Carnegie's Weekly Conjuring!

In early 2017, I started a new project called Weekly Wizardry. Actually, when it began I didn't even have a name. I just knew I wanted to slowly build my online presence via video. So I chose Facebook as my platform and began to put up weekly magic trick videos. The videos are about a minute long, quick visual tricks. The first one is still the best viewed of them all, with over 2500 views as of this moment.

I'm going to be changing the name of the project to Carnegie's Weekly Conjuring or Carnegie's Conjuring soon. For now, here are 4 of my favorites. When the project is complete there will be 50+ videos!

The Return of the Escape Artist

I really thought by now I'd be out of the escape business. A health issue that started about 10 years ago really put a damper on it so I pretty much dropped all escapes. But the recent request by AtlasObscura.com to participate in their Houdini Escapes DC event, changed all that.

I decided to do a 30 minute escape act with chains, locks, handcuffs, ropes and more. And I jumped in full force, which was a mistake. After the first couple days of rehearsing a serious problem crept up. My wrists and arms were turning black and blue. It was my own fault. I was trying to put on cuffs that were just too tight. This then caused them to swell and I continued to put them on and then they bruised. All the vintage cuffs got dropped because they were too tight. I was really upset about this, but it was unavoidable. However....

I remembered a ploy that Houdini used on cuffs he wasn't sure about. He would have them put onto other cuffs and not on his own wrists. They were still among the mix of cuffs and looked really dramatic, but were not a problem when it came to escaping. So I used a pair of darbies in the middle of several pair of Smith and Wesson and Peerless cuffs. I finished it off with a pair of thumbscrews which can be held in place with a padlock. It made an impressive looking escape.

Houdini used his 'ghost house' to escape from. This was a small black curtained cabinet that he would

kneel into to escape from his cuffs. I used a hooped curtain from a sub-trunk routine. The cuffs came off one at a time and were thrown from the curtain enclosure. The last thing to come off were the thumbscrews which I did in the open.

OH, I almost forgot, the OPENING number! This involved several escapes back to back to back. A chain/lock escape, an escape from a pair of Hamburg 8s, and then a reverse escape. I tossed a 2 foot length of rope into a sack, reached in and came out a moment later with my hands securely tied. It got a good laugh from the audience!

The final escape in the show was the 100 foot rope tie escape which I have not done in ages. I found two people in the audience to tie me up. It took them about 3 minutes to do the tying. The escape took  about 2 minutes. The 100 foot rope tie escape is fun because it's never the same no matter how many times it's done. Everyone takes a different approach to the tying. Some people are very serious about it and do a very firm job. Others don't quite have the knack and I'll need to give them suggestions along the way, like KEEP IT TIGHT and tie it around the wrists, or don't forget this or that. The two people who tied me during the Houdini event did a pretty good job.

So is that it? Have I put the escape stuff back in the closet for good? Actually no. I decided to keep it out and put it back into my show. It's going to be a regular feature. I'll be adding several other escapes as well with the addition of something dangerous to escape from. I already have a couple dangers escapes I can add, so we'll see if I use one of those or get something different. Keep watching!!!!!

When Experience Takes Over

Recently, I was hired to do a show that frankly, I thought would be just like any other gig. But when I arrived I discovered it was in fact for an audience of 40-50 teenagers. For those in the know, most performers would rather step into a den of lions covered in raw meat than take on a room full of 21st Century teens.

I'll tell you why many feel this way by sharing my story further. As the teens entered the room where the show was to be, a group of 8-10 of them greeted me with the following, "magic is fake", "ain't no such thing as magic", "you're a fraud", "you ain't foolin nobody", "this is stupid, magic ain't real". I would imagine that this greeting would unnerve just about anyone. But was I unnerved? No. Because I have been in this position before. I can tell you though that I quickly altered the entire show set. 98% of the material I had planned to do was OUT. I shifted gears into highly visual, stunning material.

