Combined Blogs

I think 4 blogs is too much for anyone, lol. So I took two of my blogs and combined them into one. It's actually a lot more like the old artistofmystery.com blog without the historical stuff. The magic history will remain over at deancarnegie.blogspot.com. The graves will remain in a blog all their own as well, which is deadconjurers.blogspot.com.

I've been so INTO the magic history and the graves of late I wasn't doing anything with my art blog or the daily blog so I just combined them.

The cool thing is, I turned carnegiemagic.blogspot.com into a super EXCLUSIVE blog, which means invitations only. There isn't anything there right now, it's all been removed. I've got some really cool ideas for this but that is for later in the year.

A Little Burned UP

Read this article from Forbes.com. Wow did that article ever make me think.  The author says that 'stage performers' are on the decline and then lists; magicians, jugglers, clowns and dancers. That tells me the author has no idea what he or she is talking about because for one, I don't know any clowns that do stage acts.

The market for full time dancers is pretty small also though on the rise due to shows like So You Think You Can Dance and Americas Got Talent. Jugglers on the other hand are very adaptable to stage and non-stage events. You can find jugglers on cruise ships. comedy clubs, Las Vegas Revues and more. Then you have magicians. The majority of magicians who do stage acts is probably not all that big. Granted the illusionists do stage acts. But magicians are found doing trade shows, hospitality suites, corporate banquets, restaurants, festivals, cruises, schools, and on and on.

The number of full time performers in any of those fields is small. The number of jobs in those fields is also fairly small compared to those of retails, or restaurant or other kinds of regular 9-5 jobs. There are also far more part time performers doing the magic, juggling and clowning sides of things. Did the author factor in full time vs. part time? Did the author know there was a difference?

Is the author aware that traditionally in a down economy the one area that sees the least amount of loss is entertainment? I have a friend who is a balloon twister. He works 7 days a week and usually has several gigs per day and turns down work. On the other hand I have a friend who is a hypnotist who moved to Las Vegas and has trouble getting work. But that is largely due to their being a HUGE amount of performers in one place. I have another hypnotist friend who travels the country and he's as busy as he has ever been.

In the end, for the writer of the article to say that 'technology and movies' are the culprit for killing the jobs of stage performers is just not accurate.  Movies and television did seriously damage the live performing arts venues back in the 1920s and 30s. The live performing venues like Vaudeville theaters and Nightclubs almost completely vanished. THAT was the time you could use the excuse of technology and movies. However, smart performers adapted and changed with the times as they continue to do today. Performing arts is a highly specialized field, its never going to be something that the masses go into for an occupation. But at the same time, live entertainment always survives. People still go to concerts, the theatre, performing art centers, fairs and festivals and the like. They also see performance art in many other non traditional places like shopping malls, outdoor events and so on.

Live performance art is not the same as a typewriter or video rental stores. Watching a performer on an ipad or on the internet, is no different than watching them on TV because its a recorded viewing. But people will still go see live performances whether they be theatre, concerts or whatever.  It will always be here.

One other point to be made. Entertainment is not just a product of the US. Good entertainers can and do travel all over the globe presenting their shows.  By the way, I read this article this morning, in between doing two stage shows. Oh the irony.

More on Houdini & Kellar

I just posted a blog about Harry Kellar and Harry Houdini over at Carnegie: Magic Detective. But I wanted to write a bit more about these two performers. For whatever reason I can't get enough of Kellar and Houdini. The more I find out about each of them, the more interesting they become.

Kellar of course was the first big named magician in America. Robert Heller and Herrmann the Great preceded him, but Heller was English and Herrmann was from France. Kellar was born in Erie PA so he was a native born son. It's said that Harry Kellar was the inspiration for the character of the Wizard in the Wizard of OZ. His posters SOLD his show. He was around before radio/TV/internet/movies, all of it. He had newspapers and outdoor signage and that was it.

There are a number of effects in Kellar's show that have always intrigued me, probably because I saw posters for them when I was starting out in magic and the images stuck with me. Two in particular were Flyto and OH!. Flyto was an illusion invented by Charles Morritt and it consisted of two upright rectangular cabinets on the stage set several feet apart. A woman would go into one and a man into the other and instantly they would change places.

OH! was kind of a challenge vanish, I think that's the best way to describe it. Both of these effects, with their original methods would probably not work well today but they deserve looking into and I'm doing just that! I can tell you there is something I'm borrowing from Kellar that will be part of my show later in the year. I can't wait!

