“The profession of magician, is one of the most perilous and arduous specializations of the imagination. On the one hand there is the hostility of God and the police to be guarded against; on the other it is as difficult as music, as deep as poetry, as ingenious as stage-craft, as nervous as the manufacture of high explosives….”
— William Bolitho 1890-1930, British Author
Greetings Friends, and Happy Spring!
Abbi here, sending magical greetings and good wishes from warm and sunny Las Vegas!
Playing with Fire
Jeff McBride will be appearing on the third season of Criss Angel’s MINDFREAK show soon! Several years ago, many of you saw Jeff on ABC’s Champions of Magic, where he performed the world’s largest fire stunt at that time, called “Burned Alive!” When Criss decided to do his own version of the burning man, he called Jeff and asked him to consult and appear in this exciting episode of MINDFREAK. Check your local TV listings to see Jeff playing with fire!
Jeff and I both love fire and magic. We’re excited to be hosting a special event called MAYFIRE during the first weekend of May. Read more information about our passion at http://www.vegasvortex.com
McBride Live on the Las Vegas Strip
Jeff returns to the World’s Greatest Magic Show for one week only, from March 25th to April 2nd! If you’re going to be in town, come to the Greek Isles Casino and see Jeff live! Be sure the stick around after the show to meet Jeff and the other performers, including Joseph Gabriel, Kozak and many others!
Home at Last!
Our full evening show, The Secret Art of Magic returned to the United States after a successful performance in Canada! Jeff, Eugene and I had a great time in Edmonton, Alberta, presenting our full evening show and teaching a four day Master Class. Sheldon Casavant helped produce this inspiring weekend, and we three enjoyed Canadian hospitality and the s-s-snow!!
Student Spotlight on Sheldon Casavant
We met Sheldon Casavant at a World Magic Summit teen weekend several years ago. Sheldon attended the teen weekend for five years, then came to a Master Class, and has just returned to Canada after six hundred performances of his illusion show. He is an extraordinarily talented performer, and also has a knack for production. You will be seeing a lot more of Sheldon in the future, or right now, at his website http://www.sheldoncasavant.com/
See you soon?
I don’t know about where you are, but here in the Vegas Valley, it’s 85 and sunny, and the roses are starting to bloom! We have two spots left open for the Special Extended Seven Day Master Class coming up in April. You are invited to join Jeff, Eugene and me, along with Tobias Beckwith, Lance Burton and Mac King for a truly magical week!
Yours in the art of better magic…
Abbi McBride
Stuff your eyes with wonder.
— Ray Bradbury
Dear Friends:
Greetings from sunny and rapidly warming Las Vegas (it was 85 here today)! Jeff, Abbi and Eugene left for Canada yesterday
morning, to teach a 3 day Master Class sponsored by our former Master Class Student Sheldon Casavant, along with the Festival Place Theater in Sherwood Park (near Edmonton, Alberta). I’ll be taking off to join them for a special performance of “Magic – The Secret Art” on Saturday evening – but for now I’m left behind here in Las Vegas.
There’s so much going on now, I hardly know where to begin. Last week Jeff, Eugene and I had a fabulous time doing a show for Dr. Lawrence Hass’ group from Muhlenberg College, right here in Vegas for the first time. Many of you will know that Dr. Hass sponsors one of the few (perhaps the only?) sanctioned program for the study of performance magic in a college setting. His annual program at Muhlenberg, entitled “The Theory and Art of Magic,” has featured such magic luminaries as Max Maven, Robert E. Neale, Rene Lavand, Juan Tamariz and many, many more
since the program began in 1999. This year, Dr. Hass brought a group of students and alumni to Las Vegas, the capital of magic here in the U.S., where, besides Jeff and Eugene, they met with Mac King, saw shows, and enjoyed their magical week in Las Vegas. A high point for me was having lunch with a half dozen theatre majors between our tech rehearsal and the show last week. I felt right back at home from my own days as a theater major, back in the early ‘70’s.
