People from the past …

Ron Mandrake was the son of famed magician Leon Mandrake and although he died young I had the chance to call him friend for many years. He was one of those people that believed in me when I was living in the basement of a house in East Vancouver, with twenty people living upstairs. He always knew I was going to be a great magician, like his Dad. I don’t think I have achieved that kind of success yet, but every time I doubt myself I can hear him telling me how I can do it.

Ron never made it as a magician as he had many other responsibilities to tend to in his short lived life. First and foremost for him were his two sons. Sean and Jerome. I lost touch with these two before they became teens. Yesterday I was reunited with them through Facebook. Sean married the love of his life on Saturday and Jerome is working on a career as a singer. He has a great look and fantastic voice. He has his Fathers stage presence and looks quite at home with a microphone in his hand.

Although this video showed him in a venue where people wouldn’t stop talking, and the video is short you can see more of him on youtube.

It was great to connect, even if only by the internet, to these people from the past …

Tag you’re it!

I’m sitting in a park at the ferry terminal watching Hannah play Tag. Everyone else is faster than Hannah when it comes to this game. They are all much older, they climb faster and also jump higher! How can a girl get ahead when she has so many disadvantages?

Well, after being “it” for far too long she tried to change the rules. When they wouldn’t make the changes she tried to quit. That’s when Dad stepped in and told her quitting wasn’t an option. All she had to to do was study her opponents and learn their strength and weakness’s. Then use those to win. Hannah’s smart. No, really smart! Knowing she couldn’t win the way she had been playing, she changed tactics. Not once, but many times and now as I sit here watching her play tag, she’s in charge. The other kids are listening to her and doing as she says. She realized being “it” is not a bad thing. In my world, being “it” is everything.

Last night was a night of being “it”! I had the honor and privilege to close a gala show, Magic and Mirth, at the Isabella Reader theatre in Langford, BC. It was a sold out crowd and they were there for fun. The show, an annual event, was dedicated to Tony Eng. I was given an opportunity to present a special award to Sandra Eng, Tony’s Daughter, in memory of her Father. I also presented the Lottie Hemeon Award of Excellence from the Society of American Magicians to Teresa Midbo. Teresa is an outstanding assistant and partner to Murray Hatfield and I was thrilled to be the one to present this award. I in fact created this award in honor of Lottie who was a mentor to me and Lori.

In our youth Lottie taught us much of what we do today. I learned to how walk on stage, bow and act on and off stage. She was also kind enough to let me take her husband, Carl’s, tuxedo to a tailor and have it copied. The tailor was Rocco of British Custom Tailors and he was a master of his craft. He did work for such greats as Peter Reveen! He would never have done the work if Lottie had not said it was OK. That in itself is a fun story. Lottie had told me to go to Rocco and ask to have a tux made like Carl’s. Originally she did not give me the tux, she just said to go see him. When I spoke to Rocco and asked him to make the tux, he replied it would be impossible without the original to look at and study. So I went back to Lottie and told her I needed the tux. She looked surprised but gave me it to me and I headed back. When I arrived with tux in hand, he just laughed at me and said ” I don’t need that, I just wanted to make sure it was really alright with Lottie”!

Lottie was more than your average assistant. She was a partner in the the show. Without her I don’t know if Carl would have been the magician he became. Carl knew this and always insisted that Lottie had equal billing on all posters and programs. Most places didn’t want to do this but Carl was “it” and sometimes being “it” isn’t so bad …

“Be Praised for your integrity; be feared for your courage.”
Life’s Little Instructions

Been a fun week …

Well I have been quite active this week and creative too. I returned home from Taiwan with a brain full of ideas for card tricks. You see at magic lectures I usually travel with lots of whatever effect I am teaching. Lately these tricks have been larger heavier effects that take up lots of room in my luggage. While sitting at the airport I said to myself I should come up with more card tricks as they pack small! Great reasoning huh!

