Another New Beginning

Dear Friends:

I hope you won’t mind receiving this so soon after we sent you the Museletter announcing Jeff’s “Masterpiece” series. Jeff suggested I send you all a note to help promote the release of my new book, The Wizard’s Way. I do want to do that, but I also thought this might be a good opportunity to share some things you might not be aware of.

A bit of history

As of today, I’ve known Jeff McBride for nearly 28 years, and been working as his manager for 26. I count him among my best friends and supporters, and I want to tell you just a little bit of why that is.

When we first met, I had never worked in the magic business. I had an idea that it would be a good thing for some of the dance companies I was then helping to manage if they would add some magic to their repertoire, so that they might raise the commercial appeal for what they did. I was tired of having to beg for money to pay for supposedly successful seasons.

My friend Bob Fitch introduced me to Jeff, with the advice that “he knows more about magic and movement than anyone else I know.” I first met him backstage at The Sands in Atlantic City, where he was then the opening act for Raquel Welch’s nightclub show. We hit it off immediately, but not over my dance company project. Instead, we decided to work together to develop a full-evening show that Jeff would star in, to be presented at the Edison Theater on Broadway, which I was then managing. Shifting directions would become a recurring theme in my work with Jeff.

After working for almost a year to develop that show, we had a couple of backer’s auditions, and failed to raise the money we needed to fully mount the production. However, Jeff continued working on the show, and showed me the results at one of his rehearsals a few months later. What he had developed was incredibly creative, but not yet really developed into a cohesive whole. I had another meeting with my friend Bob Fitch, who also happened to be a director and choreographer, and he agreed to spend time with Jeff working out the kinks in the show, before it was to have it’s debut at an off-Broadway nightspot called The Ballroom. By opening night, the show had developed into an unusual piece of theater, still a bit rough around the edges, but so original, with Jeff’s own amazing magic as it’s centerpiece, that it received raves from the New York theater press and audiences. I think that’s the point where I realized that magic theater was really my calling.

Shortly after that first show that we worked on together, Jeff’s manager of the time became ill, and began his slow decline, which would end in his death a year after that. During that time, Jeff asked me if I would take over as his manager. I at first declined. A personal manager, in my estimation, was just a glorified agent, and the life of an agent was not one I wanted for myself. However, after some long discussions, I agreed that I would try it out. I would keep my “day job” running the theater, and handle Jeff’s business during my spare time. Things worked out better than I had expected, and within a year or two, I had two other clients besides Jeff… both of which he had brought to me. When the show (and the theater) closed a couple of years later, I was all set to open my own office and move into the world of magic and magicians full-time. Since then, that has been my full-time business, and it’s been great fun. The business has taken me around the world several times, allowed me to direct and produce magic for some of the greatest magical artists of our time, and otherwise indulge my own creative aspirations. And it’s all because Jeff McBride talked me into it, and had the courage to stick with me as I learned the business. I’m still learning, and we’re still working together.

So this is my opportunity to say “Thank you, Jeff!”

We haven’t always seen eye-to-eye on decisions about his or my career and business, but we’ve always supported one another’s decisions. We’ve gone through both great and difficult times together, and we’ve shifted directions many times. Both of us are fans of Joseph Campbell, and his writings were one of the things we had in common when we met. That first show we did together was heavily influenced by Campbell’s teachings. It was called Mask, Myth and Magic.

Later on, Jeff introduced me to the writings of the philosopher Ken Wilbur. One of Wilbur’s core ideas is that we all move forward by a process of transcending and including what we’ve done before. That’s a bit of what the whole “Wizard Project,” of which The Wizard’s Way is the central piece, is all about. It is a manifesto and textbook for a new way of thinking, and a new way of being. The book is based on the legendary and real wizards of the past, and on the unique ideas and beliefs which set them off from others, and gave them their “powers” to do what for others seemed impossible.

The great news is that this particular shift in direction doesn’t require that we give up anything. Jeff’s performances, our classes at the McBride Magic & Mystery School, my work writing and teaching and managing—all that continues. What is changing is that I will be spending more time spreading the ways of the true wizard—first with the book, then through talks, and ultimately through events that we produce as training sessions. We’ll be teaching speakers, business-people, non-profit teams and others all to become more effective world-changers. Some events will include trainings using some of the methods we’ve developed through our work at the Magic & Mystery School. Others will include talks and presentations by myself, Jeff McBride, George Parker and others already on the team, as well as a number of others.  Maybe some of you reading this will become wizards on the team. I certainly hope so.