When I started the show, I altered my introduction by giving them an explanation/apology. I began with this. "I'm so very sorry, apparently there was some misunderstanding or miscommunication. Some people here are under the assumption that I do sorcery, or witchcraft, or black magic or something along those lines. I do not. What I present is theatrical magic. I create the illusion that magic exists using purely natural means along with psychological principles and other secret techniques."

It was at that point that I brought out a Rubics Cube. I mentioned how a Rubics Cube is a puzzle, and many people think of magic as a puzzle, while some think of magic as real. In truth, it's kind of in between those two lines. Then I tossed up the mixed up cube and when it landed in my hands it was solved. Reaction: blew them away! They were falling over themselves in shock.

Then I presented an audience volunteer trick which had a humorous slant to it. The audience laughed at all the right moments. The spectator was bewildered as was everyone else. Then I turned the tables on them and made the following routine happen in the hands of the spectator, as if they possessed the magic. Again, they were dumbfounded.

The point of all this is, I never could have pulled this off had I not encountered this type of group in the past. I did not treat them as children, I treated them as adults. I did not try and act cool or speak their language, I simply showed them my talent in a manner that I knew they could relate too. The end result was a standing ovation. Yes, a standing ovation from a group of teens who insulted me when they first arrived.

If you're wondering what I closed with....Sawing A Spectator in Half using the Harbin Bow Saw. Kind of a big prop, but has a great surprise ending. It delivered the needed results.

Had I forged ahead with the original show I had planned to do, they would have eaten me alive. I expect that more than half would have probably left before the show was over in truth. But with the changes I made, they all stayed and had a great time. Experience, it sure comes in handy sometimes!

Illusionist Carnegie Talks about HOUDINI and Magic History on the Radio

January 18th at 10pm PST, 1am East Coast Time, I was interviewed by Jim Tyson for Spaced Out Radio. We talked a great deal about the life of HOUDINI as well as other parts of Magic History. Jim also had some great questions about my career as well. The good news is it's available to listen to online right now! http://www.blogtalkradio.com/spacedoutradio/2015/01/19/jan-18-201510pmpst-history-of-magic-mysteries-of-houdini-w-dean-carnegie

Spaced Out Radio is a new online radio show dealing with the unknown, paranoramal, UFOs and things of that nature. I couldn't help but be reminded of the paranormal part of the show when during the interview the power suddenly went out in my home. I remained 'in the dark' the entire time, but it was still quite fun.

During the last half hour of the show I present a card trick ON THE RADIO. The great thing, because the show is recorded, you can listen to the replay and actually follow along with the card trick. You'll need 9 cards from a deck of cards.

So, if you've got some time and like magic and magic history, give it a listen!

My Column Coming To An End 2015

I just submitted the final 4 columns for my All Things Magical column that I write for the KidAbra Journal. The Journal is the official magazine for members of Kidabra International. It's basically an association of Kidshow performers. Seven years ago, the editor Mark Daniel, asked if I would consider writing a column for his magazine. He had heard through the grapevine that I was very creative. I decided to give it a shot, thinking at the time I might write for a year, maybe two. By the time my column finishes it will have run for 8 years total.

I created a number of really interesting tricks for the column. I also gave the readers some of the effects from my own working repetiore. A couple times I veered from trick writing to book reviews and the occasional essay on magic.  It was 'ALL' Things Magical afterall, I figured I could write whatever I wanted. Only one time in the history of my column did something NOT get published and that was an article I wrote about a dear friend of mine. The main reason it wasn't published is because Mark felt there was more to add and frankly, so did I. That one, never saw the light of day, but will likely make it into print down the road.

I think my column was the only one in the magazine that was sent in completely finished and formated. That was a fairly recent change however, like within the last few years. Prior to that I just mailed in the photos and text and let them do it.

By the way, in 2010, I took over as the Cover Designer for the magazine. NOT an easy task either when you see some of the photos I have to work with!!!!! But I think the covers have looked really good for the most part. There were one or two that I wasn't thrilled with, but the editors preferred those versions over my favorite versions. I guess that's what I get for sending in a couple different versions to choose from.

