Here's the latest MAGIC Preview, offering a peek at what's coming in the January 2010 issue of MAGIC Magazine

Here's the latest MAGIC Preview, offering a peek at what's coming in the January 2010 issue of MAGIC Magazine, along with a couple last-minute items that just came in.



If you're not a subscriber, I hope this will get you interested in giving us a try. Please check out our risk-free, one-month-at-a-time subscription plan at the bottom of this email. Of course, we still offer our annual subscriptions as well.



If you are a subscriber, these MAGIC Previews give you an advance look at what's en route to your mailbox. And, of course, you'll still receive our exclusive MAGIC eUpdates with all the latest television news.



Stan Allen



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P.P.S. Also feel free to post bits and pieces of this Preview onto magic websites. If you do, please give credit for where it came from, along with a link to www.MAGICmagazine.com. Thanks!







David Roth by Bill Wells



The dream – what enables a young kid in New York to realize his lifetime dream? In particular, how is it possible for a youngster whose love is coin magic to use this as a vehicle to realize his dream of appearing at the world-famous Magic Castle in Hollywood and traveling around the world, doing magic with a handful of coins and a few props?



First of all, one must have the favor of the Coin Gods. Consider that our young hero was born 75 years to the day after the birth of the legendary coin magician John Ramsay. However, it was only when he was age ten and Ramsay had just passed away that "Maja" claimed him as a lifelong subject, when a friend of his father plucked a coin from behind his ear. He got the usual magic sets and toyed with various types of magic, including cards, but nothing really ignited the creative fires. Then, at age sixteen, he found Bobo's classic book Modern Coin Magic – a book that was published the year he was born. Suddenly, the creative motivation and inspiration was provided. The spark ignited the flame.



Photo: Jack Tsai







More feature stories in MAGIC this month:



Donba Jutsu: The Technique of Eating a Horse

by Steve Marshall

It's a magic effect not seen in 300 years, but Shintaro Fujiyama recently recreated it live onstage, along with other routines from the Edo period of Japan.



Al Koran's Headline Countdown by Graham P. Jolley

Mentalist Al Koran died in 1972, but his work lives on. One of his best-known – and perhaps least understood – effects was the Headline Countdown, fully explained here by his unofficial student.



Ricky Jay: A Rogue's Gallery by Gabe Fajuri

In his latest theatrical effort, A Rogue's Gallery, magician, historian, and raconteur Ricky Jay displays his skills in all these areas. It's an evening of tales and tricks, partly determined by choices from the audience.



Kyle Eschen: Making the Dreams of Children Come True

by Mark Nelson

Although only sixteen, Kyle Eschen's dry wit and seemingly world-weary persona separate him from other teen magicians, as do his television performing credits.



The Trilero, Paleros, and You by Nicholas J. Johnson

Trilero – it's the old game of finding the ball under the three covers. While the spectators can't separate the empty boxes from the one they want, the street hustlers can separate the bettors from their cash.













Last Minute Updates:



John Nicholls Booth, 1912 – 2009



In 1998, at the age of 86, Dr. John Booth wrote: "I tried as a magician, cinematographer, lecturer, and Unitarian clergyman to bring people together in a more just, enjoyable, and harmonious society." His Linking Ring column, "Memoirs of a Magician's Ghost" from 1963 to 2000, comprises nearly 1,700 pages of autobiography and a history of conjuring and the magical characters he had met over the years. The "Update" section of this January issue includes a remembrance of John from Ben Robinson, a long-time friend with whom Booth collaborated on three books.



This tricky 1940 photo of John Booth appeared in the September 1996 issue of MAGIC. Captured in 1/1000th of a second, the image of 29-year-old Booth seems to take on a new dimension when viewed upside-down.







Conveying the Magic



In the old days, men and women had to look for potential dates the old fashioned way: by interviewing three unseen strangers on The Dating Game. But thanks to modern advances in technology and the ridiculousness of reality television, there are new ways of selecting a partner. For example, watching them glide by on a conveyor belt like dim sum in a Chinese automat.



