Hi Everyone,

I've got good news:

I'm going to be interviewed on Catholic Answers on Friday, July 31 at 7-8PM EST.

The topic will be my recently released magic book, The Catechist's Magic Kit:

http://www.amazon.com/Catechists-Magic-Kit-Teaching-Catholicism/dp/0824525183/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239663631&sr=8-1

We will also discuss the place of stage magic and sleight-of-hand as teaching tools.

Considering Catholic Answers appears on different radio channels depending upon your location, it's best to follow this link:

http://www.catholic.com/radio/stations.asp

I hope you all will listen in. Also, please send this e-mail to all of your friends.

Thanks,

Angelo

Timo Marc was elected by the Magic Circle of Germany Magician of the Year 2008.

With a weekend full of magical experiences Manipulix Magic closed their shop after 16 successful years.

Saturday, April 18^th 2009 magicians from near and far gathered in the store in Lalling.

Every customer got to dice their discount. After a collective lunch the unique Feng-Shui park was to be explored. During a two hour guiding tour Franz Weber showed how amazingly easy the use of a divining rod is. At 6pm a wine tasting was held in Manipulix’ shop. The lecturers Timothy Trust as well as Aldo and Rachel Colombini also attended. The offered South-African wine wasn’t loved by the Austrian colleagues only. Between the wine tests Manipulix showed magic fairy tales from his collection of rarities.

On Sunday Timothy Trust held his first and hopefully not last lecture. The many positive entries in the guestbook of his homepage should encourage him to keep his lectures going. In the afternoon Aldo and Rachel took turns with their lecture. The sympathetic couple showed easy to do yet astonishing sleight of hands. “On Sunday we saw two outstanding lectures! Thank you very much”, email of a participant. The store may be closed, we are however still available to our customers on the internet, manipulix.com, at conventions and of course by phone

Hi Wolfgang,

Ted's funeral ceremony was - considering the occasion - pretty. It was quite crowded.
His brother held a speech and Theo had prepared a brief Multivision with pictures of Ted showing via beamer to the music of Ave Maria.
The urn was buried in at an unknown field. Next to the grave stood a bowl filled with playing cards. Everyone stepped up and tossed a card and a handful of soil.
I tossed a card for you too ;))) All this moved me more than I thought at first. After all I've known Ted for more than 15 years ... man, how time goes by.
At the following ceremony in Schöneberg one could warm up. Mainly magicians and the closest family members were present.
It was a dignified way of saying farewell and I am sure that he like it quite a bit from up there
;))

Claus   by Claus Fleischhauer - Spider

Sad new - Saturday October 25th Ted Lesley - well known German performer - passed away.

With kind permission of Mr. Alan Watson - Editor of Magic New Zealand - electronic newsleter - added November 2nd.

11. Broken Wand - Ted Lesley

--------------------------------------------

Message from Larry White (US)

I am so sad to read of Ted Lesley's passing. We were dear

friends, though we never met in person.

I can't recall how exactly we did meet. It was many years ago. I

was Magic Editor for M-U-M and I think Ted wrote to complain

about something (he was so agitated with the SAM that he had

quit).

Ted began phoning me about once every week or so and we had

conversations that lasted for hours. I once asked him how he

could afford this from Germany and he gave me some mumbo-jumbo

about an Internet phone connection he had through Arizona. I

suspect his mysterious connection came from his own pocket book.

And, regularly, I would go to my mailbox to discover a package

from Ted that contained one of his recently marketed tricks. In

exchange he simply asked me for my "evaluation."

Later we needed a monthly columnist for M-U-M's Mental Column so,

naturally, I asked Ted. He complained that he had a "falling out"

with the SAM but that he would do it for me. He even rejoined to

make his participation "official."

Still later, Ted told me he was starting his own magazine and

asked me for a contribution. And, he was kind enough to put my

Bermuda Bottle routine as number one on the first page of his

Mind and Magic magazine.

His regular phone calls continued but he began to complain more

about his health, which was a constant plague. Gradually the

frequency of his calls declined and finally stopped. I could not

reach him by mail, e-mail or phone.