I want to add, Mark and Tami Daniel have been so great to work with over the years. They put out a first class magazine. Even though it's supposed to be for kid show performers, the magazine is filled with columns on marketing, sales, promotion, showmanship and so much more. It really is a magazine for Professional performers.

Eventually, I will gather up all the columns and put them into a book, but not right now. I've got too much on my plate for that. Before any sort of book comes out, I'll actually be manufacturing and releasing one of the effects from my column.

I'm guessing my columns will run out some time by mid year 2015. So if you get the magazine, you'll still get to enjoy my column a few more times before it's gone.

New Promo Video/Commercial

Here is a new promotional video for Carnegie Magic. Actually, it's a new Carnegie & Denise video to be honest. Lots of old footage and some new footage as well. We must be crazy because we are working on two totally different styles of shows at the same time, Modern Illusion Show and Steampunk Illusion Show. Oh well, you do what you've got to do.

If you are interested, Denise and I will be performing at the Historic North Theatre in Danville VA on November 1st. We are very excited to be returning to the North Theatre again this year to perform for the area residents. We will be debuting our Disectolator Illusion, FINALLY!

I Never Rest or How I Spent My Vacation

After three none stop months of shows, I decided to take a week off to visit my folks. My visits always seem to have some work related thing involved. My Dad and I build props for the show and typically my Mom is busy sewing something for the show. Over the years my Dad and I have built a sub-trunk, a tip over trunk, a number of smaller effects and refurbished a few older ones. My Mom has sewn mostly drapes for my tables, though one time she sewed a bag that I use in a magic routine. And this time she sewed another bag, but a very special one for my show. I wrote an article about it over at the Magic Detective site.

This time my Dad and I set about building an 'illusionette', which basically means it's not a large scale illusion, but rather a small scale illusion. This particular one involves cutting my arm into three pieces and then zig-zaging the center section of arm up and out of the way of the others. It's a wonderful effect.

The photo to the left is a very early construction photo. The upper boxes and sitting on the middle box and the lower box was not started. All the magic happens in the upper three boxes, but due to the shape of a persons body, you have to do something to increase the height of the three boxes to be sure they are level or fairly close to level with your arm.

The next photo you'll see all three boxes stacked together. The center box has a door which opens to allow you to see all the way through the box. The row of boxes on the top is, again, where the magic happens, the other two are just to raise it up.

Quite a bit of work went into the building of this piece of apparatus. The great thing about working with my Dad is that he and I continually double check with each other before moving forward. So if one of us measures, the other goes back and double checks it. This saves a lot of having to go back and do things over. When I'm building stuff on my own, I take a similar approach of double and triple checking measurements and making sure I've followed all the proper steps before I cut/saw/or glue something. Needless to say, even with all those precautions, this prop did throw a couple curves our way. Even when we thought all major construction was finished, I discovered another 'flaw' that needed to be fixed.

When I say flaw, I am not referring to anything we did wrong, but rather, a design flaw that was left out of the original plans. There are actually quite a few things left out of the original plans that is up to the builder to figure out. We departed ways on a couple things, one of those was the way the blades were designed. The blades that are described in the building plans would have been troublesome at best. The blades designed by the original creator solved a host of issues, so we went with the original blade design. If you're wondering what makes the creators design better, well it's the fact that the metal blade has two pieces of wood running down the side edges. This makes the blade more durable (prevents it from getting bent accidentally) and it also acts as a guide for the inner box when it's sliding upwards. 

The photo below is a shot of the box with the blades inserted (no arm included however) and the middle box zig-zaged. As much as I was thrilled that the major construction was complete, I had no idea until I got home how much work is yet to do. Besides some sanding and painting, there are some internal 'fixes' that must be done. Plus, this prop will be part of my Steampunk Show, so after the base coat of paint, I have to figure out the steampunk design for the illusion. Right now, I'm only planning on steampunking the upper row of boxes. When the prop is finally complete, I will post a photo of it on this blog and probably over at my Steampunk blog.

