Fylde Mystics June 2013

8/12/2019 Fylde Mystics June 2013

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Editorial

Paul Joyce

Flaming June!!Lets hope so, I really do feel I need my

solar panel charging up.!

This month we have articles in from George Jennings,

Allan Clarke, Alan Mylecraine and the answer to Leslie

Melvilles puzzle, I must admit that I didnt solve it and

did kick myself when I got the answer but I do believe

that Allan got the answer.

Big congratulations to Ian & June on their wedding, I

am sure we all wish them a truly magical future.

If you see anything that you think may be of interest to

the members please do a little article and I will be most

pleased to put it in the magazine.

See you soon.


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George Jennings

Jay Marshall and other magical gentlemen

When Blackpool convention was just one day long it was at the

Horseshoe and included in the registration was a sit down meal. Those

were the days! It was potluck who you were sat near to and in this case

Val and I were sat opposite Jay Marshall. There are some people in

magic as in all spheres of life who think they are the most importantperson on the planet and that everything revolves around them they

only talk to a select few of similarly important people and ignore the

lesser lights. There are others who will help anyone and who will talk

to anyone interested in magic. Jay Marshall turned out to be one of the

latter. He struck up a conversation with us and in the course of it he

asked us what we did for a living. When he discovered that we were

librarians he said had we heard of Jimmy Findlay, a Scottish magician,who had written a small booklet called Hows your library? about

organising your magic books which Jay had published through his

company Magic Inc.


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You may be surprised to discover it had not proved to be a best seller.

Jay took our name and address and after the convention he sent me a

copy of the booklet. I did read it and wrote to thank him, but I never

implemented the contents of the booklet. However it does show why Iregard him as one of the gentlemen of magic as he certainly didnt

need to have done this.

After my experience with Fred Kaps I have always been reluctant to ask

well-known magicians about anything. This was also reinforced when I

attended an IBM convention and overheard a well-known magician say

to someone else that he came to the conventions to see and meet hiscircle of friends and did not want to talk people he did not already

know. My attitude was probably a mistake as in practice the few

others I have approached over the years have been fantastic.

Another of magics gentlemen was Ali Bongo. I had seen a report in

Abra about a version of magic welding he had performed at a lecture.

He was due to lecture at Blackpool and I was looking forward to seeing

this as it is a plot I have always liked, but I have never been keen on the

enormously thick tray that Davenports sold to do this effect. So I sat

through the lecture, but the effect never came. So for once in my life I

found his address and wrote asking if he had published it anywhere or

if I could buy the lecture notes. He wrote back saying they were not

published and that he had wanted to do new material at Blackpool, but

he wrote out 3 different versions he had used and enclosed them forme in case they were of interest.

Someone who is not that well known in this country is Robert Baxt, but

Paul Stone did bring him over for a lecture and performance at an IBM

convention in Southport. His lecture was very entertaining and one of

the things he was selling was his version of the torn and restored

newspaper. In recent times everyone appears to be raving about theversion put out by Axel Hecklau.


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I dont know if he gives credit to Robert Baxt, but having seen both

lectures the method used is based on the same principle. With Baxt

being in America and Hecklau in Germany he may not have been aware

of Baxts version put out some yearsearlier. This has happenedfrequently in magic that people have reinvented existing tricks. In one

of his lectures many years ago Ali Bongo demonstrated a murder trick

that used exactly the same method as Marc Oberons Oddball, but

Bongos version is morecertain in action. A very recent one is Mark

Leveridges vanisher that was so well used at our recent lecture. Back

in the 1970s David Hemingway marketed a vanisher that was basically

the same idea.

Back to Robert Baxt. I did buy his lecture notes because there was a

particular trick, which he showed involving a mobile phone borrowed

from the audience that appeared inside what looked like a brick

phone. Then when I read the notes this particular trick was not in

them! For some time I looked for a suitable phone to use, but could

never find one that looked as though it was suitable. So eventually Iemailed him and initially I thought here we go again- no reply.

However it turned out he had been away working on a cruise and

when he came back he gave me all the details of what he had used,

which turned out not to be a brick phone at all but a particular model

of citizens band radio.

My final gentleman is Robert Harbin. Whilst I was a t Loughborough heproduced his limited edition book the Magic of Robert Harbin. There

was a great deal of hype about it as it contained detailed drawings of

the Zig Zag girl and he charged 27.50 for one of the 500 numbered

copies. I had hitched from Loughborough to London and I had visited

Ken Brookes magic studio. He recommended that anyone who was

serious about magic should buy a copy.


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There was just one problem for me I did not have 27.50. 27.50 for a

book does not sound much now, but to put it into perspective a colour

TV licence was 12 then and is 145.50 now. It was by far the most

expensive magic book ever published at the time. Initially I thought Ihave no chance of ever owning this.

