Glad This One Isn't a Joke

Actually glad to have stumbled on to Jim Sisti's blog.

I've always liked Jim's work (the Magic Menu sticking out foremost in my mind), so it's pretty cool to see a sort of travelogue of what he's been up to. Definitely worth the read.

It's also interesting to note that it's directly linked to from his official website, jimsistimagic.com, which - for the pros out there - gives you an idea of how someone can creatively market themselves on the Internet.

This Must Also Be A Joke

Magic Phil Phan just started a blog... to sing his praises of Magical Phil. I have a strong feeling the two Phils are the same...

Anyways, here's a great excerpt:

"We shouldn't let out our Jewish friends, too. You could tear out a page of the Torah, burn it, and have it reappear in an envelope that is in your pocket the whole time! That would be cool! Of course, you would have to have someone sign the torn Torah page before you burn it. That would be awesome!"

First of all, the Torah doesn't have pages - it is one long scroll. Second, unless you can restore the Torah at the end, ripping a page out of it is extremely disrespectful and sacrilegious. Actually, I think a Jew would be totally appalled by this trick. It's not a question of not understanding the Jewish religion - it's simple logic: you should never rip out pages from someone's holy book (if it's the Torah, the Christian Bible, the Koran, etc.).

This Better Be A Joke

No, seriously, if the blog, A Magician's Tale, is not a joke I think I may cry. I just don't want to believe that there are people claiming to be professional magicians who are like "Magical Phil."

Here's a few of my favorite quotes (and trust me - there are a crapload more):


- "Anyway, the other thing that I discovered is that the club I've been working at is not what it seems. Now, I don't want anyone to take offense at this, but I found out that it's a gay club. Now this explains a lot of things...It also explains the pictures that 'Magician X' sent me and why he kept inviting me back to his house. He wasn't there again last night so I guess, since he saw me with Kylie, he's decided I'm a lost cause... which, I think, is just as well." (from April 30th post)


- Which makes this post from April 16th go from "nice" to "absolutely hilarious":

"Once I had finished we had a good long chat again and he explained that he has been doing cigarette tricks for almost 40 years!!! He said he entered his cigarette routine in a competition years ago and won. He also told me he had done an act dressed as the bikie from the Village People, which explains one of the pictures he emailed me.

I told him about the trouble I had with the balloon swallowing and he explained that I had hit my "gag reflex" (which I thought was a joke, you know, a gag, but he was being serious). He showed me some techniques for relaxing my throat and explained that my throat and mouth need to be in a straight line.

Again, he wanted to chat more over at his place but I explained that, although I'm a professional magician, I do have another job too"


- And finally (until tomorrow when I write a little more about this):

"ALSO - I am NOT getting my magic from YouTube anymore. I get it from www.learnmagic.org okay?...Look, I'm out there performing okay? Where are you???"



Vomiting, Magical Phil. Vomiting because statements like that make me extremely, extremely nauseous.

Nightmare at the Improv

Comedian Dennis Hemphill lampoons that classic of magic, "Night at the Improv." Hilarious.

This Just In!

Casting for the blockbuster movie based on the Mandrake the Magician comic strip in underway and they've just cast Criss Angel as Mandrake!

From FilmWad.com, via Cinematical:

A real life magician playing a magician in a movie? Never, you say. Think again, we say. It looks like television's second favorite magician (The first one starts with "David" ad ends with "Blaine"), Criss Angel, will be starring in an upcoming adaptation of the depression era comic series, Mandrake the Magician. The film, which will be loosely based on the comic strip, based on Mr. Mandrake, a magician with special hypnotic powers who likes to duke it out with mad scientists and criminals. Sounds pretty tempting, in a ridiculous way.

Controversy is sure to surround the production methods, which as of this writing call for a "limited use" of CGI to enhace Mr. Angel's performance. Seems a bit like taking Viagra before a porno shoot. Probably done, but never talked about. Could this bekon a backlash from Criss Angel's devoted fans and magician apprentices? God we hope not. I really don't think that the world could possibly handle a full scale magician uprising. Yowza!

What do you guys think about this casting?

Just a Thought

Can some magician out there use contemporary music as the background for their manipulation act?

What about John Mayer? Or Rufus Wainwright? Or Rooney? Or the Dandy Warhols?

Ideas anyone?