Magic Newscast: Tannen's Magic Camp

David Sandy and Lance Rich of magicnewswire.com report on one of the long standing traditions in the world of American magic, Tannen's annual Magic Camp!

In this episode we are joined by Tannen's Magic Momma, Terri Cook, several of the camp's attendees, Camp Director Dennis Cook, Darren Romeo, Hiawatha, Vinny Giordano and David Oliver.

Listen here!

Magic and Storytelling: Asi Wind

PRI's The World a one-hour, weekday radio news magazine offering a mix of news, features, interviews, and music from around the globe has just released this new interview. 

Magicians sometimes compare their art to that of storytellers. But The World’s Alex Gallafent tells us that for some foreign-born magicians, their language barriers can sometimes affect their performances. Download MP3.

Magician Asi Wind (pictured) has created an interactive trick: Download MP3. He wants you to think of a number and then email him here.

Asi Wind is from New York by way of Israel. He is a magician who has honed his craft all over the world. In Israel, Asi holds the title as Best Magician of the Year 1998/1999 and has sent waves through the world of magic since arriving in the United States. Recently Asi was featured on the TV show "Celebracadabra" airing on VH1, and is working on a new TV project that, for now, remains a secret.

In his appearances on television and in his live shows, Asi combines comedy, magic, dramatic moments and electrifying miracles. You are never quite sure what might happen with this unpredictable performer. One moment, he might foresee how many push-ups a member of the audience can do live on stage, and at another he might be reading your friends mind over your cell-phone.

Between live appearances, writing for several news papers and performing at trade shows and corporate events, Asi manages to also appear at countless private parties.

Besides performing, Asi invents original magic, and lectures to magicians around the world.

Of course, for him its all just the beginning.

So Whaddya Do: Magician

So Whaddya Do provides an inside look on how to break into your dream career.

Each week they explore a different career: Monday they post a video interview, Wednesday they follow up with some 'Job Jargon' (common words or phrases used in that job), and Friday they answer questions from YOU and post additional helpful info/tips/must-reads.

Magician / Entertainer
They spoke to Josh Beckerman at Tannen's Magic Shop in NYC about what it takes to be a successful Magician/Entertainer. Let's hear what he had to say...

The Bullets:

Josh always loved being in the spotlight and found his niche with magic.

He earned the nickname Card Boy, doing tricks for friends and teachers in middle and high school. His nickname followed him to college where he was known as Card Man, entertaining co-eds at parties on campus. Though entertaining was his dream, he majored in business just in case.

After graduation, he moved to New York City where he tried his hand at stand up comedy. Unfortunately, that wasn't paying the bills so he got a job in finance but continued to entertain at parties and charity events in the evening.

It took four years, but Josh made a name for himself and was able to quit his day job to focus exclusively on his career as a full time magician/entertainer.

Keys to Success: Confidence and persistence.

First step: If you're new to the trade, learn some tricks and try them out on friends and family. Tannen's Magic Shop is a great place to start. If you're ready to get that first job, contact event planners to see if they're in the market for an entertainer.

Conned Into a Life of Magic

In this episode of Interviews 50 Cents on Slate V, Ryan Oakes a professional magician tells Alex Chadwick how he was once played by a couple of con artists in New York City.

Orson Welles: A Jennifer Ward Interview

Editor's Note:
As Orson Welles was not one to grant interviews, this rare exception for Tannen's Magic and magicians everywhere gives one last peek into the mind and magic of Mr. Welles who unexpectedly passed away two years later on the 10th of October, 1985. Here is an excerpt from the interview:


Logically we begin with magic, a Tour de Force he attributes to building a thread of commonality between he and his father. "My father loved magic and bought me a couple of big illusions when I was a young boy. In those days we had Thurston and all those great stage magicians. I started doing sleight-of-hand when I was 11 or 12. The first thing I wanted to do was the boxes (that's what Thurston did). I loved Houdini but he wasn't an illusionist; he was a challenger. He challenged the audience. He didn't seduce them. He set up a kind of Olympic game and then won it at the end ... he was dynamic ... he had a kind of contempt for illusionists."

If magic bound the young Orson to his father, it also served as the catalyst that catapulted the dashing young magician and his dazzling array of assistants (Rita Hayworth, his second wife, Marlene Dietrich and Agnes Moorhead) to a certain degree of prominence. It was Rita, by the way, who accompanied him around the World War II Theater while entertaining thousands and thousands of G.l.'s.

"I've never done much amateur magic because I don't have friends who like magic very much. I regard magic as an art and as a form of entertainment. I regard magic as any other form of theater. If I play to an audience of magicians I don't feel like I'm playing to an audience. They're an audience of experts looking for things that don't interest me at all. Curiously, their reaction is always too kind. If an act is halfway good they say it's great. You're not getting the feedback from a real audience that you ought to get."

Copyright © 2008, Tannen's Magic, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Purchase Orson Welles F for Fake DVD.