In Magic Inc. We Trust

Welcome to the gouche of the year; the time between Christmas and the New year. Full of cheese, booze and unable to recall the day of the week… I hope all y’all are keeping well.

As 2020 comes to a close, one of my friends in Chicago reached out to highlight something I should have been discussing much sooner; a GoFundMe campaign for Magic Inc. in Chicago, one of the historical hubs of US East Coast magicians needing all the support it can get.

Having spent time with some of the guys in Chicago, I have always felt welcomed and a special connection to both the people and the history. From the long-standing bar magic scene, to the ongoing bullshit from Marlophiles worldwide, the importance and relevance of Chicago in the magic world is unmistakeable.

Pedro Nieves (Store manager of Magic Inc.)
Tom Dobrowolski
Ryan Plunkett
Nancy Colwell
Luis Carreon
Deven Brown
Joey Cranford

As part of the GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help them get through the impacts seen recently.

As with many brick and mortar stores, their income is driven by in-store sales and lectures, which have been heavily impacted. With their staff now working as volunteers, their move to the online sales for the store is crucial for their survival until things go back to some kind of normal, being able to visit stores and have customers session and lecturers lecture.

If you’re not able to donate, consider purchasing something online from Magic Inc. (or online from your local magic store) and reach out to the guys and gals who run the stores to check in and see how they’re doing.

A big part of many magician’s lives is the experience of the magic store, the sessions and the people who run them. Good or bad (hopefully, more good), there is a lot that we’re missing out on.

xoxo,
LH

Update:
Magic Inc. are hosting a live, online magic benefit show on Tuesday 29th December 2020 @ 8pm CT/ 9pm ET/ 6pm PT with a pretty amazing line up.

Here’s the deets:

Only two days until showtime!

Join us for a virtual star-studded one-night only performance on Tuesday, December 29th, 8p CT featuring some of the best magicians in the world:

Penn & Teller • Max Maven • Suzanne The Magician • Chris Capehart • Mac King • Bill Cook • Luis Carreon • David Williamson • Dave Cox • Paige Thompson • Peter Samelson

For almost 100 years Magic Inc. has been about community and a gathering place for magicians from around the world. When Jay Marshall died in 2005 everyone thought that was the end of Magic Inc. but Jay’s son Sandy and his wife Susan took over and Magic Inc. thrived . . . until Covid-19 brought it to its knees. We were forced to set up a Go Fund Me page and now, with the help of the Chicago Magic Lounge, New York’s Monday Night Magic and the generosity of our remarkable cast volunteering their time and talents, we’re putting on this Benefit Show in hopes of saving Magic Inc.’s brick & mortar shop.

YOU can help by buying tickets to this star-studded holiday show.
If you would like to donate above the ticket price we are offering four additional sponsorship levels that will put you on our Wall of Honor.

Thank you for your support. Your access link will be sent to you via email on the day of the show.
Happy Holidays!

What a fuckin’ year

2020 has been a fucking shit show.

Normally, this time of year for me is when work ramps down, extra time spent with friends and family and a good month of binge-eating and reading books and watching videos I’ve accumulated over the year.

Unfortunately, this hasn’t always been the case for the last few years, and this year has been the cherry on top for a lot of people, myself included. My backlog of books and reviews is as big as my ego (the name of my monster magic dong), so you’re all going to be waiting a little while for the next nuggets of wisdom to drop out of my flabby pancaked ass.

Having semi-come out of hibernation for the moment, here’s a few more things that I’ve recently found out about which I’m looking forward to.

Theseus – Nancy Colwell

On a random day a few years ago, I sat in a diner a few blocks away from Magic Inc. in Chicago, with Nancy Colwell and the beloved pocket Marlo to watch over our session, as is tradition in Chicago. Nancy, for the uninitiated, is a regular performer at the Chicago Magic Lounge, a major proponent and author of the recent Magic for BLM ebook, and an ongoing contributor to Mike Helmer’s Elixir magazine

Nancy proceeds to tell me about an effect she’s been working on called ‘Theseus’. She proceeds to fool the shit out of me with it; A beautiful T&R routine and so much more. Finally, she’s written it up and it is being released, available only for pre-order price of $45 USD as a Magic Inc. exclusive until it’s release in January 2021.

As Above, So Below – New notes from Mike Pisciotta

Mike Pisciotta, a mainstay of the Magic Castle, and one of my favourite performers, has some great material. His previous set of notes from late last year, ‘As Within, So Without‘, were something else.

Almost a year on, Mike has released a new set of notes as a follow up; As Above, So Below.

In these notes, Mike teaches two of his favourite closers, along with explaining an incredibly useful and practical utility device(SHHHH SEEECREEEETSSSS) including 10 routine ideas and more. If it’s anything like Mike’s previous set of notes (Still waiting on my own set of the new ones), then it’s definitely worth getting.

Mike has both these new notes as well as a few copies of the previous ‘As Within’ notes still available.

Currently, each set of notes are only available directly from Mike for $40 USD posted in the USA, or $60 USD posted anywhere in the world.
If you’re interested in picking up both sets, it’s $80 USD for the pair shipped in the US, or $110 USD for the pair with worldwide postage. Contact Mike via Facebook to get his Paypal information. Tell him Larry sent ya!

John Galsworthy – Concerning the Palming of Cards

The name John Galsworthy is a fairly recent one in the magic world. Having a fairly large presence on Instagram, John (If that is his real name…) is an extremely adept sleight of hand practitioner, especially when it comes to palming.

His previous ebooks, ‘Notes Concerning the Palming of Cards‘ and ‘Further Notes Concerning the Palming of Cards’ (which are both fucking excellent) along with new material are being collated into a physical release, titled ‘Concerning the Palming of Cards’. What I’ve loved about his work is not only the articulate manner in which he can outline the mechanical nature executing and maintaining a palm, but also be able to focus on an often overlooked but key aspect of what makes palming deceptive: Motivation

From a recent post of John’s, the books looks to also be accompanied by video demonstrations/performances to assist with illustrating the moves done as they should be. Here’s a link to the table of prospective content, but unfortunately, no details on release date, pricing or availability at this stage aside from sometime in early 2021.  Bravo, John!

Jennings Takes It Easy – Book Update

Richard Kaufman posted the below earlier this month regarding the Jennings book being delayed. Deluxe editions not impacted. In case you hadn’t heard

As a final parting thought; avoid Kayla Drescher & Carisa Hendrix’ god-awful attempt to “modernize” Tommy Wonder.

The most asinine and disrespectful shit I’ve ever seen in my fucking life. It is not worth your time, money, effort or attention. Fuck whoever was involved in this project, it should have never even been considered, let alone made or sold. This isn’t making his material more “accessible” for anyone, it’s cheapening a world class performer’s lifes work. 

There are few people in the magic community who are capable of ever doing such a project or homage justice, and these two people are definitely not at that caliber of a performer, or across Tommy’s work to be able to articulate, expand on or bring anything worthy that Mr Wonder hasn’t already said. From what I have been able to stomach, much of it goes directly against Mr Wonder’s lessons or motivation for why and how he did things. This feels like nothing but a money grab and a few steps backwards.

Don’t buy their Wonder bullshit. Instead, enjoy some work from the man himself, graciously shared by Tommy’s brother, Frank. A big thank you to Tom Dobrowolski for sharing this with me.

Hope you’re all keeping safe and well during these times and looking out for one another.
xoxo,

LH

June 2023 edit: Updated a few bits