HoustonMagic Archives - Information on Past Events

2009

2008

2007

2006

2009

Congratulations…AGAIN, to Ben Jackson for making such good use of the media. That young magician is a media machine. He appears on the home page of the A&M University’s website at www.tamu.edu that flashes up with the title “Hocus Pocus”. You can go directly to the article by Clicking Here. Way to go, Ben! We will miss you while you are in Dallas for your internship. Good luck and enjoy the magic of Dallas!

Jazz It Up Café will be the new host venue for Third Thursday Night Magic. Cinnamon Vallier coordinated this activity to feature some of the best in magic that our city has to offer. This will be a fundraiser activity for our group and will is planned to be much the same as the old days when we had Magic At The Mausoleum. Jazz It Up Café, 2899 Dulles Ave. located only a block away from Hwy 6 on Dulles, bordering Sugar Land and Missouri City. This $5.00 per person monthly event will showcase magicians and benefits OUR area Houston magic clubs.

Your $5.00 per person admission at the door into the restaurant will get you one hour of superb close up and stage magic donated by professional magicians signing up to appear every third Thursday of the month. Appearing this Thursday April 16th from 8 PM - 9 PM will be Mike Brewer with close up table magic, Randy Stulken, rope, sponge balls and card routines, starring on stage will be Jamie Salinas with Cinnamon Vallier as the magical MC.

The Jazz It Up Café menu is steam table home style food, beverages, beer and wine. Doors magically open at 7:30 PM, magicians perform from 8 PM - 9 PM. Tell your friends, family, coworkers, etc. there is plenty of FREE parking and the general public is invited to purchase dinner with their magic show admission. www.jazzitupcafe.com If you would like to donate your time or talents to this worthy endeavor please contact Jeff Lanes. Please do not miss these opportunities to support the art of magic, your magic club and fellow magicians.

Robby Bennett was scheduled to perform “Where’s The Rabbit?” at Cullen Hall on the University of Houston campus this month. On Wednesday morning the U of H informed Robby and the production team of an unexpected requirement of a $15,000 deposit fee for the Friday April 17th premiere. While the show has sponsors, they were not able to come up with the fee by their deadline of 5:00 p.m. that same day. As a result, the Houston show is being delayed. Ticketmaster is in the process of notifying and refunding ticket sales to those who had purchased advance tickets.

Curt Miller is back in the news and back in action before the whole Houston community. There will be at least three opportunities to see Curt perform.

1. He will appear along with comedy magician Chris Blackmore (from Los Angeles) at the Sugar Land Town Square on April 23 at 7:30 PM. The event is “Minute Maid: Painting the Town Orange,” celebrating Minute Maid’s move to Sugar Land. Curt will make the mayor of Sugar Land disappear and then perform the first half of the show. Chris will do the second half. There will be a lot of great comedy magic and large-scale illusions, and the event is open to the public. It’s family friendly, and it should be a lot of fun.

2. Curt will be on Fox Morning News (KRIV) either the morning of the 22nd or the 23rd to promote the show.

3. Tickets will go on sale soon for Curt’s return with his big show at Moody Gardens in Galveston from June 18 – July 5. Moody Gardens is running a great special: if you book two nights at the hotel, you get four tickets to my show! Curt reports that he is working on some really cool new stuff this year, so make sure and bring the family. More information is on his website at www.curtmiller.com

Rick Hebert will be doing strolling magic at the 103.7 JackFM Block Party in Tuscan Lakes, League City on Saturday, April 18 from 11:00 to 3:00. This will be a great family event. For more information and a map, please visit their website by Clicking Here. If you are in the area then stop by.

“The Great Buck Howard” premiered in Free Sneak Peek Wed. March 18th Houston on March 20th with a sneak peek free screening on the 18th. Many local magicians were in attendance including Paul Driscoll, Richard Hatch, Harry Maurer, Charlie Randall, Doug Kornegay, Dick Olson, Roger Johnson and many others. In an effort to help promote the film and make the evening a bit more festive, the movie promoter asked Scott Wells to perform a ten minute magic act before the movie began. All went well and some remarked that they liked the live entertainment more than the movie!

