Greetings Friends…
Abbi and I have just given birth… To our new project: Zoom, Bounce & Fly! Well, it really did feel like I imagine giving birth does, but it took longer than nine months…. It took nearly twenty years to birth this
project! This new DVD contains many of my closely guarded pet secrets from my full evening show. If you love card magic, I know you will enjoy seeing the magic and learning the techniques. On Zoom, Bounce and Fly, I have offered my very best to you, my friends.
Here is what one reviewer says:
Zoom, Bounce & Fly! by Jeff McBride
“I just finished watching this DVD and I can truly say that this is the end all work on this subject. This has always been one of the most exciting parts of Jeff’s card act and now you can learn all the secret techniques as well as receiving the secret little gimmick that makes it so much more accurate. I highly recommend this DVD as I do all of Jeff’s teaching DVDs. He is one of the most informative teachers of magic and we are fortunate that he gives so much to our magic world today.
Learn the inside secrets of extreme card spinning, floor bouncing, and spinning productions.
McBride’s famous floor bouncing, extreme card spin productions, flourishes, card juggling, and much, much more! Taught to you by one of the world’s greatest teachers of magic!”
Includes the Special McGrip-Tip Super Card Shooter
DVD Contents:
The Thurston Throwing Card
Special Preparation of Cards
Bobby Baxter at the Richiardi Show
The Walsh Tarbell Spin
Walk-On Jumbo Card Sequence
Thumb Flick Spin
Del Rosso Flick Flourish
Fan Catch and Spin
Backhand Catch
The “Dropping a Card†Out
Hacky Sack Kick + Devil Stick Flick
Perfect Spinner
Two Hand Spinner
Card Spinning
The McBride Grip
Safety
Loading Gimmicks
Arcing
McBride’s Famous Floor Bouncing
Bonus Footage: McBride On Stage Archive Footage
So, come fly with us, friends… And have your cards take to the sky with Zoom, Bounce and Fly!
“When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.â€
– Leonardo da Vinci
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MCBRIDE MAGIC AT THE EDGE!
We are also very excited to be presenting our full evening show at the EdgeWater Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, Nevada, November 3rd through the 22nd. I will be home for most of October, doing private sessions with students from around the world. Abbi and I are also preparing for the Magic and Meaning Conference, October 25th, 26th, 27th, and 28th. Abbi and I will also make a special guest appearance at this year’s VEGOOSE concert, a huge rock & roll event at the Orleans Arena here in Las Vegas, Sunday night, Oct. 29th. We will be presenting a number of illusions during the String Cheese Incident’s late night set.
We appreciate the emails and letters we get from all of our friends, letting us know how much you enjoy our Museletter and staying connected to our web of community and friends. We look forward to seeing you on the road, or when you visit Las Vegas.
We’ll see you soon!
Magically yours,
Jeff
NOTE FROM TOBIAS:
We currently have “Zoom, Bounce & Fly” in stock at Yourmagic.com, shipping withint 24 hours of your order on line. We also have a special, limited time deal combining “Zoom, Bounce & Fly” with a set of Jeff’s special manipulation cards, the entire package available for just $45.00. We have a large stock, but expect demand to be high for this product between now and the holidays, so we advise you to order early! Just come to shop.yourmagic.com!
“[The artist] speaks to our capacity for delight and wonder, to the sense of mystery surrounding our lives; to our sense of pity, and beauty, and pain; to the latent feeling of fellowship with all creation–and to the subtle but invincible conviction of solidarity in dreams, in joy, in sorrow, in aspirations, in illusions, in hope, in fear…which binds together all humanity–the dead to the living and the living to the unborn.”–Joseph Conrad
Greetings Friends!
We’ve recently returned home from Burning Man, in Northwest Nevada. We had a wonderful time there, along with forty thousand others.
Some of the highlights include, watching the gradual construction of the mammoth artwork called “Uchronia,” also known as “A Message Out of the Future,” or “The Belgian Waffle,” created by a team of 60 artists from Belgium. This piece was made
out of 2X3 planks of wood, practically 5,000 feet of lumber, nailed together into an arching structure that was more than 50 feet tall, with a floor span of nearly 200 feet. Yes, on the last night, they burned it, and it was, by far, the biggest and brightest fire we’ve ever seen.
