Orange, lemon, egg, canary book completed.
The brand new book, "Orange, Lemon, Egg, Canary" is now complete. This is an effect I have been performing now for at least 20 years, and is one of my all time favorites. I have never really been a fan of those expensive fancy tables that magicians use to vanish such small props such as a lemon or egg. Why on earth would they use a huge cover to vanish an egg - to me it's a classic example of performing a store bought trick. This book takes a look at two different performances, and both versions don't use the tables and the vanishes happen in the hands.
This routine is over 100 years old, and nobody has ever written a book on it before, probably because it seems to be a closely guarded secret of those who perform it. As part of my Pro-Series books (this is number 9 in the series) I would say, hands down, that this is going to be a very popular book.
I am very pleased to include two friends in the book, both of whom share their passion of this routine. The first is James Holguin from California. James's routine is brilliant, to say the least. He has really added something incredible to this routine to allow the performer to cleanly vanish all the objects away from any large tables. He creates a very moving story, and details his method in the book. There are over 60 photos in this book.
The other person who I asked to contribute an essay is Bryan Gilles. Bryan loves this routine as much as James and myself. I have followed his writing on this effect in the past and knew he's have something to contribute.
Three different magicians sharing what they believe makes this such a classic effect in magic. I also discuss artificial fruit, ways of doing this without a bird, how to cut and glue the fruit, etc.
122 pages and over 60 photos. This book is available at the moment from me personally but will be available shortly from Hocus-Pocus.
PRO-SERIES BOOKS
The Pro-Series books are getting a wonderful response. As I mentioned, this new one is no.9 in the series and I have so many more planned. My aim is to get them up to 100 in the series. They are NOT e-books - but real books. Here are the other books in the Pro-Series range.
This week I will be busy preparing for a few busy weeks ahead. I have some great corporate gigs lined up, plus my theater show as well as the bookings for a Theater Restaurant. About a year ago I spoke about Cris Johnson's Murder By Magic. Probably the best corporate themed mentalism show I have ever seen. Cris sells the rights to this and it's the best investment you could make. He explains everything, from patter to marketing in this package. Because I own the rights now to perform this, I am selling it here in NZ as my one man show. This month alone I have booked 5 corporate gigs with this show - it's THAT popular. Here is the poster I use to advertise:-
This is the poster we are using to promote the show here in New Zealand, and it's becoming VERY popular. It's a complete mentalism show that the corporate market just lap up. It is an hour show and involves everybody to find out who murdered 'the special guest.' Cris has been great in helping me work on this over e-mail and we have been back and forth sharing ideas. He has also been sharing some of his latest ideas about his new corporate show and it sounds just as great as this one. As far as I know he is still selling this show so you can purchase it from www.hocus-pocus.com
I've had personal emails from magicians asking about this, and I honestly tell them it's the best investment I have made in a long time! I'm actually about to film the show in a fe weeks so that is exciting for me as well.
ROMHANY'S TOP PICKS from www.Hocus-Pocus.com
How to Make a Ton of Money Performing in High Schools by Cris Johnson - PRE-ORDER DISCOUNT!
I can't believe Cris is releasing this - mind you I couldn't believe he was selling his Corporate Show concept Murder by Magic. One thing I do know about Cris is that anything he releases he has put years of work in to perfecting. Those who know Cris know that he is one of the busiest performers working today. Between his corporate work and school shows he is non-stop. What I can tell you about this is that he holds nothing back. Cris is constantly on the road performing, and this will guide you step-by-step on how to get in to this lucrative market and stay working.
Make the most of the pre-sale before it goes up in price. I know with Murder By Magic it's now full price so take advantage of this offer.
Pre-order yours today and SAVE! The price increases to $299.99 upon release. Expected release date is mid-August.
What if I told you about a magic market that would enable you to perform
some of your favorite 'street style' effects but for BIG audiences?
What if I told you this market paid REALLY well?
What if I told you this market, compared to others, was virtually
untapped, with less competition from other magicians than virtually any
other market?
That market is...HIGH SCHOOLS!
That's right, high schools are a wonderful source of income for magicians...IF you go into them with the right kind of programs.
