Dear Friends,
This might be the BEST PHOTO EVER! It photo captures a moment in time that is priceless!
Who is the best magician in the USA?
For many TV viewers and the judges of AGT, it has to be Mat Franco.
Mat Franco Won America’s Got Talent…. He beat out the competition and now has his full evening show on the Las Vegas strip. But did you know that years before, he was a student of mine? Read what he has to say…it made me blush!
Mat Franco Says
“If not for Jeff McBride, there would be no Mat Franco! This guy was my biggest, and one of my earliest inspirations in performance/magic! I was beside myself to meet him in person all those years ago. He is deserving of the wide array of awards and accolades he’s received in the world of performance and magic. He inspires so many magicians across the globe, and the magic community is a better place because of him. Thanks Jeff for all that you do for our art!!â€Â — with Jeff McBride.
Want to change your life the way Mat changed his? Click here to look at the magic class that just might do that!
http://www.magicalwisdom.com/events
This also happened…
Las Vegas magic star Jeff McBride awarded highest honor by London’s Magic Circle
September 3, 2018 Las Vegas, NV – Last night, at their headquarters in London, The Magic Circle presented Jeff McBride with The David Devant Award. Among the highest awards bestowed in the world of magic and illusion, the Devant award is given to those who have made a significant contribution in advancing the art of magic, or who have given outstanding service to magic internationally. The trophy is a miniature bust of David Devant, the first President of The Magic Circle. The original life size bronze is on permanent display in the Magic Circle Headquarters.
A 10-year headliner at his popular McBride’s Wonderground, in Las Vegas, Jeff McBride has long been known as a foremost innovator in the world of magic, being among the first to incorporate masks and pantomime with world-class sleight-of-hand skills. His early career saw him as opening act for such superstars as Diana Ross & Tom Jones. Later, his full-evening shows won rave reviews off-Broadway, in Atlantic City and Las Vegas. He is founder of the McBride Magic & Mystery School in Las Vegas, McBride’s Wonderground (magic nightclub), and can be seen regularly on such popular television shows as Masters of Illusion and Penn & Teller’s Fool Us.
He is author of the book The Show Doctor and host of the Monday Night Mystery School webcast, currently with over 350 episodes archived.
Earlier this summer, McBride was presented with one of the magic world’s other highest honors, the International Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques’ (FISM) Theory & Philosophy Award.
The Magic Circle, located in London, is the premier magical society in the fascinating world of magic and illusion. They have an international membership of around 1500, all dedicated to promoting and advancing the art of magic, an entertainment as popular today as when the famous club was formed in 1905.
Recipients of the David Devant Award include:
2018 – Jeff McBride
2017 – Silvan
2016 – Lance Burton
2015 – Johnny Thompson
2014 – David Copperfield
2013 – Luis De Matos
2012 – Jim Steinmeyer
2011 – David Berglas
2009 – Ali Bongo
2008 – Siegfried & Roy
2007 – Paul Daniels
2006 – John Fisher
2005 – John Calvert
2004 – Marvin Roy
2003 – Mark Wilson and Nani
2002 – Dr. Eddie Dawes
2001 – John Gaughan
2000 – Channing Pollock
1999 – Jay Marshall
Student of the Month: Michael Tetro
Los Angeles based magician Michael Tetro has devoted over 10 years to the art of magic and illusion. He honed his skills while studying under Magic Teacher of the Century: Jeff McBride, and has attended the prestigious Magic and Mystery School in Las Vegas. Specializing in highly visual sleight-of-hand magic, Tetro creates engaging and memorable performances.
He tours locally and internationally as a solo artist and with performance groups. He’s performed for America’s Got Talent, Facebook Corporate, Universal Studios, and more. Tetro is a magician member of The Magic Castle in Hollywood, a member of the Society of American Magicians, and a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.
WONDERGROUND NEWS
September 20th
8:00 Comedy Variety show
Tim Wise – Your Host and MC
Sir Patrick – Magic that “takes off!â€
Joan DuKore – Lady of Enchantment
Chris Britt – Magic and Mentors?
Jason Bird – Alchemagical Miracles
9:OO MAGIC Close -up, Strolling and Parlor
Will Bradshaw – Your Host and MC
Kevin Hall – The Madman of Magic
Joan Dukore – The Woman of Many Mysteries
Chris Britt – Storytelling Magic
Jason Bird – Alchemical Enchantments
WONDER-BAR MAGIC
Brian Apollo – The Modern Mystic
Scott Steelfyre – Very Nice-Dice!
Kent Axell – Mindbending Mystery
10:00 THE STAGE EXTRAVAGANZA
Tim Wise – Your host and MC
Sonny Fonatana – The Invisible Man
Sir Patrick – The Romance Act
Joan DuKore – Feminine Mystique
Nathan Phan – The New Las Vegas Legend!
