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Month: July 2015

Widow of Famed Magician & Houdini Biographer Scammed Out of $1M: Court Docs..

Widow of Famed Magician & Houdini Biographer Scammed Out of $1M: Court Docs..

UPPER WEST SIDE — With the wave of a wand, her fortune vanished.

A father-and-daughter scam team cast a spell over the frail and elderly widow of a renowned 20th century magician and looted her out of $1 million, court papers charge.

The family of Maurine Christopher says Santos and Jessica Molina posed as her caretakers but were really just controlling her bank accounts to write checks to themselves, to use her credit cards to purchase items at Victoria’s Secret and Juicy Couture and to get her to auction off hundreds of thousands of dollars of magic memorabilia.

The Molinas are accused of siphoning away Christopher’s money over the course of several years — despite the city’s Adult Protective Services twice opening investigations into allegations of financial elder abuse.

And even though Christopher died at 92 in 2013, her family claims in court papers filed July 16 in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court that the scheme hasn’t stopped. They accuse Santos of continuing to live illegally in her apartment in the Turin, a luxury apartment on Central Park West.  Read more… ( photo courtesy of Wikipedia.com)

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150727/upper-west-side/widow-of-famed-magician-houdini-biographer-scammed-out-of-1m-court-docs

Champions of Magic: Jade wins over fans in male-dominated industry..

Champions of Magic: Jade wins over fans in male-dominated industry..

“My first outfit was a tuxedo. Because that’s what all the guys were wearing,” says Jade, headliner at the upcoming Champions of Magic show in San Francisco. It didn’t take long before she realized she could carve her own trail in an industry largely dominated by men. “Wait a minute, I thought, … I can wear a dress, or whatever I want. I’m a woman!” In 1990 she won the “International Brotherhood of Magicians’ Magic Competition.” Over the next two decades Jade would rise to the top, becoming a globally recognized personality. Employing an act featuring stunning costumes — many traditional Chinese gowns such as qipaos (cheongsams) and dragon robes — whimsical and inspiring music, and tricks that emphasized the use of the entire stage, and even the audience, Jade soon found herself with a loyal following. Many of those were young girls. “They weren’t many female mentors in magic at the time,” she notes. Then came the invitation… … to perform for the royal family of Monaco. Read more..
http://www.starkinsider.com/2015/07/champions-of-magic-jade-video-interview-san-francisco.html?utm_content=bufferf0ec8&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Sky News magician ‘videobomb’ was PR stunt in effort to get TV deal..

Sky News magician ‘videobomb’ was PR stunt in effort to get TV deal..

Reporter Ashish Joshi allowed Young and Strange to film ‘shrinking man’ illusion behind him to help them land TV show …

A clip showing a “shrinking man” illusion being performed on Westminster Green behind Sky reporter Ashish Joshi apparently during a live broadcast has been viewed more than 180,000 times on YouTube after going viral on social media.

But it emerged on Friday that the clip was staged, and was not part of a live Sky News broadcast. Acting independently of his employers, Joshi allowed the magicians to film the stunt outside parliament. Graphics closely mirroring the channel’s text and branding were added afterwards. Read more and watch the video..  http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jul/24/sky-news-magician-videobomb-fake-broadcast-young-strange

‘Penn & Teller: Fool Us’ fan recap: Magic? There’s an app for that..

‘Penn & Teller: Fool Us’ fan recap: Magic? There’s an app for that..

By Kayleigh Roberts for Entertainment Weekly..

Full disclosure: I’m a huge fan of Penn and Teller. I’ve seen them live in Vegas. I loved their Showtime series. Heck, I was even a fan of Penn Jillette’s guest-star stint on Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I watched the first season of Penn & Teller: Fool Us on YouTube and was super-psyched when I heard that The CW had picked it up for a second season.

The show’s premise and structure, in case you’re not familiar, is as follows: Professional magicians take the stage to perform their best illusions for Penn and Teller. If P&T know how the trick is done, they give hints that let the magician know they know without giving away the magic to the audience. If they don’t know how the trick was pulled off, the magician(s) in question win the chance to perform as part of Penn & Teller’s long-running and hugely popular Vegas show—obviously, a major opportunity for any magician. Viewers are treated to a handful of hopefuls as they look to bamboozle P&T;  then, at the end of each episode, the judges perform one of their famous and world-class illusions, which is always a treat.

Here are this week’s hopeful foolers’ tricks, ranked from meh to magical:

http://community.ew.com/2015/07/21/penn-teller-fool-us-shoot-to-kill/