WOW!!!! I'll take a picture with you LMAO

I'll be there tonight with Drew Thomas. Should be fun ...DRINKS IN THE BAR AFTER THE GALA !!!!!!
:dancing:

So what did everyone think of the saturday night gala show ?

Please tell us how Charlotte did on her own. Wish her the best!

James

Let me get this right...he's too busy to take a picture with you but NOT too busy to tell you that he's too busy to take a picture with you...did I get that right?

WOW.

peace, charlie

Saw your name on a sign in sheet at the convention, but you missed my lecture.

I went to the Convention this weekend. I'll tell you what I liked. I've always enjoyed Harry Allen's lectures, and this time was know different. Yes it had a lot of the same stuff he always does, but he added a few new items. Dave Hill, Great lecturer for Children and Family entertainers. Paul Richards, very good lecturer, he performed mostly card stuff that he does in his walk around. ANDERSON & RACHERBAUMER, these two were worth the convention. It was an extra $50 to go to their lecture and I would gladly pay it again. BEV BERGERON, I've always liked Bev, and he was not a disappointment. His lecture was on performance and some history of magic. CHRIS CAPEHART, What an awesome person, his DVD's are pretty good but in person fantastic. Chris talked about performing on the street, the hows, whys, and when. He also went over some fantastic magic. DAVID MERRY, he talked on comedy magic and getting into the stand-up comedy business, great information and a super funny guy. HELDER GUIMARAES, I saw his close up routine so now I know why he won the FISM. I missed his lecture but heard he was great. KOSTYA KIMLAT, another one worth the convention, he was the late night lecturer and he went on almost all night. Anyone that wanted to stay up and learn some awesome magic with cards and post it notes. MAGIC IAN, as always Ian holds a crowd with his rope tricks. NORM BARNHART, I work mostly with kids so Norms lecture was just what the doctor ordered... His family friendly show was great. He showed how he sets up and starts his show. In his show family/ school/ birthday show he used multiplying balls, the Zombi ball, balloons, and cards. Oh, and lots of humor and interaction with the audience.

I know this is not a lot of info on each performer, but than I am not the best writer either. All in all lectures were great.

The Friday night show, Dave Merry and Norm (Normondo) Barnhart were the best.
The Saturday night show, Chris Capehart and Harry Anderson saved the show. Harry Anderson is one funny guy, adults only...

Oh, we'll talk. Call me...

Heard it through the grapevine that Harry Anderson displayed some VERY despicable behavior this past weekend. Anyone care to corroborate?

Ian - saw you across the room several times but each time I finally made it over there you were gone. My apologies for not stopping by to say hi and thanks for tipping the haunted deck stuff. I'll be in touch soon.

I'm actually writing up my thoughts about the convention which I'll post shortly.

I had two encounters with Harry in the lobby and hallway. Both were pleasant. We chit chatted a bit, he came across as having no 'airs' about him.

The Friday night lecture was not for the family or those faith of heart. Harry said as much at the beginning of the session and he let loose all night long. There was profanity and 'politically incorrect' humor/references throughout the lecture. Everyone was warned prior to the start. For some I'm sure it was shocking.

Again I'll post in more detail later but Charlotte Pendragon put up a brave front but came across as a disappointment to me. Even if this was her first time as a solo act parts seemed unrehearsed or very badly staged. Her execution of a basic linking ring routine was difficult to watch. I know it's easy to cast stones but for a performer with so much experience I expected better. I sincerely hope she has the support system in place to provide her with honest feedback and suggestions on how to improve if that's what she wants to do. I wish her the best.

I'll have a full review posted shortly.......

This is the second time that I have seen and talked with Harry Anderson, both times he was very nice and friendly. His humor is definitely on the blue side, but that is what makes him Harry and funny. My opinion.

