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A Magician Happy to Reveal the Secrets of His Tricks (on Mondays)

A Magician Happy to Reveal the Secrets of His Tricks (on Mondays)

On Monday night, a dozen young magicians gathered around a long table in the Atrium public plaza just off East 54th Street and began fanning decks of cards and making coins disappear.

The leader, Eli Bosnick, 27, called the meeting to order with some announcements, and then began checking members’ assigned homework on tricks or self-promotion.

Mr. Bosnick is a professional magician and a leader of a new guard of magic enthusiasts in New York. He serves as a self-described “dad figure” of these Monday night meet-ups that he said he started several years back as magic “jams.” They are akin to improvisational music sessions where members share ideas and network.

“Our slogan is: Good magic, terrible people,” Mr. Bosnick said, explaining that the facetiousness in the phrase was “part of our dark humor.”  Read more…..

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/nyregion/a-magician-happy-to-reveal-the-secrets-of-his-tricks-on-mondays.html?_r=0

The Making of The Millionaire’s Magician..

The Making of The Millionaire’s Magician..

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From Jonathan Fields…  "Last year, I stumbled upon a fascinating article in The New York Times about Steve Cohen, a magician who offered exclusive shows out of a suite at the Waldorf Astoria and was flown around the world to give private shows for heads of state, captains of industry and celebs.The story struck me because here was a guy making a serious living doing something very cool that most others would consider a hobby or a side-job. He’s a classic example of a Career Renegade.So, I made a note to reach out to Steve to interview him. And, through an odd twist of fate (aka the Universe speaking up), we ended up being brought together in a completely different way and working together.“

"But, I’ve always wanted to share a lot more detail about how Steve transformed himself into the wildly successful Millionaire’s Magician and launched his now famous magic show in NYC.As we all know, getting information from a magician is no easy feat (the old “never reveal your secrets” thing), but in the interview that follows, Steve was incredibly candid about his business journey. And his story is rich with lessons not just for magician’s, but for anyone starting any business built around a passion, especially one considered by many to be more of a hobby than a serious income.Enjoy…”

http://www.jonathanfields.com/the-making-of-the-millionaires-magician/

(Be sure to sign up for Jonathan’s blog updates while you’re there.. it’s great)

This Is Your Brain on Magic..

This Is Your Brain on Magic..

Psychologists and neuroscientists have an unlikely ally in their quest to understand human nature: professional magicians.

“I’m going to flip through here and I want you to glance at a card in the middle,” Jay Olson tells his volunteer, offering the deck of cards in his hands. “Not the bottom one—that’s kind of simple for me—but one in the middle. Okay?”

She okays. He flips; she glances.

Olson, a graduate student in psychiatry at McGill University, puts the cards back in their box and hands it to her. “So which one did you choose?” The 10 of hearts, she tells him. “The 10 of hearts,” he repeats. “Great. So now if you could just examine the outside of the box to make sure it’s normal”—she does—“and then take that box and just close it right inside your hands.”

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/02/this-is-your-brain-on-magic/385468/

A Box of Tricks, Studio Size..

A Box of Tricks, Studio Size..

SANDY KEENAN wrote this for the New York Times the last week of 2014. I had just begun my hiatus and missed publishing this nice article on the home, and magic, of Joshua Jay……..

Bondage devices have a casual place in Joshua Jay’s studio apartment in Chelsea.

Right there, out in the open, you can see metal thumb restraints, handcuffs of every ilk and a full-body straitjacket with leather straps.

“I guess I never realized how many sex toys we have around here,” said Anna Kloots, 25, Mr. Jay’s fiancée and assistant, “but these are all way too valuable to use.”

Mr. Jay, 33, is a magician whose home is also his archive for books and props that belonged to his heroes and predecessors.

He displays a pair of white gloves that were worn by Richard Valentine Pitchford, the British conjurer who practiced under the name Cardini. Mr. Pitchford honed his card tricks in chilly World War I trenches and became so accustomed to working with gloves, then unusual among magicians, that he continued to wear them throughout his long career. (Mr. Jay has his war medals, too.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/25/garden/a-box-of-tricks-studio-size-.html?_r=0