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News from the World of Magic>
Wunderful New Year
January 4, 2010
Happy New Year! Hope you had a wonderful holiday season filled with magic and happiness. I just returned my son to college, thought about taking down the tree, and then filled the car with enough salt, shovels, and sweaters to make it through January. This winter, if you see a broken down, rusted out red car with the driver burning snow shovels and sweaters to stay warm, stop by and say “Hello.”
Hello, this is Paul from Wunderground Magic with enough holiday cheer to make it clear through to April. And, as you know, April 1 is the anniversary of Wunderground Magic, so we should have lots more to celebrate by then, should the spring be slow in breaking.
Classes
Even though it may be cold outside, Wunderground’s class dungeons are heated by dragon’s breath, so they’re always warm and cozy. (Though they do have the odd odor of, well, dragon’s breath. I’ve been buying Scope by the barrel, but do you have any idea how hard it is to get a dragon to gargle?)
Children’s Classes
Classes for children, ages 7 through 13, are taught every Saturday morning from 10 until 11AM in the Wunderground class dungeons. If you’re brave enough to face the snow and drive to Clawson on a Saturday morning, you will learn amazing effects with cards, coins, ropes, and other seemingly ordinary objects that become incredible in your hands. Dazzle your parents, amaze your friends, befuddle your teachers, and learn cool stuff that no one else can do. The cost is just $100, which buys you a punch card good for six lessons, anytime over the next six months.
Adult Magic Workshop
Adult magic workshops are held from 6:30 until 8PM on the first Tuesday of each month, that’s tomorrow - January 5. Better start driving now, just in case we get snowed in. This month we’ll be learning card tricks that can be performed anytime, anywhere, with an ordinary deck of cards. The cost is $20 at the door which covers all the supplies you will need.
Advanced Magic Workshop
Advanced magic workshops are held from 6:30 until 8PM on the third Tuesday of each month. That gives you two weeks to prepare. Better mark it on the calendar so you don’t forget. You did remember to get a new calendar didn’t you?
Special Topics
Got a suggestion for a class you’d like to see us teach? In the past we’ve gotten requests for instruction on special topics such as balloon twisting, juggling, ventriloquism, and taking a long hike off a short pier. (Oddly enough I hear that last one an awful lot.) If you have an idea for a subject you would be interested in learning more about, let us know and we’ll do what we can to accommodate you. We’re here to make you more entertaining.
Frank Jogular's Column?
Frank Jogular is a performer of note who prefers to remain anonymous. After reading what he has to write, you may understand why.
You can learn pretty much everything in magic…
Frank Jogular here with my second column.
There are a select few in this area who really know a LOT about magic. A few are hobbyists, a couple do shows part-time, and even fewer are full-time working pros.
Yet it is safe to say that this select group of magicians all have one thing in common… They seem to really know a LOT about how stuff works – or at least the basic principles behind stuff. How did they attain this secret knowledge? Did they sit around in a kibbutz swapping secrets? Well, maybe…
But when it comes down to it, they all had a powerful resource to learn what they needed to know – The Tarbell Course in Magic.
You’re probably thinking – oh those are the old books for beginners that the old timers always annoyingly reference by stating “it’s in Tarbell” when they fool someone from a younger generation.
Well guess what – they aren’t joking. It IS in Tarbell. And if you don’t have The Tarbell Course in Magic, you basically are missing a lifetime supply of tricks and knowledge. The sheer volume and quality of material in these 8 books is astounding. I dare you to name one “signature effect” of a full time working pro that doesn’t have its roots or fundamentals published in Tarbell. From huge stage illusions to some of the BEST platform, corporate, and even birthday party type material ever conceived, it’s all there.
Oh sure – the descriptions are on the small side – you will actually have to think a little bit. There aren’t full color photographs – but line drawings that occasionally look a little cartoonish. And Tarbell is old, right!? Man, it must all be “dated”.
Well, if that’s your attitude, please DON’T buy Tarbell. We appreciate being able to keep the knowledge to ourselves. More knowledge, shows, fun, and money for us. No worries. Stick to your one-trick-wonder DVD’s and keep searching for that "magic bullet" trick you saw the 12 year old on YouTube do that you think will make you an overnight sensation.
But if magic is something you are SERIOUS about, you NEED to have The Tarbell Course in Magic. You can’t afford not to.
The neat thing is that you don’t have to make some huge investment either. Just buy one or two of the books at a time for $25-35. Learn what you can, and pick up additional volumes when your budget allows. Before long, you’re going to notice you are constantly picking up the index (published in Volume 7) to research various effects.
If you’ve actually read this far you are probably thinking by now – OK OK OK Frank – I get it. But give me a couple examples of stuff in Tarbell that’s really worth it. OK, I will…
Want a quick trick that you can carry anywhere and completely FRY both laymen and your magic buddies? Look up the “Sucker Silk Vanish” Volume 1, page 399. And if your audience is the local magic guys at the club and they know anything about a thumb tip you will REALLY smoke their brains!
Looking to do a large scale “illusion” with your spouse or girlfriend but have limited funds and space? Take a look at the “Phantom Bag Escape” Volume 5, page 370 – and heck – some dealers are selling this illusion for $400+! You can perform this illusion virtually ANYWHERE -and it’s a fooler!
Are you looking to do something memorable at your restaurant gig? How about “Card on Ceiling”? There are multiple versions and handlings in Volume 3 starting on page 235. And you thought Ammar invented it, didn’t you!? Ha!