MORE
OMG, This prop is driving me insane!!! Just when I thought I was done, it's pulling me back in! It's truly amazing to me the intricacies of these kinds of props. I'm looking at the insides, the guts, and I'm wondering "why did we cut that board the way we did?" "why did we go with bolts and wingnuts instead of glue?" "why was I so slow and deliberate with most of the building but then rushed on two things, both of which now are flawed". Why why why? But with every error comes a solution. With every defect, comes a better way of doing it. As it turned out the wingnuts was a brilliant idea as it makes traveling easier. As for cutting a board the way we did, I know exactly why we cut it the way we did, but looking at it now, we didn't need to do it that way.......but we made our best guess and went with it. Did I mention above that the construction was finished? Not hardly. I think the construction will be done tomorrow. I need to cut two boards and install them. The blades are finished and will be painted tomorrow. The center box will get it's first coat of paint and stain. The lower box should also get it's paint job done tomorrow with any luck. The upper row of boxes will remain unfinished for the time being. They require more work and attention.

MORE STILL
OK, as of now, the construction is officially finished. But again, more fine tuning. The prop is about 95% finished so you can finally get a view of the completed project. Believe it or not, everytime I say this thing is done, I realize there is another tweak that needs to happen. NOW, I've got something else to paint, so tomorrow, more painting. I also decided to add two more decorative things to the prop, but that is an easy fix. When it's done, it will still basically look like the image below. Hope you enjoy it!

First Traveling Underground Magic Theatre Show Debuted Today!

It's always nice to get the 'first one' out of the gate. This year's Traveling Underground Magic Theatre 'The Steampunk Magician'. It's a VERY COOL show. However, I have to say that the show I did today was not quite the full Steampunk Magician show. Rather, it was a good solid magic show with a few steampunk routines thrown into the mix.
Show is called

Why was it NOT the full version of the Steampunk Magician. Mainly due to illness. I caught some sort of cold about 2 weeks ago and it's been dragging me down. I spend my free time resting or sleeping trying to recover. But it seems to no avail. Today I almost lost my voice during the show. OH, the illness has caused me to be a bit delayed in introducing a couple routines. I need to finish building a table for the new Time Machine routine and there are parts that have not yet arrived for the new Shoe Shine Box routine. That being said, I still have plenty of material so there was no shortage of fun stuff to see. I think the problem will come when these two routines are ready to put into the show because I'm going to have to take things out that are playing really really well right now.

The show opened with a routine I am calling Whif Whaf. It's a ping pong ball routine...for those who might not be aware, when Table Tennis first made it's debut in the late 1800s, it was referred to as Whif Whaf and also as Flim Flam because of the sound the balls and paddles made. Eventually in 1901, the name Ping Pong was trademarked and it became the office name for table tennis.

My fun take of the Die Box is next, filled with historical references and jokes about the 1860s (when the trick was invented). I have never used a die box in my 30 years of doing magic because it seemed like a very out of touch/dated magic trick. But when you give the prop some context, it suddenly is usable and quite fun to perform.

I'm not going to give away the entire show, but I will say my Temporal Accelerator has finally made it's way into the show, and the Mustache Trick has a nice spot in the show. The show ends with an effect with an automaton. But I won't say what kind, as I don't want to give away the surprise. I will say, it delivered the punch I was expecting.

The first show ran about 53 minutes, so about 8 minutes over. I'll have to drop something from the show to get it down to 45 minutes and I might need to pull a couple things to get the larger Time Machine routine and the Shoe Box routine in the show. But so far, I'm off to a good start!

Another White House Easter Egg Roll Memory

Tomorrow (Monday) is the Annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House. I've been fortunate enough to perform at this event numerous times. A couple years ago I wrote about one of the funnier moments at the Easter Egg Roll and I thought I'd take a moment to share with you yet another one.

I'm not certain of the year, it might have been 2002, not sure. At any rate, I had created this show called "The Festival of Magic" along with my good friend Ralph Metzler. Together we presented this show of magic and comedy. We had taken the show to a number of small venues in the area and we always had a blast.