Another particularly interesting piece was the Serpent Mother. This astounding piece of art was created by the Flaming Lotus Girls, and according the Girls, “is a highly kinetic participant controlled installation.” The space that is created by the Serpent around her egg encourages participants to connect and interact with one another, turn inward for reflection or activate her fiery spirit. One can chose to make the serpent’s head and neck move or make the jaws open and close. An individual can initiate 10
different sequenced patterns for the 31 poofers, activate each poofer via buttons or proximity sensors, or operate buttons, which activate the liquid fuel bursts of the egg. The LEDs illuminating the body are also be interactive changing based on a participant’s heartbeat. The freestanding ribs of the serpent can be moved by the participants’ interaction with them.”
Being able to control the fire shooting out of the serpent’s spine was absolutely incredible. The fireworks display on Friday night, which happened all around and above the sculpture was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.
There was so much to see, and so much to do. It’s hard to put it all into words and images…. We spent several hours each day working with a film crew on Jeff’s newest project, “McBride’s Magic and Mystery Tour.” We got to film our special blend of magic all over the festival, from making cigarettes disappear at the Death Guild, to levitating in the middle of the playa, to my personal favorite, escaping from a straitjacket in the middle of Center Camp. Jeff will be going to finish up the new project with Louis at L&L Publishing. Look for it soon!
One of the highlights was performing as part of the Fire
Conclave. This involved 500+ of the most talented fire artists in the world all working together as part of the main event! If you want to see great footage of the Burning Man event, click on the following link. When you get to the web page, click on the 9.02 screen (this is the night of the burn). About two minutes into the footage, the scrolling
screen credits at the bottom will say “dance dance immolation.” At that frame, you will see Jeff shooting the biggest fire balls of the night up into the sky, flanked by our friends Johnny D and Lieve, inside the spinning fire cube costumes. Amazing!
http://currenttv.com/burningman/
In the meantime, the day after we got home, Jeff took off for Magic in the Rockies, where he did a fast and furious round of teaching, lecturing, and performing. He got home on Monday, ready to work with several private students here at the House of Magic and Mystery, and then we’re gearing up for more magic in the fall!
Until we see you again, we send you magical inspiration and excitement!
Abbi & Jeff
A quick note from Tobias:
Registrations are going well for both “Magic for Medical Professionals” and the “Master Class for Mentalists – but we still have a few spots available.
Also: Jeff and Abbi will be performing their newest show, “Magic at the Edge” at the Edgewater Resort in Laughlin, NV from November 3-22nd. Let us know if you’ll be there, so we can make a point of seeing you after the show!
“Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous.â€
– Bill Moyers
Dear Friends:
Jeff and Abbi are safely arrived in Stockholm for FISM, the
international championships of magic and probably the world’s largest magic convention. They are in for a very busy week, teaching 3 seminars, 2 lectures, and appearing on two gala shows. I understand a large portion of the convention is being video-taped for release in various markets around the world, so you may have a chance to see them, along with some of the other 2,500 magicians
participating.
Among other things, Jeff is introducing his new Zoom, Bounce & Fly DVD at FISM. This is his long awaited DVD teaching the special techniques he uses to spin cards in the air, bounce them off the stage, and send them sailing into the balconies of so many theatres. The DVD includes a special tool, “The McGrip Tip,†which has been amongst the most closely guarded secrets in
magic until now. It will be available exclusively from Jeff at lectures and other speaking events, and on our web site for the next several months (Oh…and, through a special arrangement, at the Fantasma Magic Store in New York City!).
Our big news this week is that we’ve just posted our schedule for classes here in Las Vegas through October of 2007. Many favorites are back, including the two extended summer master classes, which have proved to be among the favorites of both the students and Jeff and Eugene. Please visit www.magicalwisdom.com to see what’s coming, and register early for your next class!