In the meantime, now you can read the book. It’s available in both trade paperback and Kindle editions from Amazon right now. If you purchase a copy before midnight on Monday, December 15, there’s a bonus pack that comes with it. You can learn more about the book (and my others) by going to http://www.tobiasbeckwith.com/portfolio.html. Since it’s only available through Amazon at this point, just send me an e-mail with your Amazon purchase receipt and a note saying you’re a Museletter subscriber, and I’ll send you a link with information so you can download the bonus materials.

Oh: And please click the small image below to go directly to the “buy” page on Amazon. If you do that, Jeff will receive a small affiliate fee from your purchase, and you’ll be helping support our future activities at the school.

Whether you buy the book or not, I hope you’ll join us on the path towards true wizardry. I’m putting out two or three “Wizard’s Minute” videos teaching the core principles each week, posted on YouTube and Facebook (there’s a Wizard’s Way page I set up there). They will soon be joined by a number of Wizard Interviews—video taped interviews with some of those “real wizards” of our own time. We’ll explore their unique beliefs and techniques, and will learn from them. We’ll work together to develop our own wisdom, create our own community of wizards, and start changing the world together!

Other news:

We have changed the dates for a couple of our events at the Magic & Mystery School for 2015.  “Hypnotic Wizardry” has been moved from January to April 10-12, in order that Jeff could accept a special engagement on a World Cruise for Holland America. We’re just sending out notices to those who had already registered for that class, and are hoping it may make it possible for a few more of you to participate. The class will both teach interesting magic for use by hypnotists, and some hypnotic techniques for use by magicians. I’m looking forward to both sharing and learning myself at that one!

I think most of you have already heard this, but just in case, I’ll mention it again: Magic & Meaning 2015 has now been moved back into October. The dates originally planned turned out to conflict with a major convention in town—which meant the hotel would have charged double what you all paid for your rooms there last year. Since part of the reason we had decided to move there was to make the event more affordable for you, that seemed a bad idea. The new dates are October 21-24, the week after our Magic & Mentalism class. Max Maven is our special guest this year, and has confirmed he will be with us for the new dates.

I think that’s it for now. Best wishes to all of you from all of us at the McBride Magic & Mystery School for a most magical holiday season!

Sincerely,

Tobias Beckwith

tobias@yourmagic.com

Jeff McBride at war! No more!

“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”

–Sun Tzu, The Art of War

“This is how I feel when I’m at war… I am so over this!”

I’M SO DONE WITH FIGHTING….
As you may have read, for the past few years I have felt like I’m in a war. A war of egos… and lawyers. I am ending it right now!  These fights over the theft of magic have been well-documented on the internet and on television.

One of the many reasons I’m making my performance pieces available is to end the drama of continued legal battles.  I would rather grant proper permission to people to perform these effects – than to spend my time trying to stop people when they steal them.

“This is how it feels when I empower others with my magic!”

THE MCBRIDE MAGICAL MASTERPIECE SERIES

.

• … is not a book, though it is crafted from hundreds of books.
• … is not a DVD, yet it contains magic informed from hundreds of DVDs.
• … is not an instant download. These performance pieces are life-works.

What this series is:

• A personal invitation for you to join me in Las Vegas.
• A legacy of magic that you can proudly perform with complete permission and support from me.
• The very best of my performance work, taught to you, one on one.

If my type of magic calls to you, please click on the link below for more information:

http://www.magicalwisdom.com/masterpieces

Yours in better magic.

Jeff McBride

The Magic of Gratitude and Happiness

Greetings Magical Friends,

Abigail here, writing from the House of Mystery, while Jeff is performing and teaching in Florida for a few days….

“I cannot tell you anything that, in a few minutes, will tell you how to be rich. But I can tell you how to feel rich, which is far better, let me tell you firsthand, than being rich. Be grateful… It’s the only totally reliable get-rich-quick scheme.”

