OCTOBER 2008 
The TLR Notes
by Lincoln Rings 

THE COVER STORY: “Be careful, son, you’re tipping the key.” The four year old adjusts his hands, shifting silver rings as large around as his own waist. A small wrist movement, and the rings link together. His son beams as Marc says, “Great job, Eric!” Welcome to the DeSouza household. Marc DeSouza: Performer, Teacher, Innovator. Marc DeSouza has been studying, performing, and teaching magic for forty-seven years. If you don't know his name, you may still have seen his work, which ranges from DVDs of his own magic to consulting on regional theater productions of Beauty and the Beast and Marc Salem's Mindgames....(read more)

RING EVENTS: I.B.M. Rings from around the world share news of their special events and projects.

ABBOTT'S 71st GET-TOGETHER: International President Joan Caesar tells why the first full week of August is the most important week of the year. August and Abbott's are synonymous. People who attend this convention simply can't think of one without the other. The Bordner family has solely owned the Abbott Magic Company for over fifty years, and every summer, in keeping with the tradition set by Recil Bordner and Percy Abbott, they have brought together magicians from around the world to enjoy the wonders of the area...

THE SHOWS, THE LECTURES: Read the reviews, accompanied by H. Rick Bamman's photographs from the Combined Convention. The Linking Ring asked four Past International Presidents of the I.B.M. to review the stage shows at the Combined Convention. As Past International Presidents of the largest magic organization in the world, these reviewers are qualified by their experience in magic and the many convention shows they have seen over the years...

FINDING DARIEL FITZKEE: David Goodsell researches the unsolved mysteries of Dariel Fitzkee's life... As I began my research on the life of Dariel Fitzkee, some intriguing details about him came to the surface and got my attention. • He created a full-evening magic revue and took it on the road. But other than in the first volume of his trilogy, Showmanship for Magicians, there is almost no mention of that show in contemporary or recent histories. Why not...?

GENE GORDON'S MAGICAL LEGACY: by Gordon Eugene Avery (Gene Gordon) and David Ginn. Reprinted by permission of David Ginn
...when Bob Weilland I put on the annual Piff Paff Poofconventions in Fort Erie, Ontario. Piff Paff Poof was the name of a safety pin trick I marketed, and everybody attending the affair had to be able to do it. The words Piff Paff Poof were used by my friend Charlie Weller of South Dakota - "You might be able to see where it is when I say Piff; you might still have an idea when I say Paff; but when I say Poof, that's the part that fools you." I always think of Charlie when I use those words.

LETTERS FROM THE PAST: by Samuel Patrick Smith
(Part 3) The Great Volta was in a rush. Time was running out for Burling "Volta" Hull to secure the title, "Dante Mysteries" to promote the full-evening show he was planning to launch for the 1945-46 season. In a four-page letter to Dante, he asked for an immediate response, since an agency would need to start booking shows in May...

CONVERSATIONS WITH CALVERT: by John Calvert
Lester Lake: Daredevil Inventor
Lester Lake was a most amazing person who had many friends and no enemies. He was born in New Trenton, Indiana, in 1905. Six years later, August 5, 1911, I was born in the same little village and was destined to become a guinea pig for Lester Lake's original guillotine illusion...

MILLENNIALS RISING - MAGIC STARS OF TOMORROW: by Dakota Rose
Sometimes happiness is a blessing, but generally it is a conquest. Each day's magic moment helps. ~ Paulo Coelho
Real magicians perform magic everywhere they go. It is a part of them, and magic isn't just something they do on the side. Meet sixteen-year-old, Matt Schick...

CUTTING UP JACKPOTS: by Bev Bergeron
A Giant Step to Turn Pro
A non-professional magician once asked me for the names of some agents who would book him on shows. He then went on to tell me that he had just worked a week at the Magic Castle on the basement stage. This was the only venue in the Castle in the 1960s that would allow a stand-up magic act. The small theatre would only hold about forty people, but it was a great room to work...

THE BUSINESS OF MAGIC: by Julian Franklin
HAVE YOU BEEN CHOSEN?
What does renting an apartment have to do with getting hired as a magician? I'll tell you in six paragraphs, but first some rather depressing news: While it is important to be good at your craft, you can be the best in the world and it won't matter to anyone except you unless you can get out and demonstrate what you do...

DOWN THE ROAD: by Nick Lewin
I just finished reading Kandide and the Secret of the Mists and thoroughly enjoyed it. If the title doesn't ring a bell then let me bring you up to date with the latest accomplishment of the multi-talented Diana Zimmerman...

OUR SIDE OF THE POND: by Elizabeth Warlock
While the days may be getting shorter and a lot chillier, this is the month when magic comes to life again with a variety of events that spoil one for choice. There are various magic society dinners around the country, a lecture tour by famed children's magician David Ginn, and The Magic Circle's biennial Stage Magician of the Year competition which, since its inception in 2000, never fails to produce a few surprises...

ONE-MAN PARADE by Marc DeSousa
A Matter of Time is the close-up act I used to win the I.B.M. and S.A.M. Closeup contests in 1996. In 1997, I competed with this act at FISM. I wanted to give you some insight into the creation of the act, as well as a detailed explanation of its workings and performance. While I think that there is some value in seeing how it all fit together and worked synergistically, the purpose of putting this into print is not only to give you a look into how an act can be created...

THE CARD CORNER by Mike Powers
Welcome, card lovers! This month's installment is a slight variation of a trick Ipublished in Top Secret Stuff I (1990) called "Mexican Assembly." You'll see its relationship to Marlo's Seven-Card Assembly if you are familiar with the Marlo work. You might want to revisit Andrew Loh's "TransBOXition" from the March 2008 column. Andrew's item is also related to the Marlo Seven-Card Assembly concept...

HAVENLY CLOSE-UP by TomCraven
Metaphysical Masquerader
...Again, an offering from an old friend. I've probably said it before, but Doug Canning used to come into my magic shop in Florida and spend the whole day. He'd be there as I was ready to open and leave when I closed. I wish I had all the notes he took in our sessions. They would make a good magic book...

SHOWTIME: by Peter Marucci
Where Wolf?
Even a man who is pure of heart, and says his prayers by night, May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms, and the autumn moon is bright...

STORYTELLING MAGIC by Ed Solomon
Listen to the Whisper
A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door...!