Once Jeff and Eugene get back next week from the shows in Canada, we’ll be immediately busy with a couple of corporate engagements here in Las Vegas, and preparing for our first extended master class of this year, from April 23-29th. When we began the 7-day extended classes two summers ago, we wondered if it would be possible to sustain the intensity of the 3 day classes over the longer period. After having done the first 4 or 5 such classes, we’re actually finding it difficult to get everything in! Besides the visits to Mac King and Lance Burton’s shows, and visits with them, we’ve been able to go much deeper in in working with individuals in each class to improve their particular pieces, and to spend more time creating break-out sessions particularly tailored to the wants and needs of the particular students in each class. Beyond that, we’ve found that it’s really a lot of fun to have the additional time to get to know one another and share our magics. For this class, we do still have 2 slots left open. If you want to be one of the 15 people to share this amazing experience, I’d highly recommend you go to www.magicalwisdom.com right now and register.
For those of you in Canada, we highly recommend that you tune in for this week’s edition of “Enigma” on VisionTV. The show will feature our friend Max Maven, and promises to be fascinating. 
Max is, besides being perhaps the best known mentalist in the world today, one of our deepest thinkers and most prolific writers on magic and mentalism – you’re pretty much guaranteed to learn a lot any time you encounter him.
Next week on “Enigma,” Jeff will be featured again, in the “Mysteries of the Tarot Cards.” The hour-long documentaries commissioned for Enigma take an entertaining, contemporary view of historical subjects, investigating everything from Eastern mysticism and secret societies to psychic communication and belief in the afterlife. You can learn more from the Vison TV website at http://www.visiontv.ca/Enigma/.
VisionTV is available as a “basic†service on cable and satellite in approximately 8.4 million households across Canada. One in four Canadians tune in to VisionTV at least once a month. Approximately two million people watch each week; 6.3 million watch every 13 weeks. The producers have assured us that once they have the first 6 episodes completed, they intend to begin the process of finding an outlet here in the U.S. for the show. We’ll let you know when you may be able to see it here.
“One way can be learned by starting to see the magic in everything. Sometimes it seems to be hiding but it is always there. The more we can see the magic in one thing, a tiny flower, a mango, someone we love, then the more we are able to see the magic in everything and in everyone. Where does the mango stop and the sky begin?”
~~Joshua Kadison
Greetings Friends!
Abbi here, writing in to share the latest updates and news from the McBride Magic team!
McBride and Burger Headline in Las Vegas
Muhlenberg College’s successful program, “The Theory and Art of Magic,” is being brought to Las Vegas, March 5 – 8, 2007, for alumni and other interested people like you! This program explores the deeper meanings, philosophy and psychology of magic on a post-graduate level. Larry Hass, the creator and director of this stimulating program has engaged Jeff and Eugene, Teller, Lance Burton and Mac King for this four day, in depth look at the multifaceted art of wonder-making. For more information, please go to: The Theory and Art of Magic
Attention Canadians!
A special shout out to our friends in Edmunton, Alberta, Canada… Eugene, Jeff and I will be coming your way to see our friend Sheldon Casavant for a public show and Master Class. All the information for reservations and tickets is online at
SheldonCasavant.com.
World Magic Summit News
We had an incredible time at the World Magic Summit here in Las Vegas this past week. Eugene and Jeff, Bill and Becki Wells, along with Jordan Wright and Scott Hitchcock, spent three days leading forty-four teenage magicians from the United States, South Africa, the Czech republic, Germany, France, Canada, Italy, and Japan in the Lance Burton Teen Magic Seminar.
The best part of our time with the teens was on Sunday afternoon, when we got to go to Lance Burton’s castle, and see his amazing new fifteen thousand square foot mountain-top home! He hosted the entire teen group for an afternoon pizza party. Lance invited his superstar Las Vegas friends Johnny Thompson, Fielding West, Mac King, Criss Angel, Nathan Burton, and Gary Darwin to join the fun. They spent the afternoon answering questions and signing autographs, and most importantly, giving encouragement, advice and heartfelt wisdom to the next generation of magic.
During the WMS, we had one of the convention rooms set up as an Open House for the McBride Magic and Mystery School. Many of our friends and students came in to jam, ask questions and say hello. We thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend time with so many of you! It was especially great to see our friend Pilou, who won the SARMOTI award, one of the highest honors in magic! Pilou, the reigning grand prix winner of the world championships of magic, said “Jeff McBride is my teacher, and I owe much of my success to him. I learned from watching his DVDs.”
