illusionists – Page 2 – Magic Roadshow

‘I think the BBC has lost the plot’: Paul Daniels on talent ‘freak’ shows and why modern magic leaves him cold..

July 13, 2014 Rick Carruth

Very nice and thorough article by Sarah Oliver for the MailOnline..

Primetime TV has no new ideas, says the former king of magic… who’s still stunned that his show – with 15 million viewers – was axed. But do Paul Daniels and his devoted Debbie have one last trick up their sleeve?

I would have liked to have run the BBC because I honestly think they’ve lost the plot,’ said Paul Daniels

Paul Daniels loves an audience, any audience.

By the time I arrive at the Thames-side pub where I am to meet him and his wife, ‘The Lovely Debbie McGee’, he is already standing by the bar with one leg in the air looking pretty nimble for a man who’s four years shy of 80.

He’s showing off a well-turned ankle inside a candy-pink sock.

Since there are no other customers it is for benefit of the lone barmaid and no, he’s not about to levitate or saw it off – he’s just trying to prove his footwear matches the stripes on his polo shirt.

The point is, that he can’t help himself: he has to entertain…( Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

Three Orlando illusionists may hold the key to the future of magic..

April 16, 2014 Rick Carruth

Good article by Seth Kubersky for Orlando Weekly outlining the future for magic and illusions in central Florida…

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of observing many masters of magic, both world-famous (David Copperfield, Penn & Teller) and under-appreciated (Asi Wind, Jeff McBride), but I’ve usually had to leave Central Florida to do so. Orlando’s tourist industry is built around “magic,” but despite our area’s extensive population of wizards and fairies, there’s precious little actual prestidigitation being performed around town. Sure, you can still find trick demonstrations inside magic shops at some local theme parks (though the Magic Kingdom’s are sadly long gone), and a new Great Magic Hall is scheduled to open at Kissimmee’s Old Town later in 2014. But though O-town offers evening attractions built around jousting knights, mystery-solving sleuths and surreal circus stunts, no one has succeeded with a large-scale illusion production like you’ll find in Las Vegas. Lately, however, I’ve become aware of a more modest magicians’ resurgence…

March 13, 2014 Rick Carruth

Thanks to Bridget McManus for this article in the Sidney Morning Herald..

When David Copperfield reigned as king of small-screen magic, the ancient genre was a staple of evening entertainment and every talent quest and variety show included a budding showman peddling his bag of tricks. But since then, apart from the occasional special, and Penn and Teller’s gallant but counterproductive attempt to rekindle interest with their 2011 trick-busting contest, Fool Us, television magic seems to have done a disappearing act. In a time when digital sophistication makes wonderment commonplace, magic has been relegated to dedicated Foxtel channels and the odd entrant on Australia’s Got Talent. Even the 2014 Royal Variety Performance cut its traditional magic act, with one Green Guide reader lamenting, “What a bore. Where were the acrobats and magicians?”

However, a new breed of illusionists putting a fresh spin on old tricks has brought magic back…..

Tinker, tailor, soldier… illusionist? When the CIA tried its hand at magic..

February 4, 2014 Rick Carruth

By Tom Scocca for Boston.com ..

“The instant the performer sees the spectator take a cigarette, cigar, or pipe, he takes the packet of matches from his pocket, tears off one match, and holds packet and match ready to ignite the match,” the magician John Mulholland wrote in a manual in the 1950s. “He does these things openly because what he does can only be looked upon as a friendly and courteous gesture.”

Mulholland’s instructions were written not for stage magicians, but for the covert operatives of the CIA. At the height of the Cold War – in the era of nuclear missiles and submarines, amid the tangled cloak-and-dagger maneuverings of espionage and counterespionage – the agency was also secretly doing something else. It was trying to learn to do magic…

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