 —Ben Stein, actor, comedian, economist

Once again, we are approaching my favorite time of year, a time when just for one day, we turn our focus to gratitude and giving thanks. My awareness around gratitude has been deepening lately, and I am noticing the effects this has on my life. One of the practices I learned many years ago was to make a list, from A-Z of things I am grateful for, everything from Air that I breathe to the fact that Zebras exist at all… and now, this practice is growing, as I ask myself, “Why am I grateful for this?”  (Water, because it hydrates, cleanses and makes things sparkle!)  Deepening into the “why” seems to bring me into more and more awareness. When I am grateful, I feel happier, more in tune with just how blessed and fortunate I am. I’m not the only who has noticed this correlation. In his fine work, Thanks!: How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier, Dr. Robert Emmons has a lot to say about it, and I highly recommend it.

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.”

 —Denis Waitley

I want to encourage all of us to bring up the frequency of gratitude in our lives, not just once a year for one day, but consistently, consciously, constantly. I really do believe that when we are tuned into how good life is, we are more inclined to be kind, helpful and present with all those we encounter, and there is so much to be thankful for.

Brother David is one of my favorite teachers about gratitude, and this is one my favorite works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zl9puhwiyw

Today, my gratitude goes out for my beloved, darling husband, who I appreciate, respect and admire; for our students and faculty who make the Magic & Mystery School; for my health, my home, the happiness that is mine on a daily basis, for the willingness to celebrate even the smallest victories, and the ability to breathe, dance and live in this amazing world.

I am especially grateful that my parents decided to have me start piano lessons when I was four, as that decision has led me to be the musician and singer that I am. If you’d like to hear some of my music, you can find it here:

http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/AbbiSpinnerMcBride

Wishing you the gift of knowing how fortunate you are, at Thanksgiving time and always…

Abigail

The Magician’s Bauble

From Lawrence Hass, Associate Dean:

Throughout the month of October, we are celebrating the “Philosophy of Magic” on our Mystery School Monday shows. Thus, for this Museletter we wanted to bring you something special from one of our famous philosophers, Bob Neale. On the day this arrives in your box, Bob will be with us in Las Vegas for the Magic and Meaning Conference, where we will be celebrating the release of his brand new book The Sense of Wonder (available October 20 from TheoryandArtofMagic.com).

Meanwhile, enjoy these reflections:

The Magician’s Bauble

 Robert E. Neale

(Excerpt from an unfinished manuscript, Breakaway: Bits and Pieces of a Magic Wand)

“Bauble” is an Old French term of obscure origin. It refers to a child’s plaything or toy. We continue to employ it to mean a trinket—a small, showy ornament of little value. In either case, it suggests something of little value. This is just as it should be . . . as long as we remind ourselves of the quite opposite meaning that is involved when we connect it with the Fool’s Bauble, which functions as a scepter that mocks the staff of office of rulers.

Fool’s Baubles could vary in form from an imitation phallus, to a bladder, to a doll-like replica of the fool himself. The prop was a symbol presenting the jester as a ruler of his own, fool of all fools. But our recollection of the jester in Europe should not obscure the fact that the fool figure has occurred in such cultures and societies as Eskimo, Aztec, Arabian, Roman, and Chinese. Fools occur to make merry, play absurd, and also critique society. They are experienced as innocent and yet knowing, criminal and yet caring, destructive and yet wholesome. Indeed, the jester is a most ambiguous figure about which we are properly ambivalent.

So I invite you to consider our traditional magic wand as a jester’s bauble:

It is a bauble we have been using all through our magic lives, but perhaps haven’t fully recognized it as such.

But now consider it to be a kind of wand that we have sometimes used in our public performances:

Indeed, at the most fundamental level, all our baubles are breakaway wands: the comedy stick with which we wave to make magic happen and then hand to a child who discovers it broken. We take it back, restore it, and may offer it to the child again. However abusive, this event has been experienced as funny by magicians, their audiences, and even those on whom the trick has been played. And it is properly ironic that we should finally play it on ourselves. Can we show our wand broken? Can we create the illusion for ourselves that we have restored it? Can we not like ourselves, then like ourselves, and then be silly with the serious?

So consider our wand now as fully revealed. Can we see it? And if so, can we appreciate it still as a comedy stick? Is it funny for us? Yes, can we laugh? Let us hope so by moving the life cycle of our magic wands to a new stage in which they embody ambiguity, and yet we treasure our own ambivalence about it.

