Browsed by
Tag: magic

Magician Dynamo puts on surprise show for refugees in Toxteth..

Magician Dynamo puts on surprise show for refugees in Toxteth..

(Dynamo put on a surprise show for refugees ahead of tonight’s sell out gig at the ECHO Arena PICTURE BY CHRIS BULL FOR THE BRITISH RED CROSS) 

A world renowned magician put on a private show for refugees and asylum seekers inLiverpool today.

Steven ‘Dynamo’ Frayneo showed off his magic skills at the British Red Cross refugee drop-in at St Bride’s Church in Toxteth .

The centre welcomes newly-arrived asylum seekers and refugees – many of whom are homeless – and provides food, clothing, and advice on the asylum process.

Speaking about why he wanted to offer his support, Dynamo said: “If we can get rid of that stigma around refugees and asylum seekers more people will help out.

“It’s very sad when you have situations like the refugee crisis and people are forced to leave and take their families to the other side of the world and start a new life. Some of these families get separated in the process and that is really sad.

“A massive thank you to city of Liverpool and everybody at the drop-in centre for everything that they do.”

The acclaimed performer wowed the crowd with coin and card tricks that have amazed audiences all over the world.  Read more…

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/magician-dynamo-puts-surprise-show-10994297

News Flash: Genii Has Been Sold; Chief Genii to Remain..

News Flash: Genii Has Been Sold; Chief Genii to Remain..

Thanks to Richard Kaufman of Genii and Mel Kientz of Magician’s Life…

I’m delighted to announce that Genii will shortly have a new owner, Randy Pitchford. I couldn’t imagine a more delightful partner in our venture to improve Genii over the coming years. I will remain as editor, my wife will remain as Art Director, and things will continue as they have, but bigger and better.

Randy is the CEO of Gearbox Software, and is one of the most forward-thinking people I’ve ever met. He’s a stupendously intelligent person and businessman. Spending a few hours with him is literally a mind-expanding experience. He is a visionary in addition to being a swell all-around guy who loves magic. Whenever we’re together, we just have a plain old good time. And he’s been a magician for most of his life, so he’s “one of us.” His belief in the value of Genii to the magic community will make possible both its longevity and many improvements in the coming years.
I was able to inform Irene Larsen of my plans before her untimely death, and since I owe my livelihood to her, I was thrilled at how delighted she was by the idea of Randy being the new owner. Her blessing of the deal was essential and it pleased her greatly.
As to what will happen at Genii, the answer is that things will continue as usual, but with more pages each month we’ll be able to bring you additional stories and features. Feel free to join us at http://geniimagazine.com/     Source:Facebook entry.. 

Comic-magician Mike Hammer: From six years of struggle to his own show, theater..

Comic-magician Mike Hammer: From six years of struggle to his own show, theater..

Very nice interview by Robin Leach..

His sarcasm is stunning. His magic mystifies. Put the two together with a healthy helping of irreverence, toss in sassy and rude humor, and you have Mike Hammer, the Don Rickles of charismatic conjuring. Or the George Carlin of the unexplained.

The audiences at his comedy club in Four Queens downtown lap it up and return time and again for more of the silk-gloved insults of his comedy magic show “Get Hammered.” “It’s all in great fun,” said Mike the night I went to see him where one elderly gentleman who’d partied too much for his age fell asleep. It was as if a gift had dropped from heaven for the abrasive comic who wields a magic wand.

Mike leapt off the stage in fake offense and stood over the guest berating his sin of sleep. I haven’t laughed that much in a year of seeing shows here in Las Vegas. The off-kilter, hilarious humor is endless, and everybody was in stitches gasping for air.

Who gets away introducing one audience member as an axe murderer? Who gets away with deflating the tires of a Canadian tractor repairman on his first girlfriend date to Las Vegas?  Read more….

http://lasvegassun.com/vegasdeluxe/2016/mar/01/comic-magician-mike-hammer-from-six-years-struggle/

The science of magic: how tricks are changing real-life research..

The science of magic: how tricks are changing real-life research..

image

The small yellow ball disappears from the magician’s left hand, reappearing moments later, plucked out of thin air, by his right.

Hardly a mind-boggling move at a magic show, but this is an academic meeting – and the disappearing act is being used to punctuate the finer points of taxonomy.

As the inaugural conference on the Science of Magic at Goldsmiths, University of London, revealed, the study of magic is not the stuff of Harry Potter – a character mentioned just once in the day, and sarcastically – but an actual research tool, studied in the pursuit of knowledge about perception, belief and even politics.

Such research was presented at the Science of Magic conference last week to around 80 attendees, made up of local students, visiting researchers, creative educators, and magicians themselves. (Where normally bored listeners fiddle with phones, this audience shuffled decks of cards.)

Many attendees were a hybrid of academic and magician. Conference convenor Gustav Kuhn is a senior lecturer in psychology at the south London university, but he’s also been a semi-professional magician since his teens. While the psychological principles used by magicians helped trigger his career path, he realised not far along in his studies that one could inform the other. “I started to draw these links between magic and psychology,” he said. “Quite a lot of the questions that magicians are interested in are actually really quite similar to the kind of things that psychologists study as well.” Read more…

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2016-02/23/science-of-magic