“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
— Winston Churchill
NEWS FROM JEFF:
Wonderground cast photo by Beckett Studios, Las Vegas
The Return of Jeff McBride’s WONDERGROUND!
When: THURSDAY, Dec. 17th, Doors open at 8pm
Where: THE OLIVE: 3850 E SUNSET RD. Las Vegas, NV — 702-451-8850
We’ve made arrangements to revive Jeff McBride’s magical club experience ‘The Wonderground’ on a once monthly basis for the coming year. Every Third Thursday, magic lovers will converge on the Olive – our favorite Las Vegas Mediterranean restaurant & hookah bar, for a continuous magical experience from 8pm til 1pm – or maybe later.
As always, the Wonderground experience will include magic, variety, performance art, DJ Master Diaz – and even The Mojo A Go-Go Girls. Close up & Street magic will be provided by The Mystery School Magi. There will be art films by Jordan Wright, live painting by Areeya and Minnie, and a psychic sideshow & tarot readings by Danita and Morganne. One of the highlights of the evening will be our All Star Stage Show at 10pm, hosted by our own master of masks & magic, Jeff McBride, with different special guest artists from around the world each month.
Best of all: Admission is FREE with a 2 drink minimum (Adults only, 21+). For more info go to http://www.vegaswonderground.com. If you can’t make it in person, you can participate “live on the web.” The Wonderground will be broadcast live each month on www.streetofcards.tv.
TV News: Extreme travel
We thought you’d enjoy this clip from the Travel Channel’s recent “Extreme Conventions.”
http://www.mcbridemagic.com/video/extremeconventions_med_conv.html
We’re very happy with this coverage, and that the Travel Channel considered the Magic and Mystery School to be the most popular event at the recent World Magic Seminar. Eugene and I will be at the WMS again this year, March 1, 2, and 3rd at the ORLEAN’S HOTEL here in Las Vegas. It’s a great convention, and we highly recommend it. You can register online:
http://www.theworldmagicseminar.com
A note from Abbi…
The voting is in for the 2009 New Magic Order Houdini Awards for Excellence in Magic and Variety Arts, and Jeff received the 2009 Houdini Lifetime Achievement Award from MagicTalk.com!
It is interesting to note that there are many Mystery School alumni among this year’s winners:
Cabaret magic — Peter Pitchford: Jeff helped Peter design his award-winning act that won top prizes at this year’s SAM and IBM competitions.
Mentalism — Paul Draper: Paul not only attended many classes here at the Magic and Mystery School, but is also a guest teacher at many of our events, and appears frequently at THE WONDERGROUND magic nightclub.
Rising Star — Rick Star: Rick is a private student who works with Jeff via the internet.
Dream Builder Award — The Dymonds: Erin and Christian Doleshall are both building strong individual careers, and sharpening their skills in the magical arts with Jeff’s help.
It’s amazing to watch Jeff and Eugene work with the students here at the McBride House of Mystery. Our doors are open to you when you feel you need to re-energize or re-inspire your magic. Here is a photo of Jeff filling up on the magic of life at a recent regional Burning Man event. The two photos above were taken by his brother Clay.
“Everyone has a talent; what is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark places where it leads.”
— Erica Jong
Greetings Friends…
We are in the season of dark places. Today, only the most courageous and talented will avoid the grim reaper of pop culture, and become immortalized in the book of ages. My question to you is how much are you pushing your edges? For, you see, there are a few daring young ones among us, who are pushing far beyond what we ever thought possible, or even acceptable!
CUTTING EDGE MAGIC
Shock & Awe, Blood & Gore
Sometimes it takes a lot of high weirdness to get people’s attention these days. With the amazing amount of information coming at us, often people think they need to screeeeeeeeam or draw BLOOD to get attention. It is rare that performers take an artful approach to this sort of “geek magic.” However, I know two magicians that are very good at doing just that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZg7_aTLqq0
COULD THEY BE THE HIPPEST MAGICIANS IN THE WORLD?
Here is a photo of Barry, Stuart and me, halfway through our recent all day magic brainstorming session.
Thanks to Youtube, we can see many of their television specials, which air in the United Kingdom. My favorite series of theirs is MAGICK. Eugene Burger and I have the great honor of being consultants for their show. This week, Barry & Stuart came to Las Vegas for the very first time, and we got to spend the day together, working on some of their TOP SECRET new mind-exploding concepts. DJ Master Diaz and I hosted them around town, and took in a few shows. We even kidnapped them and took them over to the Darwin Society Magic Club, where we forced them, at wandpoint, to do an interview for streetofcards.tv. I never really thought, when I started magic, that I would be involved in some of the most interesting “think-tanks” in the world of magic. I’ve worked with Lance, Criss, and, oh yes, here is a clip of me working on a recent Hans Klok extravaganza. My piece starts at 1:18. It’s a sneak peek of a casual private session.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tikQQexKalk&feature=related
Nowadays, I find time to work with many of my students via Skype. This is a great new way for you and I to work together, and to upgrade your magic skills, even if you can’t get to Las Vegas. Just send me an email (Jeff@mcbridemagic.com) and let me know you’re interested, and we’ll take it from there!
CHINA: IT’S THE NEW LAS VEGAS!