As far as harrys humor...its what you get and he should not ahve to change what he does to fit the room and the few who don't like it....when someone hires him they should know what they are getting..

this is what I saw all weekend.....harry anderson signing autograohs and taking pictures and having fun with all at the convention...i have no idea about anything else

on a personal note, harry anderson is a friend of mine....hes a great guy who would give his shirt for anyone who needed it...hes done a lot for me in my time with him and I thank him for this

on a side note harry came up to me and out of the blue said "kozmo you are a great street magician"....i cant tell you what that meant to me.....truly....he also said "but I'm a historic street magician"...well hes right he is, he paved the way for so many of us down in new orleans and around the US.....harry anderson is great and I will forever be grateful for his kindness ot me

Kozmo

I should preface everything I'm about to write by saying this was my first ever magic convention, and it was NOT a disappointment!

Harry Anderson is really the only reason I came but I walked away with so much more.

Paul Richard's lecture was fantastic, I don't really do close-up but his material was too easy and commercial to pass on.

Chris Capehart's lecture was awe inspiring, so much so that I have decided I'm going to quit my crappy day-job and start street performing.

Again I'm not a close-up guy but I can certainly appreciate it, especially from a FISM champion. Helder Guimaraes' was fantastic, he covered a few theatrical points which turned a simply card trick into a work of art and performed THE MOST BEAUTIFUL cards across routine I have ever seen.

Kostya Kimlat is a fantastic guy as well as an incredible card handler, I still can't believe he can cull cards the way he does. I ended up hanging out with Kostya and a couple other guys after the lecture till almost four in the morning, depsite the fact that the temperature in the room dropped to what felt like below freezing.

The Anderson and Racherbaumer lecture was a treat and truly a you-had-to-be-there kind of thing, although despite all the fantastic stuff that was covered what impacted me the most was Racherbaumer's surprisingly simply open prediction. Another great treat for me was seeing Harry Anderson perform at the Gala Show, being from a younger generation I had never been able to see Harry perform live and now I am proud to say I have, although Daytona Magic might be getting more than a few angry emails over Harry's performance. There were quite a few people complaining about Harry's demeanor at the convention but all the people I say complaining were kids who didn't even know who Harry Anderson was and most likely just misread his personality for rudeness. I found him quite pleasant, a bulk of the materials I brought home where from him all which he was happy to autograph.

I also got a chance to meet Tony Tuccillo at the convention and am happy to have made a friend in magic. Tony I look forward to seeing you in West Palm.

(For a few crappy cell phone pics and the same full review of the convention go to: poolside-reflections.blogspot.com)

REVIEW: 9th Annual Daytona Festival of Magic
November 6-8, 2009 Daytona Beach, Florida

Summary: For the ninth time since 2001, Harry Allen and Irv Cook pulled off another
successful weekend get-together. Decent hotel property, decent lineup for the Friday night cabaret and Saturday public show, a lot of lectures in a 48 hour period, teach-ins and a pretty good close show. Reasonably priced for a regional convention and Harry knows who his customers are and books accordingly.

This was my first Daytona convention but it won't be my last.

Convention registration opened at 12noon and the hotel was very accommodating by letting me check in at 11:30am just as I arrived. The majority of the rooms at the Daytona Beach Resort have full kitchens and a supermarket just across the street which is good as they don't have room service. The property is older not unlike a Holiday Inn but well kept, clean and has an attentive staff.

The dealer room was open early and had about 18 booths in two small rooms. Sadly there was a very small selection of books available although a ton of DVD's were offered by most. A sign of the times as I consider myself a book guy so I only came home with a couple of DVD's and a subscription to Kozmo's Reel Magic.

There were four lectures between 12:30pm and 6:00pm (Harry Allen, Charlotte Pendragon, Dave Hill,and Paul Richards). I wanted to mingle with some old and new friends and talk to the dealers before things got crazy so I decided to attend the Pendragon lecture. I heard good things about Harry, Dave Hill and Paul Richards from others throughout the weekend.