And today I learn he died.

But, I am left with a richer life because I knew him.

I will think of him often and miss him deeply.

Thank you, Ted.

My friend.

Larry White

----------------------------------------------

Whaley's Who's Who of Magic

Lesley, Ted

(Düren, Rhineland, West Germany: 1 Aug 1937-   ) Stage name of

Friedrich Karl "Teddy" Helzel since 1955. Learned in 1948 from

school teacher Carl Bornhausen. Originally a pro actor in film.

Then, since 1974, pro stage & close-up magician & mentalist since

1974.

Pet magic effects: Bill in Cig, Linking Fingerrings, Coin in

Bottle, Credit-Card Card Trick, & Rising Cards. Pet mental

effects: The Delsey-Miracle, The Pegasus Page, Psychometry, and

Q&A. Magic supervisor for 1978 movie The Magician of Lublin.

Invented Working Performer's Marked Deck (1981), Credit-Card Card

Trick (1985), Vanishing TV (1985, by black art), Working

Performer's Hydrostatic Glass (1987), Delsey Miracle (1988),

Automatic Pegasus-Page (1988), etc.

Collector of Himber props. General manager with partner (Bernd

Martin Langschied) of a theatrical booking agency & show

production company ("Magic Productions Show-Service GMBH") in

West Berlin since 1981. PEA Mentalist of the Year 1992 & PEA

Dunninger Award 1992.

Wrote Das Markierte Spiel (1982), English tr as Marked: The

Marked Deck Manual (1983; enlarged ed 1987, 52pp, as Ted Lesley's

Working Performer's Marked Deck Manual); The Kismet Connection

(1986, 27pp); & Paramiracles (1994, 294pp; Engl tr by Bill Palmer

& Oliver Erens). Articles in Magische Welt, Genii, Magigram,

Spell-Binder, & Magick. TV bits.

Broken Wand - Christer Gustavsson (El Duco)

Message from Gay Ljungberg

Christer Gustavsson (El Duco) passed away on 2008-09-30 after a short period of illness.

We miss a great enthusiast, creative inventor, reliable partner and good friend.

Our thoughts are with his family.

Kind regards,

Gay Ljungberg

Whaley's Who Who in Magic

El Duco
(Jönköping, Sweden: 2 Nov 1941- ) Stage name of Christer Gustavsson since 1965.

Learned from magic set in 1955. Sales engineer. Performed for friends, then semi-pro at parties & in parks until 1979. Since then semi-pro magic inventor & mail order dealer ("El Duco's Magic") in Malmö, Sweden. Invented & marketed over 200 effects, including "Ring in Salt", & "Fireproof". Organizes the annual "Magic Weekend" in Sweden 1986-present.

Wrote Out of My Hands, El Duco Impromptu, & Simple Ideas in Magic No.1, Simple Ideas in Magic No.2. Contributed to Apocalypse, Genii, Magic Manuscript, etc.

Broken Wand - Roger Klause (1938-2008)

Message from Paul Romhany

Another magic legend passes away

After a long ordeal fighting a terrible disease, Roger passed away yesterday, 30th August 2008, at around 1pm.

The name Roger Klause is known to magicians the world over. For over 50 years, Roger has been an icon in magic, making himself available at conventions, sessions and private meetings whenever and wherever the opportunity allowed.

Roger's friends and students are innumerable, both his antics and his magic are legendary, and he's contributed either directly or indirectly to shaping many of the major forces and events in magic over the last half-century.

Roger Klause was a respected performer and instructor. He has long been known as "The Leader of the Underground," a title bestowed upon him by Michael Skinner during a lecture in Wichita, Kansas, as Roger is the quintessential "session magician," sitting in private sessions with magicians from all walks of life.

Communications may be sent to Wanda Klause, PO Box 1256, Borger TX 79008.

Magicians world wide will miss Roger, and our thoughts are with Wanda and the Klause family.

