“They told me my services were no longer desired because they wanted to put in a youth program as an advance way of keeping the club going. I’ll never make the mistake of being seventy again.”
— Casey Stengel
Dear Friends:
This month, our guest columnist is Bryce Kuhlman. We’ve known Bryce since he was about the age of those “kids†he writes about below. It seems to me, we weren’t much older ourselves back then. I guess we’ve been doing this for quite a while now! I’ve seen Bryce move from life as a student to earning his livelihood as a magician, on to being a rocket scientist working for Motorola, and then to building multiple businesses, mostly around his prodigious talents as a programmer. He’s one of our true “renaissance men,†who excels in multiple areas – all the time exhibiting a good nature and wisdom beyond his years. I think you’ll enjoy his insights below!
I’m at an age where I find myself frequently uttering the phrase “Kids these days…†To be honest, I’m looking forward to the day when I graduate to “You kids get off my lawn!†(though it might be “get off my website†for me). That’s probably not a good attitude to have when you get booked to help facilitate the Lance Burton Teen Seminar at the recent I.B.M. (International Brotherhood of Magicians) convention here in Phoenix.
Many of you reading this many not know much about the Teen Seminar. It all started many years ago at the Desert Magic Seminar. Joe Stevens, the convention coordinator, noticed that a lot of teens were attending the convention. So he asked Lance Burton if he’d like to host some sort of event for the teens. What started out as a simple pizza party eventually turned into a 3-day long mini-convention, just for teens. The program is now associated with the I.B.M. It is free to the teens as long as they are signed up for the convention and is hosted by Lance and members of the Magic & Mystery School faculty. This year we had 24 teens from across the US, Canada, England, Japan and Thailand.
I was concerned that I might not have anything to say to these teens. I was thinking to myself, “They just watch YouTube all day and have no interest in becoming performing magicians.â€
I’m happy, and humbled, to report that I was the clueless one, not the teens.
These teens give me hope for the future of magic as a performing art (as opposed to just an intellectual exercise). Many of them are already performing on a regular basis, both in close-up venues and on stage. In fact, when I brought up YouTube, I consistently got negative comments about exposure and how it can be a huge waste of time.
As partial proof, the teens did quite well in the competitions. Eli Portala, a past Master Class student, won 1st place in the Youth Stage Competition and made it to the stage finals and got to perform for the entire convention on the Friday night Gold Medal show, along with five acts in the adult category. Eli comes from a family of magicians and has been performing since the age of three (read more about him in our Winner’s Circle). Satori Adler and Jason Knight won Sorcerer’s Safari Camp Scholarships funded by the I.B.M. Endowment and Development Foundation.
Most exciting to me, personally: Eugene and Larry presented Tamer Qafiti with a McBride Magic & Mystery School Faculty Award, which will cover his tuition to any of our events. Tamer spent the majority of the convention in our “sessioning†room asking questions and performing great magic for anyone and everyone who would watch. We’re looking forward to working with him at an upcoming 7-day Master Class.
The art of magic is in great hands!
“I would like to recapture that freshness of vision which is characteristic of extreme youth when all the world is new to it.”
— Henri Matisse
“The play was a great success, but the audience was a disaster.â€
—Oscar Wilde, playwright
Our friend (and magic fan) Robin Leach recently wrote a story on the new trends in Las Vegas entertainment. “The hotels looked at mega-clubs as a golden egg, but those crowds shelling out steep admission prices and highly expensive bottle service, sometimes running upwards of $5,000, don’t have any money left over for shows or gaming.”
“It used to be tourists would book two or three shows on a visit here. Now we’re lucky if they see one.” The concern that Las Vegas shows might disappear and harm the image of this city being The Entertainment Capital of the World, and change it into The Nightclub Capital of the World has prompted action.
“We’ve got to get back to the intimacy of original, classic Las Vegas entertainment. The close-up factor. The superstar names. Where are today’s Rat Pack performers instead of unknown DJs playing other people’s music,†said one of the entertainment council advocates. “If we don’t change it soon, Las Vegas may never be the same again.
“Our town was filled with almost 200,000 electronic dance music fans last weekend, and only a handful of them went to see a Las Vegas show. There were too many empty seats in our theaters.â€
Read full story: http://tinyurl.com/lfyuntp
If you’ve been to Burning Man as many times as I have, then you know the secret. If you’ve been onstage in a hypnotism show then you know it, too!
