Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
— Alfred Lord Tennyson
Dear friends:
Welcome to our new year. And, if you follow the Mayan calendars, to the new B’ak’tun — a term for one of their long cycles, each of which lasts for about 394 solar years. As it turns out, the Mayans never predicted an “end of the world†scenario for the recent turning of their calendar. As it turns out, their calendars track many different cycles, some of which are roughly analogous to our lunar cycles, monthly calendars and solar cycles. And on December 21, 2012, a lot of those cycles all cycled to zero. What does this mean? Nothing really. It is just another system for counting time, not unlike the significance of New Year or midnight. Once upon a time some human being somewhere decided it would be useful to count time in that way.
Nonetheless – the new year, the new B’ak’tun, the new era – and each and every new day, when it comes right down to it – give us each a chance to begin again. Wise men learn from the past, but are not governed by it. When you can let the past go, look to your future, and live fully in the present, real magic is possible. Each one of us has the potential, the real ability, to make each of our wildest dreams a reality. But to do so, we must let go of our old, imagined limiting beliefs, and be willing to re-create ourselves as the ones who will live those dreams. Jordan Wright is our guest author this month, and he addresses an issue which I KNOW has been one of my own limiting beliefs: The feeling that I must do it all myself, instead of enlisting the aid of others whenever I could.
In Praise of Professionals!
by Jordan Wright
In my travels I meet many magicians, see many websites, am shown many promo videos, and collect countless business cards. The one glaring issue of everything I see is people trying too hard to make everything themselves. How many of have at one time or another attempted to make our own promotional materials? These days, with every aspect of design accessible on our computers, it is so easy to become caught up in a desire to do everything ourselves just to save a few bucks here and there. With very little knowledge of graphic design, we can download software to make it easy for us to design our own business cards. Most of our computers come with free video editing software that gives the ability to edit our own demo videos. Why would we want to pay someone to design our website when there is such an abundance of free and low-cost programs that claim to be easy to use?
The answer is that we pay someone else because they have specialized knowledge. Just because we have the ability to do everything ourselves does not mean we will do the best job. Hiring a professional who has studied graphic design, video production and marketing will often produce much better results than we could produce on our own, whether it be for business cards, a website, or a demo video.
Everyone has his or her own area of expertise. Just as some magicians excel at card controls, other magicians are excellent at mentalism. Some people’s specialty is graphic design, and they know the process inside and out. By trying to make everything ourselves, we end up taking time away from what we are really good at. And often times things do not turn out the way they would have had we only consulted a professional – someone with specialized knowledge. You end up sacrificing quality by cutting corners.
Many people say that money is tight and they cannot afford to have everything professionally designed. The answer to that is to prioritize – decide what your budget is and what is most important for you to market yourself. Just remember that everything communicates. If your business card has perforated edges and looks homemade, then people will associate that with the quality and value of your work. I have found that the most successful people in the business hire other professionals to ensure that their materials communicate their message most effectively. Know your strengths and leave the rest to the professionals!
Thanks, Jordan! Great advice. I know many people think, “Once I’m successful, I’ll be able to afford to build a great team.†The truth of the matter, though, is that if you don’t build that great team NOW, you may never reach that point of success. Allies and team members support your dreams in so many ways, and they are really essential for success.
At the Magic and Mystery School, we are blessed with great team members. Many of you may not realize it, but Jeff, Eugene, Abbi, Larry Hass, Bryce Kuhlman, George Parker and I “get together†every Monday morning in a Google Hangout to discuss the week that will be coming up. Sometimes we’re joined by Jordan, Tim Wise or Leo Diaz – all valued team members. Each one of us brings different perspectives and different skills to the table, and each one makes invaluable contributions to the quality of all our endeavors, whether those take the form of “Monday Night Mystery School,†on mcbridemagic.tv, a new web-site for the school, upcoming classes, touring events where our various members perform and teach…or to this Museletter.