I have always loved an effect called Bicycle Built for Five by Ton Onosaka of Japan, but dislike the preparation and set up as I can’t keep it straight in my head. Max Maven did a great job with the instructions I just can’t retain the order and handling for some reason. Basically you show five jokers from a deck of Bicycle playing cards, backs and fronts. One joker, the leader, is set aside, face down. As you count trough the cards, one by one, the remaining jokers magically turn face down! Show the faces of the cards. Nothing left but the abandoned bicycles! Where are the missing jokers? Turn over the leader card. There are all five jokers, joined together and look like this:

Here is a video of Ivan Mallia performing the original version:

I liked the idea but wanted to make it super simple and not have all the set up over so many moves so I created this:

I also used the same gimmick cards to create an additional ending to my very popular MatriXpress routine. It really didn’t need anything extra, but I have to admit I love the idea … if I say so myself!

Tonight I have a sold out show to raise funds for the PAC of Hannah’s school. The show is in fact over sold by 24 seats as the administrators of the facility told us there were more seats than there really are … magic! Should be lots of fun as David Wilson, Trevor Watters and Lorena Paradon have all agreed to come help again. Last time we did a show together at the River Rock Casino it was a blast!

Saturday we will be off to Victoria to close the Magic and Mirth show for the Victoria Magic Circle. It will be lots of fun as I get to present a special award to Teresa Midbo as the assistant of the year for SAM #95. This is a super cool award named after my dear friend Lottie Hemeon. Lori and Hannah have both been presented this award in the past.

Sunday I will return home from the Island and for the next week or two it’s all about getting in gear for the IBM/SAM competition … oh and fixing and painting the house, filming the video, yada yada yada …

Coming Home …

Well my trip to Taiwan was fun filled and I feel so energized by the great shows and audiences. I am trying hard to forget the whole Whistler deal and focus on creating the theatre using an unconventional style format. I’ll tell you more about this in the near future.

My flight home was delayed for 90 minutes on the ground. Here’s an interesting note. JAL (Japanese Airline) had an issue with their onboard entertainment units and the flight attendants went through the cabin giving everyone a form to fill out to receive JAL coupons which could be used for payments towards future flights, in-flight shopping or JAL Hotels. On the other hand Air Canada, aware of an issue had us board the plane and then informed us we would be delayed. We sat in the plane on the ground for 90 minutes before the issue was resolved. Our compensation you may ask … nothing, not even a “were really sorry”. Oh well, other than that the flight was uneventful and it was great to be greeted at the airport by Hannah’s giant smile and a hug from Lori. I got home to find a house full of family and spent the next hour recounting the activities of the weekend and finding out all about my Father-in-laws 80th birthday party which I had missed.

I took a short nap and headed out for an evening of music with the incredible Missy Higgins. If you have not heard of this amazing artist, I’m not that surprised. She is just catching on here in North America but is a sensation in Australia. This was apparent to anyone in the audience since about 50% of the crowd were Aussie and sang every word to every song. Missy has so many great songs but I am particularly fond of Scar, the Special Two and Steer. These were songs I was told to listen to awhile ago and was thrilled to be given the gift of Missy!

To add to a perfect evening the club, the Commodore Ballroom, had a full menu and I had a huge Lobster tail and mushroom sandwich! The evening was perfectly divine. By the time the concert had ended, the jet-lag had begun to set in and it was time to go home and sleep. Tomorrow I start fresh on Plan B of Whistler Magic …

Life brings us special people to learn from and make us better. When these special people end up being our friends we are twice blessed.

1st Impressions ….

First impressions are so important. You only get one chance to make a first impression. I’ve heard this said so many times and to be honest I was not so sure that first impressions were all that important until this weekend. Let me back up a bit and I’ll explain.

This weekend I was the invited guest of the TMA, Taiwan Magic Association, for their annual magic convention. Several international guests from China, Japan, Germany, the USA and of course Canada were brought together to present a weekend of learning and sharing magic. Over the years I have participated, both as a registrant and as an honored guest, in many of these types of events. They are usually fun events and every once and awhile they are exceptional. If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile you will know that every once and awhile they are not well organized and the guest entertainers are treated less than stellar. Taiwan was fantastic!