Special thanks to Max Maven, Just Wilbur, Banacheck, Lee Earle, and many of the Magic and Mystery School alumni for sharing your talents and time with us!
McBride Magic School Student Spotlight: Shayna Reed
Congratulations to Shayna Reed, alumnus of the Magic and Mystery School, and winner of the Teen Competition! Her show was an excellent combination of doves, dancing cane, a splendid card manipulation routine, and a surprising production of her sister Mandy as the statue of liberty at the end! We were really impressed with Shayna’s presence and confidence in the interview after her performance. Her commitment to the art of magic and the many hours of practice she’s put in really came through!! Our prediction is that the Reed Sisters Magic Show (Jessica, Shayna and Mandy) will be headlining in theaters across the country one day soon!
Surprising Awards and Accolades
At the World Magic Seminar, all of the awards are not decided by a small panel of judges, but rather, by the entire convention audience, in a voting ballot. Receiving second place in the WMS Teen Competition was Sterling Dietz, and third place was won by Krystyn Lambert. What do all three have in common? They’re all alumni of the McBride Magic and Mystery School, and we will be featuring spotlights on them in future Museletters.
At the finale gala awards ceremony Jeff and Eugene were called to the stage with Lance Burton. All three were presented with awards acknowledging their many years of creating progressive, magical experiences. Bill Wells was quoted saying, “Jeff and Eugene are the best magic teachers and facilitators in the world.” It was a high honor for our school to be acknowledged in front of a gathering of the luminaries of magic, including the show’s hosts, Siegfried and Roy.
So, as you can see, we’ve been thoroughly engaged in creating magic, not only for ourselves, but assisting and empowering the magical visions of others. If you, friend, need to re-charge your magical batteries, consider visiting us out here in sunny, warm Las Vegas for a rejuvenating and life-enriching magical experience.
Yours in the art of magic,
Abbi McBride
“Men with secrets tend to be drawn to each other, not because they want to share what they know, but because they need the company of the like-minded, the fellow afflicted.â€
~~Don Delillo
Greetings Magical Friends!
It’s magic convention time in Las Vegas! Here’s the news: Hundreds of wand-waving rabbit pullers, clad in top hats and turbans will descend upon the mecca of magic, our Las Vegas, for a week-long magical Mardi-Gras.
It all begins at the Orleans Hotel for the World Magic Seminar, and it wraps up at the McBride House
of Mystery… This is the best time of year to visit Las Vegas; flights and hotels are inexpensive and the weather is gorgeous! If you have ever thought about visiting our school, the time is now! Just call Abbi at 702-450-0021 and we’ll be happy to help you plan your Master Class, or private session.
You are invited to our Master Class event February 23rd, 24th, and 25th. This is the last three day Master Class for this semester, and we placed it at this time because many magicians are coming into town for the World Magic Seminar. We’re very excited to be working with Lance Burton on his Teen Seminar at the WMS. Eugene and I have worked the past number of years with Bill and Becki Wells in crafting a unique program each year that stimulates creativity and nurtures a growing interest in their art.
We will also be helping the competitors prepare for the big competition. If you are planning to attend the WMS, please swing by our MCBRIDE MAGIC SCHOOL room and say hello! I’ll be demonstrating some of the new techniques from my new DVD ZOOM BOUNCE AND FLY, so if you have any questions, or if you want to witness it live and in person, close-up, stop in!
I had a passing thought the other day… I’m so happy to be a magician. I’m glad I chose this profession over ALL others. One definition of magic is that it’s the art of transformation. I asked my friend Bobby, a juggler, what the definition of juggling is. He said, “juggling is the art of throwing up and catching it.†… I’m so happy to be a magician.
We’ve had wonderful response to the television show ENIGMA. MAGIC MAGAZINE ran a piece in their recent issue and Tobias says we will have DVD copies available for you on our website soon.
We look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas soon. Special thanks to all of our mysterious friends who attended our three day MYSTERIUM event. It was, by far, the best one yet. Registration will open for MAYFIRE in the next few weeks. If you’d like to attend, please send us an email or call Abbi.
Yours in the magical arts,
Jeff & Abbi McBride