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Month: April 2015

Presto! Magician Justin Willman Renovates California Home..

Presto! Magician Justin Willman Renovates California Home..

More than $164,000 was spent to fix up the 1920s home, which is filled with magic memorabilia.

Justin Willman collects old magic. The magician and comedian has a home full of vintage show posters and props, and antique magic-show lithographs.

Justin Willman’s home in Hollywood Knolls is filled with vintage magic-show items.

“I’d love to hop on a time machine and go back to see an old show,” says Mr. Willman, 34 years old, a regular on “The Tonight Show” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” and recently on Comedy Central’s “Sleight of Mouth.”

Mr. Willman’s 1920s white stucco Mediterranean is something of a time capsule. The 1,928-square-foot, three-bedroom, 2½-bathroom house sat empty for two years before Mr. Willman bought it in 2011 for $856,000. Read more:  http://www.wsj.com/articles/presto-magician-justin-willman-renovates-california-home-1429722870

truTV Reveals 10 Awe-Inspiring Performance Teams Set to Compete in Season 2 of “Fake Off”..

truTV Reveals 10 Awe-Inspiring Performance Teams Set to Compete in Season 2 of “Fake Off”..

Season 2 of Fake Off Premieres Wednesday, May 6, 10 p.m. (ET/PT) on truTV

This summer, 10 teams of gifted performers will set out to stun viewers like never before in the second season of truTV’s eye-popping competition series Fake Off. Launching its new season Wednesday, May 6, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT), Fake Off takes viewers into the visually stunning world of Faking, a mix of theater, acrobatics, black light and illusion. In each episode, teams are challenged to reimagine iconic moments in pop culture to see who’s got the skills to be named America’s Fake Off Champions and walk away with a $100,000 cash prize.

Actor and dancer Corbin Bleu (High School Musical) is set to host the second season of Fake Off. Harry Shum Jr. (Glee, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend) returns to the judging panel and is joined by two new judges: actress, choreographer and Emmy®-nominated director Laurieann Gibson (Lady Gaga Presents: The Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden, Making the Band) and actor, creative director and choreographer Beau Casper Smart (Street, Big Bang Theory, Nick Jonas, Jennifer Lopez). Meghan Camarena better known as YouTube sensation Strawburry17, will serve as backstage correspondent, a new role created this season.

Fake Off premiered on truTV in November 2014 in conjunction with the launch of truTV’s “Way More Fun” brand campaign. The series produced by Endemol Shine North America earned high praise from television earned high praise from television critics and viewers alike, prompting weekly audience growth after its premiere. In the first season, teams performed brilliant interpretations of moments in pop culture inspired by action-adventure and fantasy movies, video games and the biggest global sporting events.

Season 2 of Fake Off will consist of eight episodes, climaxing with the big finale in which one team will be named the Fake Off Champion and earn the cash prize. Here are the 10 teams vying to be the Fake Off Champion, along with links to their video introductions:

Academy of Villains (San Francisco, Calif.), a performance crew specializing in hip-hop and theatrics. http://www.trutv.com/shows/fake-off/videos/meet-academy-of-villains.html

Astra Dance Theatre (Los Angeles, Calif.), a multimedia dance theatre group from Los Angeles, Calif. http://www.trutv.com/shows/fake-off/videos/meet-astra-dance-company.html

ClownSnotBombs (Berkeley, Calif.), a circus troupe and physical comedy performance company. http://www.trutv.com/shows/fake-off/videos/meet-clownsnotbombs.html

CubeMetricks (Los Angeles, Calif.) a theatrical hip-hop performance crew. http://www.trutv.com/shows/fake-off/videos/meet-cubemetricks.html

The Deca Crew (Brooklyn, N.Y.), a dance crew specializing in technology and prop manipulation. http://www.trutv.com/shows/fake-off/videos/meet-the-deca-crew.html

JUNK (Philadelphia, Pa.), an aerial, dance and physical theater troupe. http://www.trutv.com/shows/fake-off/videos/meet-junk.html

LUMA (Pahoa, Hawaii), a troupe that combines light with dance, magic, puppetry and physics. http://www.trutv.com/shows/fake-off/videos/meet-luma.html

On The Fly (Indianapolis, Ind.), a stunt and daredevil crew composed of aerialists, dancers, flyers and acro-artists. http://www.trutv.com/shows/fake-off/videos/meet-on-the-fly.html

The Surrealists (St. Louis, Mo.), a magician and illusionist trio. http://www.trutv.com/shows/fake-off/videos/meet-the-surrealists.html

Tribe of Fools (Philadelphia, Pa.), physical theater group specializing in acrobatics and comedy. http://www.trutv.com/shows/fake-off/videos/meet-tribe-of-fools.html

Complete details on each of the 10 teams competing this spring on Fake Off are included below.

Fake Off is produced by Endemol Shine North America, with James Sunderland serving as Executive Producer and Showrunner, Eden Gaha, Robin Feinberg and Chris Culvenor serving as executive producers.

About truTV

truTV takes viewers on a fun ride that surprises and entertains. The network delivers a dynamic mix of action, comedy and competition, featuring engaging characters and compelling new worlds that pull you in and leave you wanting more. Currently seen in 92 million U.S. households, truTV features such popular original series as Impractical Jokers, The Carbonaro Effect, Friends of the People, Hack My Life, How to Be a Grown-Up, Barmageddon and Breaking Greenville as well as the upcoming Billy on the Street, Those Who Can’t, Six Degrees of Everything, Santas in the Barn and The Hustlers. In addition, truTV is a partner in airing the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news; entertainment; kids and young adult; and sports media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

Read more at http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2015/04/23/trutv-reveals-10-awe-inspiring-performance-teams-set-to-compete-in-season-2-of-fake-off-97301/20150423trutv01/#EhJmcGwTF6RCGmvW.99

The Allan Slaight Awards – $250,000 for the Pursuit of the Impossible..

The Allan Slaight Awards – $250,000 for the Pursuit of the Impossible..

Magicana will distribute, on behalf of the Slaight Family Foundation, $250,000, over five years, to recognize excellence in magic. The Allan Slaight Awards are named in honour of Canadian media mogul and philanthropist, Allan Slaight, and his lifelong passion for and contributions to magic.

“My dad has long loved magic – and still does. As a family, we wanted to recognize his passion by giving something back to the community of artists that inspired it.”

Gary Slaight
Slaight Family Foundation

A cross between the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Griffin Poetry Prize, the Allan Slaight Awards will be given to performers, writers, and/or creators in five categories: Sharing Wonder (Live or Digital), Sharing Secrets, International Rising Star, Canadian Rising Star, and Lifetime Achievement. The goal is to recognize exceptional performances by exceptional artists.

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/allan-slaight-awards-250-000-120000896.html

For Persi Diaconis’ Next Magic Trick …

For Persi Diaconis’ Next Magic Trick …

By: Erica Klarreich for QuantaMagazine

Persi Diaconis shuffled and cut the deck of cards I’d brought for him, while I promised not to reveal his secrets. “I’m not going to give you the chance,” he retorted. In an empty conference room at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Antonio, Texas, this January, he casually tossed the cards into four piles in a seemingly random motion — yet when he checked, each pile magically had an ace on top. “Of course, it’s easy to get confused when there are a lot of cards, so let me just take four,” he said, scooping up the aces. He swiveled the four-card pile in his hands — always keeping it in the same flat plane — and sometimes the aces were faceup, sometimes facedown, even though they couldn’t possibly have flipped over… Read more at:

https://www.quantamagazine.org/20150414-for-persi-diaconis-next-magic-trick/