I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to exit the luggage area at an airport and actually see a person waiting for you to arrive! I had barely stepped through the frosted doors of the customs hall when I heard my name being shouted. The man shouting was waving his arm and grinning from ear to ear and I was soon to learn this was Leonardo, my host and soon to be new friend in Taiwan.

I had to wrestled him so I could help move my luggage to an awaiting limo and we were off to the convention hotel. I had traveled a little more than 17 hours and was a bit tired to say the least. However upon arrival at the hotel Leonardo suggested we go for something to eat. Always one for a challenge, I said yes and we began a trek around the deserted streets of Sansia Township in search of a restaurant. Did I mention it was after midnight on a Friday? We found a small cafe that served hot pots and I was treated to a truly traditional style Taiwanese meal. When it came time to leave I was not really looking forward to the miles of walking we had done to find the place and was pleasantly surprised to find Leonardo had called and woken a friend to drive over to pick us up and drop me off at the hotel! My first impression of next few days in Taiwan was also that positive. I guess the saying is true.

Over the next few days I did two lectures to standing room only crowds of several hundred eager magicians. Unlike North America where the age of the magician seems to be getting older, in Taiwan I don’t recall seeing many older magicians at all! In fact I would say the average age of the participant would be in their early twenties. These young magicians were excellent students and asked all the right questions. I was also pleasantly surprised to see how many actually spoke English! These kids got my jokes and by the end of the weekend everyone was saying “Easy”. In fact I dropped into the lecture of a friend and when he said the method to his effect was easy the crowd broke out in unison to scream back at him “Easy” which at first threw him off but then seeing me laughing in the back he quickly figured it out and went so far as to point me out in the back of the room.

That evening I was treated to second row center seats for the gala show and I was witness to some of the finest magicians of Asia. The next day came quickly as I didn’t get a lot of sleep. It’s at events like this when I get extra time to just sit and talk to special friends and this evening was lots of fun.

The next morning I slept in and unfortunately missed the close up magic contest. I was sad to have missed this as I love to cheer on competitors as I know exactly how they feel when they are facing an audience who is there to judge them and their magic. In the afternoon I spent my time with the technical staff of the theatre in preparation for the final gala show. There were a whole bunch of technical issues to solve but with the help of their excellent crew, Leonardo’s translation and the generosity of Lu Chen, an Asian magic celebrity, I was able to present the show I wanted to share.

I was in a unique spot in the show. Lu Chen, who would act as Master of Ceremonies for the event started the evening with a very clever dove and manipulation act. He then did a bit of talking to warm the crowd up so more and introduced me. I can’t tell you how great it was to walk on stage to a full theatre of screaming fans! To start I did my presentation of the cups and balls using my new video camera and a huge scree in the center of the stage. The reaction to the ending of the cups was unbelievable. It sounded like air rushing out of a room followed by a deafening round of applause. I next performed my version of the walking knot rope routine to the beautiful voice of Etta James. This too was followed by very loud applause. I closed with my signature routine, Shape of my Heart and although a large percentage of the crowd did not understand a word I had said during the show or what Sting was signing it was well received. OK, it was better than well received. The audience leapt to their feet and cheered, clapped and screamed and it seemed to last forever. I wasn’t quite done so I tried to get them to sit. I then ended my portion of the show by making the deck I had used magically go back to new deck order in a sealed box with the cellophane. The young lady, Mary, who had selected the card was given the deck and she opened it to reveal her card in the correct position inside the sealed box. I barely got to say thank you and good night in Chinese, when the crowd were once again on their feet going crazy with applause. I wish I could have stood on that stage all night … they were such a generous crowd.

Following the show the performers were lead to a signing table where I believe I signed over 300 posters and souvenir books. I could not even begin to guess how photographs were taken but lets just say sunglasses might have been a good idea!

So now that you have heard all the good news, here’s the bad.