Whaleys Who's Who in Magic

Klause, Roger (Willis)
(Vivian, Louisiana: 19 Mar 1938- ) Moved to Borger, Texas, at age 5. Inspired at age c17 seeing magic at high school show. Learned from books. Insurance sales rep in Borger. Since late 1950s a close student of Dai Vernon, Charlie Miller, & Faucett Ross. Semi-pro close-up, platform, & stage magician.

Wrote In Concert (288pp). 2 videos (1985), video segment (1988). Tricks in Gen, Epilogue, Richard's Almanac, Genii, Magic, Ammar's Encore III, & Magic Menu. See Jay Evans, The Lecture Notes of Roger Klause (1982, 14pp). TV bit. (Gen2/64;Wh)

Dirk sent a short message about the successful surgery of his daughter. Here his letter:

Ione is Recovering!   Dear Friends, Once again we  want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your prayers and good wishes and generous contributions to our baby girl Ione. Thanks to all of you and the entire magic community as a whole, we were able to expediantly get her surgery on Monday. She came through it great and the procedure was,  as far as they can see, a success! We have her home today and she is doing very well. We had an excellent surgical team and the Doctor was first rate and everyone was so kind and helpful. It was an amazingly positive experience. I think all our energies combined may have had something to do with that! Now what's next is a series of follow ups and constant monitoring to ensure that the heart continues to function correctly and nothing else developes as she grows. .It was great that we were able to do this as quickly as we did as there was a tremendous amount of pressure on her heart and it could of given out without notice, at least now she is not at risk of sudden death. The costs are considerable and with no hope of getting her coverage now or in the future due to a pre existing condition, the medical expenses will continue for a while but we are optimistic and with friends like you, I know we will be OK. You can go to the website www.helpione.com for updates and new photos whenever you like.  We love you all! In Gratitude, LUNA & DIRK LOSANDER

Yesterday I came up with a message in SAM - Talk. It was from Mariy Ibanez. She asked for help for a heart surgery for Losander`s young baby. Here is Dirk Losander`s message:

I Need Your Help

Here a message from a compeer at SAM:

Dear friends,
My name is Cherie Kay. AS most of you are becoming aware, Dirk and
Luna's new little baby is in need of a surgery to her heart. Their
insurance i not covering it...no big surprise there. I consider myself a
friend of both Luna and Dirk Lossander. I am posting this without their
knowledge. They are very self sufficient, resilient and proud people.
They are some of the best examples of humanity I know in Magic. If they
were able to handle this internally, trust me I know they would have.
The fact that Dirk reached out and and asked for help tells me one thing
for sure. THEY NEED IT! I know they wouldn't ask unless they had
exhausted all other means. They have both given a great deal to magic.
Now it's time for us to give back.
I have an idea / suggestion.

*To the powers that be for the combination IBM / SAM Convention*.....
At the World Magic Seminar each year, stars and stars in the making from
all over provide their services for the Encore Foundation. This is a
separate show but often a highlight featuring the who's who in magic.
The proceeds go to a deserving magi who has suffered a recent tragedy or
health issue.
*I suggest we create a show from the attendee's of near 2000.* Their are
many from all over the world who would be willing to appear. They are
already there! The usual Encore donation is $20 per ticket. Those who
wish to can donate more and often do! I suggest we donate 100% of the
proceeds to the "We heart Ione" fund. What an opportunity to assist our
fellow magi! With 2000 people in attendance what a perfect situation to
be able to provide assistance. If everyone donated just something, we
could make a difference and really do some MAGIC for REAL!
I am attending, I will offer my assistance in any way needed to make
this happen.
Under the circumstances, I think we can maybe adjust just one evenings
schedule and show some love for our compeers.
What do y'all think?

Those not attending might visit their site to order a new magic item or
create a show in your community and donate to the cause...get creative,
it's what we do!

