Valentines Day

Love is in the air .... I will be celebrating Valentines day with my wife Natalie. We have been married for three years and together for eight. We actually met on a cruise ship. It is amazing how many of our friends who work on ships have ended up with partners they met on a cruise, well it is the LOVE BOAT after all. One of the most memorable gigs was working on the original LOVE BOAT - The Pacific Princess. We were actually the last magic act on the ship before she left the company and became a casino ship. The history of amazing magicians that appeared on the ship read like a whose who of the magic world. As a special farewell to the ship some of the cast members from the original TV show The Love Boat came on her last voyage. Below is a photo of Gavin Macleod who played Captain Merrill Stubin on the TV show The Love Boat and yours truly.



The response from my first blog has been overwhelming. I never anticipated so many readers and people to email me. I answer everything personally so look forward to hearing from you all. If I am on a ship or on the road then sometimes my responses may be a bit slow.

I received many emails from magicians who purchased my original DREAM PREDICTION asking for updates that I offered in my first blog. The offer is always open to anybody who purchases the original and wants to know the difference between Dream Prediction and Dream Prediction Lite.
This week has been hectic as I have just finished putting together Dream Prediction Lite which will be shipped down to Hocus-Pocus early next week ready for orders. Paul Gross phoned during the week with the news that my 'Comedy Five Card Repeat' had really taken off and orders were coming in thick and fast. I have been busy making up more gimmick cards to keep up with the demand. I'm glad it's proven to be popular as it is one of my favorite routines.

NEW PRODUCT RELEASE
Here is a NEW product that I am releasing in the next two weeks exclusively through Hocus-Pocus. It's my UPDATED version of my own Multiplying Bottle routine. We had so much success and positive feedback with Reg Donnelly's routine that I thought I would re-release my original version that was included in that package PLUS an additional routine which uses TWELVE bottles. This is a complete package with DVD, Twelve bottles, labels and audio CD male and female voice overs. I am very proud of this package because you GET ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING you need to put this in your act. In the DVD itself I go in to detail on BOTH routines plus a lot of extra tips and ideas that I do with my bottles. Your get both my original NINE bottle routine AND the NEW TWELVE bottle routine. This has been in my act for many years and the routine is designed to get maximum impact and laughs. The great thing is that there is NO script for you to learn, you just follow along with the CD.


One of the things I want to do with this BLOG is ask questions of some of my friends who have been in the magic business for a very long time, enabling them to share some of their experiences with all of us. My first guest is TC Tahoe who is one of the most creative magicians that I know and is constantly coming up with incredible and innovative ideas. Some of them we have even worked on together including Cookies Fortune and Free Lunch which are available from Hocus-Pocus.

GUEST: TC TAHOE
Here is a little background on TC. He was born in Great Falls,Montana. His parents worked very hard, thereby depriving him of a life of poverty and giving him the chance to rise above it. The Magic Castle in Hollywood has named TC Parlour Magician of the Year,(twice), and TC was nominated Stage Magician of the Year (four times), Close-up Magician of the Year (three times) and Lecturer of the Year. (twice).

TC has been seen literally all over the world, from the Amazon to Australia, Puerto Rico to the Philippines (and way too often in Barbados). He has appeared on TV in four countries and hundreds of radio shows.

When it comes time for the Hollywood elite to be entertained, they call TC Tahoe. He has performed for celebrities such as Pierce Brosnan, Jane Symour, Steven Seagal, Minnie Driver, Sean Penn and Josh Brolan. He currently performs corporate shows around the USA and for Carnival Cruises on a weekly basis.

Here are a few of the many questions I put to TC ... will share more during the coming weeks.

Paul - For the past several years you have been working on cruise ships, how did that job come about? Was it through an agent?
TC - I first got onto ships with an agent. It is much easier to go through an Agent. Then you only have to tell one person the why you would be great on the sea. Albeit you must then trust that person to sell you. The Carnival gig I have now, was through a friend of a friend.

You can cold call or just send out a dvd. When you do call, understand that most of these guys are inundated with would be acts, so they may sound a little curt. Send them a cover letter and a dvd of your whole act. That is what most of them want. No montage, the whole act, or acts.

Most likely if you get booked you will be asked to do two different shows.
When they ask how much material you have tell them an hour, that is what they need.
An hour that can be divided up into different types of shows. And, the fun part is, that no matter what you are told over the phone, it will be different on the ship.

The Cruise director, your boss, may ask you to do a five minute bit for a welcome aboard show. This five minutes must be strong, you want to be a good draw.

I guess I am getting a little off topic here.

Send out dvds, make phone calls, or get an agent.