Kristine & I going through Security

I had the crazy idea of bringing the show to the White House for the Easter Egg Roll. So I called them and we worked it out. We had an unusual schedule of shows however. Some were on the White House Lawn and some were on the Ellipse, the area that is between the gated White House Lawn and Constitution Avenue. The Ellipse had numerous events for those folks that didn't have tickets to be on the Lawn but yet wanted to partake in the festivities. The only problem was, moving the show back and forth between the two locations because you had to go through security each time.

So, the morning of the Easter Egg Roll, we get the itinerary and find out where we'll be. Just so
happens we are on the Big Stage first thing in the morning. This is exciting because traditionally only the celebrity acts are on the Big Stage. So, there we were, Ralph, my assistant Kristine and myself performing an illusion before several thousand spectators. What could be more fun?

Dean and Ralph

Well, in the middle of the routine, an announcement was made that the First Lady was about to speak from the Balcony of the White House. Suddenly, as if by magic, that audience of  several thousand people vanished! They went scurrying up the hill to see the First Lady. We were still mid-routine when they left, lol. Ralph and I kind of froze and my girl Kristine was inside some box at the time. We just all started laughing and said, "Oh well!" and kept laughing. Such was our first show of the day, lol!

The rest of the day was fine and thankfully, our audiences stayed with us! In later years, my friend Ralph would play a bigger role in the Easter Egg Events by helping to coordinate performers and even was able to get the White House organizers to put up a 'Magic Stage' for magicians only. This kept the magicians in one location and prevented the back and forth from the Lawn to the Ellipse situation that we suffered from in 2002. Those were fun times.

To Read About Another Funny White House Easter Egg Roll Moment, click the link below
http://artistofmystery.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-white-house-easter-egg-roll.html

The New Steampunk Show Continues to Take Shape

I can't recall if I've mentioned this show on this particular blog. But for some time now I've been developing a Steampunk Magic Show. But more than a magic show. The desire is to actually create a magic play of sorts. In the mean time we are working out material, testing costumes and enjoying the process.

I've presented a lot of the material already but it always can be improved. And there is nothing like a video of the show to put it all in perspective. Our most recent performance garnered a standing ovation. But it was not without some holes.......these known only to us. One of the things that became apparent from watching the video was 'scale'. Many of the early performances were more platform based performances or small audience performances. But if you put this material in front of a large group, several hundred+ then it becomes apparent that the scale is a little small.

Thankfully, that is an easy fix and we've already begun to alter the material for much larger audiences.

The next issue is converting some existing material over to steampunk. My philosophy is 'why re-invent the wheel?'  So I'm taking routines from my Artist of Mystery Show and putting it into the new steampunk show. An interesting thing has happened when I did that. The material for Artist of Mystery began to grow. In other words, I began to discover and create new material for that show. So basically, we have TWO really wild shows to offer.

One of the shows this week was actually a dual show. Meaning, we did Artist of Mystery in the first half and Steampunk in the second half. It was quite strong. But now, it leads me to some new ideas, new ways to further develop this program. By the way, if you are interested in checking out the show you can go to www.SteampunkIllusionist.com

Summer 2013 Tour Always Gives Unexepected Surprises

There are many reasons why I love to do so many shows in the summer (usually 100+). The obvious reason is the boost to my income. Hey, I'm practical and take advantage of good times as best as I can. But there is another reason. The summer shows are usually a mixture of old routines and new routines. And of the new routines at least one and sometimes two become gems that stay in my regular line up.

A few years ago I created a goldfish production that was so popular it stayed in my show and actually went back into the show this year. It's also getting a slight make-over and will going into my new Steampunk Show.  Last year, was The story of the Great Pinetti and the routine that went with it. This also stayed in my show and was written up to be a children's book (looking for an illustrator now as I simply don't have time to do it).

This year there were three routines that I'm keeping. One is a signed card that ends up in an impossible location. It's fast and completely baffling. Winner! The next is a card trick that I have done in one form or another for more than 10 years. The trick is called 'Cards Across'. To my mind, the single best version of the Cards Across was done by Mac King. His routine defies description, but it's absolutely hysterical. I understand that Denny Haney had a version that was also quite funny and it is now being put out on the market by Scott Alexander. I've seen a video clip of this and it truly does look very very funny.

