Jeff is out of the country and before he left, he gave me permission to draft the next Muse-letter. So here we go… CONTENTS: No More Card Manipulation? Selling Underwear on eBay Jeff McBride: Dove Act McBride & Burger in Drag The Masks Take Over Pendragon vs. Randi NO MORE CARD MANIPULATION? Quoting from a recent email from Jeff: “Hi B, you;re in chrge of tyhe nexy muse-lettr I fell it needs a bit more color..perhaps a inspiriational quote. Call me in the AM J( typing with a cut finger…it’ds a pain)” It seems Jeff sliced his finger open while packing for his trip to Holland. His typing skills have obviously been affected. I’ll bet he can still pull off those split fans flawlessly, though. SELLING UNDERWEAR ON EBAY OK, we stopped at the underwear, but you can buy some of his old costumes: pants, shirt, boots, hat, belt and mask on eBay. The auctions close April 5th. JEFF MCBRIDE: DOVE ACT We recently received this email from our dear friend David Parr: “Hey Jeff. Remember the Magic Magazine? It was sold on newsstands in the mid-’70s, and I remember walking up to the grocery store several blocks from our house and buying it along with Mad and Cracked and Spider-Man comics. Well, I recently ran across a few old copies of the Magic Magazine, and was paging them with nostalgic amusement when, in the December ’75 issue, I suddenly realize I’m looking at you! What makes this particularly amusing is the spelling of your nom de theatre: ‘McBride the Magnificant.’ Dude, that rocks! I’ve attached the scan as a JPG image. Enjoy!” See the photo MCBRIDE & BURGER IN DRAG To be technically correct, this was me and my wife Jen “in drag” as Jeff & Eugene for Halloween circa 1997. Good thing the party consisted of mostly magicians (though the ones who weren’t just thought I was Gene Simmons of KISS). See the photo THE MASKS TAKE OVER Most people just think the mask thing is part of Jeff’s act. No, no, no. They come out and play at Jeff’s house and sometimes even take possession of the wearer. We call this one “Joaquin Banana” PENDRAGON VS. RANDI I’m ending this on a serious note. This is NOT a joke. This is for real. Controversy exploded on CNN when debaters Jonathan Pendragon and James Randi went head to head, arguing the recent exposure of Houdini’s “Metamorphosis” illusion in the new Houdini museum display in Appleton, WI. The debate ended with James Randi, who is a controversial spokesman for the skeptical movement, conceding to Jonathan Pendragon’s persuasive views on the subject of exposure. Yours in better magic, Bryce