David Devant Painting

Another favorite of mine. Not the most popular of my paintings but I really like it. Devant was an English Magician who worked with John Nevil Maskelyne for a time and is considered Britian's greatest conjurer. He had some marvelous creations and maybe his most ambitious was something he called "The Mascot Moth". He said the idea came to him in a dream when he saw a moth hover of the flame of a candle and vanish into the smoke.

In Devant's illusion, a woman dressed in a moth-like outfit would disappear from the stage in full view of the audience with no coverings at all. This effect was recreated for the Doug Henning MERLIN Musical on Broadway in the 1980s. A few years ago it was a featured effect at the LA Conference on Magic History.

In my painting, you'll see a figure of a moth on Devant's lapel. It's probably the one big tip off as to who it is. His mustache is not unlike that of Dr. Wilford Brodie, so some might mistake the painting for Brodie, but in fact it is David Devant.

This piece is in acrylics and is 16x20.

Rope Escape Wednesday Night

I had the honor of doing a show for a great family audience of about 100 people on Wednesday. One of the things I decided to do in my show was a Rope Escape that I sort of learned from Steve Baker.  He gave me permission to use his routine and I apply it to my routine.

So I get two people up to tie my hands on Wednesday night. It's been almost a year since I last did this and frankly these two people tied me like they were out to win a prize. My hands have never discolored so quickly. I usually give myself a minute to get out, given that only my hands are tied. But for whatever reason this night I said 30 seconds.

Did I mention they tied me super tight? As I began the escape in front of everyone the first thing I noticed was I couldn't even twist my hands around. The bonds were so tight that it prevented any movement of my wrists. I could hear the time keeping calling out 15 seconds 20 seconds...in the back of my head I'm trying to figure out what to do because 30 seconds is almost here and I don't think I'm going to pull this one off (a minute is what I need)

27 seconds, 28, seconds, 29 seconds, THIRTY! And I'm OUT!!!! Not exactly 100% sure how either, but I was out. This is not a fake piece of rope or a special tricky tie. It's all legit and they tied my hands in a manner that I'd never encountered before. My wrists hurt like crazy and the rope marks were clearly embedded in my skin. But I got out!

Note to self, next time tell them 1 minute

19th Century Four Walling

I'm having a blast working on my Magic Detective Blog. I can't get enough of the history of magic. But I have to say that the 'Go To HELLer' Blogs wore me out. I still have another Heller blog yet to do and I've decided to put it off for a while because I'm tired, lol. Give me something easy like painting, lol!

Actually, I'm working on a piece on Raymond right now that has to be done pretty soon (personal deadlines). But I wanted to mention something about Heller that I found interesting. Back in Heller's day you rarely got hired to do a show. Instead, you had to rent the hall and do all the promotion. Basically, Heller invented what we call today 4 Walling! If you aren't familiar with that, it's the technique used by the Casinos in Las Vegas. The shows lease the theatre and have to pretty much pay for everything. The hotel casino has very little risk in those cases. If a show makes no money they get kicked out and a new one comes in....but you still owe the money.

Though in Heller's case he knew what he was doing. He died with an estate worth over $350,000.00. That is 19th Century money, it would be in the millions today.

Heller, died in 1878 and was WAY ahead of his time.

My Life In Steampunk

I just learned about Steampunk over the weekend. Well, actually, it's something that has interested me for years but I didn't know there was a name for it. The design concepts in Steampunk were things that I always have gravitated towards. Plus, I've been spending so much time researching turn of the century magic history that I feel like I'm in the Victorian age!

If you don't know what it is, I'll try and give you a definition but it's best to do a google search. Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s.^[1] Specifically, steampunk involves an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century and often Victorian era Britain—that incorporates prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy. Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology or futuristic innovations as Victorians may have envisioned them; in other words, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, art, etc. This technology may include such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne or real technologies like the computer but developed earlier in an alternate history. (that very long description is from Wikipedia)

 It's so ironic that I found there is a whole sub-culture devoted to Steampunk because my style of magic has been going in that direction for a while. Like I said I just had no idea there was a name for it. I've already adapted a few routines to this style. I don't think my whole act will go this way but it's fun to explore.

The Underground Magic Theatre/Upstairs

Back in 2002 two friends and I built a magic theatre. It was a small thing, 50 theater style seats, with a make-shift museum that you had to walk through to get to the theatre area. It was very cool and very popular. We called it the Underground Magic Theatre and it was the first, before all the other magic undergrounds and the like. The reason we called it that was simple, we were actually underneath a shopping center so the title fit really well.

One of the last things I did before we closed it down was video tape one of the evening shows. I turned this tape into a DVD called 'The Best of The Underground Magic Theatre' and I typically offer it for sale after my theatre shows. It's a little dated now, the DVD menus have improved since I did that DVD, the music in the show is also a bit dated at this time. But it's a fine record of what went on in that little theatre.

Now I have to share with you the 'Above Ground' part of the story. My niece who is 5 has a copy of the DVD.  To my surprise this is one of the DVDs she watches over and over and over again. She can recite all the patter from the show and the jokes, lol. Well last week my parents were out visiting my brother and his wife and their daughter. My niece decides she is going to put on a 'little show' for them and proceeds to get out her Hannah Montana microphone, and she gets the special showbiz theatre lights set up that my Dad built for her, and she puts on a show. Apparently during the introduction for her show she said that it was going to be 'In the Underground Magic Theatre Above Ground!' LOL!!!! That is hysterical to me. Too too funny. I only wish I had seen the show she did because apparently she sang some songs, did some skits and made a bunch of jokes that were rather humorous from what I hear.

I guess the UMT (as I call it) is living on afterall.

*Just found out she actually said "Underground Theatre-Upstairs" but it has the same meaning.

2011 New Year

I don't usually make resolutions for the new year. What I do instead is set goals. But I think this year will be a little different in that I'm setting goals AND making a new years resolutions. My resolution is to stick to my goals better, lol. I know that sounds like a joke but it isn't. Because I write everything down, it's easy to track when I did well and when I got off course.

For those of you who need some motivation or help getting your goals in order, I'd like to suggest a book for you. The book is called "The Success Principles" by Jack Canfield. This book covers more than just goals, it also covers methods of motivation, reasons why we don't do things, suggestions on improvement and many other things. I love the way it discusses the various topics because it gives examples of other people who have done the same things we do and how they overcame them. Or often it tells how others used the principles and succeeded.

Jack Canfield is one of the authors of the highly popular Chicken Soup for the Soul books. It's not one of those books that you read once and then put it on your shelf. My suggestion is reading it and then going back and actively doing the things it suggests. Don't be afraid to mark it up, write in the blank spaces, use a highlighter on it. My copy is all marked up, it has book marks everywhere in a dozen or so different chapters. I find when I am continuously reading the book it really helps me stay on track.

The Success Principles is available through Amazon.com