One of the book's I'm enjoying over Christmas is Ivan Amoedi's new collection: 'Magic's Most Amazing Stories - A collection of incredible stories from World Famous Magicians'.
Now it's not just because one of my stories is in the book that I'm enjoying it, it's truly a fascinating, entertaining and often hilarious read.
You can get your own copy (and even preview a few of the stories) at the official website here and, just to wrap 2009 up with a smile, here are a few of my stories that didn't find their way into the book:
FLASHY SHOW
When I was just starting off as a young magician, we cut our teeth doing group shows in shopping centres. I remember one performance where an audience member came up to us afterwards and said “That was quite a show!” We were really proud of ourselves until he pointed up above the stage to a mirror in the ceiling that was showing everyone getting changed in the dressing room
FLASHY POT
Andrew Gill, is a great friend but has been the source of
many funny moments. I remember setting up a flashpot on stage before the
audience came in and instructing Andrew what I wanted him to do to set it off. “Just touch this wire to the battery.” “Like this?” POOF! “…. Never mind…” BEST. TRICK. EVER. He booked
me to entertain kids in the toy section of a department store once. As the
climax to my egg bag routine I say I’ll make the egg vanish in mid-air and I
toss it high so it hits the ceiling where it explodes (it’s a confetti filled
eggshell) and it makes a great finish. Andrew watched my first performance of
the day and, when I announced the egg would vanish in mid air and tossed it out
a miracle occurred. The egg hit a ceiling tile, which opened up, the egg went
inside the ceiling, and the tile closed again all before the kids eyes could
follow the path of the flying egg. The kids were amazed and clapped
enthusiastically. Andrew was at the back of the room, on the floor, doubled-up
with laughter. WHAT A STINK Performing with Christof!! and Peter Gray at the Darwin Casino many, many years ago, I got really badly sunburned during the day and one of the guys in the crew told me the best thing to stop
the pain was yoghurt. So I went out and bought several tubs of strawberry
yoghurt and covered myself with it. The guys thought this was hilarious
(apparently flavored yoghurt doesn’t have the same effect), but the laughter
soon subsided as the stench of sour milk lingered for days no matter how many
showers I took.