The secret is participation! If you think folks want to come to Las Vegas just to sit in seats and watch the show… they can do that at home! Now, folks want to be in the show. Some shows in Vegas “get it.†I spoke with both Lance Burton and Mac King this week. They both said that the secret ingredient that keeps a show fresh is audience participation… it keeps you on your edge!  Blue Man Group has moments in the show that are full on participatory; our very own WONDERGROUND is also driven by “be the magic” philosophy. At our events, people are encouraged to be part of the show and the evening’s events. WONDERGROUND is as much a party as it is “show.â€
This week’s new WONDERGROUND video is here
http://vegaswonderground.com/watch-live/
“People will support that which they help to create.â€
—Mary Kay Ash, American Businesswoman
People support what they help create, regardless of whether it is a political movement, a sports team, or even a live performance. When you get people involved and committed to helping create an experience, they feel invited and part of the experience.  Participation is the key. It creates connection, community, and art.
Audience:  The root of the word audience comes from “audio,” which has to do with listening.  The spectator spectates… and can remain detached from the action, but participants party!  They are part of the action; they have a role to play; they are in the show, not observing the show.
“I embrace emerging experience. I participate in discovery. I am a butterfly. I am not a butterfly collector. I want the experience of the butterfly.â€
—William Stafford, English author, courtier and conspirator
John Walton & the World’s Most Original Magic!
Master Class student John Walton won The Originality Award at the recent Society of American Magicians convention. Â John presented his “Titanic Magic Square.” His routine fooled many of the most knowledgeable magicians in the world! This is the first time the award has been presented since 2001, 12 years ago. It has been awarded only a few times since 1902. Read more about the winners of magic here: http://www.magicalwisdom.com/winners
This week I fly to Hollywood to film a few TV shows for MASTERS OF ILLUSION. I will be performing NEW magic on these shows and you will get to see a few of the magic effects that I am releasing to the magic fraternity! Your can also catch my shows 24 hours a day on WWW.MCBRIDEMAGIC.TV.
See you on the air or on the road,
Jeff
Dear friends:
We’re fortunate to have wisdom from our Associate Dean for you this month. I know you’ll enjoy this, from Dr. Larry Hass:
“What’s new is an interesting question, but one which, if pursued exclusively, results only in an endless parade of trivia and fashion.â€
—Robert M. Pirsig
I invite you to remember one of your “get-away†vacations, perhaps spending three days at the beach or a long weekend in the mountains. Recall how you could dream and drift, resting your body and your brain. Remember the delicious food and the fresh clean air. Ahhh!
Next, remember how it felt to come back: emails to process, phone calls to make, “statuses†to update, blogs to check, fires to put out, content to produce. You have to get back up to speed, back on the wheel, back to the grind. Uggh.
I begin with this “memory experiment†to make three points. First, it really does feel better to be on vacation, to rest and reconnect, to taste your food, to be “unplugged.†Second, “life at speed†has become the new normal, which means that everyday life has a low-level, chronic “uggh†to it. Third, it is exceedingly easy for this to leak into our time with magic.
Here is the irony: most of us get involved in magic to have experiences like the get-away vacation, but much of the magic culture around us feels more like the daily grind. In magazines, online, posts, and tweets, we are drowning in magic news and trends, the relentless selling of endless products, and more “content†than we can possibly ingest. It is easy to become numb or superficial, lost in the sea of noise.
It is easy . . . but not necessary. In the spirit of helping you surf and sail over the waves, here are a few practices I use to keep the magic alive in my life and in my work as a magician.
1. Less is more. Look at the clutter. Look at all the unread books, the unused tricks, the un-viewed DVDs. Remember them the next time someone is getting their sales hooks in you. Give some of it away to young or developing magicians who need access to resources. (This is great for them, and it will feel good to you.) With what is left, honestly ask yourself, “Will I ever read or watch this (again)? If no, then sell what you can and throw away the rest.
2. Just say no . . . and yes. Turn off the TV, get up from the screen, unplug from the phone, turn off the “ping.†Screen life is mediated life. Further, addiction to checking devices for the latest email, tweet, or post, turns us into Homo Interruptus. Instead of that, just say “yes†to real face time rather than face-book time. Have lunch with a magic friend. Spend time with a wise, real teacher of magic. Pick up your props and practice rather than post. Having “big yeses†in our lives make it really easy to say “no.†Which reminds us that much screen time is a boredom default.
