Greetings Friends,
Simplicity is the key that unlocks the door to pleasurable travels. Touring the world for months at a time, we have to be very practical about what we bring with us.
Eugene Burger is the master of simplicity. The Zen aesthetic of 
simplicity informs all his magic and life. When he works on a new script, he refines it to just the essential words to fit the action. When it comes to travel, he has it down to a science! He can travel the world with just his carry-on luggage; no
checked bags. After twenty years of touring, I have gotten it down to three bags. I am always learning the art of elegant simplicity from Eugene. He seems to be able to travel the world with merely a deck of cards and spool of yellow cotton thread. He is my hero! My goal is to get my full evening touring show down to just a few simple props. My new mantra is: “The one who can do the most, with the least…wins!”
Eugene also told me about one of his favorite books “The Packing Book: Secrets of the Carry on Traveler” — by Judith Gilford. Eugene learned much about the art of travel by reading this book. He passed it on to me and now I’m passing the information to you friends…travel light!
In a very few days Eugene and I will be on our European Spring tour. We are looking forward to the events in Cornwall, England and Amsterdam, Holland. We will be performing at the Princess theater; to get your tickets, just visit this website:
http://www.carrickleisureservices.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=16783
After the show we will be teaching a three day class in Cornwall and then we’re going to Bath and Stonehenge. Through special arrangements we have been
granted visitation rights to enter the stone circle at sunrise. This is a rare experience and we will give you a full report on the magic of Stonehenge in our upcoming Muse-letters.
Just to let you know, a couple of spots have opened up for our Amsterdam MASTER CLASS, if you would like to attend. Eugene and I will be in Amsterdam for the class April 13,14,15,16. We will also be doing 2 PUBLIC SHOWS at the Casa Blanca night club. For all information on our shows and classes in the Netherlands drop our good friend and producer George Parker an email at magus@xs4all.nl or visit his very interesting and magickal website http://www.georgeparker.nl/
Abbi will be home in Las Vegas for the month of April. She is working on her new album. If you’d like to see or hear some of her music you can check out some free samples of her work and listen to them at http://shop.yourmagic.com.
Abbi found this great quote, by Nora Roberts about love and magic for us:
“Love and magic have a great deal in common. They enrich the soul, delight the heart. And they both take practice.”
When we’re home in early May, Tobias has arranged a show for us in Temecula, CA. We hope to see our California friends at that event!
FIRE, ALCHEMY AND MAGICK
In May we are going to host our 4 day camping and fire circle gathering, MAYFIRE. This event will take place in the beautiful Valley of Fire state Park , just one hour from Las Vegas. If you have been wondering about what we do at the fire you can find out at http://www.vegasvortex.com.
Your friend in the mystical arts,
Jeff
Hey all,
Those of you who have met me know that I’m a pretty quiet guy. I like playing the wizard behind the curtain. Every once in a while, I get to come out from behind the scenes and make a few announcements.
First of all, I just finished editing a new issue of the Secret Art Journal. As always, you can find it online at secretartjournal.com.
I just received some wonderful news from Jeff and Eugene. It seems that their Master Class students swept all of the awards at the World Magic Seminar teen competition. We would all like to pass on our congratulations to Sterling Dietz, Jayson Morrison, Vinny De Ponto, and all their family and friends for encouraging excellence in the art of magic! I’ll be posting details about them and the competition in the Winner’s Circle in the coming week or two.
On a personal note, I really miss visiting Jeff, Eugene and the Vegas gang at the Master Classes. Jenny & I used to attend them on a regular basis. Between my software business and her career (college physics professor), we don’t have as much time to travel. For those of you who’ve never attended a class, you really don’t know what you’re missing! Even though I’m no longer making a living with magic, I always came home fired up to work on magic. I think all of my best work has come after spending long nights with my dear friends in Vegas.
I finally made it to the bead store and picked up some cool new beads for the Ritual of Liberation. You can check them out in the catalog: shop.yourmagic.com.
Back to my closet…
Bryce
To laugh often and love much…
to appreciate beauty,
to find the best in
others, to give one’s self…
this is to have succeeded.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
A hands on teaching at a recent Master Class
with Eugene, Losander and Jeff.
