Joel Myers stopped by Fox 2 St. Louis ahead of his October 6 appearance at the Opera House of Pacific and took advantage of the studio’s haunted nature to commune with the spirit of Elvis Presley. Would the trick have worked if she’d selected Justin Bieber? Just curious. Tickets are still available for Myers’ “Nothing Is Impossible” show, which is open to ages 13 and up.
The greatest risk most performers take when performing under their own name is running into an ex at a show, but mentalist David Meade has repeatedly been on the unfortunate end of a case of mistaken identity that’s been amping up in intensity.
The other David Meade, the one our David Meade is so often mistaken for on social media, is a doomsday theorist who claims the world will end on October 15th, because of the planet Nibiru. (Yeah.) His theories have been thoroughly been debunked both scientifically and spiritually, but his ideas nevertheless get some folks very riled up. Some people wanting to engage in uncivil discourse with Doomsday David about his claims don’t pay quite enough attention to who they’re @-ing, and end up harassing Mentalist David instead. Comments range from variations on “you’re looney” to more serious threats of violence. One commenter simply said, “I will kill you.”
It certainly didn’t help when Glenn Beck’s Twitter account promoted an interview with Doomsday David, but linked to Mentalist David’s profile instead. “I think most of the vitriol came from confused people who panicked and worried,” Mentalist David told The Washington Post. “No matter what I said in response, people didn’t believe me that it wasn’t me.”
Mentalist David is doing everything he can to preserve his good name, but he can only do so much to battle the power of search engine results. “I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t worried about what this all means and what impact it might have,” he said.
To do our part to help Mentalist David’s SEO, here’s a video of him reading Peter Flanagan’s mind during a radio program.
We’re being a bit cheeky calling this James Galea‘s best trick ever, but in our defense, his pal Kit also thinks this one is tops. And hey, if the magic thing doesn’t work out, Galea could use his musical chops to get a gig in a piano bar. This clip is from Galea’s show, the appropriately named Best Trick Ever, currently running on Australian TV.
Don’t you just hate it when you take the cap off a pen and another pen falls out? Steven Bridges knows that problem all too well, as demonstrated in this hilarious and mind-blowing bit of sleight of hand.
All he wants to do is show how quickly he can put a cap back on a pen, and then he’s up to his beard in plastic and ink. Poor guy.
You may think your job is strange, but at least you’re not trying to communicate with the dead on a regular basis. That’s what Josh Stern is in charge of at the Magic Castle, whose official job title is ‘Houdini Séance and special events manager’, and was recently profiled in a feature on LA Weekly about some of the city’s more interesting jobs.
Houdini was long a skeptic of paranormal activity, but made a pact with his wife Bess that if one of them were to die first, the other would attempt to communicate with them for one final message. The legend goes that Bess tried to contact Houdini ten times, and was unsuccessful until the very last attempt, when rain fell on the hotel where the séance was conducted, leaving the surrounding buildings dry.
The séances that Stern hosts try to replicate that experience for a chance to communicate with Houdini. “We have a dedicated room called the Houdini Chamber, and the séance experience starts with a Victorian-style four-course meal,” Stern told LA Weekly. The group of about a dozen people are then joined by a handful of spirit mediums, who then perform an hour-long séance.
As you can imagine, séances are kind of spooky for those who don’t know what to expect. Stern explains to LA Weekly how some of his guests have reacted:
Most people come to a séance not really knowing what they are going to get. We have people who have to leave because they get creeped out, we have religious people who get uncomfortable. We’ve had people break down the door and bolt because they get so frightened. It usually has to do with if they are religious or if there is a language barrier; people don’t know what they’re getting themselves into.
For the full interview, be sure to check out the article on LA Weekly. And if this sounds like something you’re interested in booking for yourself, visit the Magic Castle’s website for more info.
Harry Blackstone, Sr. is synonymous with a certain vintage of magic. His expertise made him one of the preeminent performers of the early 1900s, appearing on stages across the country and even inspiring a series of comic books and radio shows portraying his (100% fictional) crime-fighting exploits. And on October 25-27, Potter & Potter Auctions will be selling a variety of relics from his personal collection, including items owned and worn by Blackstone himself, along with an assortment of antiques surrounding his career.