However unlike now when you went to university, unless you came

from a well off family, you got a grant and part of this was for the

purchase of books. It did not specify which books you were to buy and

it was split into 3 payments throughout the year totalling 36.00. I

worked out that if I could pay in instalments then I could buy a copy bythe end of a year. So I wrote to Robert Harbin and asked if I could pay

for the book in instalments and when I had paid the full amount have

the book. He wrote back saying yes and he would set a copy to one

side for me and let me have it when I had finished paying for it. I

managed to save the money from my grant faster than I had thought

possible and sent him the money and in due course got my copy of the

book. If you are wondering I dont still have it, but it is probably thebest investment I ever made and a few years ago I sold it. I never

performed anything that was in it as most of it was illusion plans and I

have never performed them or made them

As in all groups of people there are some bad apples in magic and

some of them have even gone to prison e.g. Hank Lee, but they are far

outnumbered by the good guys so if there is any lesson from this donot be afraid of asking well known magicians for help you may be

pleasantly surprised at how far they will go.


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Whats not to like? by Allan Clarke

Having sat

through three of

the four Ben Earl

programmes Im

still not sure it

works as well as it

perhaps should have done for him. I met Ben last yearat the Sessions convention, hot on the heels of his

success on Penn & Teller and he is undoubtedly one of

the best card mechanics I have seen. He has an easy

personality and movie star good looks that no doubt

got him noticed by the producers of the Channel 4

series and backers of the show. Many of the effects are

classics and Im sure the writers, which incidentally

included my good friend Mark Elsdon, worked hard to

present them well.


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But. I cant help thinking it was a little, er.. OK, a lot,

over the top. The ubiquitous Cards across performed

using two high performance cars being driven hell for

leather around the English countryside? A flaming stunt

man (set on fire for no good reason I could think of by

the way) just to light up a revelation regarding a chosen

piece of art? Sponge balls with a robot? (At least the

robot was a lot more sentient that a certain Mr Cowell

of this species.) or Spoon Bending that results in the

aforementioned Mr Earl rocketing backwards through

some fake sheet glass and a clearly fake brick wall all in

the name of TV. Why? It probably makes for good TV,

thats why. Interestingly, one good thing that did come

out of it is a great example of how spectatorsremember what they see. A work colleague who saw

edition three regaled me with one of the effects where

Ben made a piece of paper stand on end without any

(in)visible means of support. In his remembering of the

effect, it finished with a dozen or so tiny scraps of paperall standing on end. That would be good I thought, I

wonder how he did it? As I watched the episode, it

became very clear that only one piece of paper stood

on end at any one time, but it does go to show how the

stature of an effect can grow in the telling.


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This said, it does make me wonder about some of the

reviews we rely on so heavily in corroborating just

who performed or invented what in our art. But thats a

whole other story.

More promising is the film "Now

You See Me", a new blockbuster

scheduled for release in thesummer. Whats so special about

that? Well, mainly because the

plot surrounds a group of

illusionists who build a stunning act which, for reasons

unclear just now, include a daring bank robbery.

Various agencies try to hold them and try to figure out

how it was done and fail spectacularly. There are some

aspects of the somewhat complicated plot line that will

be difficult to follow but with Michael Caine and

Morgan Freeman delivering some good performances it

should be a good watch. The very lovely Isla Fisher and

not as lovely Woody Harrelson (look for his hypnotist

segment in the trailer, its a brilliant idea!) beef up the

already strong cast.


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Theres a bit ofa Robin Hood element going on as our

erstwhile bank robbers intend to return the money they

steal to Joe Public who for reasons not explored by the

movie, deserve to get some back. It seems like a good

cast and with an intriguing storyline, promises to be a

good night out at the flicks. Certainly has to be better

than the hyped up manure that was Burt

Wonderstone thats for sure. With magic growing in

popularity on both large and small screens, and now it

seems, back to the Theatre (The illusionists, Sixth Sense

and Infamous) we are having a good run of it, lets hope

it continues.

I recommend you go look at the trailer (link below),

which besides featuring some of the brilliant new

Artisan cards from Theory 11, will give you an idea of

the sort of things to expect from the movie. It promises

to be good clean fun and it reminds me a little of the

early Dynamo and Blaine features although Im sure

that unlike those two characters, this movie doesnt

pretend not to use special effects and camera tricks to

dupe the public. I case my rest.

http://mashable.com/2013/05/08/now-you-see-me-

trailer-video-opening-scene-fandango/


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Just to let everyone know that Michael & Tamsyns new

summer season at the Horseshoe starts next week on

Friday May 24th.

I bumped into them in Tescos last Saturday and they

were just completing their rehearsals.

They were both quite excited about the prospect of

another season and were looking forward to meetingup with us at some point. They tell me that they have

introduced a number of new routines into the act

building on last year and are hoping they get some

favourable reviews. Im sure we all wish them well.