Photo by Lara Pugliese
Greetings friends and magical loved ones…
We are home again in Las Vegas for the next few weeks after our European and Asian touring. We’re sending you love for Valentine’s Day, and beyond. Abbi is enjoying being at home, and is spending time in her rose garden, tending the new additions and preparing for the coming blossoms. I’ve been catching up in my office, and spending a great deal of time with private students. Recently, magician Rob Ray came in from Arizona to spend three days here at McBride’s House of Mystery. He had the opportunity to spend each day engaged with me in developing his new show, and his evenings were immersed in my magic library and practice sessions. I really enjoy working with students, and always learn a lot in the process. During one of the sessions, Rob Ray shared a short poem with me that I thought would be perfect for an “out” or if something went wrong during his show…
“Tis easy enough to be pleasant,
when life
flows along like a song,
But the man worthwhile is the one who will
smile,
when everything goes dead wrong.”
— Ella Wheeler Wilcox
One of the important lessons I learned from a man who I consider my teacher, Channing Pollack, is that you can tell how good a magician is by the way they handle their mistakes on stage. Recently, our Master Class had the opportunity to go to Lance Burton’s and Mac King’s shows. Afterwards, the nine of us had the 
chance to go backstage and talk with both artists. Both Mac and
Lance told us story after story of how they turn potential tragedy into triumph, and how they maneuver out of difficult situations. One of the old show biz maxims is “Never let ’em see you sweat.” Recently, at one of our classes, a woman named Laura performed her act . Only after her performance did we learn that the CD player played another performer’s music. Laura never let to the audience that there was anything amiss with the music. She improvised her way through her act and in the end, she developed an entirely different performance based around this “mistake.” Instead of a comedy act, she now had a dramatic theater piece. I feel that that is “creative alchemy,” when you can take the “lead” of a mistake, and transform it to a golden masterpiece. Brava, Laura!
This week, Eugene Burger and I will help Lance Burton host the World Magic Seminar Teen Program here in Las Vegas. Bill and Becki Wells facilitate and do all the planning for this event. Year after year, we are amazed with the creativity and passion these teens have for their art. The program has been expanding each year, and this year, we are expanding our program again, to include guest presenters Tobias Beckwith and Max Maven. As you know, Tobias is my manager, and will be talking to the teens about the business half of show business. Max will be sharing some of his vast knowledge on the magical arts. The World Magic Seminar is 
one of my favorite magic events, and a time for me to catch up with our friends in the magic community. Right after the WMS, we are hosting a three day Master Class, Feb 24, 25, and 26th, with Eugene and myself. URL Many of our students are booking sessions with us now to prepare for the upcoming Magic convention competitions. If you would like to see who are the “up- and- coming” magicians, visit our WINNERS CIRCLE http://www.magicalwisdom.com/winners.php
March will be filled with private sessions, a few corporate shows and the production of a new magic teaching DVD. I’ll keep you posted. At the end of March, Abbi and I will be going to Poughkeepsie, NY for AkashaCon, where we’ll be performing our magic and teaching Universal Fire Circle Alchemy.
This will be my first time to visit the ancient stone circels in England! Plans are going well for our Springtime European tour. So far, Eugene and I will be performing our show THE SECRET ART OF MAGIC in Cornwall, where we will also do a Master Class. We’re looking forward to seeing Stonehenge, and Bath, then we’re off for more shows and classes in Amsterdam. URL of classes in europe)
Hot News! I just got off the phone with Tobias, he says my new 1hour television show for the ENIGMA is in the editing stages now. REAL MAGIC is the name of my episode. Find out all about it at http://www.worldscreen.com/newscurrent.php?filename=vision1206.htm
Love, magic and mystery,
Jeff and Abbi McBride
And all of our friends and family at
MCBRIDE’S MAGIC AND MYSTERY SCHOOL
Our whole team joins me in wishing you all a very Happy New Year!
I’m writing today particularly because we have two classes coming up in January for which we still have spaces left – an unusual situation this close to the start of classes.
The first is our first ever “Master Class for Balloon Workers,” dedicated particularly to helping those who do magic with balloons to create stronger presentations for their work, learn some new tricks and techniques, and to learn ways they can enhance their business and marketing skills. We’re expecting Guinness World Record holder John Cassidy as our special guest, and planning a week filled with fun and lots of learning. The dates are January 18-20, and registrtions need to be complete within the next 5 days.
(The photo is of Jeff signing autographs after one of his three shows on Christmas Day in Taipei)
Immediately following the special Balloon Workers class, we’ll have our first Extended Master Class of the New Year, from January 21 – 26. There won’t be another extended class til the summer, and there is actually still some question about the ones in July and August, as we’ve had some recent requests from casinos for an extended run during July and August.
That’s really all for now – just wanted to let you all know we DO have some spaces in these two classes still available, and that the time to register is NOW!
Have a happy and safe New Year!
Sincerely,
Tobias Beckwith
Manager to Jeff McBride