FIRE! We have been informed that there was a fire at the Bayou Manor where we hold our I.B.M. Ring #39 meetings. Although the damage was contained it did mean that they used our usual meeting room while their cafeteria was being remodeled. This took a few months to repair before we returned on March 23rd. Thanks to Doug Kornegay who arranged for an alternate location on short notice.

Sad news continues as we begin a new year. I received word from Chuck Lehr in Dallas about the death of Bob Torson, who was a charter member of the Dallas, TX IBM Ring #174 back in 1964. Bob was also a member of the Houston magic clubs in earlier years, too. He passed away on January 1, 2009. His funeral service will take place at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at the Jeter and Son Funeral Home, 4830 W. Illinois (at Duncanville Road) in Dallas on Tuesday. The phone number for the funeral home is 214-330-4700. More information will be published as it becomes available.

Gerald Torregosa was an active magician in our community for a number of years and worked as a demonstrator at Frankel’s Costume and Magic Shop here in Houston. He grew up with Daniel Garcia and is a very good magician in his own right. In recent years, he started performing stand up comedy. He will perform this Wednesday night February 4th at the Laff Stop at 526 Waugh, Houston, TX 77019. He doesn’t do one magic trick in his set but he promises that it will be a great show. He is asking any and everyone in the local magic scene to make it out to see him! The show starts at 8:00 p.m. and you can get tickets at the door.

2008

Houston – December 31, 2008: We lost a few fellow magicians and friends from our midst this past year including David Inkster, Russ McGee and Freddy "Butch" Burton (son of local magician, Fred Burton). And though not technically a member of our local clubs, Roger Klause was thought of as a close friend of all Houston area magicians and is sorely missed.

On another sad note this past year, many magicians in the Gulf Coast were impacted by Hurricane Ike in September that devastated Galveston and much of the coastal area. Some magicians are still relocated in temporary housing while their homes are being repaired. Still other magicians lost performing venues that were closed or destroyed. Everyone felt the impact in some form or another. The Magic Island is still closed for remodeling due to the damage caused by Hurricane Ike and a resulting fire.

We had a few local magicians who had health issues including our octogenarian magician, Jerry Gray who is battling cancer and recently broke his arm in eight places. Also, Daniel Garcia suffered a severe break in his heel during a TV shoot with David Blaine. Jerry and Daniel are both recovering nicely from their injuries.

Local magicians really made the news in the magic world this year, too. January kicked it off with a feature article in MAGIC Magazine that focused on magic and magicians in Houston. Banachek was featured on the cover of M.U.M. magazine in February with a lengthy article inside that caused some controversy regarding his TV consulting for Criss Angel and perhaps led to their parting of the ways. There was an interview with Banachek in the June issue of MAGIC that cleared it all up. Becky Blaney qualified as a contestant on the "reality" TV program, "America's Got Talent" and she learned a hard lesson that was discussed in the August issue of MAGIC as she dished the inside scoop in a "behind the scenes" article. Her father, Walter "Zaney" Blaney was featured in a great spread in the July issue of MAGIC magazine. He was also feted at the annual T.A.O.M. convention in Ft. Worth as the convention was dedicated to Walter. What an honor!

This year Houston has hosted many fine lecturers including: Barrie Richardson, Nathan Kranzo, Joe Lefler, Aldo & Rachel Colombini, Eric Anderson, Bob Sheets, Jeb Sherrill, Fielding West, Dal Sanders, Kostya Kimlat and David Soloman. That is a lot of really good magic!

And speaking of good magic, this past year saw Curt Miller successfully draw thousands upon thousands to his twice daily magic show for two summer weeks in Galveston. It was a wonderful family show that will no doubt be repeated in 2009. And John "Cash" Carpenter presented two excellent stage productions including "Death and Harry Houdini" and the original "Edon" which were reported on here this past year. There were several other local magicians who performed at public venues from parks to libraries to restaurants and even some who got publicity on television and in the newspaper! Many local magicians took the magic of Houston to far away destinations such as Trixie Bond who made her third appearance at the White House Easter Egg Roll.