And so, before leaving you to consider what dreams you will realize for yourselves this year, I wanted to take just a moment to say thank you. First to Jeff and Eugene for dreaming up what has become the McBride Magic & Mystery School. Then to all those I named above – our “inner circle†who work together to make it all happen. And, finally, to all of you reading this. Without your interest and support, we could never do what we do. Each one of you, just by reading these Museletters, or tuning in on Monday evenings, or attending classes, is helping us to make our dream of creating better magic a reality. We are deeply grateful for that support, and for your sharing the dream with us. Happy New Year!
Tobias Beckwith
tobias@yourmagic.com
PS: Be sure and check our calendar at www.magicalwisdom.com for some exciting classes coming soon. We are offering our first ever “Magic for Speakers and Presenters†in March, along with our first 7-Day Master Class of 2013. Sign up now – it’s a great way to commit yourself to your dreams for the New Year!
“They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. In their grey visions, they obtain glimpses of eternity.”
— Edgar Allan Poe
Greetings Magical Friends!
The China Tower Vanish Project is a giant illusion from a recent Chinese TV show. You may remember that our McBride Magic Team was commissioned to create the opening segment for one of China’s largest TV shows earlier this year. It was one of the largest scale magic illusions ever presented! Now you can see the result here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY53qgqTd5M.
I just showed the video to Franz Harary, who was a huge help with the project. He said, “Jeff, I’m honestly proud to be your friend, and now… your associate. Whatever I can ever do to help you, just let me know.” What a great friend, designer and gentleman Franz is! We are very happy to be collaborating on projects with him!
Dream Big!
This is the time of year to dream big. The new year is coming, and we have a clean slate of possibilities ahead of us. My job as a magician is to remind you that anything you dream up can come true. Eugene Burger is a wonderful wizard. I’ve been deeply inspired by one of the things he said years ago; “Get bigger dreams.â€Â Yes, it is true, people often dream little dreams, or have no dreams at all. Being a magician is more than just being a dreamer, it is about making those dreams a reality. One of the techniques that I have learned is to focus on putting my energy into one major goal at a time.
“You can do anything you want; you just can’t do everything you want.”
— Folk wisdom
McBride Magic on the World Wide Web
Meet the Cast of Mystery School Monday!
We have a new video by Jordan Wright. Before the end of the month, we’ll have one hundred episodes! If you haven’t already been part of the fun, you can take a look at some of our past episodes at www.mcbridemagic.tv.
Last week’s show was a special holiday episode about Magic for All Seasons.
“It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else.”
— Erma Bombeck
World Tour News: The McBride Magic Experience
After I return from two weeks cruising in the Caribbean at the beginning of the year, I’ll be heading East for a show in Ludlow, Kentucky, (Just across the river from Cincinnati) on January 19 & 20. More info here: http://ludlowtheater.blogspot.com/.
Wonderground News
December 20th will be the next Wonderground, and we will be celebrating our third year of shows at The Olive Mediterranean Restaurant!
Please join us for Las Vegas’ biggest monthly magic party! It happens the third Thursday of every month! Every show is different! See this month’s new line-up.
Tobias wrote up our official press release.
McBride’s Wonderground has inspired our friends in Louisville, KY to start a similar event! Read about it. Hats off to Ray Smerlin for creating new opportunities for many performing artists!
It is my sincere hope that your big dreams for the new year come true, and if I can assist you in manifesting your dream, I will be happy to do so.
“Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.”
— Joel Barker
Have a happy holiday season, and dream big!
Jeff McBride
A book is a gift you can open again and again.
— Garrison Keillor
Dear Friends,
We are delighted to start off our December Museletter with a few words from the Dean – Eugene Burger:
Receiving and Giving
It is the holiday season: the time for giving and receiving.
In the title of this piece, I have purposely reversed these words because so much more is written about giving — and how important giving is. Perhaps it will be a good idea to spend a few moments thinking together about receiving. Receiving gifts.
