Another update from Joe Cabral:

In a previous post I told everyone to get plenty sleep before the 24th Gathering of the Magi. Here's why

We start Thursday evening @ 7:30 pm with my welcome get together hospitality suite 340, plenty of food and drink for all. The hospitality suite has always been a much loved part of the Gathering. It's where old friends get together and new friends meet. Everyone is approachable and conversations range from "How are the kids?" to "How do you conjure the demon Pazuzu?" Thinking about it, they're probably talking about the same thing.

Later Thursday night, around 9:00pm, we kick things off with a Special Event: "Bizarre Magick 101 featuring Evil Dan and Odes Odhner.

Bizarre Magick 101? Why, you ask?

It has been said over the past few years, that the Gathering has not been so bizarre. Maybe so. BUT, I think all main stream magicians have a dark side, it's just that they don't get the opportunity show it very often. But given the chance they will show off that dark side and have fun doing it.

When I bring the top mainstream magicians to the Gathering I ask that they do something for the Friday bizarre show. Most of the time they say "I haven't done anything like that in a long time. That may be fun." And it sets the creative challenge in them. The performances vary in length and subject nature. Some, like Shawn Farquhar, go the extra mile by having a costume specially made for the Voodoo routine he created just for the Gathering and (in his words) he had a blast doing it!

We have lost so many of the founding fathers of bizarre magick in these past years. Others have become such, that health issues prevent them from attending, although they send their best wishes and say that they are still with us in spirit.

We need to get more magicians interested in what we do. We need to show them what Bizarre Magick is. We need to show them the mysterious, the spooky, the dark, and also the dark humor that bizarre magick can be.

With the Gathering, I have chosen to combine Bizarre and Mainstream magic in the hopes of increasing the interest in bizarre magick. Somewhere, the idea fell through and people thought that I was trying to turn the Gathering mainstream. Bizarrists dropped out.

The Gathering wants the bizarrists back!! There is lots of work to be done.

That's why two bizarrists who have been in the game for many years, EvilDan and Odes, teamed up to kick off The Gathering in grand fashion with their special presentation "Bizarre Magick 101." This promises to be a must see event. Bizarrists may walk away with food for thought. Newbies may walk away with a better understanding of bizarre magick .and a few more gray hairs.

Life is about choices. You can choose to sit home be critical and make sponge bunny jokes about the Gathering, and that's ok. (We have a Voodoo doll with your hair in it.)

Or you can help keep Bizarre Magick alive by ATTENDING the 24th I.C.B.M. Gathering of the Magi and bring someone with you.

The choices is yours.

Joe Cabral

Don't forget about the Works In Progress portion of the Gathering. If you have something you're working on and looking for feedback, technical advice on how to make it happen, or whatever, this is the event to do it. You'll get honest constructive feedback and advice from a collective of years of experience and knowledge.

Don't forget to register for The 24th Annual Gathering of the Magi.

They need your registration including food choice so that they can square away details with the hotel.

Need a way to wind down from the hauntings of Halloween? Then come to the 24th Annual Gathering of the Magi on Nov 12-14, 2015.
Perform your favorite piece at the works in progress or during the hospitality suite.
I can think of no better place to wind down and at the same time, recharge your batteries for more bizarre magick.

http://www.icbmmagick.com/ - Register today!

As registration grows, time moves on faster than we think.
A reminder to register for The 24th Annual Gathering of the Magi.

http://www.icbmmagick.com/ - Register today!

Three more haunt weekends means that The Gathering is fast approaching.

http://www.icbmmagick.com/ - Get your registrations in SOON, if you have not done so already.
See you all in November.

***, I have to attend a wedding that weekend. Maybe next year.

Three weeks to go before Adrian and I will be in the U.S.A. for another ICBM Gathering! That's another year passed in only a few weeks (or so it seems!).

Still time for other like-minded Brits to join us - check here for details and registration!

http://www.icbmmagick.com/the-gathering/

Late addition to the programme and not shown on the above schedule is 'William Warlock's Appointment with Fear' - three Spooky Midnight Matinee presentations (one each evening) in the Hospitality Suite with scary stories and surprise guests!

This is going to be an exciting Gathering. I look forward to seeing 'William Warlock's Appointment with Fear'.
We have our room reserved for the Gathering.

I just received a new shipment of SLASHER cards today along with the 6 special edition cards that will be available ONLY AT THE GATHERING.

I'll have a few "The Coin Board Book" copies as well as a few coin boards.
I no longer see the coin boards listed on the Cuckoo's Nest Magic Shop site.
This may be a dying trick. That just makes it more unique now, doesn't it.

Looking forward to seeing everyone soon.

I'll be there, and am looking forward to seeing everyone one again. This does look to b a great Gathering.

See ya all soon!

Dave

It's been a long time oh Strange One!!!