First impressions really are important. You see way back in September I submitted an expression of interest for the lease of the Rainbow Theatre in Whistler with the hope of opening my own theatre and being able to be at home and still do what I love. From the moment I began the process I felt I was just spinning my wheels. My first impression was that the folks in charge would never see the whole picture as they have their own vision and focus for Whistler Resort. Well I was right. I lost the bid to have the theatre in favor of the folks who produce the Whistler Film Festival (which will be held December 4th to the 7th). Whistler Film Festival, would like to work with the Whistler Tourism Board to create Canada’s first digital theater. The board has decided to move forward with the digital theater concept as it allows for more flexibility in using the theater for their convention business, and will create the platform to expand into the film industry.   While my concept would certainly enhance the family offering, they feel that the digital theater partnership is better aligned with the long range strategies of the conference center and the resort.

So with those few words I lose a dream …

17 Hours is a long time …

Yesterday I spent 17 hours in Murphy 14 on a trip to see Janet Vance in Corvallis, Oregon. I crawled out of bed at 6 AM which means I had a bout four hours of sleep and that going to bed early thing is really something I just can’t grasp.

I made great time to the border, the line was short and the Customs/Immigration guy was nice. This could actually be a fun trip. I basically only stopped twice on the way down south. Both were to get gas and stuff to munch and drink. I arrived at the home of my friends Dwight and Janet and was thrilled to see Janet just coming out of the garage as I drove up. I had heard she was not doing well and movement was an issue. Well someone forgot to tell her. Yes she needs a walker but that didn’t stop her and I from running around the house and downtown Corvallis that day.

It was really nice to also just sit and talk about Dwight. I was really crushed when he passed away. You see I had planned to make this trip back in January but postponed it to do the tour of Spain and the appearance in Blackpool. Upon coming home I rang them up to see if the coming weekend would be good for them and was told Dwight was past the stage of seeing guests. Somethings you will always regret. On the bright side I have an awesome memory of the last time Dwight and I hung out and it certainly the way I want to remember him.

Well I collected the PCAM stuff Dwight and Janet had so carefully guarded all these years, along with an awesome picture of Dwight, and was back on the road home. Yup I spent seven and half hours driving to spend a few precious moments.

On the drive home I jumped off the I-5 to treat myself to a Western Bacon cheese burger from Carl’s Jr. It was my lucky days as it was 2 for $4! For those of you who are only getting to know me … Carl’s Jr does not exist in Canada. In fact they have only three in the whole state of Washington ( Spokane, Tri-City’s and Vancouver, WA.). I love their burgers and commercials. No really I could easily never eat another Big Mac, Wendy’s, Burger King or Mama Burger … but Carl’s Jr is special. Folks who live in California look at me like I have three heads when I mention my infatuation. The difference is they can go anytime they want! A trip to LA without a Carl’s Jr is very rare for me. In fact I recall once when working for Paramount Pictures. They had sent a limo to pick me up and take me where ever for the weekend. I had one schedule date with them on Sunday, but until then the car and driver were mine and as an added bonus the driver gave me an envelope full of cash to spend! Sweet. I immediately told him to go through the nearest Carl’s Jr drive through. I will never forget the look on the guy face … he said, excuse me Sir … I looked in the envelope … you can do WAY BETTER! By then end of the weekend that driver and I had consumed enough Carl’s and Dr. Pepper to last me a few years!

Back to the drive. Now I was loaded up with a couple of burgers and a the largest soda I have ever seen and I was once again on the I-5 headed North. It’s a long trip and I was tried. Not the perfect situation and so I did the one thing I know that keeps me alert and wake … I called some friends. It was a really fun night of chatting and sharing. I spoke to some friends I hadn’t called in over a year and some who have just recently had very cool experiences. The time just slipped away and before I knew it I was back in Canada. I left the house at 6:30 AM and drove in the driveway at half past twelve. That’s around 18 hours but not all of it was spent in a car. Some of it was spent with dear friends …

Tomorrow I don’t think I’m driving anywhere …

Saying goodbye …

Today I said good bye to Tony Eng. Me and a few hundred people were in attendance. To see so much love and humor was a testament to the man and how he touched the world. My dear friends Eric and Murray both spoke from the heart and I was touched by their words. Julie, Tony’s eldest daughter, was last to speak and did such an amazing job I know Tony would be proud.

