Life, Death & Other Card Tricks

“You should never hesitate to trade your cow for a handful of magic beans.”
— Tom Robbins

Greetings friends,

I do not consider my life normal…thank heavens for that!

As you may know I’m on tour and traveling half the year, and, as you may not know, CHAOS is a major part of that aspect of my life. I can’t avoid it… so I’ve learned to dance in the chaos, until it becomes my new normal!

The art of magic is often a dance of opposites; appearing and vanishing, something from nothing, life and death. Death and danger seem to be recurring themes in magic shows…in fact many shows feature dark themes and dangerous stunts.

Our good friend Eugene Burger has inspired many to explore darker themes…witness now performance artist Christian Cagigal, as he performs Eugene Burgers famous piece “THE INQUISITION.” (Christian will be headlining  WONDERGROUND in September!)

“The TED Talks of Magic…”

That is how people describe our Magic & Meaning Conference.  Bob Neale will be joining Eugene Burger and our very special featured guest, Max Maven, at this year’s Magic & Meaning, coming up in October, here in Las Vegas.

http://www.magicalwisdom.com/events#476

Bob Neale has written an inspired Book entitled Life, Death & Other Card Tricks… it is filled with magic routines that dance the razor’s edge. He has the ability to really make us think about our lives…using the medium of card magic.

Speaking of Life, Death & Other Card Tricks…

Our friend, Ferdinando Buscema reminds us of the “game of life.”  Life is a game that ends with death. Ferdinando has a very artistic outlook on life and death. I think you would like to read his fascinating essay. It’s on the contemplation of death through the use of playing cards!

http://boingboing.net/2015/05/22/use-playing-cards-to-remind-yo.html

 

“Music is the strongest form of magic.”

– Marilyn Manson

Lou Reed Sings about “Magic & Loss”

The late Lou Reed’s lyrics are echoing in my head these days. I’ve been thinking and feeling deeply about life, death and magic. Listen to Lou sing this haunting song…it is one of my favorites.

Magic & Loss

When you pass through the fire, you pass through humble

You pass through a maze of self-doubt

When you pass through humble, the lights can blind you

Some people never figure that out

You pass through arrogance, you pass through hurt

You pass through an ever present past

And it’s best not to wait for luck to save you

Pass through the fire to the light

Pass through the fire to the light

Pass through the fire to the light

-Lou Reed

The Symbolism of Magic is Rich, Indeed.

Even the effect BEKOS symbolizes  That magic often has a “cost”…a loss that makes room for the magic.

Asia Gives Birth…to Magic Wonder Lands!

The great mystics and sages say “All new life emerges from death, and the cycle continues.”  It’s astonishing to see the new life magic is having in the media and in major entertainment venues around the world.  Our friend, Franz Harary, is making global headlines with his new House of Magic in Macau.

World’s First Multi-Venue, Interactive Magic Experience

‘The House of Magic’ 

MACAU, June 10, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE)  ”The House of Magic’ at Studio City is the first and only permanent magic extravaganza in Macau.

Designed, curated and hosted by world-acclaimed illusionist Franz Harary, ‘The House of Magic’ is the world’s first multi-theater, immersive visitor magic experience, designed for magicians by a master magician, and featuring live magicians, and set in a mystical three-theater showcase complex of amazing, mind-bending magic. It represents just one of the stunning world-class entertainment centerpieces at the US$3.2 billion Studio City…

Read the full story here: http://tinyurl.com/nkhvaxp

WONDERGROUND NEWS… one night only!

Thursday June 18th at 8 pm–You are invited to the “Biggest Magic Party in Vegas”!!

8PM:  Tim Wise, Emcee

Jeff McBride – New Magical Creations

Dixie Dooley – King of Escapes

The Shocker – The Ambassador of Kick- your Ass-ador!

Bizzaro – Innovative illusion that always surprises!

9PM:  Christian Diamond, Emcee

Murray Hatfield - Canada’s top illusionist!

Jordi Magomero – Sensational Close-up Artistry

Jeff McBride

10PM: Murray Hatfield

Jeff McBride – The Masks of Mystery

Chris Randall – The Las Vegas Kid

Bizzaro!

