Magic Unlimited

Harry Houdidn't

I'm REALLY excited about the upcoming Catchpenny Club on March 30 because one of the guest acts is the rarely seen HARRY HOUDIDN'T. (You can email sleightofhand@conman.com.au now and reserve your tickets!)

Harry, played by Melbourne magician Adrian Kebbe, is one of the funniest corporate entertainers you'll ever see. Back in the days of 'Hey, Hey It's Saturday' he was a regular on the show and often did live tours with Daryl Somers. He even competed at FISM in Yokohama back in 1994!

You can read all about him here on the site of the top speakers bureau ICMI.

I was scouring the web to find some video of Harry in action when I came across this:

Harry Houdidn't performing kids birthday parties in Sydney?

Oddly enough, the same Google search of 'Harry Houdidn't' came up with this listing at Vanish Entertainment, which represents the real Harry Houdidn't, but also has the same mobile number as the children's birthday Harry Houdidn't...

So if a client calls that number asking to book Harry Houdidn't, which one do they get?

I have no idea what's going on at that agency, but I do know that the Harry Houdidn't you'll see at The Catchpenny Club on March 30 is the real deal!

The compliments keep coming...

First we discover that someone is selling pictures of Sue-Anne taken from our site on eBay as Barbara Eden (fans have told us this isn't the first time) and now we've learned of a Sue-Anne Webster MySpace page that Sue-Anne didn't set up!

 

I guess that's the price of fame!  ;)

Sue-Anne Webster's FISM Reports - moved

Sue-Anne's comprehensive reports on FISM 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2009 have now located to a new home.

http://fismreports.wordpress.com/

Please spread the word.

I guess it's a compliment...

People are always saying how realistic Sue-Anne's interpretation of Jeannie is, but that's been taken to a whole new level with an eBay seller who specialises in rare photos putting this up for auction:

 

(Click on the photo to enlarge it)
 

Baron Stringfellow

This morning The Age newspaper featured a big article talking about a Las Vegas born expert on card scams and money laundering who is coming to Melbourne as a key speaker for the Victorian Commission for Gaming Regulation's four day conference.

The Age spoke about the $25,000 fee Baron Stringfellow was being paid in order to help the Casino detect card cheaters, and in their online article they feature a clip of Baron showing his card expertise with a Mental Photography deck.

The Room

There's a lot of talk about a 2003 movie called 'The Room' which is being released here in Australia this month with 11pm screenings every Saturday at Cinema Nova.

It's considered one of the worst movies of all time and, as such, has developed a cult following for being so bad.

The film is written by, directed by and stars Tommy Wiseau and is described by The Herald-Sun like this 

"The Room is basically a love triangle set in a San Francisco apartment building. But it's filled with sub-plots that go nowhere, dodgy green-screen skylines, lots of un-sexy sex scenes and acting that wouldn't pass muster on a soft-focus soapie."

Take a look at the trailer (which tries so hard to convince us that the movie is actually good) then take a look at one of the scenes and judge for yourself.

Magic Newswire

Here in Australia, April sees the lecture tour of American street entertainer 'Kozmo' (currently featured on the cover of MAGIC Magazine).

His lecture promises to be outstanding, but if you'd like to get a taste of Kozmo's approach to magic then take a listen to this great interview with him on The Magic Newswire.

While you're there, spend some time with Johnny & Pam Thompson too in this podcast. Johnny has some great advice, especially near the end of the interview where he talks about dove productions.

My Name is Khan

We just saw the Indian film 'My Name is Khan' in which the main character suffers from Asperger's Syndrome.

The film also deals with issues of faith, race, and post 9/11 America.

Not surprisingly, it has generated a lot of controversy. Some have said it's depiction of AS is inaccurate, but there is no one 'standard' form of AS and we both related to a lot of the main character's traits. Others have argued against the Hindu/Muslim plotline, which is odd because the message is one of tolerance towards all, perhaps a message that the intolerant find offensive. Others suggest the story itself is far-fetched... yes, it does have it's Forrest Gump moments, but treat is as mild fantasy and go with it.

From our point of view however, both Sue-Anne and I really enjoyed it and thoroughly recommend it.

Blackpool 2010

Blackpool 2010, the largest magic convention in the entire world, is on right now! (Here's a press article complete with video footage from The Blackpool Gazette)

But where are all the reports?

Despite the fact that Blackpool actually has wifi this year, there's nothing on The Magic Cafe or The Genii Forum.

So far the only coverage we can find (other than Andy Reay at Magic Convention Guide here) is this blog.

Found anything else? Please let us know!

 

The Catchpenny Club - It's on this Tuesday!

After three sell out shows in a row, The Catchpenny Club is heading back to the future with the return of an act from our very show back in 2007 - political satirist Mat Kenneally. 

We've also got Patrick Mcullagh, Irish magician and comedian, who has promised to show us his Craic. The Adelaide Advertiser described it as "Gob smacking Comedy".

Rani Huszar is back with some skeleton stripping. I'm not 100% sure what that is but it's Rani so it's going to be funny. 

Dirk Darrow, Paranormal Investigator, will take us into smoky depths of the unknown. It's a little bit X-files, a little bit Sin City and a little bit Naked Gun. 

And Daniel Oldaker will be as funny as all get out with his classic Bell Boy routine. A sublime display of physical skill and comic timing as he explores the ups and downs of life's baggage.

plus I'm going to try and make spaghetti squids, talk to the dead, win $10 and all sorts of other crazy crap!

See you then,

Nicholas J.

PS - Also, due to popular demand, Sam Young is back as our official one man house band. 

All tickets $10 
sleightofhand@conman.com.au
www.thecatchpennyclub.com.au

BOOK TICKETS IN ADVANCE OR YOU WON'T GET A SEAT