HOUDINI amazes me about once a day. I would never have imagined that after all these years, new things about Houdini would continually show up. But new photos, new posters, new information on Houdini comes up all the time! Just tonight my friend John Cox over at WildaboutHoudini sent me a link to a Houdini photo I'd never seen. I'm hoping that eventually some of the lost Houdini posters and even props show up again.

In regards to his performing material I've always been intrigued with the escapes but lately it's his magic that is pulling me in. I never in a million years considered doing the East Indian Needle Trick, but I'm giving it some serious consideration now. It's an effect that has danger (real danger) and suspense and it appears totally impossible. It's frankly brilliant and Houdini recognized the trick for how powerful it was. He would do it in newspaper offices, he even did it on the stage at the Hippodrome Theatre, one of the largest stages in the world! Watch for it in my act, because it's coming.

Houdini's Walking Through a Brick wall is another piece that is simply genius. Though I don't expect to Walk Through a Brick Wall anytime soon (it won't fit in my Van). And frankly, I have a new found respect for the Milk Can after having done a ton of research on it. The Milk Can restarted a stalled career for Houdini and then when he was ready to replace it with the Water Torture Cell, he found continual uses for the Milk Can.

It's funny that Houdini and Kellar didn't really become friends until after Kellar retired. Houdini always looked up to Kellar which is amazing in itself because Houdini didn't really look up to anyone, at least not in the magic world.

But their relationship is a valuable lesson. No matter how big you get, there is always someone out there you can look up to. No matter how famous you are, there are people out there that you can admire.

There is one more lesson. Examining their lives is a great help to modern performers. Studying their contrasting styles and approaches to magic reveals so much incredible and useful information for the modern performer. As a working magician, or even as a hobbyist, you just can't go wrong studying those that came before us. I do, and I'm constantly inspired by these unbelievable showman of yesterday.

If you are interested in learning more about Houdini or Kellar here is a list of books that will help you.  I used all these books and a few others in my research for blog at Carnegie:Magic Detective on Harry Kellar and Houdini

Books on Kellar
Kellars Wonders by Mike Caveney and Bill Miesel, MAGIC Words Publishing
A Magician's Tour-Revisited by Harry Kellar and Phil Temple
Illustrated Magic by Ottokar Fischer
The Illustrated History of Magic by Milbourne Christopher
MAGIC A Pictorial History by David Price

Books on Houdini
The Secret Life of HOUDINI by Bill Kalush and Larry Sloman
HOUDINI: The Career of Erich Weiss by Kenneth Silverman
HOUDINI The Untold Story by Milbourne Christopher
HOUDINI Art and Magic by Brooke Kamin Rapaport
HOUDINI The Key by Houdini's Ghost/Patrick Culliton

RIP Tim Conover

I have to admit, I did not know Tim Conover. He lived in my area, in Northern VA when I was younger. I saw him on a local TV station once and was stunned by the magic he did. It wasn't long after this that I got to see Tim perform his coin magic live at a magic gathering in D.C.. He could do things I never knew were possible at the time. I was unfamiliar with the Ramsey material back then and was told it was extremely difficult, so this gave me an even higher appreciation of his skill.

I had heard that Tim became a full time performer and the next time I saw him was at The World Magic Summit in Washington. This time he was not doing any close-up magic but instead he was doing his mentalism act. I was blown away. It was unusual and different and quite astonishing.

I'd hear Tim's name come up from time to time as I knew many of the same people he did. But the only time I would cross paths with Tim would be conventions and I never saw him by himself so that I could say hello and introduce myself. Why I never tried to reach him via email is beyond me, I guess you just take for granted that people will be around forever.

A few days ago the news came out that Tim had passed away. It hit me rather hard. I guess I always expected to meet him and get to know him eventually. I never even knew he was ill.  I've read all the comments that people have made about Tim on Facebook and a recent piece on The Magic Newswire. It's clear that he was a very special person and it's my loss for not having met him and it's the magic world's loss for loosing such a great artist. It's also clear, that his passing has left a hole in the hearts of those that knew him, and frankly even for me. It's funny that we as magicians focus on the magic part of things but a person's life is always so much more. Reading the comments by his friends show that Tim was a caring, thoughtful, and passionate human being.

My prayers go out to his family and friends who are grieving. I hope that as a community we can do something to honor his memory, whether it be an annual award in his name or something.

Rest in Peace Timothy Conover