THE TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF MAGICIANS CONVENTION - 2000
A Review by Tony Brook
Porto, Portugal

 Conventions are a lot of fun. I love them. You get to meet a lot of old friends and make a lot of new ones. You get to live, breathe and feel the magic. You get to share a lot of ideas and if you’re smart you get to learn a lot. This year's TAOM convention was no exception. Many folk remarked that it was the best ever.

 The purpose of my article is to convey my personal views and what better way than to write it as if I was writing a letter to a magical friend. So as you read this I hope you will be able to capture some of the fun, excitement and sheer delight of four wonderful days in Dallas, Texas, USA.

My wife, my son Charles and I attended the convention as the guests of the organizers of TAOM 2000. It was especially interesting for my son Charles as he was part of a panel that included Jann Wherry Goodsell, President of SAM, Oscar Munoz, Gold Medal Winner, Murray, Chase Curtis and Ashley Adams. This was a first ever at the TAOM and full marks to them for organising a Youth Forum. Introduced and Emceed by Howard Hale, also a Gold Medal winner, Chase Curtis and Charles Brook both gave performances. The Forum was well attended by young magicians and a lot of interesting discussion took place. Highlight of the Forum was a live telephone link-up with Lance Burton.

TAOM 2000 was watched with particular interest by the magic community worldwide as the President this year was none other than Scott Wells, the former Conventions Editor of MAGIC magazine. Over dinner with my family and I, a few days before the convention began, Scott confessed to me that Lance Burton had mentioned, " the time has come for the judge to be judged".

 The Verdict? By now you would have read all about how great it was. Well, it's all true. It was truly memorable and great. And from my personal viewpoint one of the best conventions I've ever attended.

 TAOM - A Magical Journey

 For my family and I it really was a magical journey. A journey of some 12, 000 miles there and back. It all began when TAOM 2000 President, Scott Wells invited my son Charles Brook to be part of the Youth Panel and perform at the Youth Event. As you can imagine we were truly delighted to lend to the international flavor of the event. Our journey began in Portugal, where we live, to Frankfurt, Germany and after an overnight stay we took a plane to Dallas.

 For us the convention began the moment our plane touched down. To greet us at the airport were Mica and Judy Calfee. We couldn't wish to meet two nicer people. From the airport we enjoyed their company as they graciously transported us to the Adam's Mark Hotel. Although we have strong family and magical connections with Texas it was mostly limited to Houston and therefore our first visit to Dallas. Mica and Judy made us feel right at home and most welcome.

 After we had settled down in our room we took a tour of the hotel and found the much needed pool and Jacuzzi. Having relaxed after our long journey we were ready for anything.

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As mentioned above, my wife, son and I had the privilege of spending an informal evening over dinner with Scott. The dinner was especially good because apart from the genial company of Scott we got to dine on some great steaks. What's so special about that you may ask? Well, with the problems of beef in Europe it was indeed a rare treat for us to tuck into some great steaks!

 The next day we spent the morning with Scott Wells, Simon Lovell, Nani Darnell and the legendary Mark Wilson. The occasion was a Press Conference at Planet Hollywood including a TV interview. Quite apart from the thrill of being in such great company all morning we even had the rare honor of also having lunch with these legends. As with all truly great and genuine stars they were so gracious and treated us like long lost friends. Imagine the thrill of being an 18-year-old magician and getting to spend quality time with such charming and wonderful stars. My son Charles will carry this wonderful memory for the rest of his life.

The following day I was up early to grab a few moments in the Jacuzzi and who should I encounter there was none other than Abb Dickson. We had exchanged correspondence but had never met in person. As you can imagine we had a great time talking magic and Abb was generous enough to give me a great idea for an effect that I was working on.

After breakfast my family and I went along to get our registration badges. This was good fun as somehow we had forgotten to mention my wife's name but a badge was efficiently waiting for her anyway… but instead of her name it read ' MOM'. The badge now has pride of place in our magic room proudly displayed alongside our other magical treasures.

 It was wonderful to meet up with old friends and equally wonderful to make new ones. To list them all would take up too much space but a special mention must be made of Dave Goodsell and Jann Wherry Goodsell with whom we had dinner with a few months ago at FISM 2000. This dinner was the inauguration of the SAM Assembly in Portugal and we honored to have good friends Dan & Carol Garrett and Gary Hughes also as our guests. Four SAM Presidents at a dinner. Must be a first. It was nice to meet up and spend time with them again.

It was also so nice to see my friend Yuval Keren and his wife Eda from Israel in the Dealers room. As always, he was eager and delighted to share his great ideas with me. I must publicly state that I am indebted to him for teaching me some awesome magic. If ever you get an opportunity to meet Yuval I can guarantee you that you are in for a real treat. Yuval is really a Magician's magician. His ideas and inventions will truly blow you away. He has even managed to impress David Blaine! I know. I was there when it happened.

