Baker making a career in restaurants
By Bobby Warren

Most magicians get their start from a father or grandfather who shows him a simple effect, and the magic bug bites. For Columbus, Ohio-area magician Carroll Baker, he got his start as a six-year-old after spending a day with Harry Blackstone Jr.

Baker won a magic contest, which earned him the opportunity to carry Blackstone's bag of tricks as the legendary performer entertained children in what is now known as Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus. Baker said he knew then he wanted to be a magician.

“I was fascinated with magic,” Baker said. “You could tell by the way people treated him that he was special. At the end of the day, I knew I wanted to be like that.”

(Read More)

King finds ways to stay busy in Amish Country
By Bobby Warren

If Kevin King thought coming back to his Midwest roots would help him slow his life down just a little bit, then he was mistaken. Since returning to the Wooster, Ohio, area, King has been performing in a variety of venues, whether college campuses, summer festivals, or intimate settings.

King has helped put magic back on the map in Wooster and Wayne County, a city about 60 miles southwest of Cleveland, just like he did as an up-and-coming magician when he was a teenager at West Holmes High School in Millersburg, Ohio, a town nestled in Amish Country, about 20 miles south of Wooster.

(Read More)

    People to thank for great convention.

    by Dennis Schick

Even though "Thank you notes" aren't in fashion any more, your mama still would tell you to send them to people who have done something nice for you. Now she probably didn't (or doesn't) know anything about "Thank you e-mails" -- and we don't know what Miss Manners says about them -- but still, a lot of people should be thanked for the recently-completed IBM Annual Convention, however you send them.

     If you have never worked on a major event like an international convention, you have no idea of all the time and effort that hundreds -- yes hundreds -- of people put in to pull off a five day convention. It's nearly a year-long effort. At this year's convention, for instance, many commitments were made by advertisers, dealers, and performers for next year. Many magicians registered for next year's convention in Dallas, as well. And the hotel for next year -- The Sheraton Dallas -- was reserved a long time ago.

     But back to this year. All the things which people did for this year's affair are often called "thank-less" jobs.  But they won't be thankless if YOU and others take the time to thank those people responsible. So here's the list. At least we can thank them publicly.

(Read more)

Rachel's Story
By Bobby Warren

Rachel Colombini's attitude is positively infectious despite battling what can be a deadly infection. The magic performer, creator, manufacturer and retailer has an array of talents, but she has not yet figured how to make $200,000 appear out of thin air.

Rachel and husband Aldo Colombini are reaching out to the magic community and beyond, hoping their hearts are moved to help the couple raise money for Rachel's medical procedure.

The Colombinis have established two ways for people to help. One is the website www.magic4miracles.com – it is set up to accept donations, and the other is their online store www.wildcolombini.com, where the couple are offering customers an incredible special when they purchase any of their effects, books, DVDs or ebooks.

Rachel was born with a congenital heart defect.

(Read More)

Extensive Online Database
Benefits Researchers and Others
By Dr. William E. Spooner

The Conjuring Arts Research Center was established in 2003 as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of magic and its allied arts. The Center, located at 11 West 30th Street in Manhattan, is the brainchild and creation of William Kalush who has amassed over 12,000 volumes of books and journals and rare documents. The rare book room contains an impressive collection of books dating back to the 15th century, including a number of variations of Reginald Scot’s Discovery of Witchcraft...