Summer Solstice

“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.”
–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

Museletter from Eugene Burger

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.”

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 Numb”. 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 mistakes”. 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

TV News and New York City

Greetings, friends! This is Tobias writing in Jeff’s absence, in a bit of a hurry, because we have lots of news in, and it’s time sensitive:

We’ve just heard from Criss Angel that Jeff will be featured on the premiere evening of this year’s “Mindfreak” on A&E, on an episode airing at 10:30pm on May 31st (check local listings…it’s the second of a double-header). Jeff performs a surreal version of his popular mask-magic piece “Transformation.” Later in the series, Jeff will be featured in two more segments, and we’ll do our best to let you know when they’ll be on.

“The Mindfreak shoot was one of the more challenging I’ve been on,” said Jeff in a recent interview. “We shot in a dry lake bed outside Las Vegas, and while we were shooting there were 40 mile per hour winds gusting through the set. It was all I could do to keep the masks from flying away. If it weren’t for my years of performing in similar situations at the Burning Man festival, I don’t think it would have worked. Fortunately, what we ended up getting on tape was really spectacular.”

JUST IN: JEFF AND ABBI WILL APPEAR AT THE FANSTASMA STORE IN NEW YORK CITY ON JUNE 10 AND 11. THIS IS HIS ONLY SCHEDULED NEW YORK AREA APPEARANCE OF THE YEAR. Saturday will feature a commando-style show and lecture, and one Sunday, Jeff will conduct one of his “no-holds-barred” one-day master class workshops for up to 20 people. He is performing a similar event in Baltimore earlier the sane week, which sold out in two days! Contact Fantasma at (212) 924-8345 or by e-mail at: info@fantasmatoys.com for more information.

More TV news: Jeff is featured in a couple of other upcoming video projects, as well. We’ve just received a DVD of the “Las Vegas” episode of Franz Harary’s “Magical Planet,” which features Jeff’s full Kabuki suite. My understanding is that the show hasn’t yet be sold in the U.S., but that talks are under way. We hope it is sold soon so you all can get to see this terrific footage for yourselves.

Finally: Our friend Donald Zuckerbrot is in the final stages of editing his one hour special “Real Magic” for the Enigma series on Canada’s Vision Network. “Real Magic” is all about – guess who? Our most magical of magician friends, Jeff McBride! The documentary is set to air in Canada “mid-year” – we don’t have anything firmer than that at this point – across Canada. We’re talking with them now about being able to sell copies of the show in DVD format from our web site as soon as it has aired for the first time in Canada. Donald was here earlier this year, and shot lots of amazing footage. We’ll be interested to see what parts actually made it in once he cuts it down to an hour special!

Beyond the television projects, things are going strong at the McBride Magic & Mystery School. Our Extended Master Class in July is sold out, and the one in August is filling up quickly. After the great response we had after the first few of these extended classes, and always building on what we’ve learned, we’re expecting these classes to be our “best ever.”

In the fall we have three really exciting events, one of which is brand new for us: The first is the “Magic & Meaning” conference with special guest Robert Neale. This conference, in many ways, carries on the traditions of The Mystery School, which we haven’t done for several years now. The focus on the underlying meaning and reasons for doing our magic, on building our connections with our fellow magicians, and on a somehow deeper exploration of magic and what it means to be a magician all make this a truly special event.

Following Magic & Meaning we will have our second annual “Magic for Medical Professionals.” The response to this class last year was strong, and we learned a lot. We expect this year’s class, featuring special guest Dr. Jay Ungar, to be an even bigger success, with lots more hands on magic and applications for using magic in your practices. Finally, we’ve just added “21st Century Mentalism,” with special guest Ross Johnson. This is the one I’m personally looking forward to most, as I have a long and abiding interest in mental magic.

I’ve really only touched on what’s happening here – please go to www.magicalwisdom.com to learn all about each of the new classes.

Thanks for bearing with me for all the news while Jeff is away in Austria.

Best wishes.
Tobias Beckwith
tobias@yourmagic.com

Temecula, May Fire and East Coast Events

“Wisdom is knowing what to do next, skill is knowing how to do it, and virtue is doing it.” -David Starr Jordan

Greetings friends,

Just after returning home, we went to Temecula, California, where Dell Lawrence and the “Jeff McBride Ring” of the local I.B.M. arranged for us to come do a show, a lecture and a Master Class. We had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed spending a couple of days in the lake house with Dell and his family. It took us about six hours to drive there, and we enjoyed seeing the mountains and all the beauty along the way. Magic, by its very nature, happens only in the present moment, and is a constant reminder to us to savor each and every moment, whether we’re on the road, or in the comfort of our own home.

“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it”. – George Moore

We’ve gotten many responses to our photo question from the last Museletter, where we showed you a photo and asked you to tell us what it was.

The answer is:

This was a photo of Jeff and Eugene in front of the witchcraft museum in Boscastle, UK. Jeff had just mentioned to Eugene that one day his magic beard should be on permanent exhibit in the museum showcase. 😉

We have just added a few very special events, shows and workshops to our East Coast tour and you can see us soon at one of these events.

East Coast – Baltimore:

If you’re going to be in the Baltimore area, be sure to come join us for an unforgettable couple of days as we explore the Commando side of magic. Learn how to bring your magic anywhere, anytime, and amaze and delight all those you come into contact with. Becoming a magician twenty four hours a day, seven days a week is a sure way to take your magic to the next level of excellence! Join us for an exciting, informative time in BALTIMORE!!

Jeff McBride: “THE MAGIC-COMMANDO” Show and Lecture
June 6th from 7:30pm-9:30pm

Jeff will also be doing one of his “one day” Master Class workshops. This is a unique event that those of you who cannot get to Vegas this time of year will love to attend. It is a “No Holds Barred,” hands-on teaching event where Jeff gives personal attention to your questions and magical needs.

MCBRIDE’S MASTER CLASS WORKSHOP
Limited to 20 students
June 7th, 7:00pm-11:00pm
All events will be held at the
DENNY & LEE MAGIC STUDIO EAST COAST
325 South Marlyn Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21221
for ticket information call Denny at:
(410) 686-3914
E-MAIL: dennymagic@aol.com
WEB: http://www.dennymagic.com

Jeff McBride IN NYC
Fantasma June 10-11
A shout out to all our NYC friends! We’ll be coming to New York City for a show-lecture and Master Class at the new FANTASMA STORE. This event will be an exceptional occasion, and we expect to sell all the spaces quickly. Be sure to contact Roger Dryer at Fantasma to get your seats now!!
Tel: (212) 924-8345

JUNE 10 from 7pm – 9:30pm
FANTASMA SHOW AND LECTURE
2 hours of magic

JUNE 11TH Noon – 5pm
MASTER CLASS SEMINAR
limited to 20 students
5 hours

Fantasma address:
421 Seventh Avenue, 2nd floor,
New York, NY 10001
Tel: 212.924.8345
Web: www.fantasmamagic.com

Fire, Magic, and Love!

This week, Jeff and I are camping with 100 of our closest friends at our May Fire Gathering in the Valley of Fire State Park. We are planning to do many fire circle events this year and you can find out more at www.vegasvortex.com

We will continue our fire festival tour to the east coast for FIRESRISING.

Next week we are on retreat in Sedona, AZ, filling up our magical batteries for the tours ahead. We’re looking forward to having a couple of days of rest and relaxation. We’ve been hearing good things about Sedona for years, and are excited to have the chance to go there!

When we return, Jeff is off to Austria for Magic Mania where he will do a Master Class.

We hope to see you on the road on our spring tour!

Love and magic to you all,
Abbi and Jeff McBride