Number 52 - 23rd June 2001
Rough Magic. Myra Shumway (Bridget Fonda) is an assistant to master magician Ivan,
learning his magic methods as they travel the country. However, although Ivan
is a competent and charismatic performer, Myra has something special, a
real magical ability. Showing on Sky Cinema 1 at 8.10pm on Thursday
5th July. 23.6.01
Many congratulations
to Jeff McBride and Abbi Spinner on the announcement of their upcoming
wedding which will take place at the Firedance Festival in Santa
Cruz, California, this August.
23.6.01
Seventies 'cult' classic
The Love Boat starts a re-run on Channel 5 every Sunday morning at
around 10am. The show ran from 1977 to 1986 and featured at least two
episodes involving a magician, one of them being "Ship of Ghouls - the World's greatest illusionist risks
losing his fiancée when he successfully 'mystifies' some of the female
passengers." I know that there are a number of magicians who have
performed on the actual Love Boat ship, the Pacific Princess, (myself included in
'96), which recently had a $40 million re-fit and is still going strong.
This television series is credited in the cruise industry with being "the show that launched a
thousand ships" - well, not quite a thousand, but it did work wonders for
the industry. 23.6.01
Derren Brown - Mind Control II has
finished production and should be on our screens over the August Bank
Holiday (probably on the evening of Sunday August 26th). Richard McDougall
and Andy Nyman were programme consultants with Anthony Owen producing.
Derren's first outing last year set new standards.
23.6.01
Crouching
Tiger Hidden Dragon has just been released on DVD. I just saw this
movie (on the big screen) and it really is very magical and well worth
seeing. As David Copperfield's recent television work leans more to what many
will dismiss as being "done with special effects" it is interesting to
see just how magical the flying and fight sequences are in this movie,
even though we know that they are done with "special effects" (some are quite wonderful).
There's an excellent musical score as well.
23.6.01
The Young Magicians' Club continues to
develop its programme. A series of up-coming workshops include: Magic
without Cards, Stand up Magic, Acting and Magic, Mental Magic, Performing
at Parties, and an all-day Convention on October 21st. All the above
events will be held at the Centre for the Magic Arts, London. For membership
information visit the website:
Click Here
23.6.01
My Brilliant Idea (Thursdays ITV at 7.30pm) is well worth keeping an eye on - all about extraordinary inventions, the people behind them, and the thinking that got them there. 23.6.01
Joe Pasquale, Chris Woodward, Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee together with 14 other artistes appeared in a Royal Gala Show in the presence of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, on Sunday evening at the Theatre Royal, Windsor. The charity fund-raising variety show was in aid of 'The Prince Philip Trust Fund' and the 'Bud Flanagan Leukemia Fund' and raised over £10,000 23.6.01
Cirque Éloize come to Sadler's Wells, London, for the Summer (7th August - 2nd
September). With a dynamic mix of breathtaking acrobatics, comedy, and
original live rock music, this exceptional troupe from Quebec will present
Excentricus, which has just finished playing 19 sold-out dates at
the Sydney opera House. Tickets from £9 - £27 Booking office telephone 020
7863 8000. Maybe one day someone will do for magic what
Cirque du Soleil did for
Circus. 23.6.01
.Net magazine has a
constantly up-dated 'Hot 100' feature: "Discover the best of the Web
with our essential guide" for July they've profiled ten sites,
with MagicWeek (page 157) being one of them with a picture and
description of the site. This issue is currently in the shops (in a
silver wrapper). That's all for this week, as always your news is
welcome, and don't forget to take a look at the
Dealers this week to see
what's new! See you next week, Duncan.
23.6.01