But I don't usually like to do things the way others are doing them. I tend to try and find my own way of doing it. If fact the method to my version is something I'm unclear about. It's not any method that I know of in print, but it's certainly MY method. The premise for the trick is what has always bewildered me, but this Summer I came up with an idea. It started as a way to get a quick visual joke into the show and then I incorporated that into the cards across and it worked. It played fine, not really over the top, but not poorly. It was good and I was happy but I must be honest and say I
 didn't think it was going to be a keeper. Then today, the rest of the routine popped into my head. It was the missing parts to the routine. The extra visual mid way through the effect, the additional jokes and a brand new kicker ending! Winner Winner! And it will be in both my regular show and the Steampunk Show.

The final routine was also a bit of a surprise because it was one that I had also done for a long tme. But I was forced to change an important detail of the trick. The trick was a borrowed ring trick ut I very rarely found anyone who either had a ring or if they had one they were not willing to lend it. So I opted for a slightly different borrowed object. This new object allowed me to change the ending so that instead of returning the borrowed ring to it's owner unharmed, I could return this borrowed object in a completely different state. It gave the routine a stronger magical moment because of the change in items. And once returned to the audience member I told them it was now their Good Luck Charm.
Well, fast forward to late October and I run into someone who not only saw my show during the Summer, but she also was one of the one's who received the 'Good Luck Charm'. She told me, "I still have the Good Luck Charm, and I'm keeping it forever". That is the kind of response, every magician hopes for months after their performance. Needless to say, that routine stays as is!

Except for the last few lines, I wrote this piece in early September, but never published it. So here it is, just a little late :)

Tour is Wrapped Up for Underground Magic Theatre

Yesterday, August 27th, I presented the final Traveling Underground Magic Theatre Show of the Summer. This whole thing was a bit of an experiment. Basically, I'm doing sophisticated and very strong magic for kids, teens and adults at Summer Camps. Usually, they are exposed to what are called 'kid show magic'. The basic difference between the two is that kid show magic tends to be a bit sillier and the emphasis is more on the overall entertainment rather than the actual magic. Kid show magic is GREAT fun and I am in no way trying to speak less of it or put it down. It's just a different style from the magic presented in the Underground Magic Theatre.

For starters, I opened with my Hula Hoop Effect. It's a big trick compared to what an audience would normally see. It takes a great deal of skill to do well and putting it into confined conditions with low ceilings is a huge problem. But I worked out a routine that made all of these issues non-existant. The reaction to the opening trick was overwhelmingly strong. I have many wonderful pieces of magic in my kid shows, but nothing has ever gotten the reaction that the Hula Hoop effect gets. The audience goes nuts for it.

Then it's followed by an old standard, the Misers Dream. Again, my Misers Dream is different from the normal fair because I use a clear bucket and some over the top sleight of hand. Sometimes though I coast, lol, and simplify the methods but the reaction from the audience is the same, they go crazy for it.

Both of these routines are done to music. The first talking routine is a clever twist on the Cups & Balls where spectators hands act as the table and the cups are placed in their hands. The reactions again are over the top because they are experiencing magic under conditions they don't expect.

The three opening routines are all historical in nature, or have some basis in magic history. I explain to the audience a little bit about the history of magic and how I have altered things to make them contemporary. Then I go into a very modern trick, a card trick using a cell phone. This is the routine that I usually bring up an adult. I found that their level of astonishment helped to sell the trick even more than I could. Basically, a signed playing card ends up INSIDE the phone.

Next I talk about HOUDINI and share some stories of his life and finish the talk with a story about Houdini which incorporates a wonderful piece of magic. It's a story of his first encounter with a young Charlie Chaplin. The routine is fun, mysterious and has an unexpected ending.

STEAMPUNK trick is next. This is a lesson in imagination. I get the audience to imagine what it would have been like if advanced technology had existed 100 years ago. I bring out a device that is essentially a small transporting device. This is right out of Star Trek, and we don't even have this technology today! But a borrowed object is caused to transport (vanish) and reappear in an impossible location. This routine also has a surprise ending.