Plus: The New World Rhythmatism Dancers, Bar Magic with Zack Pattee and Scott Steelfyre, Iam Creed, and Randilyn

Psychic Sideshow with Alan Scott, live art with Areeya and many more surprises and special celebrity guests!!

Abbi and I hope to see you in Las Vegas very soon…hey, life is short! What are you waiting for?

Lance Burton – Where is He Now?

From the desk of Bryce Kuhlman:

Some of you may know that I’ve been Lance Burton’s webmaster for the past decade or so. While I don’t spend that much time around magicians, whenever I do show up at a convention people always ask me what he’s been up to.

My answer is always the same: Lance is retired.

While that’s technically true, he hasn’t been resting on his laurels. In case you haven’t heard, he’s been working on a movie. With an official release planned for later this year, Lance and I recently reconnected to start working on a new website for the movie.

So instead of me spouting more of my own philosophies, as I always seem to do when asked to write a Museletter, I figured it would be more interesting to let Lance take the stage and tell you what’s been going on:

Lance, you spent two decades as a real life Las Vegas headliner. Is this film an autobiography?

LANCE: No, absolutely not. Billy Topit is a fictional character, as are all the characters in the movie. The one thing Billy and I share in common is this, we both love magic, and we both love Las Vegas. I guess that is two things actually.

 Is this your first time as a feature film Director?

Yes.

Did you write the screenplay?

Yes, along with my writing partner Michael Goudeau. We also share Executive Producer credits, as well as both appearing on screen.

Can you tell us more about Michael Goudeau?

For 19 years Michael was the “Guest Star” in my live stage show doing a comedy juggling act. For many years he was the Head Writer and Executive Producer on Penn and Teller’s Showtime series. (He won an Emmy in that job.) He is also one of my best friends.

How did this film come to be?

When I was a kid I saw Bill Bixby in a TV series called “The Magician”. I loved that show. Through the years there have been many films and TV shows with magician characters, and some were quite good. I just felt that I could bring something to the table that was genuine. Something based in reality. I didn’t want to do the stereotypical mysterious magician character. That’s why Billy Topit is a struggling magician, even though he is very skilled.

So the character Billy Topit is not successful?

No, not as far as the world is concerned, or at least the world as defined by Las Vegas. He is stuck in that entry-level job of performing at children’s birthday parties. Which by the way, is where every magician starts. I started performing at birthday parties when I was 10 years old.

How do you think other Magicians will react to this film?

I hope they will be excited about it and love it. There are some things in the film that are just for them; inside jokes. Also there are other magicians who appear in the film in cameo roles; Criss Angel, Jeff McBride, Mac King, Fielding West, they all make appearances. Johnny Thompson and Rory Johnston are both well known magic friends of mine who have larger roles, and they are both terrific actors. I even talked my buddy Louie Anderson into making an appearance, and he is hilarious!

Who is your target audience?

In my stage show our audience was very diverse. Every night we had adults, children, grandparents, Americans, Asians, Europeans, etc. We had people from South America, Mexico, and loads of Japanese people. In the past few years I noticed lots of Chinese tourists, which we didn’t have 15 years ago. So what I am saying is, I think the target audience for this film is the same. It is a ‘family film’ that I hope will connect with people from all parts of the world.

What is the status of your live show?

I am retired.

No more live shows in your future?

I did 15,000 shows in my career. That’s enough!

We miss having you on stage for real every night!

Well, that makes one of us!

There you have it… right from the Master Magician, himself!

If you’d like to learn more about the movie, go to the website: http://www.billytopit.com

And be sure to sign up for his mailing list (at the bottom of the home page). People on the list will be among the first to know of new updates, photos, special appearances and movie trailers.

Jeff McBride – World Ambassador of Magic

“Awards represent achievement, and to an extent, they show more about who you are as a person than the personal items you picked out and purchased, because they show desire, ambition, goals, and accomplishment.”

         –Jarod Kintz

Congratulations! 

