I had the honor of being Harry Lorayne's permanent spectator at his lecture last Tuesday night at Fantasma. If you were lucky enough to attend, I'm sure you'll agree that it was a tour de force. Harry lectured for about 3 1/2 hours!
Included in the lecture were timeless classics like "The Card Sharp and the Four Gamblers," "Gambler vs. Magician," "The Best Gosh Darn Impromptu Linking Card Effect You'll Ever See" and "The Sting."
There was also an in depth discussion of Harry's "Ultra Move" and a lap/switch of four cards for the four aces that drew gasps. Of course I'm leaving a ton out, but those were just some highlights.
Bottom line is that we all got to spend some quality time with one of magic's true living legends. Not a bad way to spend a Tuesday evening!!
Larry Zaslow

Man, I'm green with envy...Harry Lorayne is a living legend and to spend 3 1/2 hrs with him is a once in a lifetime treat! Kudos to you...
Cardamagically,
<<<KRaZy4KaRdZ>>>

What a treat.

When Harry lectured in Australia (May 16th, 1986) at Maurie Rooklyn's home, he performed, lectured and amazed everyone for about 4 hours, which contained 8 hours of material. Plus, autographed books, performed requests and more. Almost 21 years ago & I remember it like yesterday. Thanks Harry.

Cheers,
Richard

Harry does everything with passion and conviction . . . great to have such characters amongst us.

Unquestionably one of the finest card teachers out there. I've enjoyed every lecture, lecture notes, video and book I have ever had access to when it comes to Harry. And I've never seen anybody recover from a flub better than he does, sometimes when he messes up, it turns out even better than what he was going to do. One of the all time best teachers out there.

And the man is going to be 81 this year!

QUESTION TO HARRY (If he's reading this, and he often does!)

Do you ever say to an audience, "Sorry folks, I screwed that one up!" or do you always manage to salvage the situation? (Confession: I screwed up "Anniversary Waltz" on the client and his bride once. I still have night-sweats about it.)

Ross: I've said that to magicians, NEVER to laymen. No need to. Best - HARRY LORAYNE.

What happened and how did you manage it? I think it would be useful for everybody knowing this kind of experiences...

Dave

I was at a lecture of Harry's in Dallas many years ago. What a treat! I wish I could do it again sometime. He is a fountain of knowledge and a masterful teacher.

His book, "The Magic Book" made me realize I could indeed perform card Magic. Then of course I had to get most all he's written....and I have his memory course as well... which is amazing!

Harry, thanks for everything!

Best,
Bobby

I've been a fan of Harry Lorayne's ever since I bought his mail-order memory training course back in...uhm, when was that? Oh yeah...1969. I was 16 years old and this man's mind STILL scares me.

Word of another lecture by Harry, at Fantasma or anywhere else in NYC, might well have me jumping on JetBlue for a quick trip there from here in California.

I also had the opportunity to attend Harry's lecture at Fantasma in NYC. I have to admit that was disappointed in the venue in several different ways.

Harry seemed to be fighting an uphill battle with this lecture. He was fighting a cold, he had trouble with the lighting and he appeared to be disorganized in between effects. But there was no question that once he got into the meat of one of his card effects that he was very thorough and he was also very entertaining.

He had some great tips and was very generous with sharing his knowledge and experience with the large audience of magi(that was occasionally rude and chattering in the background.) Harry often went off-tangent but it was always for something worthwhile and for something on-target and then he would come back to where he left off... I guess that memory stuff DOES work He often fooled me with some of the simplest and most elegant of effects and moves and I just loved that.

I was only able to stay for the first 3 hours, but felt I got more than my moneys worth. Thanks Harry for some great stuff, it was an honor to watch you perform!

If someone in the management at Fantasma wants to PM me, I have suggestions about how to improve the venue.

I also was told by a few friends that some magicians in the back were talking and laughing and being very disruptive and disrespectful ....so sad ..

Let's hope the lecture organizers at Fantasma will learn from this one, and do something to keep the lecture area quiet for future events.

Or hire some "enforcement" staff from Jersey.

Lorayne deserves better.

Boy, I must have been at a different lecture! I don't usually allow any talking, disrupting, etc., when I work. If I'd heard it, I'd have stopped it, but I sure as h*** didn't. Anyway, I just saw this post and got my laugh for the day. Talk about a back-handed compliment. Fortunately, from what I've heard, Mr. Joe Pitt is either in the vast minority, or doesn't really know what the h*** he's talking about. Incidentally, the best stuff came after hour three! I'm sure Fantasma will be checking with you for your improvements. Best - HARRY LORAYNE.

That's probably the difference between sitting in one of the front rows and sitting in one of the back rows. Next time, you'll just have to find a venue where we can *all* sit up front, Harry.

I don't know how many magic lectures you've attended, Joe, but this one was smooth as silk. It's true I had the best seat in the house, right beside Harry, but I certainly would have noticed if he was annoyed by any disturbances. He wasn't.
You've also got to understand Harry's teaching style. He likes to keep things loose so he can go off on pertinent tangents. This is what gives his lectures a unique energy. If you have any of his videos you'll see that he is the same way in that medium.
Just my two cents...
Larry Zaslow

Snushy, you got me thinking about why I enjoy watching HL's tapes so much. The conversational, "weaving" style of his performances makes one feel like he's right there in your living room. His quick and straightforward delivery, the strong personality, his interesting sidebars, to say nothing of his great technique make him a joy to watch. Not to gush or anything but, seriously, if somebody were to start a contest to proclaim "Professor II", my nomination would be Lorayne.

There is no magic venue in the world like Fantasma. We take the performing art of magic very, very seriously. We are very fortunate that Harry agreed to lecture with us and we all loved it!How many magic venues do you know that have 3 flat screen tv's? We even had Harry appearing on one of them. There is no one like Harry. We treated Harry with the same respect like we do all others. We have had in the past Jeff McBride, David Williamson, Darwin Ortiz, Rocco, Rafael Benatar and more of the best. Everyone that has ever experienced a lecture at Fantasma has nothing but the greatest things to say. If someone had a constructive comment, then I wish they would have approached me right there and then. Feel free to email me personally with any comments. Roger@fantasmamagic.com We can't please everyone, but we will sure try! Can't wait to have Harry lecture again and look forward to his Best of Friends #3. It will be another classic.

81 this year?? That must be a joke, I don't believe it. Harry has too much energy!