Dynamo represents what can be called the ‘new generation’ of guerilla magicians who ‘strike’ with force, passion and energy and ‘kill’ their audiences with their magical skills and powerful illusions.

Of course, magic for me is not about ‘killing’ or ‘knocking out’ my audiences but I know that this approach is part of the ‘new wave’ of magical performers.

So what about humility..

Well in Dynamo’s own words…

“I want to be as famous as Paul Daniels.”

This is surely a recognition of the high regard and esteem most magicians have for this British icon and, despite an impressive TV series and more than one or two ‘water cooler moments’, Dynamo’s own realization that he still has a way to go.

Source Article: The Sun 

Image via Wikipedia

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The plot seems to be a simple one. After the loss of his longtime stage partner, a famous but jaded Vegas magician fights for relevance when a new, “hip” street magician appears on the scene.

Reports from the set comment on Steve Carrol’s, who plays Wonderstone, focus noting that he stays ‘in character’ whilst on the set… ‘he is arrogant and self-centred’ … I am assuming that’s Wonderstone and not Carroll.

The pictures of Carroll as Wonderstone show him as velvet-jacketed and 80′s mullet haired – very reminiscent of Siegfried and Roy whose style and flamboyance was their own.

Jim Carrey plays the new ‘hip’ magician in town. I can only assume that we’re going to be in for more of the comedians rubber-face antics.

I’m particularly looking forward to see Steve Buscemi who is playing a character called Anton Lovecraft.

Olivia Wilde plays the female lead, so one can imagine some kind of ‘love triangle’  featuring in the story.

I believe this is the first feature film for director, Don Scardino. He has worked on the TV series Law and Order, The West Wing, 30 Rock – to name a few.

The screenplay comes from John Francis Daley and Jonathan M Goldstein. whose credits include “Bones” and “My Dad Says” so a sharp, witty script seems to be on the cards.

Alan

Related articles

• Jim Carrey to join Steve Carell in BURT WONDERSTONE (geektyrant.com)
• Steve Carell Channels Siegfried And Roy for ‘Burt Wonderstone’ (inquisitr.com)
• Jim Carrey Gets Hairy (justjared.buzznet.com)
• Olivia Wilde and Steve Buscemi Reportedly Negotiating for ‘Burt Wonderstone’ (moviefone.com)
• Jim Carrey Looks Familiar in BURT WONDERSTONE Set Photos (collider.com)

As part of the New Year clear out I  have unsubscribed the 3000 + inactive users on this blog.

So If I deleted you in error I apologise..

But do not despair you will notice that there is a NEW SUBSCRIPTION box on the right side of this BLOG which will subscribe you to my new Magic and Mentalism Newsletter.

I intend to publish this once a month and it will have content which has not been posted on this blog. Aimed at magicians (professional, amateur and hobbyist) it will contain reviews, thoughts and comment which I hope will be of interest.

The January Newsletter as a comment or two about show BUSINESS, the new IMS DVD series, Magic 4 Learning and Paul Silk (aka Mr Tickles a local children’s entertainer)

Starting with Alan’s Magic Store

To access the store you will need to read the info on the STORE INFO page as that gives you the password clue.

Hope that makes sense..

Over the next month or so I will be adding items.

The SECRETS pages will also go live over the next couple of weeks. The password will be the same as the STORE password and I hope that will be the place where effects can be reviewes; secrets and performance tips shared.

So that’s about it for now…

Alan

I can’t believe how quickly the time is going – I mean summer is nearly over and last night and the nights do seem to be ‘drawing in’ already.

The shows at Lands End have been going really well and the illusion sequence (BeJazzled) with the cube-zag and dynamite illusion finish seems to have been enjoyed by all. As I may have mentioned the ‘illusion thng’ is a bit of a departure from the ‘norm’ for me as I consider myself to be more of a mentalist and bizarre magician than a ‘straight magical dude’. I guess calling myself an” enigmatist” really gives me the freedom to ‘dabble’ in other areas of our art – heck it’s all magical entertainment after all.

With the summer season taking up so much of my time I’ve not really been ‘on the ball’ in promoting my book (Mostly Mental) BUT as the season comes to a close I will have a bit of a breather and catch-up on all of those projects that have been patiently waiting in the winngs.

These include promotion of Mostly Mental and the launch of the ‘on-line store’ part of this blog.

I’ll also be making an annlouncement about my Seance show (under the banner of Theatre Macabre) in the very near future…

So stay tuned and if you want to catch the last BeJazzled show then be at Lands End Attraction on the 25th August around 4pm.

More soon

Magically Yours

Alan

Lands End Magic Shows : Tuesday 23rd, Thursday 25th and Tuesday 30th of August.

This week has been a bit of a crazy one for me. The first Lands End gig of the season saw the new ‘illusion’ based act that I was asked to put together for the venue.

It’s a 45 minute piece containing, amongst other things a ‘Cube Zag’ illusion.

Ok OK , so what is a mentalist doing performing illusions?

Well you must remember that my business card say’s ‘Enigmatist’ and whilst I am mostly a purveyor of mental enigmas I do like to extend myself.

For the first public outing of this new show there were the inevitable teething problems BUT things will improve the more flight time we have. Bejazzled is the name of this specially created magical interlude and on stage I am supported by two ‘new to magic’ assistants who do a great job.

So, if you’re in Lands End (Cornwall) you might like to pop by and say ‘Hi!’.

The magic show is there every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon throughout August, with additional Bejazzled shows on 11th, 18th and 27th August.

