Number 171 - 4th
October 2003
One
of the tigers in Siegfried & Roy's Las Vegas show bit Roy Horn in the neck
on Friday night, seriously injuring him. Emergency officials treated
Roy at the Mirage Hotel-Casino at around 8.20 pm, for massive blood loss.
Clark County Fire spokesman Bob Leinbach said Horn was talking at the time
emergency workers arrived, but had trouble breathing. He was immediately
transported to University Medical Center, where he underwent emergency
surgery. Horn was in critical condition said hospital spokeswoman Cheryl
Persinger. An audience member who witnessed the attack said Horn tried to
beat the tiger off with a microphone. "The tiger went for his neck, then
dragged him offstage," said 23-year-old Andy Cushman, from New Jersey. "He
looked like a rag doll." Siegfried and Roy perform eight shows a week, 44
weeks per year and have been performing in Las Vegas for more than 30
years. Roy was born in Nordenham, Germany and became 59 on Thursday.
4.10.03
Latest updates and news:
Reuters: Click Here. 6.10.03
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Click Here. 6.10.03
The Guardian Click Here. 6.10.03
WNBC Click Here. 7.10.03
NBC5.com Click Here. 7.10.03
Las Vegas Sun Click Here. 7.10.03
Ananova Click Here. 8.10.03
Reuters: Click Here. 8.10.03
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Click Here. 8.10.03
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Click Here. 9.10.03
CNN: Click Here. 9.10.03
NBC Click Here. 9.10.03
Channel
4 presents Magic Month. Every Sunday during October the evening's
scheduling will be turned over to magic, both light and dark, featuring
Derren Brown, David Blaine and Paul Zenon and new faces Barry Jones,
Stuart MacLeod and Thomas Solomon.
This Sunday Derren Brown will attempt to perform Russian roulette - live.
Filmed in a secret location a member of the public, selected from a
nationwide search, will load a hand gun with a bullet. Derren will use his
powers of mind control to determine which chamber contains the bullet
before firing the gun to his head. This is the first time that Russian
Roulette has been attempted live on British television and will be
Derren's most dangerous feat to date. So where on earth did that idea come
from? "Oh, you know, you go out, you have a few drinks, the next thing you
know you’ve agreed to shoot your head off. I don’t know, it just seemed a
great idea for a show."
• Russian roulette stunt 'not live' (The Guardian) Click Here.
• Police Condemn Russian Roulette TV Stunt (Reuters) Click Here.
• TV gun stunt to be held overseas (BBC) Click Here. 4.10.03
As
part of Magic Month Scottish magicians Barry Jones and Stuart MacLeod
will make their terrestrial debut with their very own brand of dark,
disturbing 'Magick'.
"We want to push magic
into a place, a place it hasn't probably been before, a bit more artistic.
We try to put ourselves in the situation where the meanings come from what
we're doing, we think there's a lot of the surreal in our magic, as well
as being quite political and funny."
Thomas Solomon will treat viewers to death-defying escapology stunts
filmed in the UK exclusively for Channel 4. Throughout the show, Solomon
will be performing a range of unusual escapes. From opening locks on
people’s briefcases, cars and laptops, to breaking out of a high security
prison, the show will test his ingenious talents to the max.
Then, later on in the month, all being well, the man who constantly
experiments with new themes and ideas, David Blaine, will emerge from his
Perspex prison. The show is due to be shown on Monday 20th October on
Channel 4. During October viewers will also get a second chance to see
David enter the box in the launch show David Blaine: Above the Below,
as well as endurance feats Vertigo and Frozen in Time.
TV Magic.
4.10.03
J
C Wagner (USA), Carlos Vaquera (Belgium), Vallarino (France) and
Armando Lucero (USA) have all been signed up to perform at this year's
International Close-up Weekend on the 6th and 7th of December at the
Holiday Inn Hotel, Kings Cross, London, with more star names to be
announced. Tickets are £55.00 for the weekend or £35.00 for a single day.
Entry is now open for the close-up competition which has been renamed the
Kevin Reay Close Up Award, in memory of Kevin who won the first
competition in 1984. Always one of the highlights of the magical calendar
- book early!
www.internationalmagic.com Credit Card bookings: 020 7405 7324.
4.10.03
UsedMagic.co.uk
is a new website devoted to private classified advertisements. As a launch
promotion all 'basic style' ads placed for a two week period will be free
until further notice. Visit
www.usedmagic.co.uk for more information and to place an ad.
4.10.03
Master
Pickpocket James Freedman is the subject of this month's
Magic
Profile. Although not mentioned in his profile James is one of those
guys who's a real expert at impromptu magic, knowing how to make magic
really look like magic - if you know what I mean!
4.10.03
David
Blaine, latest news:
• Channel 4 Click Here.
• Aid Activists in Hunger Strike at Blaine Stunt (Reuters) Click Here.
• Fears of mass Blaine raid (Evening Standard) Click Here.
• Illusionist's tormentor ordered to pay £1,030 (Telegraph) Click Here.
• Blaine stunt enters fourth week (London SE1) Click Here. 4.10.03
The
line-up for the 'Escape Day' has now been confirmed: Max Maven (who
has just confirmed that he will be presenting some "never seen before"
material), David Berglas, Mike Austin, Jack Delvin, Marc Paul, Jon Allen,
Luke Jermay and Spyros Melaris. Doors open at 9.00am for a 9.30am start
and the day will end at 8.00pm. Last year's day was a great success. More
information:
www.magicinmind.com.