With a heart full of hope,
Cherie Kay

Magician Timo Marc receives the Sarmoti Award from Siegfried & Roy The World Magic Seminar took place under the auspices of Siegfried & Roy in Las Vegas at the end of April. The highlight of this famous magic(ian) exhibition is the international show contest. Magician Timo Marc was chosen as representative for Germany and with his Blue Vision Show won out over artists from South Korea, Japan and the USA. At the award ceremony in the Orleans Theater Las Vegas Siegfried then announced: The Siegfried & Roy Sarmoti Award goes to the most creative and entertaining magician. He is the best for the future of magic... the award goes to Timo! After this phenomenal success the journey through the USA continued on to Hollywood. There he will present 21 shows in the legendary Magic Castle in only 7 days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSiHeDaKQuw

Listen to the full program that was broadcast across radio stations in the USA at http://www.collegeofmagic.com/safricamagic.mp3 ( 2mb download )

Sad News - Tommy Wonder died this morning

Message from Sylvia Schuyer
Tommy Wonder died of cancer in the hospital. The last months he lived by his brother in Hillegom who was taking care of him.

Sylvia Schuyer
Burg. Hoffmanplein 36c
3071 XL Rotterdam

List on Tommy Wonder in Bart Whaley's Who Who in Magic
Bemelman, Joseph (Jacobus Maria)"Jos"
(Lisse, Holland: 29 Nov 1953- ) Inspired seeing a magician on TV at age 4. Learned magic at 10. Pro close-up & stage magician since age 18. Aka "Julian" (1973), "Jos Bema" (1973-78), & "Tommy Wonder" (since 1979).

1972 Junior Magician of Holland; 1979 FISM 2nd prize in close-up; 1988 FISM 2nd prize in general magic Wrote 2 lecture-note booklets: Original Magic from Holland (1977) & Wonder Material (1982); plus The Books of Wonder (1996, 2 vols, 343+352pp with Stephen Minch). See also Gene Matsuura, Tommy Wonder Entertains (1983). Articles in Pabular, Genii, Linking Ring, & De Magier. Invented a version of Diminishing Cards (c1972) & Floating Cage (1987).

http://www.collegeofmagic.com/2006crs1grad.wmv ( 25 mb windows media file )

I am deeply saddened to report Wolfgang that Billy McComb has just died in hospital.

More details will follow on his funeral arrangement.

Billy made a major contribution to the world of magic over many years as Steve Dacris
article below shows....

From the Hall of Fame on magicwebchannel.com

Billy McComb is an Inventor, Comedian, Doctor of Medicine, Actor, Author, Magician, and perhaps the most renowned historian of the magical arts today. Billy has had enough experiences for five lifetimes and yet he still continues to perform and tour, delighting anyone lucky enough to cross his path. He is billed as "The World's Largest Leprechaun", having been born in Northern Ireland.

Billy is the son of Sir Charles Henry McComb, who was knighted by King George V for his valuable research in the field of X-rays. Billy himself earned his Doctor of Medicine to please his family but soon learned that he had to please himself so he gave up medicine and moved to London to pursue his dream as an entertainer.

He soon became a fixture in London's West End, doing anything he could to learn the trade. He did voice-overs, films, radio and he was becoming well known in the nightclub scene. He even opened for Bob Hope at the Prince of Wales Theater. Within a few years, Billy was headlining himself. with an original blend of comedy and magic. Then came the pinnacle of his career when he was asked to do a Royal Command Performance for Queen Elizabeth at The London Palladium. The show was a great success and Billy decided it was time to take his act to America.

Americans loved his style as much as the Brits and Billy became such a huge hit he was booked on just about every television\variety show on air during that time. He has made over 300 personal appearances on TV and in movies. He has also starred in many of his own TV shows for the BBS. He has worked the best theaters, cruise ships, and clubs around the world and is now internationally renown in the world of magic for his innovative effects. Billy decided to concentrated his efforts solely on magic and has published many books on magic, which are still poured over by magic students today. He has enough magic awards to fill a warehouse

At the age of 76, Billy lives in Hollywood and is still actively performing. He was recently asked to play the Main Room at The Sahara in Las Vegas, a dream that had always eluded him, and was held over an unprecedented five weeks by the casino. The reviews were stellar and people both young and old loved Billy's classic wit and timeless humor. His self deprecating remarks about his age now play an integral part in his show, helping to enhance it even more.

Magicians from all corners of the world come to see and learn by watching The One and Only McComb work his magic. He was recently honored and roasted by his peers who included Harry Anderson, Penn & Teller, and all of the luminaries of magic who, at one time or another, was influenced by Billy.