That's the premise of Conveyor Belt of Love, where thirty bachelors each have one minute to do whatever they can to impress five women while being conveyed across the stage. The women then hold up signs to indicate if they are interested or not. Among the assortment of assembly-line bachelors is Jethro, a Southern-California magician, who presents a bit of magic in hopes of enticing the ladies.



The one-hour special will air Monday, January 4 at 10 p.m. (ET/PT) on the ABC network, produced by Endemol USA. This is the same company that several years ago produced the short-lived series Chains of Love, in which a contestant would spend 24 hours a day literally chained to four members of the opposite sex in an attempt to see with whom they would be most compatible.



Does Jethro end up with one of the Conveyor Belt of Love contestants? Participants are forbidden to reveal the outcome of their appearance until the show has aired, so you'll have to watch and see. But seriously, has any woman ever failed to get turned on after witnessing a guy chop off his own hand?



Photos: ABC







Street Magic



A thirty-second commercial for the Ford Mustang featuring Steve Wyrick performing an escape on the Las Vegas Strip is promised to start airing nationally after the New Year. The effect, which was taped just before Thanksgiving, was the brainchild Steve and Don Wayne, with Doug Leferovich. A three-minute version is also part of an Internet campaign and can be seen on Ford's website (#10 of the "10 Unleashed" videos).



http://www.fordvehicles.com/the2010mustang/











From the Marketplace



John Bannon's latest, Bullets After Dark, is a two-DVD set loaded with card tricks aimed at every skill level. Here's an abridged version of John Lovick's review:



Over four years ago, I wrote a review of John Bannon's charming little book, Dear Mr. Fantasy. I called it a gem and said that it was the first magic book in nearly a decade that I had read from cover to cover like a novel, in a single sitting.



Bullets After Dark, Bannon's new two-disc DVD, includes some material from Dear Mr. Fantasy, some revised material from that book, and some brand new ideas. There is a lot of interesting card material here for the pasteboard enthusiast and/or Bannon fan.



These DVDs are not discs that you will watch over and over again for the entertainment value. Bannon is a very low-key performer who uses minimalist presentations, and most of the performances are for a single spectator who is reluctant to respond on camera in the artificial environment of a studio. In other words, it's the exact opposite of an L&L project. But this is not the kind of DVD you buy for entertainment. You buy it to study interesting and deceptive card magic, to learn and gain inspiration.



There are fifteen tricks and one sleight on the two discs; some of the tricks are combined into two- and three-phase routines, making a total of eleven items on the discs.



In addition, sprinkled throughout are short segments in which Bannon answers questions about creating magic, the faro shuffle, the Chicago session (his legendary weekly meetings with Dave Solomon and Simon Aronson), routining, magicians who have influenced his work, mixing math and magic, finding presentational angles for card tricks, and other topics.



None of the items here are knuckle busters, making this a good video set for all skill levels. If you love card magic, and even if you're just getting started, I'm sure there are at least a couple of items here that you can put into your repertoire, and a couple more that'll be fun to just play around with.



Bullets After Dark starring John Bannon. Two-DVD set. $35 plus shipping (varies by destination). Available from Big Blind Media, http://www.bigblindmedia.com or your dealer. Dealers contact Murphy's Magic Supplies, www.murphysmagic.com.





Nineteen products reviewed this month by Jason England, Peter Duffie, Gabe Fajuri, Brad Henderson, and John Lovick:



Color Fusion: The Real Works by Nash Fung

Ade Duval: Silken Sorcerer by David Charvet

Duke Tricks with Cards compiled by Burton Sperber

Con Cam Monte by R. Paul Wilson

No Smoking by Puck

Stand Up Coin Magic by Nathan Kranzo

The Everything Guide to Comedy Writing by Mike Bent

The Fine Art of Magic by George Kaplan

Harry Anderson: Wise Guy by Mike Caveney

Lou Serrano's Steel Ball Routine

Professional Card Forcing Techniques by Paul Gertner

The Pain Game by Jon Allen

The Magic in Books by Leo Behnke

The Roy DVD by Roy Zaltsman and Roy Yozevitch

Triple Impact 2.0 by Matt Ellison

Illusion EFX with Andrew Mayne

Jumper with Joe Rindfleish

Whacked! by Mark Elsdon





Click here to see the entire list of what's coming in the January issue of MAGIC Magazine.