According to an article on the Hollywood Rag, Dutch magician, Hans Klock (his official website is here is teaming up with Carmen Electra to put on a magic show at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino (formerly the Aladdin, home base for the now-Luxor-fied Criss Angel).
Carmen Electra + Magic show = Every 13-year-old magician's wet dream
I frequent a lot of blogs (mostly tech blogs, like engadget.com and techeblog.com) and a few of them have a really cool feature called the "Warm-Up" (like nintendowiifanboy.com - oops, I'm giving away my secret passion). I'm going to modify it slightly (make it once a week instead of once a day), but the idea is the same: I post a question and everyone posts their opinion in the comments section about it. It's a neat way to see how everyone in the magic world feels about an issue.
Weekly Warm-Up: How is the Internet (blogging, Youtube, etc.) changing magic? Is it for the better or for the worse?
After reading a post on Magic Unlimited about Barry and Stuart, a duo of Scottish magicians who are part Derren Brown and part Penn and Teller, I did a little digging and found some fantastic magic videos. (Also, if you'd like more information on these magicians, you can check out their official website or just cruise on over to the Wikipedia entry on them.) I haven't been this excited about watching a magician's (or magicians') clip since Cyril (this blog being the place where the videos were popularized). Here are some choice clips:
Stuart learns how to say something backwards so that - in reverse - you get quite an eery effect (it's known as "backmasking" - thanks Wikipedia!). Also, notice how the effect is still magical - even though you've seen the trick's end, you're still surprised by its beginning. An amazing two pieces.
Reverse Magic 1
Reverse Magic 2
The Coffin trick (creepy, Derrin-Brown-esque mentalism)
Stuart and Barry also put together a special called The Magic of Jesus in which they performed some of Jesus's miracles through magic. Here are three clips from that show:
Walking on Water
Raising the Dead
Catching the Many Fish
Barry and Stuart had a sequel to The Magic of Jesus called Tricks from the Bible. Here's a trick from that special:
The Ten Plagues
* I will say I was uncomfortable with this trick, as the spectators were, in my opinion, mistreated. You'll also notice the similarities (even in the staging behind the screen with Penn and Teller's bee production illusion).
Barry and Stuart are really funny, especially in the way they work as a team. Here are three comedy pieces:
Mugging
Corpse Disposal Kit
Smoking is Cool
Porno Magic Trick (NSFW)
And last but not least, one of my absolute favorites...