Local magician, Rachel Dunn, took first place at the Ft. Worth T.A.O.M. convention. This was significant because at 14 years of age she was the only contestant in the Junior Category so she competed in the Senior Category...and won! Ben Jackson, winner of the T.A.O.M. 2007 Close-Up Award, competed and won first place in the Strolling Olympics at the Magic Castle in Hollywood.

Our annual banquet hosted a record number of people with over 400 people in attendance. This event has grown by leaps and bounds every year to where we had to find a larger venue to accommodate the masses. This is a good situation. Many of the performers from our banquet were asked to entertain at the Austin, TX club's annual banquet this past month. Austin will reciprocate and supply the stage entertainment at our annual banquet in February.

2009 holds great promise for local magicians with the big event being the T.A.O.M. convention which we will host from September 4-7 at the Hotel Omni here in Houston. The Magic Island is also hoped to be open by April Fool's Day so we can again entertain the public with quality magic shows. We will begin our lecture series in 2009 with the return of John Calvert and Tammy in February. So we have much to look forward to in 2009.

Several area magicians traveled to Austin on Monday December 15^th to entertain at their annual officer installation banquet. Trixie Bond coordinated this effort with Austin’s President, Hull Youngblood. Over 100 magicians from in and around Austin came to enjoy a potluck dinner, fellowship and some magic. Trixie Bond and Rick Hebert provided the strolling magic to appreciative groups while they dined. Much laughter and applause was heard throughout dinner. Around 7:00 President Hull Youngblood welcomed the guests and made some presentations and awards then introduced Scott Wells as the emcee. Scott brought on Phil Kampf with his dove act (assisted by Rachel Dunn) followed by the wit and comedy of John Star. Rachel Dunn returned to present her T.A.O.M. Award Winning fairy princess act then Richard Hatch presented some classics of magic including the cups and balls, Hofzinser’s “Everywhere and Nowhere”, Powers of Darkness and Gypsy Thread. Phil Kampf closed the evening with his comedy magic show that is so popular with the Magic Island audiences.

This was a wonderful evening and will long be remembered by both the audience and the performers. Everyone was so pleasant and fun to work with and the audience was one of the most appreciative we have ever seen. The Austin group promises to return the favor by providing the entertainment at our annual Installation of Officers’ Banquet on Sunday February 15th. We don’t want to miss that. It should be great fun.

The annual holiday party for Houston area magicians was hosted again at the home of Gene & Betty Protas on Saturday January 3rd from 6:30-10:00 p.m. Nearly 60 magicians and their families attended this annual event including visitors from Australia.

This year’s H.A.O.M. Annual Magic Auction was a record breaking success. Sales exceeded $5,500 raised from 52 attendees. This is at least 50% greater than any previous auction. We generated over $700.00 for the club from attendee fees, seller commissions and donations of $136.00. This will help us for T.A.O.M. 2009.

Congratulations are in order to Doug Kornegay for doing a superb job of promoting the event and coordinating the auction hall. Dick Olson was our treasurer who kept track of all the sales and accounted for every dime. Others who deserve accolades include everyone who helped people check out: Donnie Kornegay, Judy Donaldson, Jeff Lanes, Chris Williams and Gene Protas. Also kudos to Scott Wells for providing his auctioneering talents and the auction handlers who helped up front: Carol Ann Maurer, Don Wiberg and Dick Hatch.

Wednesday October 29th was the last of this year’s annual séances hosted by Scott Wells and Jamie Salinas. As we near Halloween, the audiences have been getting larger though 26 is pretty much the maximum seating capacity for the intimate setting. Check out their website at www.HoustonSeance.com for more info and interesting videos on haunted appearances that have been reported there. Scott Wells performed at Circle S Vineyards in Sugar Land, TX on Halloween. Robert Berry entertained on Halloween at Lazy Brook Baptist Church. Our local enigma and mysterious recluse, Steven Wallach, performed at the Houston Museum of Natural History at the annual "Spirits and Skeletons" mixer. This event brought in 1,700 people last year.

