Photo's by Brian Bern

Latest Pics from Brian Bern - Exceptional eye and a fun guy

I love his use of color. I think that his pictures capture the unique spontaneity that is street theater.

E-mail From Steve to Mark

Hey Mark,

I did the rubber band trick you showed us for a guy at work today. He his reaction was very strong. Total silence for about 3 seconds, while staring at the rubber band on his wrist.

Then the comment, "What the f..k!"

He then shook his head and said, "How the hell did that go from your wrist to mine?"

Next came, "Do it again."

Nice trick.......thanks for sharing it.

Glad to have you back in the group. See you next week.


(Forgot to mention this trick in my last post. This short e-mail really demonstrates what these Tuesday Sessions are about LEARNING and TEACHING, Sharing. . . Far Out)

Alki Beach Magic Studio - Tuesday Night Session

Another intimate gathering of a few magical friends. Our regular Tuesday Night Sessions come and go with varying levels of attendance, enthusiasm and inspiration. Lately we have enjoyed fewer guests, the smaller group this week (Steve, Mark, Buster, Me and Becky showed up later) made it easy to focus. Mark Jensen filled us all in on the Las Vegas Magic Invitational. Sounds like another good convention put on by Danny Archer. The one I went to a few years ago was one of the strongest line-ups I had seen in a very long time. 3 days of drunken debauchery with Korn, Greer, Liptak and all my other key Homies from the old days. I talked to both Thomas Wayne and Mark about their reactions to this years convention. They both saw some great magic and had fun.

I busted out a couple of card things that I had never showed the gang before. Funny how you forget completely about a trick you once learned. Mark was talking about the David Solomon lecture and I remembered a great trick from his book "Solomon's Mind" A streamlined variation of the classic "Lie Detector" trick. There was a time that I performed this trick a lot. I used to ask the audience, "who is the best liar?" Then I explain, that the magic profession is one of the few professions. . . outside of politics. . . where lying is a prerequisite. It's a good trick that's a fooler. Another forgotten mystery pulled out of my fading memory, is the old "Clock Trick" an excellent prediction routine using "Time" and a deck of cards. Both tricks could be classified somewhat as "Self Working". I performed both of these routines on the street today at Pike Place Market. After doing them a couple of times, I realized that self working is bullshit. NO trick regardless of how easy it is to perform from a technical standpoint, performs by itself. It takes the will of the performer to say, HERE is a masterpiece, I perform for you now, FUCKING MIRACLES! I did the Lie Detector during a close up set today, after, I said, "now the big finale!" The guy in the front row had his money out and said, "what? that wasn't the big finale. . . that's what I'm talking about.

Another fun session. Tim emailed us a list of everything he recorded in his magic notebook. He's been keeping notes for the last 8 months we've been doing these sessions. It's an impressive list. We want to review, revisit and rejuvenate some of the tricks that we learned. Steve has been playing with a killer JC Wagner effect. He also brought his new James Riser Copper Cup. A thing of beauty.
Speaking of cups, Mark freaked on his high end set of copper cups sticking improperly. Both he and Steve were concerned, as we have been told, "Good cups don't do that". I said, what the fuck are you talking about. . . good cups DO, do that! I've said it from the beginning, they're just metal cups, you drop them, you beat on them, you use and abuse them, they're gonna get a bit bent out of shape. Big deal, get over it, learn to use them. I think Mark will try and fix them. Good luck. Mark did a nifty card thing he learned from Gaeton Bloom at the Convention. Buster did Dr. Daley's Last Trick that he learned at a recent session. Becky learned Sibyl (the card cut) from Tobias at the last South Center Session. She was doing well with it and some of her other cuts.

The journey continues, week after week, month after month, year after year. Maybe someday I'll get it all figured out.

Collage Du Jour - My latest

I've been wanting to do a Ralph Steadman collage for years. I've loved his twisted artwork since I first saw it when reading Hunter Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (He illustrated the book).

Gazzo

One of the Greatest Street Magicians. . . Ever.

Photos from Gazzo demonstrating how to build a crowd during his June 18-19th, 2005 Master Class.




I first saw Gazzo in the mid 1980's in Boston. He's a funny guy, a skilled technician and a top notch manufacturer. We hooked up at an invitation only magic gathering a few years ago. It was never verified if it was Gazzo who put the crackers in my bed sheets, but it was a good practical joke regardless. To get him back, I slipped him a ruffy and while he slept performed a botched circumcision on his magic wand. Here he sleeps and recovers.

Post Alley at Pike Place Market

A Weekend Of Street Performing

Had some good shows, had some not so good shows. Guess that's the way the cookie crumbles. A couple of the musicians that play regularly at the market came up to me and said they really like the way I "work" the crowd. I told them that I had a very good teacher. I went on to describe to them some of the ins and out's of crowd building. Some of the things I think about. Like what's going on in my mind when a large chunk of my audience leaves after the cups and balls. I need to fill in that empty slot, which means I need to throw in another routine or two and hope that I can keep their attention as the show and the crowd builds. You then bring in the outer parameter. The reason for this is two-fold. On the one hand you don't want the audience to interfere with the natural flow of traffic. So you invite them in, "Folks, the police have asked me not to block the cars so, If you would all take about 5 steps towards the curb, they sure would appreciate it. Not that I have a problem with handcuffs. . . I just think there's a time and place for everything." What this does, by tightening up the crowd you make it difficult to for those in the front few rows to leave. The science of crowd building and manipulating an audience, has always been a work in progress for me. It's all good. No Worries. Right On. Guess I'll keep on truck'en.

Thursday

I met Linnea at the Art Museum at six. I was excited to be with her again. She's zany, wholesome, artistic and pretty with her blond hair and blue eyes. Linnea was a SAM Member and got in for free. I purchased a family membership thinking that this might be fun to take all the kids to. Good rainy day activity.

The featured artist was a fellow named

"Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) he created groundbreaking works of fine art and decorative art—expanding the modern definition of sculpture, furniture and landscape architecture, as well as challenging ideas about the unique art object and the possibilities of mass-produced design.

In this exhibition Noguchi’s achievements are refracted through the work of renowned director and installation artist Robert Wilson (b. 1941), who has created an aesthetic, intellectual and sensory experience that both explicates and enriches
Noguchi’s creations."



Now in plain english: "Funky, freaky rooms of weird stuff, set up in a way to amuse the mind and hilight the exhibited sculptures. This cat had some excellent ideas about form and function. From swimming pool designs in bronze, to Terminator style chrome plated busts of Gershwin. Each room weirder than the next. Dramatic transitions in light and feel from room to room guided you on a journey that was the vision of the installer. His job, to display Nagouchi's work in it's best light. . . so to speak.

The stone work was impressive. Linnea reminded me of the terrific weight of some of the sculptures. Evidently when you sell a piece like this or need to move it to exhibit, the cost can be considerable.

After the Noguchi exhibit we checked out some of the POP ART. Both Linnea and I are drawn to this area. We talked about Lichenstein, commented on a Max Ernst piece they had. Dug the Warhol and even checked out a digital photo collage.

Afterwards we went to "The Brooklyn" for a cocktail and a bite. Talked more art and continued to get to know one and other.

I gave her a lift to her car, gave her a hug. Wanted to kiss her but didn't.

Kellar

Pics from the ThinkSpot Gig