Following the service we went to a reception and there I was able to share stories with others about a great man. Some I had heard a dozen times and a few I had never heard. One of my favorite moments was a fly fisherman who said Tony’s biggest fear was that Ann, his Wife, would sell his equipment for what he told her he paid! Now if that didn’t make you laugh …

Almost a dozen of us from Vancouver headed to get to the Ferry and on the way decided to stop and have a bite to eat. It was Mother’s Day dinner and most restaurants were packed. We finally found a small place called Smitty’s and a lovely lady named Shellie served us with a flair. When we got ready to leave Shelllie spoke to Hannah and asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up? Hannah replied she wanted to do many things, but for certain she would be a magician. This elicited a laugh from Shellie and then Hannah told her I was a magician. Shellie said she kind of guessed it from the 4F pin on my suit lapel. Shellie then asked if I had heard Tony Eng had died. I was set back at first. Then she shared a story of how Tony changed her 13 year old sons life by teaching him magic and making it possible for him to fit in to their new school at such a difficult time in their lives. I was stunned and made her repeat the story for everyone … a silence fell over the group … and then a smile and feeling I will never be able to explain …

We said our goodbyes to Shellie and then raced to the Ferry …

Tomorrow I’m off to Corvalis, Oregon to see Janet Vance. I haven’t seen her since the passing of her husband and my dear friend, Dwight. It will be a long day … but I’m really looking forward to a hug …

My friend …

This is Tony Eng. If you ever met him, you’re already smiling. You couldn’t help it. He was a small man with a huge heart. We all picked on his size, but never in mean way. He could always make you laugh. I was just 17 when my girlfriend and I broke up and I was in a terrible state. Tony saw this and basically took me under his wing and helped me realize it was not the end of the world. Late nights eating steaks and doing card tricks was just the cure!

I had always dreamed of being a full time magician and seeing Tony work I knew it was it was all about the entertainment value of the magic. He did tricks that people will never forget, but even more important he did MAGIC that will live forever.

When I decided to compete in the IBM’s World contest I needed to practice on people I could trust. No one could know what I planned to do and so I turned to Tony. I will never forget the expression on his face or the words he said when the effect was over. It was at that very moment I knew I stood a chance of winning. For the first time in my life I fooled Tony and made him scratch his head and he swore. The only time I ever heard him swear…

The Times Colonist wrote a story about him today and I have pasted it here for you to read:

Tony Eng lived a magical life
Former owner of Trick & Joke Shop succumbs to leukemia and skin cancer

Jeff Bell
Times Colonist

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

A meeting of the Victoria Magic Circle last night turned into a memorial for one of its most accomplished members, Tony Eng, who died Sunday at the age of 61.

The hope when the meeting was planned was that Eng would present his namesake trophy to the winner of a competition for the best close-up magic trick. Instead, fellow magicians like Shayne King took time to share thoughts of a man they respected and admired.

“He taught me a lot, he gave a lot of magicians their start,” said King, who managed Tony’s Trick & Joke Shop for Eng. He has continued at the store since it became Murray’s Trick & Joke Shop two years ago under Murray Hatfield.

Hatfield said running the store has shown him just how far-reaching Eng’s influence has been. Eng’s legendary demonstrations of his sleight-of-hand at the store counter were a long-time attraction, Hatfield said.

“I can’t tell you how many times since we took over the shop that I’ve had people coming in and saying thinks like ‘We’re here from Bakersfield, Calif. and we were here five years ago, and it was just the high point of our trip’”.

It was all because of Tony and the way he made people feel.

“Tony was a master and definitely one-of-a-kind, and he will be greatly missed by both the magic community at large and by a lot of non-magicians who just happened to come in and meet him through the shop.”

Hatfield said that many people he speaks to are finding the news of Eng’s death hard to believe.

“This has been such a blow. For the last three days, I’ve been hearing nothing but people just being in shock. Tony was such an awesome guy — not only was he an exceptional performer and a great businessman, he just was a really nice man.”