Charlotte Pendragon was disappointing as a lecturer. She seemed clearly uncomfortable addressing a room full of people and if she had a structured lecture planned she didn't follow it. She didn't seem to have a topic in mind when she started and at times began to discuss stagecraft but seemed to drift off topic.

Most people find it difficult to stand up and address a crowd but I was surprised to see how uncomfortable she was considering her performing experience. After 35 minutes I had seen and heard enough and left.

The strolling magicians contest was staged during the Friday night deli bash which is very much what real world conditions are for the stroller. My input to Harry would be to have all the contestants queue up and have contestant #1 work table #1, then move to table #2 while contestant #2 begins to work table #1. This way all contestants would get to all tables before they were called up to the buffet. It seemed the contestants were basically told to work as many tables as they could without any other instructions which led to a chaotic scene at times.

Our table had four performers stop by out of approximately 15 - 18. Performers were judged by applause at the end of the meal. There has to be a better way.

The cabaret show was MC'd by Norm Barnhart and featured David Merry, Barry Mitchell, Normondo the Great (Barnhart) and closed with David Gerrard. All performers were well received by the audience but I was taken by the Gerrard's performance. Professional, entertaining and polished his presentation of the floating zombie ball was beautiful. I thought that bit was overdone and retired a long time ago (and rightfully so in many cases) but Gerrard's made it seem as if it was really a silver orb magically floating to the theme of E.T.

Back to the dealers room after the show, then the lobby to mingle, the bar for a quick drink or two and time to get ready for The Jinx lecture by Harry Anderson & Jon Racherbaumer.

A quick FYI here......I spent some time earlier in the day at Anderson's & Racherbaumer's booth talking with each of them, ran into Harry in the lobby and by the elevators. We chatted about the cabaret show, street performers I had seen in NYC in the early 1970's and his upcoming lecture. Anderson seemed mellow and personable.

At the start of the lecture Harry addressed the audience and let us know this was not going to be a typical lecture. He and Racherbaumer wanted to discuss Annemann's impact on them and the world of magic and wanted this to be somewhat interactive. Anderson also let the audience know this would not be family friendly or for the politically correct. So warned they began and made sure the bar was open so everyone could 'reload' as the night progressed.

Overall, for me, it was worth my time and money. Both Racherbaumer and Anderson provided insight to Annemann, his effects and thinking about magic and magicians. Everyone received a copy of the Jinx Tribute which was included in the October Genii magazine (and of course we had the opportunity to have it signed by both authors). Racherbaumer showed us some ideas that were inspired by Annemann and Anderson did the same with some of the material he was selling at the lecture.

Their dealer booth did no sales prior to the lecture as it was offered first to those of us who signed up for the lecture. Anything remaining went on sale Saturday morning to the general public.

During the night Anderson was funny, insulting, profane with rants that included sexist, racist, homophobic jokes and worked in references to health care, chemotherapy, the handicapped (directed at his good friend Ricky Boone) and bestiality. He made sure to give shout-outs to David Copperfield, Jeff McBride and I'm sure I'm missing a few but you get the picture.

Again everyone was warned prior to the start of the lecture, the bar was open and the booze was flowing, an audience member was buying Harry the drinks the entire night when the formal lecture ended somewhere between 2:00am - 2:30am.

Both Jon & Harry stayed for autographs and pictures afterward. They were still there with about two dozen people when I staggered up to my room for the night.

The following morning I slept through both my wake up call and the chambermaid service so I missed both Bev Bergeron and Chris Capehart's lectures. I had seen Bev years ago but was really ticked off I missed Capehart which I understand was the hit of the convention.

The stage contest got underway just before the close up show started so you had to make a choice. Pavel, David Merry, Helder Guimaraes, and Kostya Kimlat performed for four different rooms rotating after doing approximately 12-15 minute sets.

The close up show was a real treat for me as my decision to attend the convention was made after seeing 2006 FISM winner Helder Guimaraes would be performing and lecturing. But first some thoughts about Guimaraes.

