After a public show, the audience files out and I’m left alone in the empty room. There is no evidence that something extraordinary had taken place. The moment has passed.
There was a stretch of time when I felt a giant disappointment after my performances. The flip side of two high-energy ninety minute shows, back to back, is the inevitable drop back to reality. For three hours, I gave pleasure and excitement to my audiences, brain and body working at full tilt. Yet, at that time, there was little pleasure in it for me.
The painting above resonated with me during this time of my life. […]
About one year ago, I spotted a gentleman at my show wearing a handsome Hermes necktie. It was royal blue, and decorated with magic rabbits jumping out of top hats. During the show, I complimented the man on his tie. “Appropriate for a magic show,” I mentioned with a wink. After the show was over, I was surprised when he walked up to me, undid the knot, and handed it to me as a gift. […]
Here is a gallery of some original Chan Canasta paintings. They were for sale through a Belgian art dealer I came across online. There are 21 images in this gallery – enjoy the vivid colors!
According to the National Theater in Washington DC, “The day when everyone dressed formally to go to the theatre has passed.” Despite being a historic theater – one that every U.S. president has attended since 1835 – the National has relaxed its dress code to allow patrons a freer choice. The theater’s website states, “To feel well-groomed, comfortable and good about yourself for a special occasion is really the guiding rule.”
I was upset to read this.
I believe that dressing up to go to the theater is a form of civility that should be resurrected. […]
The Essential Magic Conference will be held on July 15, 16 and 17, in Portugal. I was asked to participate in one of their “passion videos.” This video just went live today on YouTube.
I have not mentioned this in print before, but since the very beginning my goal has always been to perform Chamber Magic for twenty years. There aren’t too many shows that have staying power. Not only magic shows, but theatrical shows in general. Ten years have flown by, and I want to keep Chamber Magic alive for ten more. Maybe I’m crazy, but I love performing this show. I’ve molded my life around it.[…]
(An online review by London mastermind Ian Rowland:) Is this the perfect magic show? If “perfection” means to state a clear aim and then to fulfill that aim with unerring accuracy, then yes, quite possibly, it is. So let us first be clear what the show is all about. “Before the days of radio and television,” runs the official programme for the show, “wealthy patrons would regularly invite entertainers into their homes, to delight small gatherings of family and friends. In those sophisticated, friendly environs, the living room became the stage, and the audience looked gleefully on, mere inches from the show.” Steve Cohen, largely inspired by the “salon” magic of such heroes as Hofzinser and Houdin, aims to re-create this experience for today’s audiences. Bullseye! […]
(An online review by the erudite Dustin Stinett:) Have you ever wondered what it must have been like to attend an evening of conjuring in Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser’s intimate salon? While I doubt Steve Cohen would ever compare his own performances to that of Hofzinser’s (and we will never know precisely what that experience was like), “Chamber Magic” certainly must have a similar quality: At the very least, it is one of the closest entertainments available today that hails back to those genteel times, when people had no other option but to leave their homes, or invite performers into them, to enjoy an evening of escapism. […]
I’ve long been a fan of magician John Carney. His latest book, though slim, is a true gem. It’s a love letter to magicians for generations to come. Weighing in at only 91 pages, Magic By Design offers the growing magic student a practical overview of how to grow and improve as a performer. How […]