The final piece in the show is my signature Goldfish Trick where a drawing of a goldfish comes to life. It's a smaller trick compared to everything else in the show, but the production of a live creature makes the effect BIGGER in their eyes.

There were other routines that were in the show and out of the show as the summer went along, and my favorite of those was the World's First Mobile Phone from the Year 1600. It was such a ridiculous concept that I wasn't sure if it would play and it went over great.

I will have to say the UMT was a hit. The comments after the show were just like the comments we used to receive when the UMT was an actual location. The kids, teachers, staff, everyone were completely blown away by the magic. Many people who had seen me before were stunned by the difference in what they usually see me do. The reason is because I'm really doing this as a different character. There is nothing silly or goofy in this show. That isn't to say the show is not fun, because it's filled with fun and laughter, but just a different kind of comedy.
 

I'll put some quotes below from people who saw the show and let you judge by their comments.

"Dean Alan, I always thought you were a good magician but now I know you are a great magician!"
Audience member

"I have seen  you perform many shows in the past 6 years and always enjoy them. But the changes you've made to the show are just incredible!"
Summer Camp Teacher

"This was the best magic show I have ever seen!"
A comment I heard at almost every performance

"You never age! I saw you ten years ago and you look exactly the same"
Comment by an adult, not about my show but I kind liked this comment!

The Return of the Underground Magic Theatre

Well, it's now official, the Underground Magic Theatre has returned. After an 8 year absence it's back! Kind of. I created a traveling version of the show which has been quite the challenge and also quite rewarding. This past Monday (June 10th) was the first show and it went pretty well. I had to skip one routine due to time constraints but other than that things went fine. Thursday I did the show again and this time I had to cut three routines because of time constraints. I'm still juggling routines in and out of the show and when you add audience interaction, the time fluctuates.

I'm pleased with my smaller version of the Linking Hula Hoops. I had to create a version that could play in venues with low ceilings. I had to eliminate some of the moves from the stage version of the routine and find suitable replacements. The great thing is in the process I not only found moves that would work in the smaller venues but also discovered a half dozen new sequences to add to the routine. It was a win win all the way around.

There are currently two 'steampunk' routines in the show but I've only been able to do one of them so far. Time has been an issue and oddly the routine that has been left out is called "Temporal Accelerator" which is a time travel routine.

The magic in the show is very strong. In fact, so much so I've noticed that folks aren't taking pictures because they are too caught up in the moment. I guess that's good and not good at the same time. I'm going to make an announcement encouraging photo taking before the show in the hopes that people will start snapping pics!

I've added a new Magic Fish routine in the show and it's in the process of evolving. I want to do more with it than I'm currently doing so I imagine by the end of summer this is going to be quite the show piece.

Below is a video of my Linking Hula Hoop routine shot during at the original Underground Magic Theatre. Today's routine is quite different, the music has changed, costuming as well as the various sequences in the routine. Enjoy this piece of history...

Houdini Painting For Sale

Here is a chance of a lifetime. I never let my paintings go this quickly, but this painting of Houdini, which is painted in acrylics on canvas, 24x30 in size is available. I will ship it in a special box made for artwork, foam fitted, plastic covering the back and front to prevent punctures while in transit.

Though I painted a view of Houdini basically from the waist up, my intention was to put all the emphasis on the face. Notice the texture on the image below. I used a ton of paint on the face to give it a very thick appearance, but kept the remainder of the painting simpler, with the exception of the background. By the way, pay no attention to the color in the photo below, the actual color is closer to the top image.

I've not alerted anyone on my art mailing list about the availability of this painting, mainly because I'm hoping it stays in the magic community. However, today I received my first email from a non-magic person who had an interest in the artwork. So, it may be going into the 'world' rather than stay inside the confines of the magic world. I'm frankly ok with that, I just wanted to make the offer to my magic friends first.
If you are interested in potentially purchasing this piece of artwork, you may contact me via email. Serious inquires only, contact me at carnegiemagic@me.com