Dear Friends:

The Stevens Magic family recently sent out the following press release:

Jeff McBride-The World Ambassador of Magic–There is no better fitting title for Jeff McBride. A man that proves that success is about finding something you love to do and making it your passion. Sure, it’s hard work, but when it satisfies the soul, it enriches you greatly. In fact that “enrichment” is so powerful that it also radiates outward, propelling its positive energy and synergy benefiting thousands of other people.

Jeff McBride travels the world spreading joy, education, fellowship and entertainment; he is without question, one of the most in-demand artists of our century; yet, he remains humble, with his feet firmly planted on the ground, whether it’s at home in Las Vegas, or at a show or convention in Thailand. Jeff McBride has the gift of creative vision. Jeff embraced early the concept of incorporating other arts, and blending them all together years before the rise of Le Cirque du Soleil.

His supporters and fans are, without question, the most loyal and devoted we have ever seen – as they should be…. Because Jeff is always approachable, his aura is always strong and positive. In simple truth, there is no one in the art that has ever filled the capacity he has – ever. And I don’t think you can find a magician on the planet that would dispute this fact.

In the end, it’s another award for Jeff, a man who deserves every good thing in his life, and much more… But more important than the physicality of the award, is the testimony of others about Jeff. As is so eloquently stated in “IF” by Rudyard Kipling; “If you can walk with Kings and not lose the common touch,”

Hear the full poem here:

Jeff McBride is a man comfortable and humble among all people.  A man who, while reading this (after the first paragraph), would already be thinking to himself, it’s not just me, it’s very much the people around me, Abigail, Eugene Burger, Tobias, Larry, and Bryce and many others. No question that is true too – but the fact that Jeff would be the first to state it makes him all the more deserving of this recognition.

Special FISM Award nomination for Theory & Philosophy

This award gives tribute to a person who has approached magic from a viewpoint that is analytical, academic, perhaps even spiritual.

Prior recipients: 2006, Tommy Wonder (Netherlands); 2009, Juan Tamariz (Spain); 2012, Eugene Burger (USA)

2015 Nominees:

Roberto Giobbi (Switzerland)

Federico Ludueña (Argentina)

Jeff McBride (USA)

Gabi Pareras (Spain)

Markus Zink (Germany)

Jeff said, “I am honored to have been nominated for a special FISM AWARD! I’m in great company!” Jeff continued, “I really think that quality that makes one a master of time and space is to take advantage of every moment and live it fully.”

“Procrastination is a persuasive THIEF; It slowly takes from you what ambition would have protected.…Your future.”

–John Christian

WONDERGROUND May 21, 2015 – One Night Only! Never to be Repeated!

You are invited to the biggest magic party in Las Vegas!

7:30PM   -  Strolling Magic with Will

Bradshaw

8:00PM   -  COMEDY MAGIC STAGE SHOW

Your Host — Tim Wise

Professor Pheylx – A  clever

charming conjurer

Tommy Ten- Mental act- direct

from Europe

Jeff McBride- Always a new mystery

9:00PM  -  DIAMOND PARLOR THEATER

Your host — Christian Diamond

Professor Pheylx- Where

Personality, Style & Mystery Meet

Jeff McBride- The Magic Castle

Close-up act!

Lion Fludd- Magic star on the rise!

10:00PM  – STAGE EXTRAVAGANZA!

MC & Host — Jeff McBride

Luna Shimada- A Magical Legacy

Ryan Dubya Stock- Master of the

Bizarre!

Circe- Direct from TV shows in Paris!

PLUS: Bar Magic with Zack Pattee and Scott Steelfyre, Iam Creed, and Randilyn

The Kumuda Tribal Belly Dance Troupe, Psychic Sideshow with Alan Scott, live art with Areeya and many more surprises and special celebrity guests!!

Remember friends…

“Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.”
— often attributed to Groucho Marx; but the true originator is Anthony G. Oettinger

See you at the show, and again here on June 1!

Jeff McBride and the staff of

The McBride Magic and Mystery School

www.magicalwisdom.com

Art – What Is It Good For?

“Art is the objectification of feeling, and the subjectification of nature”.

Suzanne Langer

Dear Friends:

Tobias, here, while Jeff is away in Italy & Spain.