Head up to Wunderground Magic and take a look at The Tarbell Course in Magic books on the shelf. Pick one up. You can start with Volume 1 and work your way up, or start somewhere in the middle – it doesn’t matter. But sooner or later you are going to want all 8 volumes. It’ll be the best magic book investment you’ll ever make.
Onwards…
Frank Jogular
Events
Dave Foydel
Dave will be appearing at Champps in West Bloomfield every Sunday from 11AM until 2PM, and Buffalo Wild Wings in Brighton on Wednesdays from 5:30 until 8:30. He performs table magic and balloon animals.
John Calvert: His Magic and Adventures
Fred Calvert is pleased to announce that the feature-length documentary JOHN CALVERT, HIS MAGIC AND ADVENTURES, after nine years in production, has finally been completed and is now available on DVD at www.johncalvertmagic.com.
Producer/director Fred Calvert (John Calvert’s nephew) a former staff artist for Walt Disney Productions, has created innovative programming for both network and public television, including the award-winning SESAME STREET. His latest movie, a psychological thriller, KILLING ARIEL, is currently in release.
Fred’s work on JOHN CALVERT, HIS MAGIC AND ADVENTURES has truly been a labor of love, and he very much wants the entire magic fraternity to see the production, to see the best of John Calvert’s magic, his bold adventures, and this master magician’s insights on how to become a successful magician and entertainer.
Check out the rave reviews at www.johncalvertmagic.com by William V. Rauscher, John Calvert’s biographer, by Samuel Patrick Smith, Executive Editor of The Linking Ring, and by Michael Woolf, Editor of Magicana.
Sincerely
The Calvert Magic Team, Hollywood
January Specials
Did you know there’s a magic club in town? Actually it’s in the next town over, but Clawson is so small I wouldn’t be surprised if a golf club, laid flat, extended into the next town over.
The International Brotherhood of Magicians (known as I.B.M. long before that upstart computer company started using those initials) Ring 22 will meet on Thursday, January 7 at the Royal Oak Community Center, 3500 Marais, Royal Oak, MI 48073
January’s theme is “Silk Magic Menagerie,” so I’ve decided to offer all silk effects at 10% off until the end of the month. Just say the magic words “Silk Magic Menagerie” to get your discount.
(Don’t tell Dave Wirth, the new I.B.M. president, but I suggest you stop by the shop before the meeting to pick up a silk cloth then read Frank’s suggestion of Tarbell Volume 1, page 399. By the time the third person does the exact same effect, he might suspect something’s up, but he’s a little slow on the uptake, so I’d like to see at least a dozen or so people performing it.)
New Magic
Reel Magic Magazine
Issue #14 is on route to the shop now. The feature interview is Wayne Dobson. Also don't forget about the second part of the Danny Garcia interview!
Incrediball
SWOOSH... First you're holding a small 2.5" wide red ball, then it instantly transforms into a jumbo 6" ball. It grows to over twice its size and looks like a bowling ball! Only the one ball used. Self working, very easy.
Up Levitation
Effect: A deck of cards cuts itself by levitation to reveal a spectator's selected card or to magically find your favorite four of a kind.
If you have ever wanted to perform a levitation close up and personal, without the many drawbacks of prior methods, NOW YOU CAN!
Tenyo News
We have 4 of the 5 new Tenyo items available in limited quantities. (And if anyone really wants to produce a delicious shumai dumpling, I’d be more than happy to order the fifth one.)
The first run is available with English packaging and English instructions. After these sell out the next runs will be available only with Japanese packaging and English instructions. The new items are: Floating Card, Illusion Truck, Millionaires Dream, and Shrinking Pen.
Many of the sold out items will become available again Feb.-March 2010 in the Japanese Packaging with English instructions. These will include New Koornwinder Kar, 4 Dimensional Trunk, Crystal Cleaver, In The News and many other best sellers.
If you are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Tenyo Elite line, so far they have only released Fortune Sticks and Moonspinner, with Blue Crystal and Soft Coins coming soon.
Floating Card19560
19560Show a deck of playing cards to the audience, and invite a spectator to freely select one card. Place that card face-up onto the deck. Magically, the card slowly floats upward! You can even remove the card below the floating card, and the selected card remains suspended in mid-air. The selected card slowly returns to the deck. You can immediately spread the deck to show the faces of all the cards.
19561Millionaires Dream
Fold up a dollar bill, and a quarter magically rises up from inside! Produce quarter after quarter from the same dollar bill. The last quarter that appears magically changes into another dollar!
Shrinking Pen
19562Show a pen to your audience. Ask your spectator to pinch the pen through the cloth of a handkerchief. As she pushes downward she feels the pen shrinking smaller and smaller. When the handkerchief is removed, the pen is seen to have really shrunk!
19563Illusion Truck
Remove a lion figurine from the miniature circus truck. Drop the lion inside the folds of a handkerchief, and it instantly disappears! The vanished lion suddenly reappears back inside the truck!
Illusions
We’ve unearthed three more large scale illusions from somewhere in the catacombs of the Wunderground dungeons – a Zig Zag Lady, a Doll House, and a Super X. The first two appear to be homemade and will need some work to get them in performance condition. The Super X appears to be Abbott manufacture and only needs a bolt.
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Cool stuff for surface dwellers
at Wunderground Magic, Inc.
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© Wunderground Magic, Inc. 2008-2011
16 S. Main Street
Clawson, MI 48017
(248) 280-5925
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