Here’s a bit of what you can expect from the description on the official auction page:
The auction features Blackstone memorabilia owned, used, and collected by the master, among them original oil paintings, show costumes, Blackstone’s famous Vanishing Birdcage (and other props), stone lithographs, photographs, correspondence and archival material, original cartoons and artwork, film footage and audio recordings of Blackstone and his troupe, and much more. Much of the material has been unseen for the last five decades. Complementing the Blackstone material will be objects related to the career of his son and successor, Harry Blackstone, Jr., as well as a selection of choice vintage magic posters, props, books, and ephemera.
Highlights from the listing include: a No. 1 issue of Super-Magic Comics signed by Blackstone, a modified set of handcuffs originally used by Harry Houdini that came into Blackstone’s possession, and the custom tailcoat and matching slacks and vest originally worn by Blackstone during his “1001 Wonders” show.
Check out a full digital catalog here (or even order a physical copy to keep for yourself), and if you want to snag one of these goodies for your own collection, you can find out how to bid on any of these pieces on Potter & Potter Auctions’ official website.
2017 Cardistry World Champion Ed Isaac has put together a bundle of three tricks on Art of Magic to benefit the victims of the devastating earthquake that hit Mexico on September 19th. Five bucks gets you three moves created by Isaac, with detailed explanations for each. Heads up: the explanations are in Spanish, but a subtitled version is coming soon.
100% of the proceeds will go to Cruz Roja Mexicana (Mexican Red Cross).
Buy the SOS Bundle from Art of Magic
- Category: Cardistry
- Price: $5
- Format: Video
Music, film, art, and of course, magic, all have the power to transcend cultural boundaries and barriers. The fact that I can’t speak a lick of Filipino doesn’t take away from my appreciation of 11-year-old George’s comedy magic routine, performed recently on Little Big Shots Philippines.
George appeared on the Philippine adaptation of the US version of Little Big Shots created by Ellen Degeneres and hosted by Steve Harvey. According to Phillipine network ABS-CBN, George performs magic in order to earn money to search for his father in the States, and his journey brought him all the way to prime-time television. Performing a variety of close up tricks and a switcheroo with a series of overly large playing cards, George’s magical ability and comic timing are surprisingly adept for a child as young as he is.
There’s no real criteria for winning on Penn & Teller Fool Us, mainly because even well-established routines can be impossible to detect with enough skill. Eric Mead’s performance on last week’s episode is a perfect example of this.
Before beginning his routine, Mead takes great care to explain that he’s going to perform coin magic—one of the oldest tricks in the book—and that while Penn & Teller may know how 90% of the trick is done, it’s the last 10% that will stump them both. By explaining the rules in this way, he then puts the onus on the hosts to abide by his own terms. It’s a pretty stunning bit of verbal misdirection… and then the trick starts.
Even if he didn’t win, Mead’s coin magic employs god-like sleight of hand and enough linguistic gymnastics to win an Olympic medal. Take ten minutes to watch his performance and wonder to yourself all day how the hell did he do that?
Card hoarders, listen up: you can now pre-order the upcoming Radia deck from Encarded. The design is inspired by inspired by Encarded’s Aurum deck and will be fully unveiled at the 52 Plus Joker card convention on October 13th. Only 1000 Radia decks will be made and will never be reprinted, and if that’s not enough to tempt you, Encarded claims they will also feature a “never-before-seen production feature.” Mysterious.
Paul Carpenter had this to say about Radia:
Aurum has always been one of my personal favorites and I’ve wanted to make a deck that pays homage to it for a long time. For several years I’ve had a design motif in my files which I feel speaks beautifully to some of the original design ideas from Aurum, but until now I have not found a way to make this new deck truly special. Luckily, Expert Playing Card Co. approached me last year with a new possibility that I think perfectly accents the design and allowed me to create something brand new in the world of playing cards. The result will be quite spectacular.
For more information, or to pre-order Radia, visit Encarded.