4.10.03
Congratulations
to Richard Pinner who was placed first in both the British Ring Stage
Competition and the Zina Bennett Close-up Competition at last week's
British Ring of the International Brotherhood of Magicians convention
in Southport. More winners below.
4.10.03
More
winners! Congratulations
to Shane (photo) who won both the Theo Speaker Cup (British
Ring Shield runner-up) and the Ditta Shield for Manipulation and to
Harold Cataquet for third place in the close-up and to Practical Magic for
the most attractive dealer stand. More below.
4.10.03
Mel
Harvey, shield in hand! As a direct result of Mel's close-up
competition success at the British Ring convention last week (second place
- the Rovi
shield) he has been booked by Obie O'Brien to perform at his "Fechter's
Finger Flicking Frolic" gathering in Buffalo, USA next April. Mel was also
spotted on Granada television performing card tricks 300 feet up on board
Southport Fun Fair's Space Shot ride!
4.10.03
Congratulations
to Viva, Jonathan and Donna Stringer, from Nuneaton who
competed with their new illusion act to win the Conventioneer's Trophy for
Originality and third prize overall at the British Ring Convention. This
is the second time that Viva have won the originality prize. The
first time was for their Spanish themed act in 1994 in Eastbourne.
4.10.03
The
DownTown Magic Club are pleased to announce An Evening with John
Archer on Monday October 13th at 7.30pm. John will be lecturing on
comedy magic and how to put more comedy into your act (John's work is
excellent - this will be a great evening). For more information visit:
www.downtownmagicclub.co.uk (tip: turn off your sound first though!)
or telephone Miki Travis on 01233 620120.
4.10.03
Alistair
"Monkey Boy" Cook has had a busy week appearing on The Christian
O'Connell Breakfast Show on XFM, LBC with Steve Allen and BBC Radio
London. He also did an interview with Pete Firman on Loose Lips on
Friday and found himself in Now magazine's gossip column following
his recent private party for actress Minnie Driver. This weekend The
Daily Star Sunday magazine will feature Alistair in their "Next big
thing" section.
4.10.03
The
statue of Gandhi in Tavistock Square on Thursday October 2nd was the
launching ground for Gopinath Muthukad's Gandhi Mantra Magical Mission
in which magician Gopinath Muthukad plans to "spread the precious Gandhian
principles of peace and harmony through unique magic shows all over the
world." Despite heavy rain a large crowd witnessed Gopinath's magic show
that highlighted the messages of the Mahatma. Gopinath also performed in
London's famous Covent Garden Market during his visit.
4.10.03
Stephen
Bargatze's lecture at the
Watford
Association of Magicians
last week was a huge success, reports Mandy Davis. "The first hour was
pure performance with routines which combined first class magic with
amazing hilarity and great fun. The second part of the evening dealt with
Stephen's background and the trials he had overcome, the steps he took to
create his character, his philosophy of performance and immense common
sense when it comes to building a routine or an act for oneself. The
qualities of the man himself reached out to the audience and people left
feeling that they had been in the company of a kind and generous man, a
truly great guy."
4.10.03
Perth
Magic Circle is hosting a lecture by Ronaldo on Monday, October 13th.
The lecture will take place in the Perth & District Ex-Servicemen's Club
at 7.30pm. Visiting magicians are most welcome; admission is £5 on the
door. Contact Adrian Harris for directions:
Adrian.Harris@Blueyonder.co.uk.
4.10.03
As
part of the Macmillan Cancer Relief Coffee Mornings held all over the
country, magician Andy Reay performed magic for visitors attending a
recent event, and took donations by guessing chosen cards. The event was
organised by Peugeot with all proceeds going to the Macmillan Cancer
Relief Fund. A grand total of £3,000 was raised on the day with over 10%
of that being generated by the classic force alone... great practice!
4.10.03
Escapologist
James Peters succeeded in escaping from a regulation Posey
Straitjacket 193 times on September 27th, setting a new world record in
the process (subject to acceptance by Guinness World Records). James
raised over £1500 for Marie Curie Cancer Care.
4.10.03
International
News: The Monsters & Magic Sale takes place on Saturday, November 15th
in Los Angeles. The magic part of the sale features The Blackstone
Magic Collection and will run from 2pm - 6pm. You'll be able to view
and track bids at
www.autographs.com nearer the date. Readers who live in the States can
call toll free 1-800-996-3977 to order a catalogue ($15.00).
4.10.03
Derren
Brown Inside Your Mind is released on Monday and already it's proved
to be our best selling MagicWeek/Amazon.co.uk DVD ever, on pre-release
orders alone! To order (with a 25% discount from Amazon.co.uk)
Click Here • Mandy Muden's Dreamflight show,
held at the Comedy Store last week, raised
enough money for two children to go on a Dreamflight trip (they cost £2000
per child) - Mandy would like to pass on her
thanks to those who supported the event •
Tony Griffith has three extra places available for his Creative Magic
Lecture/Teach-in to be held at his home in Bristol on Sunday 16th November
2003. More information:
tony@tonygriffith.co.uk telephone 01275 837017 •
Paul Cooke has been asked to find two illusion acts for a ten week Summer
Season in 2004. You will need your own transport, be happy to travel
around the UK and have at least 35 minutes of material. For more
information email: paul@esw1.co.uk
•
That's it for this week, your UK magic news is always welcomed. See you
next week, Duncan.
4.10.03