Where to begin? There has been so much said and done and so many people who have helped others during Hurricane Ike and in its aftermath, perhaps the best thing I can do is to direct you to my weekly column on the I.B.M. Web Portal where I updated it on Monday September 22nd with the status of how our members are doing. Please Click Here to see what’s going on after Ike.

The T.A.O.M. convention is in the history books. If you missed this year’s convention then you missed a really good one. I would rate it a 7 out of 10 with lots of variety with a tip of the hat to the past and a view to the future. For a complete written by Scott Wells, then visit “Scott’s Thoughts” on The Magic Café by Clicking Here.

Most of you who read The Linking Ring are no doubt familiar with the monthly articles penned by our own Julian Franklin. He delivers sound marketing advice every month that helps all magicians become better business people. Well, Julian joined a crew of other motivational speakers at sea (including Barry Mitchell and Tim Sonefelt) in September for the Creativity at Sea cruise out of Galveston aboard the Magnificent Carnival Ecstasy. This cruise promised five days of brainstorming, the creative process, script writing, creative marketing, creativity exercises and contests. Although this year's ship has set sail, check out http://www.timsonefelt.com/cas/ for future opportunities to get aboard.

Daniel Garcia broke his heel while shooting some promo photos with David Blaine at the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, TX. Doctors told him to keep weight off his foot for the next couple months, but he still attended the T.A.O.M. in Ft. Worth over Labor Day weekend and he plans to be at the David Blaine live TV show later in September. We all wish Danny a speedy recovery. Give Danny a call or drop him a line when you can.

Jimmy Fingers was to have appeared on three nights at Houston’s Laff Stop on Thursday through Saturday September 18^th – 20^thif it hadn’t been postponed due to Hurricane Ike. Jimmy will be presenting the Magellan Master Levitation that was performed during the Roger Klause Memorial Midnight Madness at this year’s T.A.O.M. convention. Please see the reviews and effect at www.jimmyfingers.com/magsolo.htm This features an enthusiastic review by our own Bill Palmer. The show also features original mentalism from Houston’s “other” mentalist, and the new levitation and arm chopper by Houston’s “other” levitation inventor. The Laff Stop moved earlier this year and is now located in a strip mall at the corner of Waugh and Allen Parkway.

I want to take a moment to remember one of magic's truly great masters, Roger Klause. Certainly the words "master magician" and "legend" are frequently thrown about when referring to many people who might questionably deserve such a title. But there is no doubt when it comes to using those terms when referring to Roger. He has done so much for so many for so many years that only the internet may be able to contain the words. I know that there will be many blogs and online tributes to the greatness of this gentleman and my few humble words will but be a grain of sand in the beautiful sandcastle that will be built for Roger Klause.

The news came as a real shock when news ran through the T.A.O.M. convention on Saturday morning. His good friend, Lance Pierce, sent text messages to a few friends who quickly spread the news. And indeed the sad news spread to the rest of the convention registrants within a short time. We knew that he was in poor health and would not be attending his beloved convention where his "Midnight Madness" was always a fixture and a highlight. We knew that he was getting worse so I guess it shouldn't have come as such a surprise, but still... It is like waiting for the phone to ring and when it does, you're startled even though you know it was going to ring. You just didn't know when it would ring.

An announcement of Roger's death was made prior to the evening show on Saturday and following a moment of silence, spontaneous singing broke out with a heartfelt chorus of "Amazing Grace" by the assembled group of 500 led by Lisa Menna. During the "Midnight Madness" on Sunday night, Ron Wilson (from Wichita Falls, TX) hosted the event and said he had been in contact with Roger prior to the convention. His hope was to have Roger provide a taped introduction to some of the performers who would be on the bill that night. But alas, Ron told us that Roger's health deteriorated so quickly that it was impossible for him to even speak. Following some incredible magic by some great performers (from local magicians Scott Hollingsworth and Gary Ward to David McGee to Tim Conover and others), Ron showed us a video montage of photos taken of Roger down through the years with many of us who were close to him. It was a fitting tribute and a good way to end a late, late night session. And indeed it was fitting that Roger died this past weekend when so many of his friends could mourn on each other's shoulders and exchange their favorite stories of this "master magician". Click Here to read Roger's obituary from the Amarillo Globe News. Aloha, Roger my friend. I'll see you down the road.