I'm Cris Johnson, writer of the Hocus Pocus review blog and full time
performer. I've been performing in high schools for nearly 15 years all
across North America and I can tell you it's one of the most rewarding
markets in terms of both pay scale and personal performing satisfaction
that I've ever gone into.
First, the pay: performing in high schools can be very, very profitable.
I myself typically get between $800 and $2000 per gig, depending on
many factors. I don't know about you, but performing in a local high
school for one show is a lot easier than busting my butt performing for 4
or 5 birthday shows to make the same money! Add to this that the market
is not as competitive as other markets (I'll cover that in a moment)
and you have almost unlimited earning potential...IF you have the right
kind of show.
Second, the personal performing satisfaction. For years and years,
magicians have been told that corporate gigs are where it's at in terms
of pay scale with trade shows (a sub-set of the corporate world) being
perhaps the most profitable. I've performed at a few trade shows (Four, I
think) and while the pay IS good, I personally do not enjoy performing
for people who have no desire to watch me. In schools, your audience is
thankful to be out of classes so they're in the right mindset to watch a
great show!
As far as the reason why this market is less competitive as compared to
other markets, it's because teenagers can sometimes be a challenging
audience. They want to be treated as adults, NOT kids and performing a
show with magic based on the "magician doesn't see it" principle will
get you DOA fast! Most pros recognize this - in fact, one producer of
extremely popular effects once told me on the phone that he wanted no
part of teen shows...and this guy was a superstar in the corporate world
and now sells magic to many of the world's top working pros!
So, because of the challenging nature of some teens, we have several magic tricks we can't even consider using in most cases.
Obviously this means no 'blooming flowers,' no 21st Century Silks and so
on. But since teenagers' cognitive abilities are not fully formed yet
(most people's cognitive abilities are not full formed til their
mid-20's) this means many classic mentalism routines don't appeal to
teens, either. What we have is an uncomfortable middle ground of
material to choose from: the teens want their magic to be edgy but we
can't go TOO edgy because of the adults - this means no 'needle thru the
arm,' among others!
Adding to our potential difficulty in performing in high schools is the
fact that in most cases throughout much of the school year, schools do
not have the time to bring in a performer for a 'fun show.' There are
exceptions of course, but the vast majority of the time, to be
considered for a high school gig, a performer must have some kind of
educational message with their show.
The good news is this: I've taken my 15 years of experience and packed
it all into a comprehensive course called "How to Make A Ton Of Money
Performing in High Schools!"
Like my previous best-selling course on elementary schools (which
continues to sell to magicians all over the world to this very day), I
have left no stone unturned. Here's a sample of what you'll learn when
you crack open the main manual:
Levent's Ultimate Guide to the Linking Rings 4-DVD SET
I don't care what you say, the Linking Rings are still a great mystery for everybody, even though they've been exposed on TV. I always liked Billy McComb's story where, and I think I'm right here, Terry Seabrooke did a routine where they exposed the rings on TV. The next day he had a show and brought out his rings. He said, "these aren't those cheap ones you saw on TV last night - this works differently and is a professional set." He then went on to perform the trick with nobody the wiser as to how it worked.
Four disks - if you ever wanted to know ANYTHING about Linking Rings this is the first and last stop. If you do it all you'll end up with a full one hour show just of Linking Rings (please don't). I was talking to somebody the other day about the Linking Rings and he said you don't see them that much. Then two friends who are working in shopping malls this week joined in and said they are performing them, and it's the perfect crowd stopping trick. It really is! I use them in trade shows and they are the best. Street performers should also use them to gain a crowd. It has all the elements that make it a classic.
This monumental FOUR DVD set will teach you the Linking Ring routines of
the greats in magic, including Chung Ling Soo, Roy Benson, Dai Vernon,
Robert-Houdin and Paul Potassy among many others.
Sleight-of-hand master Levent gives you the step by step moves and
techniques you need to perform this spectacular magic stage effect. His
instructions range from the most simple and basic steps to complex and
difficult sleights. As a bonus Levent includes the secrets of his own 11
ring routine.
This is the most comprehensive work to date on this ancient magic trick. Over SEVEN HOURS LONG!