I KNEW AL WHEN HE WAS EDWARD DOE a gentleman’s hairdresser at The Ritz Hotel in London. That was in the ’50’s when he used to meet up with our group – Jack Avis, Alex Elmsley, Roy Walton, Ted Danson,. Bobby Bernard and myself on Saturdays when we hounded the magic stores. He was mad [...]
Posted on June 25th, 2008 by John
Filed under: Magic Biographies, Magic Miscellanea | 2 Comments »
HAD A DELIGHTFUL LUNCH WITH ROY WALTON and his wife Jean this week (started at 1.00pm and finished at 5.00pm!) during their brief visit to the big smoke. We have been friends since we were teenagers but after marrying Jean of the famed Davenport family, he gave up a career in the computing industry and decided [...]
Posted on June 21st, 2008 by John
Filed under: Magic Biographies, Magic News | 4 Comments »
I STILL HAVE MANY OF JACK’S NOTES that he compiled over the years filled largely with original card effects and moves plus notes on things he had seen at meetings and conventions. Many of these require detailed drawings of the set up for the effect but perhaps I’ll work some of these out later..However, amongst [...]
Posted on June 21st, 2008 by John
Filed under: Magic Ideas | 1 Comment »
THE WHISPERS IN THE MAGIC FOREST tell me that there is a very special magic occasion being celebrated this week in the catacombs below Charing Cross Station in London. The word has it that Betty, grand daughter of the great Lewis Davenport, famed magician of centuries past and founder of one of the world’s greatest magic emporiums, [...]
Posted on June 19th, 2008 by John
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ALEX ELMSLEY LIVED IN A BASEMENT FLAT in Chelsea in his retirement years. We all called it “Wuthering Depths” He suffered badly from depression which he kept at bay with Prozac and the amber juice but not necessarily at the same time.
I had known him all my magic life and he used to come to [...]
Posted on June 18th, 2008 by John
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I’VE ALWAYS ACKNOWLEGED that there is magic you do for your friends and your ego and there is magic you do for the paying public. Demonstrators versus entertainers.
Nowhere was this philosophy more confirmed this week when I read that Nick Einhorn, one of our busiest, skilled and most successful performers did a high profile gig for a [...]
Posted on June 16th, 2008 by John
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Sebastian was fifteen years of age when he first put his hand up Judy’s skirt
A retired police officer encouraged him to do it, but it was not something in which he was particularly interested .The policeman, a rotund, avuncular, red faced man with a glued-on, symmetrical haircut under the name of Uncle Percy, ran a [...]
Posted on June 13th, 2008 by John
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LIKE MANY OF YOU I PULL UP THE ‘YOU TUBE’ web site on the computer and find thousands of contributions, some good, some historical and some – Yuk!
Magic wise there are an awful lot of magicians doing their version of matrix and the like and many of them not good. However the site is full of some [...]
Posted on June 12th, 2008 by John
Filed under: Magic Miscellanea, Magic News | 1 Comment »
I’VE PERFORMED THE DEVANO RISING CARDS for years and without going into detail I have, I believe, a stunning presentation and patter theme which has become a very successful highlight of my table and close-up work. It gets me repeat bookings.
I knew Mitch Devano, the inventor and bought many packs off him – he always had [...]
Posted on June 11th, 2008 by John
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I’VE WRITTEN EARLIER about a magic friend Lewis Jones who spent many years in his career in Singapore and who I meet at monthly intervals at my home in concert with many other magic aficionados. Once a year year Lewis and his wife Sush, stage what I call a “Curry and Conjuring” day to which they invite [...]
Posted on June 10th, 2008 by John
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