OK, the initial post was kind of a cheap way to kick off a blog, so here’s an official post (yay me)!
I’ve been into magic since as far back as I can remember. The sleight of hand kind, not the card game for those of you keeping score. The earliest I can remember being interested was when I was about 4 or 5 and one of my Dad’s friends made a rope penetrate his neck. The dude looked like Jesus, and after I saw him do the trick, I believed he was Jesus. I got a magic set for Christmas or my birthday or something, and my interest in legerdemain (as we call it in the biz) was started.
So I figured an easy way to ease into this whole blog thing would be to tell you a little bit about some of the magicians that I’ve admired. The majority you’ll probably never heard of, some you may.
Ricky Jay-
You may recognize him from bit parts in several movies such as The Prestige, Heist, or HBO’s Deadwood. He is regularly consulted for gambling and magic advice for movies and television shows, and in my opinion is the top sleight of hand artist alive. If you can track down a copy, I highly recommend watching his HBO special Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants. Pure poetry. The above photo is from his rendition of the cups and balls from his show that he calls “The History Lesson.” Insanely skilled at sleight of hand, a master of card scaling, an actor, author and scholar, the man is a virtual walking encyclopedia of magic and side show oddities. Here’s a link to a piece that the Times did on him. A great read. http://www.rickyjay.com/#
http://www.rickyjay.com/
Gazzo-
Gazzo is a British import busker who has spent the majority of his time up and down the east coast following the money. Renowned for his cutting edge humor and his cups and balls routine, he has sprouted dozens of Gazzo clones that copy his style verbatim. But you can’t beat the original. Rumor central has it that Gazzo used to be THE MAN when it came to doing the punch deal, but a stroke back in the 90’s has hindered some of the fine motor skills. I’ve been interested in busking for quite a few years, and Gazzo was one of the first buskers that I’ve seen on tape, and I can’t imagine what a live show would be like. Currently Gazzo is back in the UK making fat hats, hand made busking pouches and doing the occasional lecture.
http://www.beatthecheat.com/
Cellini-
Many people, myself included, consider Cellini to be the Godfather of busking. He is currently living in Switzerland, and has recently suffered a stroke. A student of Slydini, Cellini emphasizes simplicity and misdirection to showcase some of the most beautiful magic in the world today. Kozmo at http://www.kozmomagic.com/ has all of Cellini’s dvd’s, which are in my opinion must haves. Cellini’s work with the flip stick floored me the first time I saw it, and I’ve been a fan ever since.
I’ve been into magic since as far back as I can remember. The sleight of hand kind, not the card game for those of you keeping score. The earliest I can remember being interested was when I was about 4 or 5 and one of my Dad’s friends made a rope penetrate his neck. The dude looked like Jesus, and after I saw him do the trick, I believed he was Jesus. I got a magic set for Christmas or my birthday or something, and my interest in legerdemain (as we call it in the biz) was started.
So I figured an easy way to ease into this whole blog thing would be to tell you a little bit about some of the magicians that I’ve admired. The majority you’ll probably never heard of, some you may.
Ricky Jay-
You may recognize him from bit parts in several movies such as The Prestige, Heist, or HBO’s Deadwood. He is regularly consulted for gambling and magic advice for movies and television shows, and in my opinion is the top sleight of hand artist alive. If you can track down a copy, I highly recommend watching his HBO special Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants. Pure poetry. The above photo is from his rendition of the cups and balls from his show that he calls “The History Lesson.” Insanely skilled at sleight of hand, a master of card scaling, an actor, author and scholar, the man is a virtual walking encyclopedia of magic and side show oddities. Here’s a link to a piece that the Times did on him. A great read. http://www.rickyjay.com/#http://www.rickyjay.com/
Gazzo-
Gazzo is a British import busker who has spent the majority of his time up and down the east coast following the money. Renowned for his cutting edge humor and his cups and balls routine, he has sprouted dozens of Gazzo clones that copy his style verbatim. But you can’t beat the original. Rumor central has it that Gazzo used to be THE MAN when it came to doing the punch deal, but a stroke back in the 90’s has hindered some of the fine motor skills. I’ve been interested in busking for quite a few years, and Gazzo was one of the first buskers that I’ve seen on tape, and I can’t imagine what a live show would be like. Currently Gazzo is back in the UK making fat hats, hand made busking pouches and doing the occasional lecture.http://www.beatthecheat.com/
Cellini-
Many people, myself included, consider Cellini to be the Godfather of busking. He is currently living in Switzerland, and has recently suffered a stroke. A student of Slydini, Cellini emphasizes simplicity and misdirection to showcase some of the most beautiful magic in the world today. Kozmo at http://www.kozmomagic.com/ has all of Cellini’s dvd’s, which are in my opinion must haves. Cellini’s work with the flip stick floored me the first time I saw it, and I’ve been a fan ever since.Penn and Teller- 
The original Bad Boys of Magic. You can’t have one without the other, it’s kind of a union thing. Originally a juggler, Penn Jillette (the tall, loud one), met up with Teller (the quiet one, and incidently one of the very few people in the world with only one name on his passport) back in the 70’s, started busking (do I see a trend?) and are currently one of the top shows in Las Vegas. Numerous appearances on David Letterman, TV specials, movies, radio shows, books, and numerous other things later (kind of ran out of steam there) they’re at the top of the magic game. If you like podcasts, I recommend Penn Says, which can be found on YouTube or Itunes.
http://www.pennandteller.com/
The Amazing Jonathan-
Another former busker, AJ is currently headlining in Las Vegas. Known as the “Freddy Kruger of Magic”, his comedy is interjected with magic and intermittent torturing of his partner Psychic Sandra.
http://www.amazingj.com/
The original Bad Boys of Magic. You can’t have one without the other, it’s kind of a union thing. Originally a juggler, Penn Jillette (the tall, loud one), met up with Teller (the quiet one, and incidently one of the very few people in the world with only one name on his passport) back in the 70’s, started busking (do I see a trend?) and are currently one of the top shows in Las Vegas. Numerous appearances on David Letterman, TV specials, movies, radio shows, books, and numerous other things later (kind of ran out of steam there) they’re at the top of the magic game. If you like podcasts, I recommend Penn Says, which can be found on YouTube or Itunes.http://www.pennandteller.com/
The Amazing Jonathan-
Another former busker, AJ is currently headlining in Las Vegas. Known as the “Freddy Kruger of Magic”, his comedy is interjected with magic and intermittent torturing of his partner Psychic Sandra.http://www.amazingj.com/
There are numerous other magicians that I admire and am fascinated with, but I’ll save those for another post or two. This is a little something to get my feet wet, work on my writing and get something out there that maybe someone will get a kick out of. Feel free to drop a comment (drop a prop!), hate mail, or any general discontent.
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