I first spotted him on Friday afternoon at the Pendragon lecture sitting in the back row by himself. With a deck of cards in his hand practicing something. Later that afternoon I saw him talking with a small group and again with a deck in his hand. Later I went into the bar to order a beverage and there's Helder at the bar by himself practicing. I spotted him about 8 or 9 times that weekend including the Saturday night show and he always had the deck in his hand......practicing.

When you see him perform live it's as if the cards are an extension of his arms. The cards move from hand to hand not as foreign objects manipulated by his fingers and hands but as a part of him. They float in his hands, held delicately but firmly, moving silently and swiftly doing just as Helder wants them to do.

At age 27 he is already reached great heights as a performer and competitor yet the feeling is the sky is the limit for Guimaraes.


Afternoon lectures started in the same hour as the close up contest so I decided to float around until Helder's lecture began. All of Saturday's lectures (Pavel, David Merry, Helder and Barry Mitchell)were held in the same room and unfortunately suffered from some disorganization and planning. First, the lecturer's merchandise table was set up to the side of the performers so after the lecture everyone
converged to the table like a politician to a kickback. As a result the next lecture couldn't start until the previous one completed their sales, answered their questions, took pictures, etc.

I didn't attend Pavel or David Merry's lecture but Merry ran about 15 - 20 minutes long. Guimaraes had to wait and didn't begin until about 4:45 or 4:50pm (original start time was 4:30pm). Barry Mitchell was to begin at 5:30pm and here's where it gets dicey.

A lecture that begins at 5:30pm will go until at least 6:30pm or longer. The evening show begins at 8pm and is at least 20 minutes away by car. That leaves everyone less than 90 minutes to eat, change and get to the show. Cutting it close to say the least.

Helder began his lecture by stating he didn't have a lot of merchandise to sell (a booklet of notes and 1 DVD) but did want to discuss his approach to magic. He used Giobbi's 'magic iceberg' as an example of his approach. Unfortunately at 5:30pm, less than an hour after he started, some convention assistants came into the room, followed by Barry Mitchell and asked Helder to wrap up his lecture. A few minutes later Harry Allen comes in and does the same thing.

Guimaraes thanks the audience and moves off to his merchandise table and while Barry Mitchell begins to set up. Then two convention workers pick up Helder's table of merchandise and walk it out the door into the lobby so Mitchell can begin his lecture.

Assuming positive intent it appears the Saturday afternoon lectures were not as well organized as they could be and bum-rushing a FISM winner off the stage was the conventions attempt at making sure attendee's could see all the lectures and have enough time to get to the show. At best it was poor event management made worse by a solution that was unfair to Helder who should have been given the same consideration as every other lecturer.

The Saturday night show seemed well received by the general public where I was sitting. Jack Cook (Irv's son) was MC and the show opened with the contest winners being announced and presented trophies by Harry Allen.

The opening act of Yo Kato from Korea who went from joining a magic club to placing third in the Asian FISM in 2008. His act consisted of manipulations with small magic wands who's tips detached and became thimbles. Fast paced to very up tempo music this 20-something year old has a bright future if he chooses to pursue a career performing. Not sure if the would be better suited to a cabaret vs full
stage as the angle I was at (third row extreme stage right) revealed more than I'm sure Kato wanted. Otherwise first class and polished including how he handled a minor mistake (He handled it just fine).

Pavel was next with a rope act also done entirely to music. Classic European cabaret act something I remember seeing a lot of during the 1970's. Solid performance considering it's been 30 years or so since I last saw Pavel.

Chris Capehart was next with a mostly family oriented show with a bunch of interaction with the children in the audience. Standard off the shelf effects which are in birthday magicians repertiore throughout the world, I think Capehart stole the entire show. The audience reaction was the best overall in my opinion and it's easy to see how Chris is able to make a full-time living performing and lecturing.

The second half opened with Harry Anderson who did basically a stand up bit. Funny, a few inside jokes, one off color remark and a straight jacket escape aided by a spectator in the front row (the spectator basically was asked to unbuckle the jacket so Harry could 'escape').