Which reminds me: we STILL have one slot left for the August
class. This is the extended class that includes visits to Mac King’s show and Lance Burton’s show, with question and answer sessions with both Lance & Mac afterwards. We’ve all developed new things for our various workshops (I’ve shifted to “Theatre Games & Magical Creativity,†myself). The extended class may not be offered again until next summer, so if you think you want to take one, now is the time to register and get your deposit in! Our July class was certainly among our most exciting and successful yet! All the photos with today’s Muse Letter were taken at that class.
I’ve been fairly busy myself, writing articles for Magic Magazine
(the first one appeared in the August issue, just out!), outlining a book on the creative process for magicians that uses techniques I’ve discovered since I began studying the art of performance over 35 years ago, and trying to keep up with all of Jeff’s varied projects. In addition, I’ll be holding my second “Get your Career in Gear†intensive later this month, from August 25-27th, here in Las Vegas. Attendance will be limited to 5 people (or acts). We’re including a photo session with Richard Faverty, who shoots so many of the Magic Magazine covers, and our students will be spending most of the month preparing themselves for the weekend by reading short articles, then filling in questionnaires for my comment, in order to develop their sense of just what they really have to sell. The idea is that you’ll leave the workshop with the knowledge and materials you need to market and run your own successful business as a magician. You can read more (and register) at: www.yourmagic.com/catalog. Also, check in at the catalog in another week or two to get your own copy of “Zoom, Bounce & Fly.â€
I’d like to wind this up by sharing a single technique you can use to help jump start your own creativity – whether it is in developing a new piece of magic, or in any other aspect of your life. I call it “The Contrarian’s Way.†Here’s how it works. Many magic presentations, or other things we need to be creative about, can be broken out into a series of processes. Imagine yourself doing whatever each process in the sequence just exactly as you have learned it. Then stop yourself and ask “How could I accomplish this in a way that seems the opposite of THIS way?†For example, suppose you have learned a new card trick – one which begins with you asking someone to “please select a card.†Can you think of at least two “contrary†ways to achieve what is needed here? Think about it for a moment before reading on.
Okay…here are a couple of ways I thought of: You could hand the deck to someone else, ask them to fan it, and YOU could select the card, without looking at it. Another alternative: “I’d like you to take away half the cards. Okay…now another half…take some more†and so on, until you are left with just one. Both of these are different and contrary to the normal, but I’d like to create a trick that is really VASTLY different. Perhaps I could ask someone to take the deck, fan it, and throw the fan high into the air. I would reach into the flurry of falling cards and grab any card out of the air as they fall to the floor. That should create a bit more exciting effect! How many more can you come up with? Imagine you take every moment in developing your new card trick (or whatever you are working on) and create a new, contrary, way of accomplishing the things you need to? Can you think of how this might be effective in other areas of your life? Maybe at work, or in a social situation? One of the jobs we undertake when we become magicians is that of showing people new and different ways of looking at life – so being creative in how we approach things other than our magic tricks might be just as much part of being a magician as learning a new card trick!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this Muse letter. We’ll have another one for you later in the month, with a full report on the happenings at FISM, the upcoming extended Master Class, and Jeff and Abbi’s trips to the various festivals, including Burning Man at the end of the month.
Till then, may all your journeys be magical!
Sincerely,
Tobias Beckwith
“All people dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their mind, wake in the morning to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous people, for they dream their dreams with open eyes, and make them come true.â€
–T.E. Lawrence (AKA Lawrence of Arabia)
Greetings Friends and Magi…
Summer Solstice is upon us, a time of enchantment and metamorphosis, a time of long sun-drenched days and short, balmy nights, perfect for magic! William Shakespeare, writing of Solstice 
night in A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream, said, “Whatever is
dreamed on this night, will come to pass.” As magicians, many of us find our inspiration from our dreams. These next few nights are especially good ones for dreaming in new ideas. Before retiring for the night, place a notebook, a pen, and a small flashlight in easy arm’s reach from your bed. Before going to sleep, tell yourself, “I will remember my dreams. I will remember my dreams. I will remember my dreams.†As soon as you wake up, even if it’s in the middle of the night, jot down a few notes or keywords about whatever you remember from your dreams— a phrase, a feeling, or a small snip of a dream can give you a good place to start from. If, on waking, you remember nothing about your dreams, don’t worry, just write down a few sentences about what you might have dreamt, if you could remember….