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Full details can be found in the link below:-

http://www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com/shows/high-

jinx-magic-and-illusion/

Meanwhile at the local branch of Occasions....
http://www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com/shows/high-jinx-magic-and-illusion/http://www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com/shows/high-jinx-magic-and-illusion/http://www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com/shows/high-jinx-magic-and-illusion/https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=592340314126852&set=a.153954504632104.27801.100000526654969&type=1http://www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com/shows/high-jinx-magic-and-illusion/http://www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com/shows/high-jinx-magic-and-illusion/


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Crossword Solution For May

T

M A L L I N I

K N

L N N

G O E E

A R L P N

M E T A M O R P H O S I S

T Y S E K

O N A R I

N E N T

P D O

T A R B E L L

T R

F E C H T E R

U I

G M C B R I D E

O G A W A K

M R

M D

A

R


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DOWN

1: Richards Sanders BURN? (7)

2: A Cut above? (5)

4: Old Farm Aces perhaps?

5: A dance count?

6: The UKs oldest Magic Dealer

9: Gansons moniker.

11: Perfect interleave, in or out.

13: The Memory man.

14: Smooth card sleight.

15: Annemans Magazine

16: The Amazing James

ACROSS6: Ropes are his thing.

7: Free magic magazine? Its gone!

8: Three card favourite.

10: Home for a gimmick?

12: Inventor of the Kiss Count (5,4)17: A force to reckon with.

18: A rope trick that divided a continent.

19: Dr Rhine, I presume?

20: This adventure is Mental.


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The Swastika Puzzle SolutionLeslie Melville


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http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=magician+cartoon&start=582&sa=X&biw=1366&bih=651&tbm=isch&tbnid=GYx8LIm81Gg5dM:&imgrefurl=http://www.funnytimes.com/playground/gallery.php?tag=magician&docid=SyvGsL9dLMkfDM&imgurl=http://www.funnytimes.com/playground/img/131792468533335.png&w=415&h=330&ei=-6mnUb2QEoaa0AW-y4CYBg&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:84,s:500,i:256&iact=rc&dur=1474&page=20&tbnh=170&tbnw=229&ndsp=33&tx=132&ty=106http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=magic+cartoon&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=66iGTpkh9xIC1M&tbnid=4q3ldePxgc5k5M:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://www.kulfoto.com/funny-pictures/23964/this-is-where-the-magic-happens&ei=aamnUbHeKKun0wXqs4HAAQ&bvm=bv.47244034,d.d2k&psig=AFQjCNHXc38DaW2z01qgMtZAUPMYUjCkUQ&ust=1370028639132424


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Good news folks, the library will be at the next meeting,

so you can have a good look through and choose what

you want.

I have promised a few members to publish a newlibrary list in the magazine, unfortunately due to work

commitments I havent had time this month but will

certainly try to get it ready for the next issue.
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=magician+books+cartoons&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=651&tbm=isch&tbnid=dmT1Ezr2F3iv-M:&imgrefurl=http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-wizard-spell-book-image11790609&docid=uS8MilbhWwC5RM&imgurl=http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/wizard-spell-book-11790609.jpg&w=800&h=800&ei=1ICFUY_YDaKM0AXppICQCw&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:38,s:0,i:203&iact=rc&dur=745&page=2&tbnh=176&tbnw=171&start=24&ndsp=33&tx=114&ty=92


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Meetings

I hope you all enjoyed this years close-up competition?

I felt it was a very good standard once again and this is

credited to The Fylde Mystics really being a performing

society and the work we as members put in to

performing magic., in fact this too was echoed by Roger

Woods (President of the Northern Magic Circle). So a

big congratulations to all the competitors, and

particularly the prize winners:

1st

Place Paul Joyce

2ndPlace Allan Clarke

3rd

Place Harry Moulding

Best Card Trick Allan Clarke

The next meeting will see an evening of home made

tricks, ie, ones not purchased from a magic shop,

something which you are able to make yourself, I look

forward to seeing you all on Tuesday 4th

June, 8:00pm

start.

Oh, and if you keep reading, there maybe some news of

an additional lecture!!!!


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BONUS LECTURE NIGHT - TUESDAY 18th

JUNE 2013

I told you there was some news about a bonus

lecture

I am pleased to announce that The Fylde

Mystics have secured the ONLYNorth West

lecture from Germanys JAN LOGEMANNwho is

the current FISM World Champion for Card

Magic. The lecture will be open to visiting

magicians so please do tell all yoru friends,

there will be a 5 on the door charge. Want to

know more about Jan, click this link to see a

videohttp://vimeo.com/60868038This reallywill be a fantastic lecture, and once again,

another FISM Champion lecturing for The Fylde

Mystics.
http://vimeo.com/60868038http://vimeo.com/60868038http://vimeo.com/60868038http://vimeo.com/60868038


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Thanks to:

George Jennings

Leslie Melville

Allan Clarke

Alan Mylecraine

Documents

Fylde Mystics June 2013