I carry, every day, in my pocket, one of the most useful tools I’ve ever had. It’s the Stealth Assasin Wallet and I use it for 3 different things although I know that there are literally a hundred more things I could do with it.

First, I do my new favorite trick The Casanova Closer. This is really a closer so don’t even try doing anything after this. Yes, the Stealth Assasin Wallet also has card to wallet capabilities. And you thought it was just a Peek Wallet. No way!

If I’m feeling lazy I’ll have someone simply write downt the name of someone important to them and I’ll cold read leading up to the revelation of the name. I use this a lot because I’m very lazy

And finally I’ve been having a lot of fun using the Out To Lunch principle of the wallet with the idea of someone forgetting what was written on a business card. Sankey has a similar effect on 22 Blows to The Head.

 If you don’t have a tricked out wallet you might want to consider The Stealth Assasin. I never leave home without it!

Watching Dai Vernon on some of the old Revelations tapes the other day. Michael Ammar is doing the Spellbound move for him and his thumb is sticking up in kind of a weird way. Ammar explains he came up with a variation on the move and demonstrates it for Vernon.  To which Vernon simply says, “I’d never do it that way.” He was referring to the move with the thumb sticking way out. It’s just not natural, Vernon goes on to explain. After all, Dai Vernon is the king of the naturals.

Which got me thinking. Often I spend a lot of time worrying about is something looks natural or if the move I’m doing is contrived looking. The Professor never worried about that. Being natural was where he was coming from all the time. It was his way of being. He never had to ask himself if what he was doing was natural because he was the source of the action. And he was always being natural.

Even though Vernon is really old and unable to perform some of the moves in the DVDs, they’re still worth looking at to hear his thoughts on magic and to get some history from someone who was actually right there experiencing the Golden Age of close up magic. I find many of his conversations to be absolutely fascinating. There aren’t too many people out there who love magic as much as he did, with every fiber of his being.

Just some thoughts…

It is being reported that David Blaine will try to break the world record for staying awake longer than any human being in recorded history. 13 days is the record. He’s getting in tip top shape for this endurance test.

I’m curious to how they’re going to make this look on TV. What if he doesn’t last? I mean, there is absolutely no way he could fake something like this. I’m sure, keeping with his last stunts, it’ll be all in the open for the public to see.

 Sure, some will laugh at this latest attempt at record breaking by Blaine, but I think it’s great. Imagine having a chance to see a world record be broken. To be there when it happens and to watch it live on TV.

That was the really cool thing about his Drowned Alive special. Anyone could walk right up to his little fish bowl and write him messages or say hello. And he was there around the clock, only sleeping a few hours a night. People would come out of the bars at night and stop by to keep him company.

There is no one out there today who does the kind of old fashioned stunts that David does. I can’t wait for this one and wish him all the best.

Two things I’ve been looking at this week are the Street Magic Book by Paul Zenon and You Asked For It (Rare TV Magic Acts).

Paul Zenon has gone ahead and put together a really good book of street magic. He’s taken some powerful effects (if you’ve been in magic for awhile there won’t be anything new here) and compiled them. There are almost 100 different effects here. I saw this recently at Borders while browsing through their magic book selection.

Sure, some will scoff at the amount of “pro” magic he’s giving away here in a book priced at under $15. But if I was a kid this is the kind of book I’d be drooling over. Lots of info jam packed with stylish instructional drawings to keep you busy for awhile. This would make the perfect gift for the little whipper snapper in your life who you want to send down the path of magic.

And You Asked For It (Rare TV Magic Acts) is the kind of DVD set I drool over now. I love seeing the classic presentations of magic. Things were slower, simpler back then. Lots of this footage is just fascinating to watch. I’ve always thought it was good to see where all of this came from and what was done before. And the really ironic thing that you’ll find as you watch these DVD’s is that magic has gotten quicker and more fast paced but not much has really changed. You’ll be amazed!

I’m looking at the DVD’s as the long tail of the Street Magic book. It’s interesting to put both side by side and compare. Two ends of the timeline.

Let me know what you think…