Busking it

BBC News Magazine: Friday, September 18th, 2009

Busking it
By Jolyon Jenkins

David Blaine seems confident enough doing it, but how terrifying is it to try and make it as a street magician?

"What's your name?" barks the short, pugnacious man, addressing a member of his audience, who mumbles something back.

"You've got to speak up," he retorts, "you're not buying condoms." The man is Gazzo, a legend among street magicians, and at Cardiff's "School of Busking" he's teaching 20 would-be performers the arcane arts of attracting a crowd.

He marshals us, his spectators, moving us around to fill gaps in the crowd, while haranguing and bullying us. "Everyone take two steps backwards! Hands out of pockets: that's another game!"

Most of us here are amateur magicians, and some are captivated by the idea of making a living as a street performer. Gazzo tells us that you can make twice the average income from street magic but most people just love the thought of earning money from their hobby.

Read the rest of the article here.

Penn & Teller's Chat Magic Trick

Penn & Teller's Chat Magic Trick was revealed at TechCrunch50 a conference held at the Design Center Concourse in San Francisco, California. Its aim was to find the best Web 2.0 start-ups and launch them in front of the industry's most influential venture capitalists, companies and press.

This new iPhone App is a tool for fooling your friends into thinking they're texting directly to Penn or Teller, who answer with smart-aleck remarks and the punch line to an amazing trick. It works 24 hours a day withe different replies (and different levels of courtesy) depending on the time of day or mood you find Penn & Teller in.

Vanishing Vinny's Mysterious Delights

An evening of magic and mystery!

From the devious mind of "Vanishing" Vinny DePonto comes a baffling, shocking and hilariously delightful show that will change your understanding of "magic."

This award winning neo-vaudevillian comes to Brooklyn to share his unique brand of sleight of hand and whimsical wonder with all. One Night only - Don't miss it!

You gotta see it to believe it! Vanishing Vinny is one of the "hottest" young magicians on the circuit today. His unique blend of sleight of hand, poetry, comedy and pulling hats out of rabbits (or some combination of the two) is enough to leave you wanting more! Appearing at famed casinos in Las Vegas and at venues in New York City, Vinny has astonished audiences on both sides of the country with his comedy and mind-twisting illusions. It's nothing you expect and everything you imagine, but catch him quick before he, well... vanishes...

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
Doors: 7:30PM | Show: 8PM
$10 Advance/$15 Door
*Must be 21+ with ID

Galapagos Art Space
16 Main Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(Main & Water St.)

Radnevsky's Real Magic

A play and magic show.

With Peter Samelson, Dennis Kyriakos, and Talking Band

Legendary magician Anton Radnevsky (Peter Samelson a long time Tannen's Magic customer) is returning to the New York stage for the first time in over three decades to perform his one-of-a-kind, bewildering and mystifying magic.

Thirty three years ago, Radnevsky disappeared from the city after an audience member died at a preview performance of his much-heralded magic show, Stories and Sorcery at La MaMa. But this October, Radnevsky will return to the scene of that tragic performance and put on an even more spectacular show, an act he has been working on for half his life.

Joined by protege Harry Telkhines (Dennis Kyriakos), Radnevsky invites audiences into a world where reality and illusion blend, and where all is not what it seems. Together, master and apprentice weave a tapestry of story and illusion, music and image, tradition and innovation, in the search for real magic.

Developed in a collaboration between Talking Band and master magician Peter Samelson, Radnevsky’s Real Magic stars Peter Samelson and Dennis Kyriakos.

Dates/Times:
October 9-25, 2009

Thursday-Saturday 8:00 p.m.
Saturday Matinee: 5:o0 p.m.
Sunday Matinee: 2:30 p.m.
Additional Wednesday performance Oct. 21 at 8:00 p.m.

Box Office:
La MaMa E.T.C.
74A East 4th Street, between 2nd Avenue & The Bowery
(212) 475-7710
Business Hours: Monday - Sunday Noon - 5:00 pm

Use this ticket code TANNEN09 here for a 20% discount online only.