Osterlind back with answers your questions

Richard Osterlind, one of the top mentalists and magicians (and Order of Merlin), is back with more answers to your questions in the International Brotherhood of Magicians members-only feature, Osterlind Q&A.

This month, Richard answers questions about maintaining a proper diet while performing on the road, how to keep your mind fresh and spark creativity and how to handle requests to "see something" when you are not up to it. You might be surprised to read what he has to say about where he looks for inspiration.

If you have a question, we have set up a special e-mail address for questions to be considered. Questions submitted to the special address will be gathered by the Portal staff and forwarded onto Richard for consideration. Think about what you would like to ask him if you ever met face-to-face and send that question in.

(Read Osterlind Q&A, send e-mail)

Time to apply for
I.B.M. Contests

For those of you who will be competing in one of the I.B.M. Contests at the Annual Convention in San Diego, Calif., it is time to get those applications submitted.

The International Brotherhood of Magicians Contest Committee makes it easy by offering magicians the opportunity to submit an application online or to print one out and send it in the mail. Find out more about the contests, awards, prizes, and frequently asked questions by clicking the links below. You can also apply by clicking the appropriate link.

Contests Overview
General information, Awards
FAQ

Online Stage Application
Mail-in Stage Application

Online Close-Up Application
Mail-In Close-Up Application

Stage Technical Sheet
Stage Pyrotechnical Sheet

Walter Blaney's Zaney
marketing campaign:
vinyl 45 rpm records
By Bobby Warren

How do you market your show? The Internet? Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook? Do you send out DVDs? How about videocassettes? Posters? Direct-mail brochures? Direct marketing media kits? What would you do if there were no Internet, no DVDs or VHS tapes?

Well, that's what Walter “Zaney” Blaney, and his contemporaries, faced back in the early 1960s. Like those today who gravitate toward tapping into the technology of the times to reach the masses, Blaney embraced the technology accessible to him and his potential clients and sent out audio recordings on 45-rpm vinyl records.

It's been almost 50 years since Blaney recorded one of his shows and had the records pressed, but his groundbreaking recording was nearly lost to history.
(Read More; Listen to Blaney's Record)

Korean magicians
immersed in art
at 2010 seminar

Well it is already March and February has come and gone here in Korea but not without some very special things happing over the last two weeks of the month.

First there was the news that came to us from England about the winners of the Blackpool Convention. I would like to congratulate all of the winners at this year’s Blackpool Convention, but I would especially like to tip my hat to the three Korean winners: Kim Hyung Jun, Lee Jung Min, and Kim Min Hyung. Hyung Jun and Jung Min took first and second place in the stage competition, and Min Hyung took first place in the close-up competition.

Then from February 27th to March 1st was the DongPusan College International Magic Seminar 2010. This seminar is a yearly event that is sponsored by DongPusan College, which is one of the two colleges in the south of the country that have degree programs in magic.
(Read More; See Photos & Video)

P.C. Sorcar remembered
with issuance of stamp

The late Protul Chandra Sorcar, a magician from India better known as P.C. Sorcar Sr., once said, "When asleep I breathe magic; when awake I work magic." Even in death, the acclaimed magician who brought the magic of India to the rest of the world, is still reaching audiences -- this time through the issuance of a stamp bearing his likeness.

The Department of Posts in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, issued the commemorative Sorcar stamp on Feb. 23, 2010, the 98th anniversary of the legendary performer's birth.

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who was present on the occasion, said, “I have come to pay my respects to the memory of such a person who was not just popular amongst the people of our country, but also had earned great admiration and regard in the international arena,” according to a report on the Daily News & Analysis-India Web site. (Read More)

Feldman captures Thurston's incredible life in new DVD

Rory Feldman, who has more than 15,000 pieces of Howard Thurston memorabilia in his Brooklyn, N.Y., home, has produced a full-length documentary about the "Master Magician's" life. (A video of the trailer appears below.)

Originally, Feldman created a 35-minute video of Thurston based on a William V. Rauscher lecture, "When Thurston Came to Town." Feldman took the audio and overlaid pictures. That original effort has since been expanded to a full length DVD with rare photographs, audio clips and video clips. You can read and learn more about Howard Thurston and the DVD here. Read more about Rory Feldman here. Feldman is on the cover of the February edition of The Linking Ring.
(View DVD trailer)

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...