Paul - I know you are a fan of mentalism and your style of performance is very humor based, does Comedy and Mentalism go well together?

TC - I guess some may call this semantics, but I don’t know about comedy in mentalism, humor yes. Comedy? I just don’t know. If you are doing good strong comedy, I think it might be hard to get them to appreciate the full impact of the mentalism.

On the other hand, a little humor never hurt anyone. In fact the stronger the mentalism, the more your audiences are apt to laugh. Not necessarily because it’s funny, but because you are messin’ with their reality.

I might be alone on that but….

More from TC next week.


ROMHANY'S TOP PICKS

Here are my TOP picks for great effects that are available from Hocus-Pocus.

STRETCHING THE TRUTH
by Tim Gabrielson & Jim Flagg
This has to be one of the BEST cardiographic type routines to EVER come on the market. Hocus-Pocus have really pulled one out of the hat by being the EXCLUSIVE dealer to offer this product to magicians. I first heard about this through a good friend who told me I should watch the promo video. As soon as I saw the performance I knew it had to be in my own show!! Some of my good friends who are top names in magic have purchased this routine and are using it in their own shows. If Mac King says it is THE BEST version he has seen then you KNOW IT'S GOT TO BE GREAT.
The package comes complete with everything you need to make this up and start performing. I highly recommend this amazing routine and no matter what type of performing gig it is ... you will want to put this in your act. If you want a really clever, funny and well thought out routine PLUS something VERY different, then YOU NEED THIS!Just watch the video and you'll see how brilliant this routine is. In my humble opinion the best routine I have seen in many years.

Picture this:

You and a randomly chosen audience member will entertain the crowd with an hysterical 7 minute comedy mind reading effect, where you will be attempting to draw a picture of the "volunteers" chosen animal cracker.

You and the audience seem to be one step ahead of the "volunteer" on stage due to you finishing the silly drawing of their animal on the comedy off beat, so only the audience can see and not the "volunteer" on stage.

However, in the end you will completely amaze everyone when the last animal drawn visually changes on paper before their eyes into the correct animal. This drawing is then torn out and handed to the "volunteer" to keep, with an astounding gasp from the audience.


“When I saw Tim perform this it immediately became my favorite version of this trick ever.” -Mac King

Telepath - Cellular Conjury
Every magician who has a cell phone should get this product. Never be caught out again when somebody asks you to perform a miracle. This is a great concept and something that will knock the socks off spectators. Truly one trick you will NEVER leave home without. This will work on pretty every cell phone, as long as your can store images. I like this because there is such a diverse range of routines and effects you can do with your phone.

Once prepared is impromptu.
Easy to use.
Extremely versatile.
Perform any type of revelation or display.
Use almost any camera / picture phone.
Highly visual.
Revelations can be done with the phone in a spectator’s hands.

Very highly recommended


Wristband Mystery by Hiro Sakai
This is one of the coolest card effects I have seen in a long time. You only have to see the video footage to see how unusual this is. The method is incredibly clever and the fact you can give things out at the end leaves your audience dumbfounded.

A card is selected and the magician removes his wristband and instantly penetrates the card. Moving the wristband up, down, all around, the magician just as easily separated the two and hands both the card and the wristband for complete and utter examination.

Nothing can be found!
No magnets!
The wristband and cards are examinable
Great magic for magicians
You need only a Bicycle poker size deck
Includes special gimmick with instructional DVD.

Dan Sperry's Dove From Sketchpad
A few years back I toured with Murray Hatfield on his Canadian tour which also featured Oscar Munoz and Dan Sperry. I would watch Dan's act from the wings every night for two months and be amazed at the skill and artistry that he showed. He always brought the house down with his wonderful dove act. Since then Dan has been a regular performer in Las Vegas his act just gets stronger.
I saw the reaction of this routine every night for two months and it never failed to get gasps from the audience. If you are a dove worker and want to add something really unique and offbeat to your dove act then this is it! It almost wants me to go out and get a dove just so I can perform this one routine ... although might be hard to take them on ships with me.
At any time during your show you take out an ordinary sketchpad and display it to the audience. You then pull the cover back to reveal a fresh sheet of sketch paper and begin to draw the outline of a bird. After your work of art is complete you tear off the paper and place the marker and pad of paper back into your table. Lastly the drawing is crumpled up only to have a live dove appear from within the crumpled up paper!
Complete with DVD Instructions
Includes Andy Amyx's Ultra Quick Release Dove Holder - the best dove holders on the market!
Totally self-contained
Perform virtually surrounded
Can be done at any time during your performance
Special gimmicks included along with everything you need to start performing it right away; even a simple dove outline to trace for the artistically un-inclined!