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” –Eleanor Roosevelt, American First Lady
Here in the waking world, Jeff is looking forward to being up at Lake Tahoe this weekend. He is doing a video shoot with Max Maven and Paul Potassy, and is excited about working with Louis and the gang at L&L Publishing to help them put together something wonderful. In a few weeks, we’ll be traveling to Sweden for the FISM Convention, where Jeff and I will be performing, lecturing and 
teaching a 5 hour seminar. If you’re planning to be at FISM, be sure to say hi! When we return from FISM, we’ll be getting ready for our Extended Master
Class here in Las Vegas, and we look forward to seeing some of you here!
Make the dream of your life a sweet and magical one, and remember that we are the dreamers, the dream and the dreaming….
Abbi McBride
This month, Jeff’s magic teacher and the Dean of the Magic and Mystery School writes to us about his dreams and magical formulas for life and magic. 
A Muse letter from Eugene Burger:
“The first step in following our dreams is waking up.â€
Hello everyone, this is Eugene Burger. The words I have quoted above came to me in Amsterdam this past spring when Jeff McBride and I were conducting our Master Class. We all have dreams, but to make them a reality we really do need to wake up and put them in practice.
Although I live in Chicago, I spend a considerable time of the year in Las Vegas where I have my own room in Jeff’s House of Mystery.
The first thing I do each day is come downstairs and have coffee with Jeff and Abbi and we share our dreams from the night before. Jeff keeps extensive dreams journals as does Abbi and it’s fascinating to see how sometimes the images and symbols in dreams find their place in our performances, shows, and even our teaching workshops. Do you keep a dream journal? Do you pay attention to your dreams? If you never have, you might find it a surprisingly rewarding experience.
I love visiting Las Vegas. Not only because I have many magic friends here, but because I love teaching magic with Jeff and Tobias. In fact, we are in the middle of a Master Class as I write these words. Last night, we took the class to see the Lance Burton show and Lance kindly invited the entire class back to his dressing room after the show for a pizza party, where he answered many questions from the students. 
Speaking of dreams, Lance shared the story behind the creation of his world famous Double Levitation. On stage, he tells the audience the inspiration for the effect began in a dream, in fact it did. Lance told our students that each night before he went to sleep, he would visualize the Floating Lady illusion to the Pink Floyd song “Comfortably Numbâ€. After years of this creative visualization technique, he brought his dream into reality. Dreams do come true and they take a lot of work and thought and patience. That’s what it takes to become one of the great magicians of our age.
Today, we saw the Mac King Show and Mac also met with the class and parents and families between his shows. He shared some delightful stories of things that had gone wrong during his career. When these “terrible†things happened to Mac during his performances, they weren’t funny at all, but time and distance has turned the lead of tragedy into the gold of humor. As Jeff would say, “Tragedy plus time equals comedy.†This is a formula for creativity. 
Have you ever had an embarrassing thing happen to you during one of your magical performances? I suspect you have. All of us have and we can either beat ourselves up and become very negative about these “horrible†situations or we can learn from them – and grow. As Channing Pollock once said to me, “Eugene, you can judge a magician by how well they cover their mistakesâ€. I’ve always remembered this because he didn’t say we could judge a magician by their successes or by their “perfection.†Channing was much more realistic. He wisely understood that we all make mistakes and that part of the art of magic is learning to deal with them creatively. This reminds me of something Gurdjieff said: We can’t always change what happens to us, but we can change how we respond.
It really is wonderful that Lance, Mac, and the late, great Channing Pollock have supported Jeff and my teaching by passing on their wisdom to our students.
Well it’s getting late now, and I really should go to bed so I’m alert for tomorrow’s class. Perhaps I’ll have a new dream of magic.
Good night and sweet dreams.
–Eugene