The approximate show times are:-

Merlin Day Thursday August 11th.
Punch 11.30 – 1200
Magic 12.30 – 1.15
Punch 1330 – 1400
Magic 2.45 – 3.30
ILLUSION Show 4.00 – 4.45

Pirate day Thursday August 18th

Punch 1230 – 1.00
Magic 1.30 – 2.15
Punch 2.30 – 3.00
Magic 3.30 – 4.15
ILLUSION Show 4.45 – 5.30

Air Ambulance day Thursday August 25th
Punch 12.30 – 1.00
Magic 1.15 – 2.00
Punch 3.15 – 3.45
Magic 4.00 – 4.45
ILLUSION Show 5.00 – 5.45

All other Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout August No Illusion shows and following times:
Punch 1.00 – 1.30
Magic  2.00 – 2.45
Punch  3.15 – 3.45
Magic  4.15 – 5.00
Magic  5.45 – 6.30

The Punch and Judy Show is from Mr Tickles – a great Childrens Entertainer.

The Magic Show is a family show featuring Mr Tickels and Myself

The Illusion Show is BeJazzled

Liskeard School’s Activity week featured a range of extracurrcular activites for students and in the early stages of the planning John Golding invited me to offer a Magic School session as part of the programme.

John and I have worked together on a number of innovative educational projects in the past, he trained as an NLP practitioner with me and got the ‘magic bug’ a couple of years ago.

The Magic 4 Learning programme, which developed from David Copperfields Project Magic (with his permission) uses magic to motivate learning, develop personal, social and thinking skills whilst at the same time allowing young people access to tuition in magic tricks.

The aim is not to produce a batch of new magicians, although this is often a by-product of the sessions, but rather to offer a context in which to develop team work, creativity and communication skills. The programme was developed to support and motivate learning and not necessarily teach the next generation of conjurors.

You can find out more about the programme and its planned development at Magic 4 Learning

You can hear a podcast about the Magic School below and in the next day or so I hope to add some photographs from the event.

It was great to see ALL of the pupils so actively engage in the magic show at the end  of the weeks sessions. The invited audience were not only entertained but amazed by many of the performances. I mean few, if any, of the pupils involved in the sessions knew any magic  before the week started.. The magic kits and Crafy Conjurors book provided gave then a kick start, and of course the coaching and support in learning the trciks helped, but by the third day the young people were developing their own ideas; doing more reading and research and working together towards creating a magical experience for their audience.

It was great to receive Tweets of support from Penn & Teller, The Fool Us Team, Andy Nyman, Richard Wiseman, Piff the Magic Dragon and David Copperfield… it gave the whole magic school a feeling of connection to the world of magic. Using a safe, closed, social media network the students were invited to view and comment of performances from some of the Greats in the world of magic; write reviews of Penn & Tellers Fool Us show and enagage in a discussion about the work they were doing.

It was a GREAT week and the students were FANTASTIC…. one or two may well choose to follow up on the interest created during Magic School and become young magicians….

Alan

Image via Wikipedia

I really hope this bit of gossip is correct….

A quality story with a quality actor… just need a good screenwriter and director!

Depp is reportedly at the top of Warner Bros.’ wish list to play the lead character in ‘Carter Beats the Devil, as real-life 1920s magician Charles Carter in a fictional caper involving President Warren G. Harding and a sawed-in-half trick gone wrong.

Attempts have been made before to bring the 2002 novel by Glen David Gold to the screen (Tom Cruise was once attached), but now the film is back on the fast track.

All reports suggest that a new screenplay has been written and the studios are looking for a director.

Watch this space.

“A MAGICIAN was thrown out of a Midland bar and quizzed by police – for bending a fork!

Paul Fisher, who goes by the stage name Paul Saint, was given his marching orders by a burly doorman after performing the trick for friends at Après bar in Lichfield.

“I tried to tell the bouncer that the forks were my own, but he wouldn’t listen,” said Paul, 35, by day a driving instructor from Pelsall, West Midlands.

“I always take a few props out with me and perform for friends. I’ve never had this reaction before.”

Moments after being turfed out, he claims a police van raced to a halt beside him and he was told to get inside in connection with the incident.”

You can read the full article, which appeared in the Sunday Mercury here:

Not much for me to add really….

Alan

Tonight we were treated to a good selection of magic which included:-

High Jinx – Illusion Double Act

Nice illusion, loved the design of the prop but I guess not the easiest of guys to fool. I actually liked the styling, the look and the illusion itself.
Jon Allen
Jon performed a version of smash-and-stab in which a spectator made choices of which bag was to be crushed.
I remember Jon from years and years ago when I was Secretary of The London Society of Magicians and he was a brilliant young magician. Over the years I’ve noted his work and enjoyed his quirky performances. He’s a really amusing and entertaining guy. I was a bit surprised to see him in a ‘more serious’ mode. It was a nice presentation – superbly paced, but Penn & Teller caught ‘the moment’ and a great idea was ‘blown out of the water’
Graham Jolley
No here’s a performer I really admire. He manages to bring mystery, mind magic and comedy together in a seamless way. Opening with a billiard-ball selection routine, it was his card effect that actually fooled the American duo. It was a superb card prediction effect, only to call it that really understates its directness and effect.
With John Archer fooling the guys last time and Graham Jolley doing so this time it really seems that comedy-mentalism is hitting the mark!
Penn & Teller’s contribution – an escape from a helium filled oversized refuse sack which as you’d expect was sharp, original and entertaining, A lovely twist on a mail bag escape, and I seem to recall reading somewhere in an old book an escape from a paper bag … yes the point of that effect, and of course of Penn & Tellers is that the bag remains undamaged!

Again, so nice to see a good magic show on prime time TV without the celebrity hangers-on!

More please ……..