Tag: james dimmare

Magic Collector Expo – Show

The last night of the Magic Collector Expo was their dinner and show. For hotel banquet food, the dinner was good!

The show was three acts, and opened with James Dimmare doing his solo act. This was his solo act, not the dove act he does with an assistant. Having seen the dove act several times over the years and it’s fantastic, the solo is just OK compared to the dove act.

James dimmare

There was a big challenge for Dimmare was that he couldn’t use fire and does candles in the act. When it came time for him to light the first candle, he took out the lighter, struck it and verbally said “fire”. He then did the portion of his act that uses candles without fire. The fire on the candles really makes the multiplying candle trick amazing, when they appear lit. Unfortunately it really fell flat without them lit. That said, it was probably a condition that was dropped on him at the last minute and sometimes you just have to do it as best you can.

Next up was John Carney. When I was a teenager in the mid 1990’s it was very difficult to see a magicians show. You had to catch them performing in your area. When I was a teenager I found a VHS tape of John Carney doing his show. I must have watched it hundreds of times.

He did a few routines that were on that VHS tape, they’re his work horse routines!

john carney

I got pulled up onstage to help him with a trick.

john carney
john carney
john carney

It was super fun, but also stressful. I knew the trick/routine really well from watching that VHS tape. I’m not a good actor, but I tried to act surprised at all the right spots!

Closing the show was Mac King.

Mac has been consistently working his show in Vegas for years and really shows. He comes out with a big smile and does great, even in a room full of people who have probably seen his show a dozen times!

It was a fun show and a nice slice of three very different styles of performing.
-Louie

Appearing Canes…

A year or two ago someone got the idea of marketing an appearing cane as a portable Bo Staff to be used as a self defense or martial arts tool. I’m sure someone made a ton of money on it as well…assuming they didn’t get a lot of people returning them and asking for their money back.

Visually it looks great for what they are selling it as, but the reality is different.

This brings me a social media magician’s group I’m in where someone is complaining about “exposure” and it ruining the trick for them. First of all, I honestly don’t think many people are fooled by the appearing cane. It’s a second of eye candy, but not the strongest magic trick. If you showed someone the appearing cane, then asked them how they thought it would work, I’m betting they’d say it must be collapsible.

As for the exposure part of it, the appearing cane was invented in 1947 by Russ Walsh, so it’s 75 years old. If you’re hanging onto the exclusiveness of a 75 year old piece of technology where probably hundreds of thousands have been sold worldwide and that resembles nothing that exists in the real world. That style of cane really hasn’t been used in my lifetime. I wonder if you put an expanded appearing cane in front of a kid without context, just set it on the table and asked them what it is, I’m betting you won’t hear “cane”.

Honestly, I think it’s up to the creator of the trick to get publicly upset first. Once they’ve voiced their opinion, you can jump on the bandwagon. If the creator has been dead for 50 years (like Rush Walsh is, the trick is legally (in the USA) in the public domain and not a “secret”.

I would say 99% of appearing canes don’t fit within the acts they are used in. It fits James Dimmare‘s act:

James Dimmare’s act is very stylized and it fits. Just because you wear a tail coat, that doesn’t automatically mean an appearing cane fits your show. You’ll notice that Lance Burton‘s act has no appearing or vanishing canes:

Look at what you do in the your and why you do it. Are you doing the appearing cane because it’s an easy way to get a reaction, or does it actually move your show forward?
-Louie