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Hollywood’s Magic Castle: The hardest trick is getting in..

Hollywood’s Magic Castle: The hardest trick is getting in..

(CNN)When’s the last time you enjoyed a night of astounding magic and illusion with a festive supper-club crowd gathered in an old Gothic mansion on the edge of Hollywood?

Chances are it’s been a while.Perhaps this mystical experience still awaits you – at the Academy of Magical Arts and its private clubhouse the Magic Castle…

L.A.’s iconic, castle-ish landmark (built by a local banker in 1909) at the foot of the Hollywood Hills has for the last 53 years been the hallowed headquarters of the AMA, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion and advancement of the art of magic.Magic fortressA who’s who of eminent magicians and illusionists have performed at this curious-looking fortress over the years, which pulls in big names – Mac King, Michael Carbonaro, The Amazing Johnathan – that still might escape you.Penn & Teller, David Copperfield and Siegfried & Roy – whose smiling photos hang on the walls – may not have played here, but they’re all proud AMA members.So was Johnny Carson, a big magic fan, who frequented the Magic Castle – and, as the story goes, was once stopped at the door for not arriving in the club’s famously enforced formal evening dress code.Johnny Depp apparently digs the Magic Castle, as does Quentin Tarantino.What better place, you’d think, for anyone to indulge an appetite for the conjuring arts – let alone Oysters Rockefeller, Beef Wellington and whiskey cocktails named Sassy Black Magic?If you can get in. And that’s the snag.  Read more and watch the video at:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/08/travel/magic-castle-los-angeles/index.html

Tape Face: the story of his success…

Tape Face: the story of his success…

He appears on stage dressed in a striped tee shirt, a tongue-in-cheek nod to the legion of mime artists inspired by Marcel Marceau, paired with baggy trousers and a jacket, and carrying a battered satchel. His hair is half spiked up and half slicked down, his eyes are wide and he looks around almost as if he doesn’t know how he got there.

But Christchurch’s Sam Wills … The Boy With Tape on His Face … or Tape Face as he’s now known, is taking the world by storm, this week making it into the Finals round of America’s Got Talent Season 11 and becoming a YouTube sensation.

A fortnight earlier, he was in Edinburgh, a familiar venue, for the Fringe Festival.

He didn’t perform this year, in fact it’s been four years since he has had a full show at the Fringe, but he was back in Edinburgh supporting his wife Felicity, who performed as Lili la Scala in Another F—ing Variety Show, offering some sage wisdom to new comedians, presenting the Fringe Welcome Address and screening his documentary Not Out Of Norway Yet.  Read more…

http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/stage-and-theatre/83848049/tape-face-the-story-of-his-success

Director John Chu and Magician Keith Barry Reveal Secrets from Now You See Me 2 ..

Director John Chu and Magician Keith Barry Reveal Secrets from Now You See Me 2 ..

A good movie is always magical, but Now You See Me 2 is truly movie magic, employing the skills of mentalist, hypnotist and magicianKeith Barry and world-famous illusionist David Copperfield to help create real-life illusions and to train the actors to do enough sleight of hand to make it look as if they really are as talented as their characters in the film.

“We said, ‘Let’s build these things, let’s actually prove to the audience that it’s not cut away, that these actors have trained and are doing these things,‘” director John Chu told Parade.com during an interview at Los Angeles’ Magic Castle to promote the film’s DVD and Blu-ray release. “Whether they believe us or not, that’s a different story. We really wanted to do it for ourselves, and, I think instinctually, you feel the reality of it in that way.”

In Now You See Me 2, the Four Horsemen [J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), and new team member Lula (Lizzy Caplan)] return one year after outwitting the FBI for a comeback performance in hopes of exposing the unethical practices of a tech magnate. The man behind their vanishing act is Walter Mabry (Daniel Radcliffe), who blackmails the Horsemen into pulling off their most impossible heist yet. Their only way to save themelves from the  precarious position he has put them in is to perform one last unprecedented stunt to clear their names and expose Mabry for who he really is.

Also: Watch the story behind Woody Harrelson’s dual role in NYSM2.

Here is more of the interview with Chu and Barry from the event at the Magic Castle:  Read more at:

http://parade.com/505395/paulettecohn/director-john-chu-and-magician-keith-barry-reveal-secrets-from-now-you-see-me-2/