LECTURES BOOKED FOR TORONTO AND MONTREAL
If you live on this side of Canada and will be around Montreal or Toronto middle of August I would love to meet you all. Here are the details for my upcoming lecture.
MONTREAL: You can check out the details here: http://cammontreal.org/romhany.htm
When?Thursday, August 13 at 7:30pm
Where? Montreal Chinese Community and Cultural Center, 1088 Clark, Montreal
How much? $25 in advance / $30 at the door
$25 en avance / $30 à la porte
Payment methods? Paypal: gmcsorley@gmail.com
Cheque/Chèque: Grant McSorley
6533 St Dominique
Montréal, Qc
H2S 3A8
TORONTO:
It will be held at Morrisseys Magic Shop on Saturday August 15th starting at 2pm. Contact Dan at Morrissey's for more information or email me and I will put you in touch with him.
This is the lecture I've been performing all year in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. It's a very practical lecture featuring some of my favorite routines ranging from close-up, stand up, stage and even mentalism. There is definitely something for everybody and for all levels. I will also have with me books, products and my latest DVDs which will be available next week. If there is anything special somebody would like email me and I will see if I can bring it.
I am very excited about bringing my lecture to this side of Canada and can't wait to meet everbody.
THE MAGIC NETWORK
I am pleased to announce a new Network for magicians on the internet. This one is by far the best I've seen. I like it because it's very up to date and is a great way to network with other magicians, have your say and overall is the best internet site I've seen in a long time in the field of bringing news, views and networking to magicians.
Be sure to drop by and join at http://themagicnetwork.com/
NEW PRODUCT COMING SOON
I am currently busy working on two new products that will be coming out very soon. One is a follow up to our very successful and highly praised CSI:Case of the Color Change Hanky. This week alone I've had over twenty emails from professional working magicians who have all said this is the best handling of color change silk they've seen. This is coming from professionals who have performed the old Billy McComb handling for years. I will never forget when Wayne showed Billy his method and Billy himself said he thought Wayne's handling was much easier and so much better than his own. Now praise doesn't get any better than that!! We sure do all miss Billy and many of us have wonderful stories about him. I'll never forget the first time I worked the Magic Castle and Billy came to see every one of my performances on stage. Afterwards he would offer little bits of advice, and many of them I added to my act and perform to this day.
I don't want to give too much away at this stage about our new effect, other than it's very funny and is very different. It's a comedy, stand alone piece of magic - the skill level is very low so you can rely on the comedy really working for itself. My good friend Hal Spear, who is a comedy writer to many famous celebrities and a sitcom writer, has really put together a clever routine that I know is going to become a popular item for most magicians. I hope to have more next week for you.
I am also busy working on something that I've been working on for the past five years. I feel it's developed enough and audience tested over thousands of performances both on land and on cruise ships to finally release it. I have come up with something that is very bold but will absolutely blows people away. I feel what I have achieved is something I have not seen before and I can't wait to see other magicians performing it. Again, I don't want to give too much away at this stage but it hopefully will be ready very soon.
Well, that's about all the news on this end. I have to wrap this up as I'm about to go and do my show at The Lobster Festival.
YOUTUBE FAVORITE LINKS
Scott Cervine - I got to see Scott work his hilarious comedy magic act when he toured NZ and I never forgot it - that's well over 15 years ago now. Here is Scott performing his very classy silent magic act. It's still great today as it was then! I wish he were still performing it because there are lessons in how magic should be performed for all of us!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIOHgCOOc0o
Scott Cervine Short Films - there is a wonderful series of these short films by Scott on Youtube. Go to this first one and watch the others - they are fantastic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t3v58a2lNU&feature=related
ROMHANY'S PICKS OF THE WEEK
This Is Your Knife by Wayne Dobson
This is, without a doubt, the Rolls Royce of Knife Routines. This is certainly a one of a kind piece and something a professional is going to use in every show. This is built by Colin Rose and uses the highest quality material. As a working professional this is something that I would want to add to my own act. It is designed to really get your audience on the edge of their seats, and was originally built for Wayne Dobson's TV show. This is a rare chance for some very fortunate magician who wants one of the most dramatic pieces of magic to add to their own show. This is a rare piece of magic and I know will be snapped up quickly. It is so nice to have these amazing pieces of magic available to the magic fraternity. This is a one of a kind piece.
Here is the blurb from Hocus-Pocus
Recently acquired from a private collector, this beautiful piece of magic and mentalism from England's master craftsman Colin Rose is a real show stopper!