3. Cleave to quality. Part of what makes it “noise†is all the junk: low-quality tricks and books, poor writing, undeveloped content, superficial thinking. So here is one rule I follow: as soon as I get bored or put-off, I instantly stop reading or watching and move on to something good. Here is another one: I spend a large majority of my time and money on the work of proven, dependable, high-quality magic writers and creators. With both rules, the principle is simple: “Life is too short!â€
4. Re-Read a Golden Book. All of us have “golden books,†ones that have a special place in our hearts. These are the books that inspired us in magic and have a strange power to instantly reconnect us with positive feelings and productive insights. (One of mine is Eugene’s The Experience of Magic.) Re-reading a golden book is always good for the soul.
I hope you enjoy these practices! I hope they help you make every day feel a bit more like that get-away vacation.
“The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.”Â
— Charlie Chaplin
The above quote is part of what I consider to be one of the greatest political speeches of all time. It is from The Great Dictator, one of Charlie Chaplin’s greatest films.
His words can be heard in the performance piece I created that was inspired by this film. I put the piece up online last week in reaction to the demonstrations in Istanbul.
Jeff floats the world in his new piece: Anonymous
I got many emails and Facebook posts last week from my Turkish magic friends. What can we do about the situation in Turkey? Here is my recent performance that sums up the way I feel about the situation in Istanbul:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYx4DVJOGQE
“I looked up the word “politics” in the dictionary and it’s actually a combination of two words: ‘poli,’ which means many, and ‘tics,’ which means bloodsuckers.”
— Jay Leno
Me and my girl!
Chaplin was a master of “movie magic.” Today, magic is more popular than ever in the cinema. Now You See Me is in theaters now. Abbi and I saw it last week and thought it made magic “cool again!”  Here is my fave scene that features Super Ninja Card Throwing!
https://t.co/ZT9DKRTW18Â Â Â (see 0:35)
I know a thing or two about throwing cards. I did create the Guinness Worlds Record for it! If you want to throw cards like a world champion you must see Zoom, Bounce & Fly
My new essay about magicians stealing ideas from other magicians is out in Vanish Magazine! Issue #8 is here and it is FREE!
http://www.vanishmagazine.com/edition8.html
Magic and Mystery School faculty, ready for you!
Master Class is the world’s greatest live learning experience. We have only 2 more full master classes this year. July is the only time this year the entire faculty will gather for the class.
Change your magic and change your life….register today!
http://www.magicalwisdom.com/events
Over 200 hours of original streaming content is yours to research, explore and learn from. Subjects range from “conquering stage fright” to “keeping secrets” and dozens more! Enjoy the magical wisdom of the Magic and Mystery School faculty. All 130 episodes are available to our Premier Members. Learn more here:
http://virtual.magicalwisdom.com/members/signup
Or you can just see us live and in our most recent episodes on http://www.mcbridemagic.tv
It started at the World Magic Seminar… now the magic continues at the IBM National Convention in Phoenix.
The Lance Burton Teen Seminar is a special pre-convention event for our young magicians ages 13-19.  This event will begin at 7:00pm on Monday, July 15 and run through lunch on Wednesday, July 17. Eugene Burger and I will assist Lance Burton and Bill and Becki Wells. This unique event featuring Lance, will also have guest lectures and sessions from Shawn Farquhar, Oscar Munoz, Larry Haas and Bryce Kuhlman.  The best news – there is NO EXTRA CHARGE for this event if you are a teen registered for the convention.  There will also be special activities just for the youth throughout the convention. Our challenge to you is to take this opportunity to work with the greatest teachers in magic and bring your magic to the next level.  This is an exclusive I.B.M. only event – it may be “free†but it is priceless!!!
We have a link on our convention page at
http://www.magician.org/portal/en/node/6, where you can make your reservation.
“Life can be wonderful if you’re not afraid of it. All it takes is courage, imagination … and a little dough.â€Â
―Charles Chaplin
B.E.K.O.S.= Best Ever Knots Off Silk
Every time I show it at an event, it sells out! I’ve solved this problem by creating a streaming video.
http://virtual.magicalwisdom.com/lessons/view/58
WONDERGROUND – Continues to be THE PLACE to see the freshest magic in Las Vegas. Every month a NEW show! Scott Steelfyre has posted a video of this months line up… join us for the fun!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eGKtAT-UbU&feature=youtu.be
“Laughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease for pain.”
— Charlie Chaplin
We look forward to making magic and laughter with you soon!
Magically yours,
Jeff McBride