How MEANINGFUL is Your Message?

“It’s not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving.”

-Mother Teresa

Jeff Takes the Plunge

Lance Burton and Jeff McBride raise awareness for ALS. It is a joy to share this with our friends.

See the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFOV3KqjBZw&feature=youtu.be

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

–Winston Churchill

You Must Have a Powerful Message…

to gather and hold the attention of the crowd. Today’s audiences have short attention spans. In today’s fast-paced world, only those who have the skills to win the crowd will survive.

What can we learn from magicians? Here are the 3 rules of “Street Magic”

Find out the techniques used by master “crowd stoppers” by watching this short clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALE65MRP-hA

1. CAPTURE THE IMAGINATION – Use sound, color and movement to attract ALL of the senses.  Get people INVOLVED not “just watching.”

2. EN-TRANCE & MANAGE ATTENTION – Use the hypnotic language of storytelling, music, varied vocal VOLUME and pacing to connect and deepen the immediate experience.  Repetition and predictability are boring! Make your presentation a roller coaster ride.

3. MAKE THE MESSAGE MEMORABLE - Use “catch phrases,” hooks and visual metaphors to help the message “stick” in the memory.

For more info on how to make your message stick:

 http://www.gingerpublicspeaking.com/make-your-message-stick-the-rule-of-memorable-presentations

Q: Where do public speakers, presenters and magicians go to learn how to make their

message more meaningful?

A: The Magic & Meaning Conference

http://www.magicalwisdom.com/events#469

caption under photo: Mario and I will teach you to the secrets of  capturing the big crowd at our upcoming class. http://www.magicalwisdom.com/events#467

Street Magic

Mario Morris said, “This is perhaps the only magic workshop you will ever attend, where you can actually get PAID BACK your tuition by PERFORMING!”

This training is the THE REAL DEAL on Street Performing. If you EVER had the desire to live your dreams as a busker, this class will give you what you need to know.

 “Only those who attempt the absurd can achieve the impossible.”

–Albert Einstein

Seeing Without Seeing

Yes, Ross Johnson can detect objects while 100% blindfolded! He seems to have developed the ability to see without the use of his eyes! He can also teach you to manifest apparently psychic powers! I’m not kidding! You can even meet Ross here:

http://www.magicalwisdom.com/events#470

“Advertising is the greatest art of the 20th century”

– Marshall McLuhan

Could this be the Birth of a New Artform?

Imagine performances that integrate the power of the mind, magic, mentalism, and hypnosis, creating a truly unique experience for audiences – a unique experience that only you can provide.

Hypnotic Wizardry

Join master hypnotist Richard Nongard and

World-renowned magician Jeff McBride

Jeff McBride’s Mystery School

in Las Vegas, NV

January 23-25, 2015

Magicians and mentalists will master the art of hypnotic language, directing audiences in new and powerful ways to accomplish routines that are spectacular.

A New Class

Hypnotists will learn the art of magic, illusion and mentalism and create unique skits that move far beyond what the standard stage hypnotist is offering.

You will be able to exemplify yourself in this intensive three day learning opportunity and you will have the personal attention of two masters within their craft.

This class is for magicians, mentalists, hypnotists and performers that desire to impact audiences with powerful demonstrations which others simply do not perform. You will be setting yourself, and your performance, apart from the rest by combining cognitive magic with innovative performance.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

–Maya Angelou

What Happens at the Magic & Mystery School?

Sheryl Garrett is an amazing photographer. She attended a recent Master Class. You can get a secret look inside the halls of Mystery School by viewing the gallery of her photos you will find here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.265206657003832.1073741848.150066185184547&type=1

WONDERGROUND

The biggest magic party in Las Vegas and YOU are invited!

Thursday night September 18th… never to be repeated! The full line up can be seen here: www.vegaswonderground.com

Are You Planning to Visit Las Vegas?

I’m home in Las Vegas after the “Chicago to Brazil to Arkansas” tour. Abbi and I are hosting a few residencies and seminars here in Vegas. So when you plan your Vegas visit, be sure to let us know, and we’ll help you put a little magic in your visit. Call Abbi at 702-450-0021 to set up a class or private session.

We will see you in the online classroom, here in Vegas, or on the road,

Jeff McBride