The best thing about Stranger Things was that the 80’s throwback theme was so good it finally got magicians to stop stealing Hans Zimmer’s songs for their social media posts.
Jokes aside, this is a neat variation on the camera drop trick that’s been haunting Facebook as of late performed by killer close-up magician, Rodney Reyes. We’ve featured him on the site before when he collaborated with the incredibly talented Patrick Kun. Reyes’ technical skill and slick presentation are a must-see if you ever get the opportunity.
He’s also responsible for my favorite trick reaction video:
British magician Marc Spelmann is an early favorite to win this year’s Britain’s Got Talent after an emotionally charged trick involving his young daughter and cancer-stricken wife prompted hosts Ant and Dec to use their golden buzzer for the first time this season. The buzzer puts contestants straight into the next round of the show, regardless of the judge’s votes. It all seems like a dream come true, except Spelmann hasn’t always held the show in such high regard, as a series of tweets dug up by UK hacks seem to demonstrate.
In another tweet, he referred to judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, and David Walliams as “idiots,” who know nothing about magic. He was also unimpressed when magician Jamie Raven was defeated by a dog in the 2012 final of the show.
“A dog is the most talented act in the UK. My God I’m genuinely embarrassed.”
In an entirely surprising turn of events, it appears Spelmann’s opinion of the show has improved in recent years. He deleted the tweets shortly after the press brought attention to them.
“I have changed rather a lot in the last six years,” he told The Sun, “and the offhand tweets I made about Britain’s Got Talent many years ago in no way reflect my thoughts and feelings on the show now.”
“I am a huge fan of the series and it has been a dream of mine to perform for the judges since before my daughter was born,” he continued.
Spelmann’s tweets seem like the grumblings of a fan unimpressed with the direction of the show, but they’re a stark reminder of how random thoughts spewed into the electronic ether of social media can come back and bite you in the ass years down the line. Be careful who you drag over social media, kids; you never know when you might end up working for them.
Earlier this week, Dynamo shared a heartfelt update with fans explaining why he’s been less visible of late. The magician was hit with a triple-whammy of health troubles. He’s lived with Crohn’s, a nasty form of inflammatory bowel disease, for years, but those effects were compounded by a case of food poisoning that turned into an autoimmune response. Tl;dr is that Dynamo has had a really tough time, but is now focusing on his health and recovery.
Thank you for all the kind support. Here's a little update on the situation. #roadtorecovery #iwillbeback pic.twitter.com/Qlh45ycKbw
— Dynamo (@Dynamomagician) March 27, 2018
His openness about life with Crohn’s has turned out to have a bit of a silver lining. Many other people with the condition have thanked him for providing much-needed visibility about the awful disease. Other people living with Crohn’s have been sharing their own experiences as the discussion gains momentum. Some have tweeted including their own before and after images showing the physical impact of drug treatment with corticosteroids, which can cause a legion of other unpleasant effects such as weight gain and water retention.
You can follow the conversation with the hashtag #moonfaceforDynamo. You’ll also find many of posts that are also tagged #crohnssucks, a sentiment we can all get behind.
David Copperfield has been on a buying spree lately, using his status as the highest-paid magician in the industry to purchase up artifacts from the history of magic (like Harry Houdini’s bookcase) in order to preserve their legacy.
Rather than just hide them away in his house for his own personal amusement, he’s taken to Twitter to announce that he plans on sharing pieces from his collection every Wednesday with the hashtag #WednesdayWonders.
I feel a great responsibility in preserving the history of my art to help make the work of past masters last forever.
Every Wednesday I will share one object from my museum!
Please tell us in the comments what you would like to see! #WednesdayWonders Picture by @Forbes pic.twitter.com/dO64ZEfCG8— David Copperfield (@D_Copperfield) December 20, 2017
Copperfield has given glimpses of his collection before, but this would be the first, real in-depth look individual pieces of a collection full of an entire generation of magic history, and the closest thing to getting an in-person, hands-on tour.
You can follow David Copperfield on Twitter via his handle @D_Copperfield, and if you have any suggestions or requests for what he should show off, you can let him know by responding to the tweet posted above.