “dad figure” of these Monday night meet-ups that he said he started several years back as magic “jams.” They are akin to improvisational music sessions where members share ideas and network.

“Our slogan is: Good magic, terrible people,” Mr. Bosnick said, explaining that the facetiousness in the phrase was “part of our dark humor.”  Read more…..

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/nyregion/a-magician-happy-to-reveal-the-secrets-of-his-tricks-on-mondays.html?_r=0