The annual Flea Market for I.B.M. Ring #39 was held on Monday August 25^th. This was our big event that allowed everyone to recycle their magic treasures by putting them in the closets, cabinets, drawers and garages of other magicians. This is always a popular event and we had a pretty good turn-out with nearly 40 people attending including one who traveled from Austin, TX (thanks, CJ Johnson). We had five tables of good stuff most of which went for low prices.

We are saddened to hear of the passing of long time member, Russ McGee from our roster of magicians. As many of you know, it Russ’s ill health has been reported here over the past year or so. He succumbed on Monday August 25th. A memorial mass for Russ McGee was held at St. Mary's Catholic Church in La Porte on Thursday August 28. A "Broken Wand" ceremony by close friend Trixie Bond, a eulogy by best friend Herman Willie and other short remembrances were given at a reception at the church following the mass. We are all lucky to have known this wonderful, gentle man.

Daniel Garcia is featured on the cover of the August 2008 issue of MAGIC Magazine entitled “Footnotes from the Overground”. Congratulations, Danny! Stan Allen says it is one of the shorter articles on anyone they have featured, but the material is all first rate and well-written. And who better to write about Daniel than a former Houston resident and Danny's roommate, Ricky Smith, who (incidentally) was featured in the October 2007 issue of MAGIC Magazine. This is just the first reason you need to get your hands on a copy of this month's magazine.

John "Ca$h" Carpenter presented a 55 minute, full-scale magic show entitled "The Magical Realm of Edon" that ran from August 7-9. This was a truly magical show and it is a shame that too few people actually attended the production. For a complete review of the show including photos, please Click Here to visit the I.B.M. web portal. Don’t miss his next production which will be Death and Harry Houdini on October 16-19. For further details, please call 281-765-7963.

The July 2008 issue of MAGIC Magazine had a long feature article on Walter "Zaney" Blaney. For those who may not personally know Walter, you should get a good flavor of his Texas humor and down-home personality after reading this excellent article. The feature, written by Rory Johnson, is entitled, "Walter Blaney - A ‘Zaney' Kinda Guy". We congratulate Walter for adding yet another feather in his otherwise hefty chieftain headdress. Don't forget that we will be honoring Walter later this month at the T.A.O.M. convention.

And while we are on the Blaney family, I reported several weeks ago about Becky Blaney going to Los Angeles, California to compete on the "America's Got Talent" network TV show. Well, I could not give any updates on that report because she was sworn to secrecy as to whether or not she moved forward. The recent August 2008 issue of MAGIC Magazine includes a "behind the scenes" peek at what it was like to be on this show penned by Becky Blaney as well as two other magicians who did not advance, Dan Stapleton and Bizzaro. Not surprisingly, there is no "reality" to "reality" shows. I have heard this time and again about other supposed "reality" shows where the outcome is known before the show is shot. It's all about 1) record companies making money, 2) embarrassing someone even if it means careful editing to select the worst parts to make them look bad, and 3) seeing someone suffer even if it is unjustifiable suffering.

Houston’s own Curt Miller completed a successful two week run with two shows daily at the Moody Gardens Hotel, Spa, and Convention Center in Galveston, TX from July 2 – July 13, 2008. He presented a 90-minute two-act illusion show in the evenings and a slightly shorter matinee in the afternoons. For a full review of his show including more photos, Click Here.

I reported here about Curt Miller performing for the public later this summer (July 2-13) at Moody Gardens with his illusion show. Well, he recently appeared on Great Day Houston with Deborah Duncan which is televised on KHOU, Channel 11. Curt first made Ms. Duncan disappear and then he performed some close-up magic for the studio audience. Curt’s performance was followed by someone previously unknown to me, Steve Wallach (is he living in Houston?), who performed a mentalism segment that promoted his weekly show at Ruggles Dinner Theatre on Westheimer. I didn’t know about that either, but according to the KHOU website, he appears there each Sunday night at 7:30. As part of this magical morning segment, cut away and went to a live remote at Frankel's Costume Shop where they featured Scott Hollingsworth and some of the youth from the Young Magicians’ Club who taught some magic. Click on the link to Great Day Houston to watch video segments of the entire show.