May Day! May Day!

Oh… it’s not THAT kind of May Day. No emergency here… just time to celebrate spring and new beginnings. The time when foliage returns, gardens burst into bloom, and love fills the air. Can you feel it? I can, and it leads me to think about the connections between magic and nature.

One of our tasks as magicians, and artists of all kinds, actually, is to celebrate the magic that surrounds us. The “wheel of life.” What can any of us perform that is more magical than a flower developing from bud to blossom? Or a newly hatched robin, or baby deer? How magical is it when all the brown, dead foliage suddenly blasts into lush green?

“The Louvre is a good book to consult, but it must only be an intermediary. The real and immense study that must be taken up is the manifold picture of nature.”

Paul Cezanne

As practitioners of the magical arts, I think it’s important that we allow ourselves, and our work, to be truly inspired by nature. But how many of us actually can do that? Jeff McBride is fond of the phrase, “You can’t give a gift you don’t have,” which I take to mean that it’s difficult to give someone else a magical experience if you’ve never had one yourself. But how many of us can claim to have really had a magical experience? Is it a magical experience when you find yourself fooled by a card trick? Maybe. Sometimes. But if all art is an imitation of nature (as Aristotle would indicate), then what part of nature is that card trick imitating? I wonder.

I think we all want to experience something we think of as real magic (whether we profess to believe that there is such a thing or not). Some of us, like the young Jeff McBride, actually go on quests to see if we can find it. Like most hero’s journeys, though, I think we actually get to find real magic only once we’ve returned home. Want a “real” magical experience? Watch a baby being born, or go out at nightfall and watch the moonflowers unfurl their blossoms. Go into the woods, or down to a lake and see the wild things with their young. A mother duck with a string of ducklings paddling in formation behind her, or a baby bird learning to fly for the first time.–what could be more magical than that?

My magical gift to you, then, is the suggestion that you put down your cards and coins, close the books and turn off the videos, and go to get yourself a dose of real magic. Right now, when the springtime has it bursting out of every nook and cranny. Let it inspire you. First just go and soak it all up. Then let it sink in. Sleep on it without even thinking about tricks. Let your deep subconscious do its work. Consider what it feels like to experience that kind of magic. Imagine what it would feel like to create that kind of experience for someone else. Imagine their faces when they do experience it; their exclamations of joy or wonder. Imagine what you will feel like when you get to experience them having that experience, right before your eyes!

And then, one day soon, as you return to your cards and silks, your ropes and rings… you may just find yourself with a revelation. You may just find a new way of performing something you’ve long known how to perform, but in a new way. A way that allows you to share that experience—the one you got to have out in the forest, or by the lake. That experience of real magic, but expressed through your own performance. That’s my idea of what it really means to be a magician. I hope you may experience it soon, if you haven’t already done so. Your life and art will be richer for the experience.

News:

As I write this, Jeff McBride is wrapping up his trip to Italy and Spain, where he has done several shows and lectures, and getting ready to return  home just in time to re-pack his bags and head off to The Magic Castle. Audiences there can see Jeff in the close-up theater between May 4-10. I hear the lines have already begun to form.

This is Spain with Angel Vicente

As for upcoming classes: we only have one coming up this spring, and it’s our 3-day Master Class, from June 12-14. Last time I looked, we still had 3 slots left for that class. If you’re thinking of competing at any of this summer’s conventions, this may be your best possible investment in order to increase your chances to win. Jeff’s coaching, both in the context of master classes and in his one-on-one Show Doctor consultations, has helped many, many winners over the years. So… if you want one of those slots, go to www.magicalwisdom.com right now and sign yourself up.

Our “Monday Night Mystery School” subject for May will be “Real World Card Magic,” something I expect many of you will find to be of special interest. The show on Monday, May 4 features the whole faculty, and is free to everyone. Tune in at mcbridemagic.tv that night at 7pm PST to catch it live.

That’s all for this note. Jeff will be writing our next Museletter in just a couple of weeks. I hope this one has given you some interesting material to consider.

Best wishes.
Sincerely,

Tobias Beckwith
tobias@yourmagic.com