The response to his death means a great deal to the family, said Sandra Eng, one of his two daughters.

“The word is starting to ripple out there now and it touches my heart every time I hear how significantly Dad made an impact on people.”

She said her father, born in Victoria in 1946, was diagnosed last October with both a form of leukemia and a rare type of skin cancer.

His fascination with magic went back to his early childhood, she said.

“He got his first magic kit when he was eight and did his first paid gig at the age of 12.”

His ability as a magician had him performing at innumerable charity events over the years. He also became a Sunday night fixture at the Japanese Village restaurant, where he entertained diners for two decades.

Her father had many interests outside of magic, as well, his daughter said, and entrepreneurial skills that saw him run a successful wholesale business and establish the Premier School of Bartending.

“He loved to play racquetball. He was a fierce competitor and his Y buddies are going to sorely miss him. He also went fly-fishing, he did woodworking and he went RVing. Mom and Dad started travelling in the last few years quite a bit down south to Arizona.”

A tribute is set for 3 p.m. Sunday at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2008

Happy Birthday to my Dad … goodbye to an old friend ..

Today would have marked my Father’s 74th birthday and in a few days it would have been his 51st Anniversary. It’s a date I will always remember and celebrate in my own little way. I have another date not to forget now as one of my dearest mentors passed away yesterday after a long and hard fight.

Tony Eng is a hard person to describe. He is one of the few people I have ever met in my life who had no enemies. No one even disliked him a tiny bit! He was the father of two of daughters, a loving husband, committed business man and respected an admired magician.

I spent several years growing up in his home town of Victoria, BC and the most common thing I heard when telling people I was a magician was not “how do you do that” or “can you make my spouse disappear”. No what I heard was ” do you know Tony Eng?”. I heard it as many as a dozen times a day on the city bus. Once the bus driver saw me with a deck of cards and didn’t even ask if I was a magician, he just said “have you seen Tony Eng with a deck of cards?”. That bus driver, Carl Hemeon, was later to be my mentor too.

I find it hard to express how I feel as it is so soon. I suspect I will have more to say in the days to come.

On a happier note my good friend Claus has come out of his surgery and is now in his own private room at the hospital. He will be there for a few weeks as the removal of ones esophagus is quite an ordeal. Claus is a great guy and has the strength of a dozen men. I pray for his speedy recovery.

Jim Thielemann has posted a few more scenes from the Fins and Skins shoot. We are just working out when I will have time to return to finishing shooting the rest of the episode. I found out Jim won’t be able to be one of the camera guys so I have to start getting better at my golfing!

too many funerals and not enough weddings …

The past few years it seems I am attending a whole lot more funerals than I am attending weddings. I am saying goodbye to so many more friends than I am making. Recently I lost a dear friend, Dwight Vance, who was just 69. On May 9th he would have been 70. He was a huge man with a huge heart. His love for magic was only surpassed by his love of music and Janet, his wife. I hated to see a man with such strength and power fade away. Disease is such a terrible way to die.

I watched my Father die slowly over the years before his passing. I watched his body fail him but his mind was sharp. It wasn’t until the pain was so severe that they gave him drugs to ease the pain that also took his memories. I cherished the moments between morphine shots when he would become lucid and share stories a son should never really hear.

I have dear friends right now who are learning the true strength of their Father as he fights a battle with death. A battle no one wins. Through all the pain there will be moments of utter joy and humor that will sustain them through the sorrow that is sure to follow. Their Father is my friend and mentor. A man who gave me more than he will ever know. As a boy he gave me comfort through bad relationships, taught me social skills by watching him work a crowd, taught me values by showing me his and most of all friendship by being mine. He is but 62 and has lived a life of value and kindness and this cruel fate that has been thrust upon him is without merit. Why do so many good people die young while those with questionable pasts seem to live far past their deserved years?

I pray for my friend, his family and the hundreds of friends who will be affected when we lose this great man. I pray that as I grow I will be even a mere shadow of that man.