Bob Fostok performed his stage act on Friday July 4, 2008 at the Intercontinental Hotel in the Galleria. Although this was part of the Arab American convention being held there, it was open to the public so all are invited to enjoy the magic, other comedians and a full dinner all for only $25.00.

The Ta Da Comedy and Magic Night was slated to return to Houston on Wednesday on July 9th; however, management issues continue to be a problem. Magic Mike (from Dallas) says, "the club in Houston is still not sure about the attendance, has not gotten the publicity for the show up and rolling (not even on their website)...long story short they informed me there would not be a July show." Mike goes on to state that, "August will be our last shot for this venue." I will give you another update as anything, if anything, unfolds.

Paul Driscoll celebrated his “30 years and 240 months” birthday party with real class on Saturday night, June 21st. He rented out a downtown club and hired a gatekeeper, a cigarette girl as well as a "Rat Pack" vocalist, Dan King that kept the atmosphere cool while the temperature baked everyone else outdoors. The party began at 8:00 p.m. but the martinis flowed until well after 1:00 a.m. Magic guests included Walter and Becky Blaney and Richard Hatch. Everyone enjoyed not only the traditional cake but also lots of great hors' dourves and snacks. Paul had special match books printed with Club Paul and Dan King even had specially designed labels of his CD for Club Paul. It was a truly cool night for one of our popular and successful local magicians.

Banachek was in the magic news again. Unless you have been under a sponge rock for the past couple of months, you know that he is no longer associated with the Criss Angel “Mindfreak” television team. What has made for interesting speculation and gossip throughout the magic community is why they parted company. “Creative differences” is the reason given for the split but for more of an in-depth discussion you will need to read all about it in the June 2008 issue of MAGIC Magazine. For a little teaser, click here to read a paragraph or two.

Scott Wells and Scott Hollingsworth made news in the Houston Chronicle along with a story about the Magic Island. There was a nice photo of Scott Wells and an even cooler video (only on the website, of course) of Scott Hollingsworth. Click Here to read that story, see the picture and watch Scotto doing a card trick.

The annual I.B.M. Ring 39 Memorial Day BBQ was held again this year at the home of Dr. Rex Crago. Nearly 60 magicians and family members enjoyed BBQ, drink, fellowship and magic. We particularly enjoyed the fun when Jeff Lee began his show. He thoroughly entertained with lots of audience interaction that brought tons of laughter and applause. Well done, Jeff, and thanks for making our annual event so special!

I recently reported on a scheduled show on Saturday May 4th with Robert Berry and our octogenarian magician, Jerry Grey, performing their mentalism show at Cigar Cigar. All went well with that engagement, but following that show, Robert was involved in a tragic car accident when another car traveling at 90 MPH struck his vehicle. The two in the other car were killed and Robert had to be extricated from his vehicle by the “jaws of life”; however, he only suffered bruised ribs and was treated and released.

I am sad to report that local magician, Fred Burton’s son, Freddy (Butch) Burton, 50 years old, died on April 5, 2008. He had four children and two grandchildren. Also in the “Good and Welfare” news, we are saddened by the news that Russ McGee’s pancreatic cancer has metastasized to a point where no further treatment will prolong his life. His physicians have given him two to nine months to live. Russ has been a long time fixture on the Houston magic scene having created, crafted and built many props and helpful devices for several local magicians. Russ does not have e-mail but I know he would appreciate a card sent to his home at: J.R. McGee, 2122 East Sam Houston Parkway, #4209, Pasadena, TX 77503.

This item may have been overlooked, but if you read on page 114 of the February issue of The Linking Ring magazine (Linking Ring Awards 2006-2007), Scott Wells won a plaque for his One Man Parade on emcee bits that was published in the April 2006 issue of The Linking Ring. For those who might be interested in reading that Parade, then Click Here for a PDF copy.