Only 8 days until The Gathering.

Flying out from Manchester tomorrow (Tuesday)! Hey Ho! and away we go!

Enjoy, I miss all my Northern Brethren, say hello for me

We'll be celebrating Friday the 13th at this year's Gathering as well.

@EVILDAN - Yes, it has been too long since out paths have crossed. See ya soon!

@Vlad - we'll miss ya, old friend.

I'll have about 2 dozen copies of SLASHER: The Horror Whodunnit available with the (get it only at the Gathering) 6 additional character cards.
I'll also have about a dozen copies of my book, "The Coin Board Book." And only a few boards. Otherwise you have to hunt for boards yourself but once you find them, the effect is worth it.

I'll miss you guys also , toast some Absinthe for me

The 24th Gathering of the Magi has come to pass. Having been there and having been in attendance for all of them since #5, I can say that this year's ranks up there as one of the best, only to be outshadowed by the years that both Max Maven and Eugene Burger were in attendance.

As years go by, attendees grow older and less mobile, some pass on, some have a change in life and circumstances and can no longer afford to attend. All understandable. And yet, people don't understand when Joe reaches out to the non-bizarrist community in the hopes of keeping the Gathering alive and something to look forward to year after year.

Mixing mainstream and bizarre magick is not a bad thing. Every year the mainstream magicians are tasked with presenting something bizarre and then come through...every year. So, it gets the mainstream magicians to think outside the box.

But, having mainstream magicians there gets the bizarrists to think outside the box as well.

I was excited to hear that Geoff Williams was going to be there this year. I took his "I Hate David Copperfield" trick and turned it into a bizarre piece, suitable for family strolling. I posted on facebook that I couldn't wait to show it to him. And I did. It was the first scheduled performance piece that he saw. It was during "Bizarre Magick 101" that Odes and I presented on Thursday night. I saw Geoff sitting in the front row and moved the piece to the first effect that I would do. He loved it and even came up and gave me a hug right after. Turns out he rarely gets to see magicians perform his material and he really liked what I did with it.

Geoff presented a piece in the Friday night show. I didn't get to see it because I was next on the bill and my wife and I were waiting backstage to go on. But was it bizarre? You bet and people were asking him about throughout the convention.

But lets get to another non-bizarrist: David Corsaro. If you're saying to yourself; "Who?" You're not alone. I had no idea who this guy was. I saw that he worked as a restaurant magician. Oh great. And despite all my preconceived thoughts about this guy - he was the highlight of the convention for me. He is engaging, entertaining and just a joy to watch. We watched his performance on Friday. Saturday was his lecture. During his lecture he was performing a card trick. My wife leans over to me and asks, "Why do we like this guy so much?" 1. Despite being a performer, she usually can't sit still and make it through an entire lecture. 2. She hates card tricks.

David had two pieces that immediately struck a chord with me. One piece was called "MallRats." He uses it as a promotional giveaway. It's a prediction routine where a spectator picks a number and has a free choice to move about in a mall directory floor plan and you show that you knew where he was going to land. Thinking outside the box and he even mentioned this - haunted house floor plan.

The second effect was something he calls "Getting to Know You." This was the card trick he was performing when Colleen leaned over and asked me the question. You ask someone a series of questions and in the end you wind up with the only card in the deck that has their name on it. I kind of liken this effect to Celebrity Smart Ass. It's nothing like it, but both engage a spectator. Bill Abbott sold umpteen numbers of Celebrity Smart Ass. I bought it, used it once and wound up selling it. For me, the elimination process went to quick, was the same each time and, for me anyway, just seemed to fall flat. "Getting to Know You" knocks everything out of the ballpark. You have an effect where you are engaging and getting to know the spectator. You have built in bits of comedy. You have the option for even more comedy. And in the end you have done something that's all about the spectator, and you did it with respect and taste. You walk away feeling good. They walk away feeling good. And people in the audience are leaning over and asking others, "Why do we like this guy so much?" This is in stark contrast to the magicians who go up on stage, belittle and sometimes almost rape their audience members. Making people feel uncomfortable is not entertaining....well, at least not in a magic show.

And then David mentioned that there are other possibilities with this trick as well. You don't have to use people's names. You can make it more of a prediction effect...use the names of horror movies. Hey, what's your favorite horror flick?

So, in retrospect, we could have spent the entire weekend in a bizarrists dungeon calling upon the usual suspects: Jack the Ripper, Houdini and Lizzie Borden. But instead, we watched some great performers, great magic and had the opportunity to think outside the box.

This reminds me of something I read last night. "The bulb that burns brightest, burns out the quickest." The Gathering, with its mix of bizarre and mainstream magic, looks to be leading a long life.

Don't forget to check out Geoff Williams' DVD's and also look into David Corsaro. You'll be glad you did.

More thoughts on The Gathering later.