Spectacular Ariel Escape By Mark Cannon

Spectacular Escape By Mark Cannon, originally uploaded by Ace Starry.

Professional escape artist, Mark Cannon performs for the crowd at the Escape Artist's Convention. Cannon was locked into a precarious position in a small glass box. The box was attached by four steel cables to a hoisting crane. Each of the cables was connected to a grinding cutter. Once Mark was locked into the glass box, he was raised high into the air over a parking lot. The crowd of escape artist attendees watched as the cables were sheared in two. One cable was cut through and the box lurched to its side. Mark was able to escape, but was unable to rappel down to the ground as his tether was tangled. The suspense was excruciating and exciting.

Ace and the Naked Cowgirl

There is an old saying, "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." We in the cut throat world of magic say something more like, "the SOB stole my damn trick, routine and all."

But, I'm always glad to see when someone takes something and makes it work for them, with their own unique style. Thus we have "THE NAKED COWGIRL." For years we have had some guy playing guitar wearing a cowboy hat and a pair of underwear in Times Square calling himself "THE NAKED COWBOY." Even though he was never "naked" and I doubt very much he is really a "cowboy" (in the sense that he has probably never been within a hundred yards of a cow) still he makes a few bucks with his trademark "naked" gimmick.

Now some enterprising young girl has taken up the call of being, neither naked nor a cowgirl. Yet she has people take pictures of her with her rhinestone pasties covering her nipples and her guitar with her web page proudly displayed. I'm sure if the Naked Cowboy were to decide to sue her for a case of derivative works, he'd have a good case, even though, I doubt very much they are playing to the same audience.

Here's to you, Naked Cowgirl. Keep living a naked magic life.

Live Earth a Magic Day for Al Gore

Seven, seven, seven will go down as a magical day for me. It was the day that I met and shook the hand of Al Gore - twice.

Over the years I've strongly supported Al Gore and his green and progressive politics. I've also been somewhat of a Bon Jovi and Sting (Police) fan. So when Al Gore sends me an email telling me about his upcoming Live Earth Concert, of course I was interested to say the least.

We started off by tail gating in Giant Stadium around 12:30. The sun was really beating down, but we came well stocked with a lot of sunscreen and cold beer. Since we were going in two cars, (yes, gas guzzling SUV's) we had just a little hassle finding two parking spaces next to each other. The parking lot was packed with old school concert goers and green freaks. Mostly it looked like any other concert event with the presence of both old time and new rock and roll.

I had been misinformed that cameras were not allowed, so when I went inside I decided to leave my camera in the car. Unfortunately I didn't learn until I had already had my ticket scanned that I could have brought my Canon 30D with the 300 mil lens, if I hadn't just had my ticket scanned (you can't go out once you've entered.) I was really upset, because I really thought I'd get some good shots. Like the one I got of my friend Tia when she got to shake Al's hand above. I wish that she had a camera when I took my turn.

Oh let me tell you how we got the camera. My magic life intervened on my behalf.My buddy Mike is an English teacher in New Jersey and when he was walking to our seats in the second level, he meets a former student(now a big dog at Giant Stadium)who just so happens to have two floor tickets. Can you believe that FLOOR TICKETS TO LIVE EARTH. Mike being the great guy that he is, decided that we would all take turns watching our favorite performers. Being the nice guy that I am, I gave up watching Jon Bon Jovi to my wife. But I did stick the camera in her hand. She took some amazing pics.

For those of you who are fans, here is one of the pictures of Bon Jovi. If you are interested in more, contact me at ace@starry.com. I've got a few for sale.

The Prestige - "A Prestige Digitation"

This is another fine addition to any magician's movie collection. Just as "The Illusionist" this movie portrays magicians in that elegant time when stage magic was ruled as king of entertainment. The cast is beyond magical. Hugh Jackman as the fatally flawed protagonist, leads the cast which includes Christian Bale (Batman Begins) as the antagonist magician, the incomparable Michael Caine as the mentor, and the beautiful Scarlett Johansson as the love interest. A special appearance is that of David Bowie who hauntingly portrays genius inventor, Nikola Tesla.

This mysterious story is that of two rival magicians in turn-of-the-century London in a battle to produce the greatest trick. This overt rivalry eventually leads to disfigurement of one of the magicians and eventually murder. This is a movie that is full of twists, turns, obsession, deceits and lies. The ending came as a complete shock to me and was totally justified through clues given to the audience throughout the film. Watch it closely and you may discover the secrets before the ending. I enjoyed this film immensely and will add it to my library.

The Three Card Monte

A gang know as the Cracker Parker three-card monte mob worked this con in the early 1950's until the late seventies. The three card monte has been in use on the streets of major cities for decades. It is also common to magicians demonstrating the effect of switching the cards unbeknownst to the audience members. If you should come across anyone playing this game and asking you to bet, just keep walking. This video shows some well qualified magicians recreating how the scam is actually run. It a re-creation of the Cracker Parker script, with the parts of the various shills highlighted. Whit Haydn as "the Mark," Gazzo as "the Dealer," and Billy McComb as "the Smoother." Notice his pick-pocketing routine in the end. The magicans playing the shills are: R. Paul Wilson, Jeff Thomas, Zach Dubnoff, Chef Anton, and Adam Schiff. This is an out-take from the "School for Scoundrels DVD on Three-Card Monte."

Steve Martin Magic Video

This is an old video of a Steve Martin routine. Looks like it could have been on the Tonight Show, but I don't really know when he performed this. He was and is a master of comedy. Few know that he had such a flair for they art of mystery. I don't seem to be writing much in my blog lately, so I might as well do something and put up a great video for you to enjoy.

The Illusionist is a Master of On Screen Magic

Edward Norton is a masterful magician. Or at least he plays one on the big screen. The actor who has been nominated for two Oscars, appeared in such great movies as "American History X" and "Fight Club," creates an illusionist, a character that I'll never forget in the movie so titled, The Illusionist. Set in the turn of the 20th century, this movie is the most cinematically beautiful and wonderfully creative magic based movie that I've ever seen. Norton creates an almost ominous magician character who still retains a human touch. There is a flashback to the poor young boy, the son of a cabinet maker, who loves magic. He meets and falls in love with Sophie, a beautiful upper-class girl. When they are caught running away together, he is told never to see her again or he will be arrested. He leaves to travel the world in search of the secrets of magic.

Years later he returns to Vienna as renowned illusionist Eisenheim. Astonishing audiences and playing to sell-out crowds, Eisenheim’s in the midst of his show when Sophie is volunteered to assist by Crown Prince Leopold, her soon to be fiancee and also the story's antagonist. Both pretend not to know one another, however Eisenheim and Sophie immediately recognize one another as childhood loves.

Even though he seems at times beyond human, he becomes a sympathetic character. Just to see the awesome power of the master magician as he captivated his theatre audience with his mysterious countenance was enough to make me go back again.

As a magician, I can say that I was completely envious of the small theaters which he played. The audiences were entranced by the unexplainable and he did little to explain the happenings. There was a magical moment when he was discussing the element of time and he moved an orange back and forth then dropped it from one hand to the other. He slowed time down and the orange fell in slow motion from the top hand to the bottom to the gasps of the audience. Then he takes one of the seeds from the orange and plants it only to speed time up and watch it grow into a full blown orange tree. From the tree he picks several oranges and throws them into the audience.

The movie is like reading a Melbourne Christopher history book. Turning the pages I used to wonder what it would be like to work on such a stage and astound such an audience. I could feel the excitement which must have been created when Pepper's Ghost was first put on stage.

Magic Poll

I saw this program that creates mini polls, so I thought I'd give it a try.