Congratulations AGAIN to Ben Jackson on his recent win at Hollywood’s Magic Castle of the Strolling Olympics award. He competed in a field of 16 international competitors in a typical strolling environment among about a dozen tables where there were lay people and some judges. At the end of the evening, Ben took home the top prize. Way to go, Ben!

April 23^rd was the opening of the “Ta Da! Comedy and Magic Night” at Houston’s Improv Comedy Club. Nearly 300 guests packed the house to see close-up magic by Richard Hatch and Jamie Salinas followed by a fun magic and comedy act by Magic Mike and Jeff Lee (both from Dallas) and Richard Hatch hosted by Jamie Salinas.

This column mentioned the failing health of our octogenarian magician, Jerry Grey. Well, nothing keeps him down including three kinds of cancer. Magic works wonders and magic is alive and well in Jerry’s life. He and Robert Berry performed a parlor show on Saturday May 3rd at Cigar Cigar in Sugar Land, TX. Robert followed the show with a close-up performance at Olives Martini Bar & Grille (located next door to Cigar Cigar) immediately after the show.

Discovery Green is a new “Go Green” park right in front of the George R. Brown convention center in downtown Houston. It opened on April 12^th with a Grand Opening ceremony on Sunday, April 13th. The Mayor made it official with a ribbon ceremony and there was a ton of entertainment including the Carranza Puppets, local celebrities, local sports mascots and several bands as well as our own Cherie Kay with three magic performances.

Cherie also be performed at the “Art is Mysterious” event at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, TX on Saturday April 26th. This was a “costume-optional” masquerade party complete with art, food, fun, prizes, games, music, murder, mystery and illusion!

The Incredible Pizza Magic Show Disappears! Sadly and rather abruptly, the corporate offices of Incredible Pizza decided to close down the 1960 location in Houston and move it to Mesquite, TX just outside Dallas. Sales were up and rumors were they had plans to renovate; however, as we know...stuff just happens! So, if ya had plans to come see us...well, don't until we find a new location. Management of the now closed location is working on moving the magic night to a new location....we hope soon. As soon as we know we'll keep the magic and the pizza rolling.

Trixie Bond performed at the annual Easter Egg Roll on Monday, March 24th at the White House in Washington, D.C. This was her third appearance at this celebrated annual event. Congratulations again, Trixie!

Congratulations and good luck to Becky Blaney who qualified for NBC’s new season of “America’s Got Talent”. Becky is traveled to Los Angeles in early April to tape her first leg of this competition. Well, maybe not just her leg, but 90 seconds of her show. Well…you know what I mean.

Wow! The Annual Magicians’ Banquet was absolutely incredible with a record attendance of over 400 guests! To view a slideshow of the event, then Click Here to see all the shots taken by Eric Frodesen. For anyone wanting a free JPG file of any of these pictures, please contact Eric at Frodini@aol.com and he will be glad to send you a copy of any and all the shots you want at no charge. And soon Gene Protas will have a DVD prepared from video taken that evening. Thanks Eric and Gene.

Scott Wells has joined the staff of the I.B.M.’s new web portal. He will be writing a short column each week featuring local magicians and what’s going on around town that week. Be sure to contact Scott at Scott@ScottWells.com to let him know what you’re doing or planning. Send any pictures and web links you might have, too. To check out the new portal, visit www.magician.org

If you haven’t already received your copy of the S.A.M.’s February issue of M.U.M., then be sure to click here to read the cover article written by Richard Hatch on our own Banachek. What a nice job guys!

Congratulations to our own Ben Jackson for not only winning the coveted trophy for Close-Up at the 2007 T.A.O.M., but also for being able to parlay that into some tremendous publicity. He has it all going on and he knows how to use it. Click Here to view his television interview on “Wild About Houston” and Click Here to read his front page publicity on the 1960 Sun. He talks about his performance at Hollywood’s Magic Castle and the Brotherhood of Aggie Magicians (which he co-founded.) BTW, if you are interested in lecturing in College Station, Ben is anxious to talk with you! Way to go, Ben!

Also be sure to read how one of our young performers is promoted his performance at the banquet. Click Here to read the great article on our young Andy Guinea that was published in the Longview News Journal. Congratulations Andy!