We are told, for example, that giving is better (more “blessed†according to Acts 20:35) than receiving. I have no doubt that all of this is important and true. I think that giving may, indeed, exhibit a higher virtue.
But to say that giving is more blessed than receiving is not to say that receiving has no value at all. And that is just the point. It may be that receiving involves a real, though lesser, blessedness. But it is blessedness nonetheless.
Do you ever consider that giving is much easier for us, psychologically, than receiving? To give a gift is to stand in a position of power; to receive one is to stand without power. Giving makes us feel strong; receiving can make us feel weak.
Over the years I have met so many otherwise wonderful and intelligent people who, when presented with a gift, become embarrassed and say truly stupid things, such as, “Oh, you shouldn’t have done this!â€
Really?
I believe that one of the most important life-lessons all of us might learn is how to receive gifts in our lives, how to receive them truly, to receive them with sincerity and grace and an honest acknowledgement of how grateful we feel that the gift has been given.
And, let us not forget, if we ourselves are to experience the higher blessedness of giving, we need to have receivers to receive! Without the receivers of our gifts, we couldn’t be givers and experience the higher blessedness that giving brings.
So, perhaps this holiday season, we will summon the courage to be the best receivers of gifts that we can be. Happy holidays!
Thanks, Eugene! I always especially enjoy reading Eugene’s thoughts, because he always makes me think a bit deeper myself. Today, he has me thinking about gifts I’ve received, and how well I’ve received them. Have I always been gracious and appreciative? I hope so, but I somehow doubt it. Sometimes we receive things that delight us and honor us, and we are truly delighted to receive them. Other times, they make us wonder, “what were they thinking?â€
Jeff recently received one of the first kind. He recently traveled to London for the International Festival of Magic — and at the end of the festival was awarded the David Berglas International Magic Award. The award is quite a big deal — Jeff is only the fifth to have been chosen for it, after David Copperfield, Uri Geller, Derren Brown, Juan Tamariz and The MacMillan family, one of Britain’s legendary magic families.
It’s not hard to gracious when you receive a surprise gift like that. Thank you, David Berglas!
So: How to make sure you receive the gifts you would most like during this holiday season. It’s really quite simple: just ask. But ask clearly. Not just for “a book about magic,†or “a magic trick.†No, you want to ask for The Show Doctor by Jeff McBride. It is available online at http://www.theoryandartofmagic.com/ or http://shop.yourmagic.com. Or maybe what you want is George Parker’s INDEX-terity, also available from both places. We all have family and friends scattered across the globe these days, and sometimes they become frustrated trying to find you the things they know you want — so be sure and tell them how they can do that…and you’ll be far more likely to receive those gifts that will make it easy to feel the gratitude, and to respond in a way that will make your friends feel great about what they’ve given you.
Perhaps you’re like my father — hard to buy for. There’s nothing that fits into a box that he really wants at this point in his life. So a few years back the family banded together and bought him a cruise aboard a tall ship. The gift of an experience he would probably never have thought to buy for himself…and one he’ll always remember. A trip to the Magic and Mystery School can be just such an experience for many of us. So don’t be afraid to ask / suggest to your family that, “Maybe what you would like to do this year, is all pool your funds to send me to study in person with two of the world’s greatest magic teachers in Las Vegas,†and send them to http://www.magicalwisdom.com, where they can find out more.
Okay…I know I’m starting to sound like a used-car salesman or carnival barker here, so I’ll stop. And hope to see you in Las Vegas one day soon!
Oh — just one last plug. I’ll be doing a Locked Room lecture next week — Tuesday Dec. 12. I’ll be talking about the mystery of developing a deeper purpose for your magic, and how that can serve you many times over as it will help you create unique and powerful magic — magic that is truly all yours.
Best wishes for a happy holiday season.
