Solange Kardinaly Gives A Dressing Down

She’s probably not going to fool magicians, but wow has she got some skills! Very impressive and entertaining.

More at Solange kardinaly

Ninth Annual Shalom Blog Magic Contest

Well, it’s that time of year again, and I thought last year’s idea worked fairly well, so let’s try it again.

In the never-ending battle for shelf place, I’m giving away some very nice magic books. One of them can be yours. Here’s what to do:

Please follow all the bolded directions, or I cannot accept your entry. I have generated a list of 10 random whole numbers between 1 and 10,000. Email me, at jshalom@worldshare.net one whole number between 1 and 10,000 that you think might be on the list. Put the word “Contest” in the subject line. Make sure to include your full name (not a company name!) and a shipping address. One entry only please. Do this before 9 days from now. Deadline is Saturday, December 2, 11:59 PM Pacific Time. That’s it. (Sorry, but due to shipping costs, this is only open to folks who live in the Continental US.) Please follow all the bolded directions, or I cannot accept your entry.

Whoever is closest to the first number on my random list gets first prize; whoever is closest to the second number gets second prize, and so on. There will be 10 prizes given out.

First prize is first choice from the terrific grab bag of magic books I’ve put together; second prize is second choice from the grab bag; and third prize, in a parallel, numerically pleasing manner, is third choice from the grab bag, and so on, down to 10th prize gets 10th choice. The items in the grab bag are all commercial magic books at least one of which, I guarantee, you will be very happy to have.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

A Diabolical Duo

Dani DaOrtiz and Yann Frisch with some killer magic.

More at dani daortiz

Vanishing and Reappearing Coke

A lovely routine performed by magician David Schwartz on Penn & Teller Fool Us. He puts some great effects together and presents what for me was a very fooling set of magic.

More at DavidSchwartzMagic

The Mongolian Pop Knot: Pop Haydn

Magician Pop Haydn teaches a trick. With extra added pixie dust…

More at Pop Haydn

Car Through Wall

A really excellent optical illusion, along with a quick explanation.

Thanks to Bill Mullins for pointing this out on the Genii forum

More at Best Illusion of the Year

Eye Popping!

The amazing Zack King with video tricks and editing effects galore in a compilation of some really delightful videos.

More at Zach King

Don’t Try This At Home, Kids…

UAE Magician Raymi with a stomach turning but effective trick.

More at Ramy Naouss

Just Another Day

The great David Williamson magishing in the streets of Italy.

Thanks to YouTuber MAGIALDIA VITORIA

The Ring, The Watch, And The Wallet

Magician Ben Seidman with a nice mix of comedy and magic tries to fool Penn & Teller.

More at Ben Seidman

Tyger, Tyger, Burning Bright…

Siegfried, Roy, White Tigers…and Jay Leno?

Thanks to YouTuber MrMagicbymax

Silent Treatment

Pretty nice magic trick by magician Sanjeev Vinodh. Once he said the cards could be examined, he fooled me for sure.

More at Sanjeev Vinodh

The Invisible Pass Routine

The irrepressible Harry Lorayne doing what he does best–talking fast and making cards do magic. I don’t think you can catch what he’s doing even if you play this at slow motion.

More at HarryLorayneOnVideo

Indian Magician

This was fun. Sorry I don’t know the name of this magician, but the poster said it was taken in Madurai, India

Thanks to YouTuber Frans De Clercq

Metamorphosis

I’ve been looking for this clip for a long time for three reasons!

One: It’s one of my favorite magic illusions. It just looks great to an audience.

Two: When I was in college, I played the role of Houdini in a musical about his life–and I got to perform this illusion.

Three: And finally, the woman in the clip above, performing with Doug Henning, is actress Didi Conn. I was in the play Carousel with her when I was in junior high school–she was a grade ahead of me–and I thought then that she was the best dancer I had ever seen. Later she became famous for her role in the film Grease as “Frenchie.”

The Mind Reading Dolphin

This may not be the most magical act, but magician Jo De Rijck has got to have one of the most amusing routines to ever appear on Penn & Teller’s Fool US.

More at Jo De Rijck

Standing Out

Magician Horret Wu with a beautiful short card routine. Penn would probably say something like Horret surpasses and tops himself, but we’ll just enjoy the show.

More at Horret Wu吳何

Carded

Magician Horret Wu with a very unusual and colorful card routine

More at Horret Wu吳何

Eighth Annual Shalom Blog Magic Contest WINNERS!

Well, we got a whole slew of entries this time, and you all picked some excellent random numbers. But some numbers are more random than others, and were winners. Interestingly, there was one digit that was definitely less favored as an initial digit in the guesses.

Our ten winners are:

1. Steven Go

2. John Hostler

3. Ted McManus

4. Tony Miller

5. Geoffery Pfeiffer

6. Aubrey Torres

7. Gordon Meyer

8. MAG Productions

9. Jim Short

10. Michael Breggar

What did I learn from this new way of doing the giveaway? I think I prefer it, because it gives people who may not have writing ability a chance to win. Now don’t get the wrong idea; I greatly appreciated the entries and thoughts and ideas that people submitted in previous contests, but it became apparent to me in the last year or two that I had to pull teeth to get people to submit an entry. Not so this year, so there was lots less wear and tear all around.

Anyway, as soon as we hear from all the winners, packages will go out. (If you’re a winner and haven’t replied to my email yet, please do–or contact me at the same email address to which you sent the entry.) Thanks to everyone who entered and if you didn’t win this time, maybe next year.

Tea Ceremony and Contest News

Relax with Magician Conan Liu on Penn & Teller performing a beautiful routine.

BTW, the contest is over and the winners will be announced here on Tuesday.

More at Conan Liu

The Eighth Annual Shalom Blog Magic Contest: Holiday Giveaway

Well, we’re kind of late this year, but we’re trying something completely different: A holiday giveaway.

Look, frankly, the contest each year is mainly an excuse for me to giveaway some magic books from my bed in order to make some room so that I can sleep. So I thought this time I’d just cut out the middleman, skip the contest, and just give them away.

Well there is one hitch. These are very good books, believe me. It’s just that at this point something has to give. So here’s what I’ll do. I have generated a list of random whole numbers between 1 and 10,000. Email me a whole number between 1 and 10,000 at jshalom@worldshare.net Put the word “Contest” in the subject line. Make sure to include your shipping address. Do this before a week from now. Deadline is Saturday, December 3, 11:59 PM Pacific Time. That’s it. (Sorry, but due to shipping costs, this is only open to folks who live in the Continental US, but everyone else is welcome.) Please follow all the bolded directions, or I cannot accept your entry. Whoever is closest to the first number on my random list gets first prize; whoever is closest to the second number gets second prize, and so on. There will be 10 prizes given out.

First prize is first choice from the terrific grab bag of magic books I’ve put together; second prize is second choice from the grab bag; and third prize, in a parallel, numerically pleasing manner, is third choice from the grab bag, and so on, down to 10th prize gets 10th choice. The items in the grab bag are all commercial books at least one of which, I guarantee, you will be very happy to have.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Ball In The Center Pocket

Here’s a magic routine we love. It didn’t fool Penn & Teller, but magician Jason Fields (known as Jafo) pulls it off so well that Penn & Teller have to acknowledge his skill and artistry. And by the way, if P&T were to examine the board with the hole, they’d find nothing out of the ordinary.

More at Magic of Jafo

“I Don’t Know How…”

As far as I’m concerned, the greatest–and most entertaining–close-up magician I’ve ever seen, Dani DaOrtiz. Penn & Teller are beaten so bad, they don’t even try to figure out Dani’s magic.

More at dani daortiz