Billy McComb is a true gentleman and people can sense that when they meet Billy without a word spoken. That's the most revered magic accomplishment of his entire career.

Billy McComb

Most contemporary successful comedy magicians will gladly admit that they have been highly influenced by Billy McComb, some even crediting their careers to him. And no wonder: every detail of his act is worked out and refined, fueled by his enthusiasm for magic and hyperactive creativity.

Billy began his performance career in Britain where he had 9 shows of his own and appeared in over 40 films. The pinnacle of his British career was a Royal Command Performance for Queen Elizabeth at The London Palladium. In the States, he has appeared on such TV shows as The Tom Snyder Show, Matlock, Adam 12 and the Disney TV movie, The Young Harry Houdini. Billy has also appeared in the movie Lord of Illusions with Clive Barker. His awards include two from the Academy of Magical Arts, and an election to the S.A.M.'s Hall of Fame. In1999, Magic magazine selected him as one of the 100 most influential magicians in the 20th Century. And recently, Billy has opened in Las Vegas for The Amazing Jonathan, and has appeared in The Lance Burton Show at the Monte Carlo Hotel & Casino.

Steve Dacri

Message from Norm and Lupe Nielsen

CHANNING POLLOCK, age 79 died of cancer. He was one of the most influential magicians of our time. When he walked out on stage his charisma electrified the audience. Handsome and with his technical
perfection, he began the trend of dove magic as we know it today.

He became a movie star in Europe and later retired in California where he mentored some of our best magicians, like Shimada and James Dimmare. He was a strong influence on Johnny Thompson, Lance Burton and so many others. He was above all a great friend to all those who were close to him and an outstanding human being. We will all miss him. He is survived by his wife, Joann and his son, Russell.

A short message of the guys of South Africa - Cape Town:

www.collegeofmagic.com

Message from Norm Nielsen (US)

Last week we went to Jay's funeral in Chicago. It was a remarkable experience. Over 350 people attended the Broken Wand Ceremony at the funeral home, and there was standing room only. This was truly a celebration of a great human being's life. Laughter was abundant. There were two signs on Jay's casket: "Lefty on Board" and "This is not the first time I died."Sandi Marshall, Jay's son, is a very talented man and knows Jay's act and can impersonate him as well. He did an absolutely remarkable job. (BTW, he has written a play that will go into Broadway soon). It was a pleasure to meet Jim Marshall (Jay's older son) and his son Chris, who has been with Jay the past three years at Magic Inc.Of course there were many wonderful stories by the heads of the many organizations Jay belonged to, and by the many friends. I just can't possibly say how happy I was to be there. Personally I wouldn't be the magician I am today without Jay's support and help. For a working professional, to bring his agent together with other acts is so rare this day, but that is what Jay did many, many times. He arranged for Mark Leddy (the agent for the Ed Sullivan Show) to come and see the likes of Billy McComb, John Thompson and Channing Pollock. In fact, John Thompson and I did an audition for Mark Leddy in Jay's Magic Inc.'s back room.A few days later, we went to New York City, to visit a friend in the hospital. This friend was Natalie Moreno Cover, who was Senor Wences' widow. Senor Wences was one of the most famous ventriloquists in the last century. He appeared 48 times in the Ed Sullivan Show.Regretfully, Natalie did not make it and passed away on Friday night. She was 89. We were fortunate to spend some time with her before she lost consciousness. On Wednesday afternoon I said to her: "You better get well, so that we can go for dinner at the Russian restaurant." Natalie, who was part Russian, opened her eyes and smiled at me. She lost consciousness on Thursday, and died Friday at around 7:00 pm.She was a dancer in a Paris show when she was young - it was then that she met Senor Wences. They were married for over 40 years. She was Senor Wences' manager, spoke over six languages (and carried conversations in several of them at the same time). Next to Lupe she was my best friend.I will miss the two friends I lost this week. A part of them will be with me always.

Stay well!

Norm Nielsen

Nielsen Magic Website: www.nnmagic.com