Sincerely,
Tobias Beckwith
tobias@yourmagic.com
“It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us.” — Epicurus
Dear Friends:
In today’s Muse, we celebrate our friends and collaborators – and we have LOTS of news to share while we do it!
We are happy to report that Jeff is off to the U.K. this week, for his only visit there this year! While there, he will first be appearing, and lecturing and conducting a workshop at Noel Britton’s “International Festival of Magic.â€Â Established by the late Ron MacMillan over 40 years ago, it is still affectionately known as “Ron’s day”. The convention is now run by Ron’s family and close friends. Not to be missed – and you can learn more here: http://www.internationalmagic.com/pages/convention.html
McBride Magic Experience – UK
Just a few days later, our good friend Jay Fortune is hosting Jeff for a series of events in Bristol, at the “Smoke & Mirrors Café.â€Â Jeff’s full evening “McBride Magic Live!†show will be featured on two nights, plus a new lecture and a workshop. These are Jeff’s only appearances in the UK this year, so don’t miss this rare chance to see and learn from the master: http://www.smokeandmirrorsbar.co.uk/
Locked Room Events
Even when Jeff is away, The McBride Magic & Mystery School continues to offer fantastic events for you. We have three Locked Room events coming in the next few weeks. The Locked Room is our online teaching space where you can sample lectures and workshops conducted by our faculty from the Magic & Mystery School – all from the comfort of your own desk!
November 27 @ 7pm PST: Booking Shows and Hidden Venues
Larry Hass offers his insights in a new lecture on how to increase your bookings by finding new and different markets for your magic you may not have considered.
December 4 @ 7pm PST:Â The Best of McBride
Jeff McBride wants to help you be a better magician. Join us for a very special happening at which Jeff will teach several of his FAVORITE magic effects. Many never before explained!
December 12 @ 7pm PST:Â Beyond Beyond Deception
Tobias Beckwith has been working on Volume Two of his book Beyond Deception. In this lecture he shares some of what he has discovered. Subjects include how to deepen your statement of purpose, and how this can help strengthen your marketing and create unique new pieces using material you already own.
Do Your Really Want to Read Minds?
Master Class for Mentalists starts in just a few days, and will feature the masterful QUESTION AND ANSWER ACT OF ROSS JOHNSON.
For the 1st time in history, Ross will share the real work on one of the greatest mysteries of all time. Ross is not only a GREAT mentalist but also one of our best friends in magic… he will give you the very best of his professional experience in this special 3 day class. And the best news: We still have 2 spaces left.
Jeff McBride’s Wonderground
The magic comes early this month: Thursday, November 15, hosted this month by Abbi McBride!
The Wonderground is the biggest magic party in Las Vegas — and YOU are invited! Read about this month’s line up here – we have many new acts!
“I get by with a little help from my friends.” — John Lennon
John Lennon had it right. We all depend on our friends to get along. They are the real magic that can save lives!
A few years back, my entire show was stolen in Boston. My friend and magician David Oliver saved my show! He helped me rebuild my show in just 2 days to meet my show commitments. David is a wonderful magician and an amazing person. Now, David has a serious health challenge from exposure to doves! Yes, he developed a rare lung disease and needs to have both lungs replaced! Here is the positive news… Magicians from all over are helping David raise funds for his condition.  Read about the David Oliver fundraiser and how you can help him get by.
“When a friend is in trouble, don’t annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it.” — Edgar Watson Howe
That’s all the news for now. We hope you’ll be giving thanks for your friends over the coming holiday… just a we give thanks for all of you!
Sincerely,
Jeff McBride, Tobias Beckwith and all the crew at The Magic & Mystery School
tobias@yourmagic.com
For inquiries about Classes & Skype Sessions with Jeff McBride,
Call Abbi McBride: (702) 450-0021 (spinner@mcbridemagic.com)
For information & booking Jeff McBride:
Contact Tobias Beckwith (tobias@yourmagic.com) or (702) 697-7002