Sylvain Chomet's "The Illusionist"

Django Films is the flagship animation studio of Sylvain Chomet, the French born writer and director of the academy award nominated Les Triplettes de Belleville (The Triplets of Belleville/Belleville Rendez-Vous). Located in Edinburgh, Scotland, Django Films has produced L'Illusionniste / The Illusionist a 2D animated feature film which is based on an original script by French comic genius, Jacques TatiIt premiers this evening at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in Scotland.

As cheeky, boisterous and witty as it is delicately drawn and beauteous to behold, Sylvain Chomet’s second feature film is a winner on every level. Our weary hero is an over-the-hill magician, complete with less-than-friendly white rabbit. Always in search of a paying gig, the illusionist treks from Paris to the Western Isles to Edinburgh – acquiring, along the way, a young traveling companion who sincerely believes in his magical abilities. Rich with visual jokes, seductive 1950s period detail and breathtaking views of city and wilderness alike, this is the work of a master in his field – and one of the most gorgeous evocations of Scotland in cinema history. The film is 82 minutes in length.

Dove from iPad: Uchida Shinya

Uchida Shinya, a Japanese magician, started using the Apple iPad in his street magic show has become a huge online hit.

Shinya uses a mix of pre-programmed clips and props in his tricks which include producing a dove out the the tablet device. You see a picture of the bird on the screen then, after a tilt, it flies out and lands on his hand. How'd he do it?

Filmed outside a Apple store in Tokyo, he also creates smoke from the screen and then 'connects' with a friend who bends a fork via the power of the iPad.

A video of his his tricks - based around a theme of communication - has already been viewed over 1 million times online. But no matter how hard he tries, Shinya will have not be able to improve on the Steve Jobs trick of getting people to pay $500 for an iPad.

Tony Nominee's Circle of Magic

Wall Street Journal: June 2, 2010 

Tony Nominee's Circle of Magic

by Marshall Heyman

Sherie Rene Scott is nominated for a Tony for Performance by a Leading Actress in the musical "Everyday Rapture." (She is also nominated for having co-written the book with her friend Dick Scanlan.) "Everyday Rapture" semi-autobiographically chronicles Ms. Scott's rise from Broadway Baby to sort-of-recognizable star on the Great White Way. 

Also in the show, Ms. Scott describes meeting Ray Nordini on her first trip to New York when she was a teenager at the TKTS booth. The Great Nordini, as he liked to call himself, was a magician and took Ms. Scott to a strange magic shop in an office building in midtown. Ms. Scott hasn't been back there since the early '80s.

But on a recent day off from the show, she trekked with a reporter to Tannen's Magic Store, a little hole in the wall on the sixth floor of 45 W. 34th St. When she got there, Ms. Scott explained to the proprietor that the magician who had come to prep her for "Everyday Rapture" thought the Great Nordini must have taken her to Tannen's.

Read the rest of the article here.

Herculez Gomez: Kickin' it with Cards

Herculez Gomez

U.S. Men's National Soccer Team
Position: Forward
Date 0f Birth: April 6, 1982
Height: 5-10
Weight: 165
Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada 
Club: Puebla F.C. (Mexico)
Hobbies: Magic

The U.S. Men's National Soccer Team takes on the Czech Republic tonight at 8 p.m. ET at Renstchler Field in Hartford, Connecticut.  Fans in the stadium and watching on ESPN will witness the performance that for some players may determine their fate for making the squad headed to World Cup in South Africa next month.

Herculez Gomez has fast feet but even faster hands. As the team relaxes on a train ride to Hartford follow those cards and check out one of his many card tricks.

Steve Cohen: How'd he do that? With twins?

This week on David Letterman was Close-Up Magic Week. Steve Cohen has a regular weekend gig doing his sleight-of-hand magic at the prestigious Waldorf-Astoria here in New York City. He gets a suite and everything. Wow! Talk about a magic trick! Mr. Cohen, the Millionaires' Magician and a former Tannen's Magic Camper, asks for a ring from Paul Shaffer...check out this "hat trick" of an effect...

David Letterman: Close-Up Magic Week

It's a week filled with illusions as The Late Show with David Letterman presents "Close-Up Magic Week," featuring some of the world's best sleight-of-hand magicians, Monday, May 17-Friday, May 21 (11:35 PM-12:37 AM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Magician Jason Randal, a frequent LATE SHOW guest and one of the world's best close-up magicians will be featured on Monday May 17th. Seven-time winner of the Hollywood Magic Castle "Magician of the Year", John Carney will perform on Tuesday. Johnny "Ace" Palmer, the first close-up magic artist to claim the title of "World Champion Magician" by the International Federation of Magic Societies, takes the stage of the Ed Sullivan Theater on Wednesday the 19th. Steve Cohen, "The Millionaire's Magician" will be featured on Thursday and Michael Ammar wraps up the week on Friday May 21st!

Jason Escape: Bound To Amaze

Jason Escape (Jason Gardner) visited the shop yesterday and hung with the staff along with his friend NYC magician Magic Brian. Jason is getting married in a few weeks. Congratulations!

Getting tied in endless amounts of rope and chain, escaping from tiny locked boxes, and suspending himself upside-down while high in the air in a straightjacket are but a few of the many talents of Jason Escape. Everything he does is designed to make you laugh, if not freak you right out. His live performances never fail to render his audiences truly awestruck.

Growing up right outside of NYC afforded Jason the opportunity to see many of the great modern magicians, such as David Copperfield, Doug Henning and Penn & Teller. Jason's grandfather would take him to see these awesome magicians, and after would present him with a simple magic trick to learn. Jason studied and practiced constantly. Magic and escape required not only manual dexterity but a challenge to his mind as well. Jason spent his days bound by rope to chairs, making objects vanish, and even reading his cat's mind.

Now as an adult, his passion has never waned; it's even matured and grown. He shares his art and has brought smiles, laughter, thrills and amazement to audiences all over the world.

Jason Escape is currently a performer part of the street theater program at Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston, MA.