My Seventh Blog Post
My latest book, The Final Conference Illusions, is starting to arrive at homes all over the world. I’d love to get your comments once you’ve had a chance to look it over. Customers are marveling over the two free pieces of original memorabilia. We should all thank my dear friend Cathy Daniel for making these collectibles available.
I met John and Cathy when I was seventeen years old and they lived right down the street from me for many decades. When I first started researching the history of the Sawing in Half illusion during the 1970s, John gave me one of his brochures (circa 1960) which I cherished. After John’s passing, I was helping Cathy clear out a precarious loft on their property and discovered a stash of original brochures. Due to Cathy’s generosity, I was able to include an original copy of this tri-fold brochure with each copy of the deluxe edition of my Sawing book. A couple of years later, I discovered the mother lode. More brochures and a large stack of 1967 It’s Magic programs. Growing up I never missed Milt Larsen’s annual It’s Magic show and this was by far the nicest of all their programs. The cover features one of my favorite pieces of artwork from Earl Newman. The performers that year included Jay Marshall, Alan Kent (stage name of Ken Whitaker inventor of the Impaled illusion and so much more), Slydini, Bob Haskell, and the second half was John Daniel’s World of Fantasy. The program includes a number of photographs showing the different themed numbers that made up John’s show plus a complete listing of the cast and crew that includes some very familiar names. This was John’s first attempt at a full-evening magical revue that would later turn into his acclaimed Shazzam show.
The program also includes an article about the Magic Castle, then in its fifth year of operation, which you could join for an initiation fee of $200 plus $20 annual dues, a full-page ad for Genii magazine ($6 per year), and a back-cover photo showing the inside of Bert Wheeler’s famous Hollywood Magic Shop.
As of July 27, I have sent out 250 sets of these free gifts and my supply is now depleted. I hope you got a set!