Other highlights for me were meeting Bill Palmer, MarcoM, Walter Blaney, Oscar Munoz, Murray, Paul Green, Charlie Buckner and last but not least, Tessa and Jeff Evason. There are hundreds more I could list. But I must mention at least four more. Bob Knigge, David Hira, Gerald Kern and Joshua Charles.

 Bob Knigge, deserves a very special mention all of his own. As with all great conventions it is the late night impromptu sessions and camaraderie that are the most fun and the most valuable. If you're smart, you watch and listen and thereby learn a lot.

 Briefly, here is the story of how we met Bob. At one of the late night, wee hours of the morning, impromptu sessions Oscar Munoz graciously showed us some of the skill that made him a Gold Medal winner. One of these was a truly mind-blowing version of a torn and restored card effect using just one card. As you may imagine this left us astounded and totally blown away coupled with some truly incredible gasps of astonishment and amazement. After long rapturous applause and just as we are all getting ready to join Oscar's new religion, one observer standing over to one side remarks " Hm! Not bad. I think he did that quite well!".

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A hush falls over our little group and all eyes focus on the voice. There is a stunned silence for about 30 seconds and I felt compelled to say something to this 'discourteous' observer. I turn to him and say " Sir, that may well be your opinion but, with respect, I think you should not have voiced it aloud".

He looks at me for a moment or two and replies," You're right, but he did it much better when I first taught it to him!". This was the one and only Bob Knigge.

 Oscar then breaks into giant laughter ( when Oscar laughs you just have to join in ) and tells us the story of how he first saw Bob do this effect and then hunted him down and persuaded him to part with the secret. By now we are all chuckling too and looking in awe at Bob Knigge. A most delightful and charming man you could ever hope to meet. Needless to say, we have become firm friends since then and have exchanged a few treasured secrets.

 All good stories have a truly marvelous finish. This one is no exception. Bob and Oscar then take my son Charles, Gerald Kern and I to one side and patiently sit down with us and teach us the effect. I don't mean explain it, I mean really sit down and teach it to us. Now that is what I call the true magic of sharing. Gentlemen Magicians in every sense of the word.

And if that isn't enough, Bob then shows us more of his amazing card magic and to top it all promises to give us his notes on each effect. The next day Bob keeps his promise. Now that's real magic. If you have never had the pleasure of meeting Bob Knigge go introduce yourself to him at a convention. You won't be disappointed.

 Gerald Kern and Joshua Charles are two young magicians. Gerald in his late twenties and Joshua is just 11 years old. Since Dallas we have become firm friends. We email, call and much of the time they pick my brains on presentation, ideas and effects. It is most rewarding for me to be able to share the magic in such a positive way.

 Of course the shows at the Majestic and the shows at the hotel were superb. Just wonderful to see performances by Mark Wilson, Nani Darnell, Greg Wilson and his wife Lyuda, Chris Mitchell. Walter Blaney, Becky Blaney, Chuck & Jan Jones, The Majestixs and Gene Anderson. You will have most certainly read all the rave reviews. What can I add to them? Adjectives like fantastic, wonderful, thrilling and brilliant entertainment all spring to mind.

 Now, it is well known in Magic Circles that I hold very strong views on transformation. Let me qualify. I believe that it is imperative that every magician must undergo a transformation process before going on stage. A kind of metamorphosis. True thespians do this prior to playing a part. In other words, becoming the character you wish to portray on stage. As Robert Houdin so aptly said, " A magician is an actor playing the part of a magician".

 For me David Hira is the classic example. As a result of my many experiences backstage including FISM 2000, Scott Wells asked me if I would lend a hand backstage at one of the shows at the Hotel and I was pleased to oblige. As it happens there was not very much for me to do as the stage crew had everything down to superb clockwork precision and professionalism. Nevertheless, it was a most interesting experience for me.

 Sitting on the floor backstage was a guy getting his props ready. That was my first meeting with David Hira. We chatted and he kindly allowed me to help him with his transformation into Alexander Herrmann. And what a transformation it was! Planned and organized to the smallest detail, David performed his best magic backstage as he slowly but surely became Alexander Herrmann. For me, his performance on stage was icing on the cake.

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For me, this was one of the most impressive magical performances I have ever witnessed. I'm sure I would have cheered and applauded loudly had I just watched from the audience. However, to be privileged to watch the transformation from backstage and then witness the performance was something altogether extra special for me. The gestures, the voice, the accent and the delivery were all just as magical as the effects that David performed. This is not to take anything away from the other performers who were just as good in their own right. This is just my personal admiration of an extremely difficult task being flawlessly executed.

