I know it's late, but an invitation to anyone in the area: Tim Sonefelt will be presenting a lecture tonight at 7:30 which is free! The location is The Playhouse at Furman. See ring63.com for more details. Hope to see you there!

I attended this and want to say that anyone who has the opportunity to book Tim for a lecture of attend one in the future should do so. All of the material is very practical and creative. Some of the effects are marketed separately by Tim's company, but in the lecture he explains how to make up versions of the effects for yourself with materials most magicians already have or could easily obtain. Plus, there are a couple of routines that do not require any special props anyway. As far as the routines themselves, those of you who are familiar with Tim's work will not be surprised that most of them are intended for family show audiences. Nonetheless, there were a few pieces in there that would play just as well in a corporate show or at a hospitality suite. I have not read the lecture notes yet, but I scrolled through the 82 page .pdf and noticed that there is a lot of bonus material in there as well. The name of the lecture is "Box of Trix," so if you are never able to make it to any of his lectures, you might want to pick up the notes from his web site. If you ever do any shows with any kids in the audience, you are bound to find at least one idea in there that you will use.