Jason Bird – Illuminating Illusions
All of the Above PLUS:
Photography by Sheryl Garrett. Bar Magic with Kent Axell, Brian Apollo, Scott Steelfyre & Maggie, Corey Rubino, Taylor Lloyd, New World Rythmatism Belly Dancers, Psychic Sideshow with Morganne– and many more surprises and special celebrity guests
See you on the road or here in Vegas!
Be inspired,
Jeff
Dear Friends:
Our guest author this month is John Tudor—one of our earliest participants in Mystery School events, way back when “Mystery School†was just an annual gathering at an Ashram in upstate New York! John has a background in acting and theater, as well as in magic. Enjoy! And now, I give you John Tudor!
Are You A Murderer? Magic and Theater in the Media Age by John Tudor
“Have our magicians had any training or direction in the art of magic? Have they stage presence, or can they act? No, they have not. They just got hold of a bunch of tricks, and walked out on the stage. Magic, which is one of the arts, and one of the best entertainments for the great intelligent public, has suffered terribly. In fact, it has been murdered.”
No, these words aren’t a review of amateur magicians on YouTube. They come from Magic and Stagecraft, by Guy Jarrett, published eighty-two years ago! (1936) Jarrett was a prop man on Broadway, and creator of illusions for Thurston, and all of the greats of his day. He came to that dim conclusion after seeing every act that came through theaters and vaudeville for several decades. What would Jarrett think of the stage magic shows of today?
No doubt he would be impressed by some, and appalled by others. The excellent TV show, Penn & Teller: Fool Us, has given us a unique cross-section view of international magic talent. The magicians have been some of the most polished professionals around, as well as what a friend calls “inter-changeable guys with cards. Fool Us has had a democratizing effect, where clever hobbyists appear along with top pros. The acts that stand out, to me, and probably to Guy Jarrett, are those that could do their act for that large studio audience without the benefit of cameras and close-ups, or even a microphone.
Some performers are “naturals,†of course, but for the most part the better acts you see on Fool Us are the result of the training and direction that Jarrett found missing. They have developed a stage presence, and learned to act, at least a bit. Yes, I am “preaching to the choir†here, but you can really see the difference if you watch episodes on YouTube. Some acts know what to do in terms of theater, while some seem to relate mostly to the camera.
What’s wrong with that, you may ask? Nothing, I suppose, but in a larger sense, the artist is severely limiting him or herself. They are more likely to become “interchangeable†with everyone else, and to limit their own imaginations. For those of us fortunate to be older, our heroes were Mark Wilson, Doug Henning, Thurston and Blackstone. Magic was something big and expansive, especially when it came to David Copperfield’s tricks with world landmarks. I remember an article in the science magazine OMNI asking what magicians of the future would be doing…? The author imagined we would we be sawing Manhattan Island in half, or levitating the Eiffel Tower. Instead we had the deconstruction of magic with the coming of David Blaine. The focus shifted to small magic, which has been solidified in the current YouTube era. I feel this may create a somewhat stunted vision of the art. Many think of magic primarily as something small, to be done for a camera, watched on a computer screen, or a projected video. They are much less likely to learn the skills that theater work requires: stage presence, direction and training that Jarrett saw as lacking.
Of course the issue is not the size of the venue or the props. Close-up and parlor magic are just as viable as forms of the art. And, it’s not even the technical aspects of stage work; like voice, posture, facial expression, and so on. That’s all the outer part of what actors call their “instrument.” Stage training is also very much about the inner part of the instrument: the imagination, visualization, memory, life experience, and so on. Acting is in many ways a spiritual exercise, an expression of who you really are, understood by playing someone else.
Let’s set aside the metaphysical, and speak in more practical terms. A theater manager once told me, “We (theaters and performing arts centers) are all doing these mind-reading and card trick shows, on projection screens. We do good business with these too, but they all seem the same.†The magicians seemed interchangeable to her, and she wondered whether they would grow an audience. My opinion may seem obvious, but I truly believe it. The better trained you are (aside from with the use of media) the less interchangeable you will always be (even projected on a big screen). I think the stage presence/acting aspect becomes even more crucial in a TV or media heavy production, than in a “normal†magic show.
The buyer also asked me why there weren’t more artistic magic shows, like the artistic puppet and juggling shows she’d presented. I told her about Jeff McBride & the Mystery School scholars, and the one-man fringe festival shows, like Ricky Jay’s. She said, “I would love to offer a magic show that’s different, something more robust.â€
Robust, she said. Robust… I confess I’ve spent a lot of time pondering what she meant by that choice of words! Perhaps it is different for everyone, I don’t know. I am sure, however, that you, the reader, would prefer to seem “robust†than to seem “interchangeable,†wouldn’t you? Then don’t just watch YouTube, or Fool Us. Think hard about Guy Jarrett’s words. Get some training, some direction, work on your stage presence, take an acting class…or a Master Class. You’ll find yourself much happier, to be a champion, rather than a murderer of the art.