Abbi and I are just back from two weeks in China, my second trip there in two months! Magic is HUGE in China, and I am sure Tobias will be arranging more tours for us in 2010. So, to all of our new Chinese magic fans and students, you’ll be seeing more of us soon! Here is a photo and a video clip from our time there:
http://www.mcbridemagic.net/video/
See you at one of our Skype sessions, or on the road soon!
Jeff, Abbi and all of the Magic and Mystery School Faculty
From Tobias:
Fall has become a time filled with fascinating activities for so many of us. Following fast on the heels of Magic & Meaning will be the Magic & Medicine and Magic for Mentalists master classes – both filling fast but with a few slots still available.
It seems the end of October now kicks off the holiday season, so some of you may want to know about our new McBride Magic & Mystery School Gift Certificate, good towards tuition for whatever class you might choose. Something to place on your own wish list, or to buy for your favorite magician! Just go to magicalwisdom.comand you’ll see the link for it!
I’ll write more about the holidays and some upcoming adventures Jeff has planned in our next note. In the meantime, enjoy what’s left of “national magic month!”
Best wishes.
Tobias Beckwith
tobias@yourmagic.com
LESSONS LEARNED ON THE STREET
STREET MAGIC:
Street magic is one of the fastest growing new styles of magic, yet it is one of the oldest forms of magic as well! Today, there are many successful magicians that began their careers working the streets. The streets are a place where a beginner can go and get real world experience. When I first moved to New York City, I had the pleasure of studying with the man who literally wrote the book on Street Magic. Jeff Sheridan and I met in the mid-1970s in New York City. Over the years, I have met many of the top “classical” street performers from all over the world, including Jim Cellini, Chris Capeheart, and Gazzo, and I have learned something from every one of them. There is also a new breed of internet street magicians, like Cyril, Marco Tempest, and David Blaine, and they have lessons to teach us as well…. The world is changing.
OLD SCHOOL
The old school street performers are very low-tech and high-touch. Their effects must be able to be performed in the round. They have to play for small audiences as well as large audiences.
NEW SCHOOL
The new school techno-mage designs effects that are often specifically created to play for “the home viewer.” Many of these effects are shocking, get spread as viral videos, and reach a global viewership. Years ago, a young magician might upgrade their stage show by adding an illusion, such as a zigzag or sub trunk. Today’s new magicians are getting a high-def video camera as the upgrade to their shows. The amazing thing is that some kid living in the boondocks can make a clever magic video at home, and be seen by thousands, perhaps millions of people. Twenty years ago, this was unheard of. Street magic, and the internet, are changing the way we experience magic.
MYSTERY SCHOOL
I have been very blessed in my life to have traveled the world with my show. Street performing has taught me many important lessons:
Many of the lessons that I learned in the school of hard knocks are ones that I still use today, whether I am designing a corporate show, a theater show, a casino show, or even when we design a show to play a luxury ocean liner.
I’ve learned many tricks of the trade and secrets that make a great street magic show. These lessons can help you. I will be sharing these secrets with many of our friends at the Magic School, October 9, 10 and 11th.
http://www.magicalwisdom.com/events/view/395
MAGIC AND MEANING
“Magic is the art of reaching into a deeper reality and bringing gifts from it into the ordinary world”
—Robert Moss
The Magic and Meaning Conference is a distinctive, annual small-group conference that focuses on creating meaningful magic routines, effective scripts, and new venues for performance. If you love magic, storytelling, motivational speaking, the philosophy of magic — or want to learn more about it — this is the place to be!
The 2009 conference will feature Keynote Addresses by Jeff McBride, Eugene Burger, Robert E. Neale, and Lawrence Hass. The conference also features a select number of Short Talks by conference attendees on subjects relating to the themes of the conference. Also, the conference will offer interactive small group sessions as well as “works in progress” shows where we create a safe and fun space to try new ideas and get valuable feedback on your magic.
http://www.magicalwisdom.com/events/view/392
CHINA MAGIC
Magic is exploding in China. Recently, a Taiwanese magician named Lu Chen appeared on the biggest Chinese New Year’s television show. He only did three close-up effects, but it made a huge impression on the Chinese viewers. Now, the entire country is crazy for magic. I experienced this recently, at the World Championships in Beijing, and I took a few videos, too! You can see them on my internet television channel here:
http://streetofcards.tv/channel/27/jeff-mcbride/
MCBRIDE MAGIC WORLD TOUR
Our entire company is off to Shenzhen, China, to a huge theme park called Happy Valley.
http://www.chinahighlights.com/shenzhen/attraction/happy-valley.htm
See you on the road, or here in Las Vegas!! (We’ll be back October 8, just in time for the Street Magic Class).
Jeff
NEWS FLASH: JEFF MCBRIDE ON NATIONAL TV
Extreme Magic on Travel Channel
Don’t miss the Travel Channel’s “Extreme” coverage of last spring’s World Magic Seminar, featuring Jeff and many of our close friends. The show is set to air September 23rd at 8pm EST (5pm PST…. Check your local listings for more specifics).
FROM TOBIAS:
I just want to say a quick ‘Thank you’ to all of you who wrote asking about the Show / Lecture / Workshop “McBride Experience!” We’re continuing to book these whenever Jeff has a free day or two, and he’s having a great time doing them. We appreciate your help in getting the word out!
Best to all,
Tobias Beckwith