A very happy Thanksgiving 2013 to all our American fans, clients, friends and family all over the world. Count your blessing on this special day and enjoy the lazy weekend. 🙂
Although his aired a couple of months ago, it is still worth posting. A nice segment on CNN’s ‘Talk Asia’ (with Monita Rajpal) about our friend Franz Harary.
Filmed recently during his short run in Macau, China.
Lots of magicians have dreams of having their own Las Vegas production or theatre in their name. As many on the inside know, it is always more business than show in this modern age…
For the first time (in my experience), IN PLAIN LANGUAGE, here is a two part series from the folks over at Vegas Chatter that explains the process of “four-walling” & “two-walling” a production in a casino showroom:
Four Walls And A Dream: Opening A Show In Today’s Vegas (Part 1)
Four Walls And A Dream: Opening A Show In Today’s Vegas (Part 2)
The same principles and business models apply in other casino-related markets like Reno, Atlantic City, Branson, etc. Reading the below article carefully can let you in on how the game is played and literally save you years of ‘real-world‘ experience. Along with saving you trail & error & marketing mistakes.
The good news that the dream is still attainable if you have (or can get) the financing, investors and/or sponsors to make it happen. Talent is important for your longevity, but it is not the only component for long-term success and profit – not by a long shot!
Personal Note: I realized the above early on in my career and decided to put my own show in less-competitive markets within Asia, where the exposure to Western magicians is fresh & new. All of this is being chronicled in my upcoming book on the experiences of having my own dedicated magic theatre in Thailand previously, along the the highs and lows, mistakes learned and so on. Also it will detail my new magic theatre upcoming in China, a mega-magic project in the middle-east and much more . I will keep everyone informed on its publication through this blog.
*** Thanks to my friend Latimer for finding this original graphic. 🙂
From word through Gary Bartlett, I have heard that master magician & illusionist Abb Dickson is quite ill. This is sad news indeed…
According to Gary, Abb’s on-going illness has taken a turn for the worse. Gary speaks to him a couple times a week. Unfortunately he is starting to become more forgetful than before and undergoing dialysis. Apparently he has lost about 140 pounds, and that is a lot, as Abb was always been a big guy.
He is off of email altogether now and phone calls are not ideal (due to the memory loss issues). Can be expected to all us as we get older… Cards and letters are best.
Contact me personally for the address and I will forward it to those of you want to write to him. It would sure lift his spirits I am sure.
My own personal connection with Abb (and my first meeting Abb) was in the 1970’s as a teenager in Orlando, Florida (in the USA, where I grew up). As a teenager I worked as an on-stage assistant in his famous show “Presto,” when it appeared at the Florida State Magicians Association Convention in Orlando.
I always was always thankful to Bev Bergeron for than opportunity. It really gave me a look being the scenes at a young age of what goes on in putting together a large illusion show. The personally signed poster to me from his Presto show is one of my most prized possessions and sits beatifically framed in my collection room.
Besides his performing interest, Abb Dickson was a partner in the family funeral business (which allowed him to finance his performing efforts & show early on). He is featured also on the cover of the January 1989 issue of Genii magazine, as well as many other industry publications throughout the years.
Famous magician Doug Henning was a big fan of Abb’s touring show Presto, and gave it a glowing review too I remember is an issue of Genii magazine.
Get well soon my friend. You still have a lot more of life left to live on this earth! 🙂
Saw this great post on James Devereaux’s The Great Acting Blog.
A lot of what he says can be applied to the magic art, not only acting.
Good job and kudos to James in pointing out what should be more obvious to many, but over-looked in their day-to-day hectic lives.
Remember to keep your focus on the long-term folks!
Something that is a little bit off the topic of magic, but that is a reality for those of us who have to put on our “salesman” hat to get new & constant work.
I am talking about pronouncing your new & potential clients names correctly! I have never been good with people’s names in various countries and even less clever in learning new languages!
But these two websites help a lot:
I rely on these sites constantly before picking up the phone or going to a new meeting – it saves me from making an ass of myself by not getting there name correct! The internet is an amazing support tool in selling and here is further proof.
Not every name is in their database, but there is a lot more than you would think in there. The Pronounce How site is especially good, as it has an audio clip too on how the name should sound, along with the text look-up.
It is with much sadness that I heard second-hand of the recent death of my friend, Master Illusionist Rick Walker. He died way too early at the age of 64. The date of his death was Saturday, July 20, 2013.
I had not seen Rick for several years, but last I heard is that he was still very active in magic, along with his other businesses. Apparently (as it has been related to me) Rick had an accidentally fall, which caused a bump to his head and caused brain hemorrhaging leading to his death.
Rick Walker & Company was one of the first illusionists I ever saw perform live (at the Florida State Magic Convention in the 1970’s) and had a big influence on me. This was the first time a had seen a magician of a higher caliber perform with the the large illusions – and from that moment on was something I wanted to aspire to. Rick was about 13 years older than me, so when I saw him perform he was in his prime.
Rick was originally from Monticello, Mississippi, but moved to Dallas, Texas in 1977 where he spent the majority of his adult life. He was also an assistant for the Harry Blackstone, Jr. show early in his career. He had numerous national television appearances, was a magic consultant to the movie industry, as well as performing world-wide with his show.
Rick, you will be missed. But your influence and magic will live on.
You can see a video of Illusionist Rick Walker’s performance below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI4Js5U7jtM]Hi gang… I have not been able to post as much as I like lately due to my iMac’s hard drive recently crashing, etc.
Back online finally with a new temporary Windows PC. Both the hard drive & the motherboard are being replaced in my apple system currently and I should have it back by next week. But the Windows world is not as bad as I thought it would be.
Just glad to be back around online on this blog & otherwise on a regular basis again!
Besides the magic and illusions in our show, I am also very heavily involved in the staging side of things. For that reason I am a crazy about old, classic entertainment contracts along this their related associated riders (quite rare to come across).
For that reason I was quite excited when I came across this “Scene & Prop List” (essentially also a Backstage Contract Rider in it’s day & time) from the Harry Houdini show.
Thanks to the Society Of American Magicians (SAM) for the original find. Enjoy…