 The Ren Clark Ring, IBM 15 in Forth Worth, must be very proud to have David Hira as a Member. In my humble view it was justly right and fitting that MarcoM presented David with a cane that once belonged to the great Alexander Herrmann himself. As a side-note, you may like to know that the cane is made entirely of snake vertebrae. Betcha that David has got that put away in a safe place. I hear he proudly showed it at a recent Ring meeting. By the way, if you are wondering….. Yes, I did get to hold it for a few brief moments.

The Competitions - Ah! Well, we all have our views on competitions. No matter where the convention is or who is entering, everyone has his or her views on who should have won and who shouldn't have won, who was good, who was not so good: did the judges need guide dogs? did the lighting men know their watts from their volts?, did the sound men understand the decibel scale?

 Happily, by design or accident, I know not which, perhaps both, the TAOM 2000 competition was so well run that none of the above is applicable. I am referring to the Stage Competition only as I did not attend the close-up.

My only personal complaint is the modern trend of the usage of giant TV screens whilst an act is on stage. I find it disconcerting. Those of us, with a bit of experience, know that performing for a camera and performing on stage are two entirely different things. The lighting for one thing must be different. Great effects involving thread can be ruined. Steals for the camera must be done differently. What is a superb back palm on stage can be ruined if the camera zooms in at the crucial moment. Prior discussions with the Director and /or camera people are not only necessary but also vital. It is most unlikely that there is time for all of this at competitions.

In short, performing a play on stage is entirely different to making a movie. Add to that the pressure of competition and an audience of fellow magicians and it can possibly spell disaster for a well - rehearsed and well prepared act. This is not a criticism of TAOM but of this idea in general. Perhaps, and I'll admit it, I may be a bit old-fashioned, but theater is theater and watching TV is watching TV. Running the both simultaneously for the audience is distracting not only for the performer but also for the audience. It tends to play havoc with timing and misdirection. I am not talking about having a performance filmed but of a live performance being filmed and projected onto a screen in real -time. Well, this is a highly personal view.

 Not withstanding all of that, the competition was quite good. Brian Brushwood stood out in a category all of his own. The Junior stage winner was Daniel Reyes who I had met earlier with his Dad. Great act but in my view someone needs to give Daniel a few tips on stage presence.

 Personally, the young magician who impressed me the most was 11 year old Joshua Charles. This young man knows how to work an audience. Knows how to dress on stage. Knows how to project. Loves magic. Has very supportive parents. Within a few years and some more experience he'll be pure dynamite. I hear he'll compete at Corpus Christi. I predict you'll be hearing a lot more about this young magical entertainer. I'll be there rooting for him.

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The Senior Stage Winner was Eric Evans. I got to spend some quality time with Eric and his family. Eric was raised in New Mexico and in 1980 began formal study of Close-Up Magic with Ernest Earick and has been a full time Professional Magician since 1985. He has toured the world performing street magic apprenticing under Jim Cellini. He has worked at Universal Studios for Nickelodeon TV and was twice nominated for ' Parlour Magician of the Year' at the Magic Castle. He currently lives in Texas and his book entitled ' Street Magic and The Art of War ' goes on sale in early 2001. I hope to see Eric and his family again at the SAM convention in New Orleans in 2001. Wouldn't surprise me a bit if he wins there too!

TAOM 2000 like all good things had to come to an end. For my family and I it was the best convention we've ever attended. After Dallas, we went on to Houston to visit with family and friends and to give a few performances there. We caught Greg Wilson, Chris Mitchell and Lanny Kibby who were playing Magic Island at the time. They promised to come and watch us perform. They did. Scott Wells, Suzanne Burton, Steve Burton, Ken Nebel, Danny Hurwitz, Cinnamon, Frank Price and many other Houston magi did Charles and I the great the honor of being in the audience as well. Scott Wells took the opportunity to present Charles and I each with a special TAOM souvenir. Greg really related to Charles and I because of the father/son Magician thing we have in common and even took time afterwards to teach Charles a new twist to a Linking Rings move. Now that's magical!

In Houston, we also spent quality time with long time friend Scotto Hollingsworth of Magic Island and to top it all spent a delightful evening with Bob Blau at his home. But these are other stories for telling at another time.

 Well, that's the story of our magical journey. I had thought of writing it as I do all my other articles on magic but opted for this informal format instead. I felt that I should share some of the special moments with you if you were not able to attend and at the same time revive some pleasant memories if you did attend.

It is in this context that I want my narrative to convey some of the true magical spirit of TAOM.

By the way, you can live anywhere in the world and still be a Member of The Texas Association of Magicians. Check out their site and contact Ms. Judy Donaldson.
Brotherhood, Fellowship, Sharing, Fine Family Entertainment and Just Great Fun and are just some of the things that make the TAOM conventions special.

 We magicians are a special group of people. Keep magic alive by being special yourself.

See you in Corpus Christi. I urge you not to miss it. Just you wait and see what they've got lined up. They really know how to throw a Magic Convention in Texas. It will be your chance to share in magical history or even make some of your own.

Best wishes
Tony Brook