Wayne Houchin lecture 2011

Our local magic club - the Calgary Magic Circle (IBM Ring 66) - had its first lecture of the season a couple of weeks back. Wayne Houchin, best known for being (a) a co-creator of magic-makers Theory 11,(b) the mind behind some pretty weird geek magic, and (c) one of Criss Angel's advisors (on the early shows at least). He knew what we wanted to see and he gave it to us.

Hell, anyone who can do the gypsy thread (torn-and-restored-cotton-thread routine) by breaking up a bit of white thread, sucking the pieces up into his mouth and restoring them into a single thread...by pulling it out of his eye socket...is bound to develop a certain following in the magic community.

What did I walk away with? His torn-and-restored card routine - "Counterfeit Hollingworth". The best I've seen yet - I've been working on three other T&R Card routines over the past year and each has failings of one sort or another; his is what I'll be using in my working repertoire...once I've got it down.

But what will I always remember? His finale - performed but not explained - probably the best, cleanest needle-swallowing routine I've ever seen. So clean, so fair, and done only three feet away from me. Forty needles swallowed, mouth inspected, sleeves rolled up, followed by ten feet of cotton thread swallowed...

and regurgitated....with all forty needles now tied at four-inch intervals along the length of the thread.

Not for the faint of heart but a true classic and so wonderfully performed. I honestly, truly have no friggin idea how he did it.

Chad Long magic lecture (and 'spoke too soon')

Magician Chad Long - he of pulling-cards-out-of-walls fame - came to Calgary last week to give us a lecture. Probably because we'd been misbehaving. I suppose we deserved it.

No one's lecture will be useful for everyone in the room (we all like different stuff. Funny, that.) but I came away with eight or ten little ideas, sleights and bits of business, which is far more than what I consider my minimum to make a lecture 'worthwhile'. Oh - and I was inspired by Chad's opening coin routine. What a superb piece of magic! Elegant and convincing.

...Shame he didn't teach it. And such a shame that the only DVD in the world that teaches this routine is Homer Liwag's CoinTwo DVD... which is sold out of its limited run and is completely unavailable for love or money. Why is it that some crappy dross-filled DVDs are produced in quantities far beyond what is either desireable or necessary, yet Liwag's excellent work hasn't been available for...oh...two or three years?

I say 'excellent' only because that's what the reviews say. I wouldn't know. I haven't seen it. Because there aren't any left. Do you sense my faint sense of frustration? I see a beautiful coin routine that appears to suit my performing style and the kind of venues I work, and there's no way to get hold of it. Damn you, Mr Liwag, for being so good. And for only producing 1000 copies of your DVD.

But back to Chad Long. Yeah. Fun. Nice guy, funny and creative, and worth going to see.


On an unrelated lagomorphic note, in my earlier post when I crowed of our success in reintroducing our previously-antagonistic bunnies to each other, I was a little premature. A week or so on, and the fur started flying again. Damn. This means back to the drawing board. Or more accurately, back to the cardboard box on top of the washing machine during a spin cycle, followed by a nervewracking visit to the Empty Bathtub of Slipperiness.

Day 1 of the reintroduction is over. I'm hoping this doesn't take too long. It's bloody inconvenient having to keep them apart all the time. If anyone's had any experience with this (and how often and how long the stressful situations should be engaged in) I'd be interested to know.

Incidentally, I just got a new little video camera (and new software) so I'm re-learning the video editing thing. Don't expect wonders 'cos you won't get them, but the above video is the boys in the bathtub.