To close out the show was Charlotte Pendragon who brought along two dancers, a gymnast and mentalist. Conceptually a show with illusions, dance, music, gymnastics, mentalism and audience participation may very well work out given the right venues and target audience. However Ms. Pendragon first needs to get her show up to speed.

Again I was amazed at how uncomfortable she appeared to be addressing the audience. She delivered her script haltingly and at times appeared to be ad-libbing or perhaps she just forgot her lines. The timing was off and her attempt to connect with the audience by performing the linking rings and signed card to shoe was brutal. Frankly it appeared as if she decided to add the rings at the last minute as she was clearly uncomfortable with them and the signed card to shoe had one major glitch........it was her signature on the card, not the spectators.

Harry Allen did her a favor by allowing her to lecture, close the public show and conduct a teach-in. I attended two out of three and was disappointed. I hear the teach-in had 9 people attend which was almost a sell out as there was room only for ten. Again I certainly hope Ms. Pendragon takes the weekend as a learning experience and works to realize her full potential.

The Saturday night lecture by Kostya Kimlat did not disappoint. Kimlat is very personable, professional and has a bright future ahead of him. He also had a teach in on Sunday morning and promised to stay up for the lecture as long as there was one at least one person in the room with him. It's nice to be young.

I had to return home early on Sunday so I didn't attend any of the lectures or activities. Sadly I missed meeting Magic Ian whom I've corresponded with recently and talked with several Floridians who had good things to say about his material and knowledge.

Hightlights this year was meeting a lot of magicians who I only knew from the internet or talking to on the phone. It was a pleasure to speak for a bit with Harry Anderson, Jon Racherbaumer, Kozmo, and meet guys like Bob (Largo), Josh (Orlando), Mac Stone (Miami), Maldo (Orlando). Overall it was a great weekend, a decent facility and I'll register shortly for the 2010 convention. Harry Allen has already announced Drew Thomas, Steve Dacri, Latco and Stoil as booked for next year.

Less than 12 months to go before the 2010 Daytona Festival of Magic.............

Hello.... I wasn't at the convention so I cannot comment on specifics but I have just recieved a cell phone message from Ricky D Boone who doesn't post on the Café but asked me to do so on his behalf. The gist of the message is that he was concerned that people may have been offended at Harry Anderson's behavior toward him... Ricky, as the owner of the local Asheville magic shop and an icon of magic in the area is a great friend of Harry's, they regularly trade friendly banter and barbs. It was all, in Ricky's words, "part of the act".

Mind you... Ricky is a real jerk... he probably deserved it.

tom

I had a blast, thanks to everyone for making it a great weekend.

I spent $ 50.00 plus tax, drove 238 miles to spend 3 hours learning and laughing with a room full of like minded people listening to Jon and Harry... and then turned around and drove 238 miles back home. Yes, it was well worth it for me! Those of you that were there will understand this from Harry," Go with God."
I certainly had a great time. Thought Farmer.

I got a chance to the first Daytona magic convnetion in 2001 the same week as 9/11 and a week a hurricane came through. Despite all that it turned out to be a fun a covention.

I had Harry Anderson at the SEAM convention in Atlanta last year and he was great. He took time to talk to everyone took pictures. He was just a pleasure to work with. And his lecture on the MAGIC sqaure was IMO the best. He lecture has so many pieces gold in it that everyone should listen.

I went to Ashville to visit Ricky Boone with a friend of mine and Harry came to dinner with us and we had a great time. And harry and ricky have a great relationship. So any jokes that Harry says about Ricky is for a laugh because that is all we did that night we were at dinner.

Ken

Ricky and Harry are the best of friends. They are both wonderful people.

I wonder why Charlotte didn't do so well? She's a real pro with decades of experience behind her. Sounds like her nerves just got the best of her.

So were the dances, the acrobats and the mentalist any good in Charlottes show ?