Created by the dynamic duo of Wayne Dobson and Colin Rose, it was originally created for Wayne's TV show, "A Kind of Magic." Colin used only the best materials available. The knife handles are made from select hard woods with highly polished aluminum blades and hilts! This will ensure that no one else will be performing this edge-of-your-seat piece of mental magic! Play it seriously or play it for laughs -- This Is Your Knife is quite possibly one the best attention-getters on the planet! No one will leave to use the restroom during this one!
Performer invites a spectator onstage and has her freely (and we mean FREELY) select one of five numbered cards (the cards' faces have a single number on their faces from 1 to 5). Without looking at it, she is asked to place it in her pocket or keep it hidden where no one, including the performer and audience, will see it. Once done, all attention is called to a wooden plank with a display stand, in full view throughout. The performer brings out four razor sharp knives and hands them out for inspection. The audience can clearly see they are as real as they are dangerous! Once these have been throughly inspected he introduces a fifth knife which has a retractable blade. Now the fun begins as all five knives are completely mixed and placed upon the display stand. Upon your que, a plexiglas plaque pops up from behind the stand, displaying the numbers 1 through 5 corresponding to the knives on display. The performer again reminds that one of the knives is a retractible fake and the four remaining are dangerously real. He further explains that whichever numbered card the spectator has selected, that numbered knife will be used upon himself. That's right, and since the knives are already in place, there's no turning back now!
For the FIRST TIME, the performer asks the spectator to take out her card and reveal its number (in this case, let's say she chose 4). Knife number 1 is pulled from its position and dropped on the wooden plank. THUNK! It sticks up from the base, proving its validity! Knife number 2 is pulled from its position and dropped on the wooden plank. THUNK! It's real as well. Number 3 is dropped. THUNK! Now, the performer takes out BOTH number 4 AND number 5 knives and holds them up into the air. The audience doesn't dare breathe...
Simultaneously, number 5 is dropped and number 4 is plunged into the performer's chest near his heart. THUNK! Number 5 knife is seen stuck into the wooden plank base, and the performer pulls number 4 knife from his chest -- number 4 is indeed the retractible fake knife! WOW! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? The suspense is overwhelming!
This Is Your Knife comes to you complete with the following:
Five beautiful hand-turned, hardwood knife handles with 'Pyrography' detail work in the design and highly polished and varnished polished aluminium blades
Aluminium stand with Number Board and baize inlay on the presentation display area and inside the carry case
Soft Balsa wood inlay in the base for the daggers to fall onto
A video of Wayne's original presentation along with notes and a signed publicity photograph of the man himself
The entire effect is presented in a beautifully crafted carry case of Mahogany with 'Dovetails,' foam inlay and baize interior for easy transportation.
Ideal for stage, cabaret and cruise work, this just might be the most perfect effect around! Hocus Pocus is not liable for any misuse and any injury that may occur due to carelessness on the part of the performer, and we will not sell it to anyone under the age of 18!
The Essential Dai Vernon Book
What a goldmine this is. I own all of the material in other books, but to have them all in one is simply amazing. The quality is of a high standard and of course, the material is worth it's weight in gold. To put a value on this book must have been hard. The material is from Dai Vernon, so how can you really place a value of the information he shares with a price tag. I feel this book is something we should all own and certainly something we would all refer to. If you were to purchase one book this year, then this should be it. All of us know Dai Vernon so a review need not say much at all. If you want to own all of his material in one HUGE book, then purchase this TODAY. It will give you many years of reading and incredible magic.
Here is the blurb from Hocus-Pocus.
Dai Vernon was the most influential magician of the twentieth century. His vision helped to define and raise the artistry of close-up and platform magic to a degree unequalled by any other magician then or today. His thinking pushed magic into the modern era. His contribution to magic was essential to its refinement and growth. His own magic is perhaps the most important—indeed essential—body of work ever produced for the art.
And now you can have The Essential Dai Vernon to guide, inspire and accelerate your progress in magic. This single, mammoth volume contains all the Vernon classics written by Lewis Ganson:
The Dai Vernon Book of Magic
Inner Secrets of Card Magic
More Inner Secrets of Card Magic
Further Inner Secrets of Card Magic
Dai Vernon’s Ultimate Secrets of Card Magic
Dai Vernon’s Tribute to Nate Leipzig
Malini and His Magic
Dai Vernon’s Symphony of the Rings
And the remarkable, previously unpublished “Vernon Scrapbook,” more than 70 pages of rare photos, correspondence and memorabilia!
Almost 1100 pages of the finest magic from the most respected magician of our time. If you bought these masterworks separately, you would pay $225 or more, if you can even find them. The Essential Dai Vernon places them into your hands, in one beautiful hardcover volume with full-color dustjacket, for almost half that price.
