Weekly Round-Up
by SCOTT WELLS
March 16, 2009

Howdy friends. Faith and begorrah if it isn’t the week when we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. I say “week” though the actual celebration day is Tuesday March 17th, but Chicago dyed its river green this past weekend marking the official kickoff of mirth and merriment. Let’s hope this festive feeling spills over in the economy to employ more magicians. This week some of us in Houston will enjoy a free movie premiere (and magic show); some young magicians will congregate this weekend; and, more. And BTW, did you notice something different at the end of last week’s blog? (Read More…)

I mentioned in previous blogs that the feature film “The Great Buck Howard” will premiere in Houston on March 20th and that we would have free sneak preview on the 18th. Well, this is the week and I still have a few free passes available for the premiere this Wednesday night. Those interested should contact me so I can make sure you have a pass. Although the movie starts at 7:30, I encourage everyone to be there early (no later than 7:00) to improve your chances of getting a seat. As we get closer to the premiere date, there has been more publicity released which could make this a popular movie. And since it will be in limited release at relatively few theaters, I expect the River Oaks Theater to be full.

In an effort to help promote the film and make the evening a bit more festive, the movie promoter asked me to perform a ten minute magic act before the movie begins. So, I will be arriving at 6:45 to make sure I’m on time. Since the theater is only two blocks from my house, I should be there with bells on. More about this premiere next week.

We hosted Ed Ellis as our guest lecturer past week. We had “an okay” turnout with about 25 attendees but those who missed it really missed it. Ed began with about an hour of rapid fire card effects. After teaching each move, he quickly displayed not one or two variations, but about a half dozen or more ideas and applications. He taught some variations on the “Crazy Man’s Handcuffs” which went straight into my restaurant act. He sat down for a short time to discuss how to use your audience’s perceptions to your advantage. He taught a nice “Matrix” routine then concluded with a different though less than satisfactory “Bill in Lemon” routine. This two hour lecture gave us more than we can expect later this year at the I.B.M. convention where Ed will be one of the featured lecturers.

Next up on our Lecture Line-Up will be the tandem team of Richard Turner and Doug Gorman on Tuesday April 7th; however, we will enjoy a special lecture by Martin Lewis at H&R Magic Books on Friday April 3rd. More details on these lectures as we get closer.

Scott Hollingsworth, President of the T.A.O.M., will travel to Lake Charles, LA tonight to help promote this year’s convention here in Houston over Labor Day Weekend September 4-7. Scott has vowed to make personal appearances at every club in and around Texas to help attract the optimal number of registrants. If the convention fails this year, it won’t be from lack of trying, planning, organization or talent. In fact we are confident that will be one of the best T.A.O.M. conventions in years. And we believe it will indeed be the best of any magic convention throughout the U.S. in 2009. In these hard economic times we have to spend our magic money wisely when choosing which convention(s) to attend. This will definitely be one not to miss and perhaps your best value, too!

This coming Saturday March 21st, the Society of Young Magicians will be meeting at Frankel’s Costume and Magic Shop.  Michael Satterwhite will lead the group again this month as they discuss the topic of their choosing.  There is usually a group of 12-15 young boys and yes, girls, too along with their parents who attend this group each month.  If you are in town, then please stop by and enjoy the fun and learning experience from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. at Frankel’s.

Last week (March 9, 2009) I added a live streaming update at the end of my blog. This gadget goes out and searches the Internet for the most recent stories that include the key words “magic” and “magician”. It then streams the story with a teaser paragraph and a photo clip (if available) and you can surf straight over to the story should you be interested to see more information. The really great thing is that it is constantly updated. So if you visited my column yesterday or even this morning, the stories in the feed may be completely different right now as you are looking at it. Former Web Portal Editor Mel Kientz was the one who found this little gadget and I intend to keep it in all my future blogs so you can keep up to date on any relevant news story that relates to our craft. You do not have to go back to my previous blogs for updates as what you will see below will be the same tool and point to the same updated stories.  I hope you enjoy this little tool and I hope that you will return to my blog often to see what updates are here.

And now once again we turn our attention to who is performing where: John Star will perform magic "on the grill" this week at Tokyohana's Grill and Sushi Bar at 3239 Southwest Freeway (I-45) on Thursday night on March 19th from 7:00 to 9:00. Shane Wilson will perform there on Saturday March 21st from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. Eric Falconer continues as the house magician two nights a week at Sakekawa, a sushi restaurant in the Woodlands, a northern suburb of Houston. Eric will be performing tableside and "grill" side each Tuesday from 6:30 to 8:30 then again on Saturdays from 6:30 to 8:30.  You can call Sakekawa for reservations at 281-419-5988.

So why did I open by mentioning St. Patrick’s Day? Well, it is a magical time when people look for four leaf clovers and leprechauns and pots of gold at the end of a rainbow. But perhaps it can’t be summed up any better than this week’s closing quote by Adrienne Cook, “Saint Patrick’s Day is an enchanted time – a day to begin transforming winter’s dreams into summer’s magic.”

Current Internet Magic News Updates from Google:

Be sure to watch this space for ever changing news of what's happening in and around the Houston magic scene. If you have any information or reviews on magic happenings or events in our area, then please send it to me. You can leave a public comment, suggestion, advice, opinion or question on this week's article by clicking on the link at the bottom of this blog. If you prefer, then you can leave a private message by sending an email to: Scott Wells