Some of the greatest lesser known magicians.

We have all heard of the likes of Harry Houdini, Lance Burton, Penn & Teller, David Copperfield, The Amazing Jonathan & Criss Angel, but there are a few magicians that were great in their own right. And in fact most of the above mentioned magicians were inspired by such magicians that I shall name below. They were never all that famous in the likes of playing Vegas or having TV specials, but they were masters of their craft and they were just as good if not better than those of today. They didn’t have the publicity machine like the magicians of today and they didn’t really have a gimmick like some of the famous ones, but they didn’t need it. These men and women were magicians, masters of their craft and experts in illusion and slight of hand, history should never forget these people.

Harry Blackstone Jr.: A man following in the path of his father, Harry Blackstone Sr, he was a true gentleman of magic. He also had that mystique to him and his persona. His look could easily be compared to Doctor Strange or the classic villain who would tie the damsel to the train tracks, but his heart was as big as anything in the world. One of the classic tricks I remember watching him do was the bird cage that he would have members of the audience put their hands on and then make is disappear even as they were touching it.

Doug Henning: A magician who has been lost to a long list of other magicians, he did stand out amongst them in my opinion. His Zig Zag trick was his trick that he was most notably known for and when he did that trick you were in awe. You could watch it over and over again and still be entertained. He unfortunately died at an early age of 52 due to cancer, one thing he could not escape from.

The Pendragons: A husband and wife duo, these magicians are known the world over and have been entertaining people for years. They are masters at the famous Houdini trick “the metamorphosis” and do it in a much better and classy style than anyone in the world. It is such a privilege to watch them work. In fact during a rehearsal for a trick Jonathan Pendragon was shot through the chest with an arrow. He has since made a full recovery and both he and his wife are still doing magic today.

Harry Anderson: Some may know this name as his was the judge from the popular TV series Night Court. He was known as a practical joker and had a very good career as a stand-up comedian and was a part of the early years of Saturday Night Live. What some people may not know is that he is a accomplished magician. His card tricks are second to know and he makes you feel like you are a part of the trick all the time while making a fool of you.

Carl Ballantine: We know about the Amazing Jonathan, but what about the Amazing Ballantine? This man was the true and original Amazing Jonathan, now I am a huge fan of Jonathan’s, but Carl Ballantine was the forefather of comedy magic. Some may know him from the TV series McHale’s Navy with Ernest Borgnine as Lester Gruber, but he was a vaudeville man from years before. His comedic magical timing was second to none and I highly recommending you to look him up on youtube. You can still find a few clips of him out there.

Jeff Mcbride: The original Criss Angel, and by far much more entertaining and a lot less whiny. Jeff performs his magic with a dark sinister side to it, almost as if you were watching an evil warlock casting spells. He incorporates Japanese Kabuki into his act and does mask transformations better and faster than anyone else in the world. He is an accomplished teacher and master of the craft on magic, but yet so many people have never heard of him. He is truly a great magician to watch.

Now while I am sure that I am missing some, these are the ones that stand out in mind. I have been a fan of magic since as far back as I can remember. I got my first magic set when I was a young lad and I remember doing mini show for my family and friends. I would always look forward to the David Copperfield specials and watch intently as the magicians at the state fair would entertain and amaze us all. Like I said, these are the ones that got me into magic and made me a fan of the entertainment and joy that goes along with watching it. So check out these magicians and look into a few others, also check out your local magic shop, there are few left in the world, but they are worth going to and supporting.

Be safe…and pick a card any card,
John Cannon

Spirit in the skies or possibly UFOs…really?

When you look in the sky what do you see…airplanes, the sun, moon, stars, birds, superman or UFOs? Throughout history people have claimed to see things in the sky, which would explain our fascination with wanting to go where no man has gone before…space the final frontier. We don’t understand space or anything in it and our curiosity as people drive us to wanting answers of understanding. This may explain why people tend to be so nosy and rubberneck at accidents.

While there are many aspects to the whole UFOs and Ancient Aliens that we can take a look at and pick apart…and believe me in time I will…I will, I want to look at wars in the skies. The Bible, Koran, Bhagavad Gita, Native American texts, Chinese scrolls & in other forms of written text or art there are a number of events chronicling wars in the skies. Now whether these wars are considered that of divine intervention or natural phenomena, the newest approach to these occurrences are that of actual UFO wars…very star wars like. It seems that in all major religions & cultures around the world there is a story in their written text about a war in heaven, in the Bible it is the war that really starts good and evil and subsequently gives Satan power, but this isn’t a Sunday school lesson this is about UFOs. The point is that it seems there is a trend no matter the location in the world there seems to be some sort of “war in the sky” going on.

Now let’s take a look at this logically and with a clear head on our shoulders…the people back in the time of these ancient reports believed that if you were feeling ill in your stomach then there must be a little troll living in you causing you harm. So, all those times I felt ill because of the flu it was actually a small troll in my stomach? Damn, and all my mom did was had me suck on ice and snack on saltine crackers, maybe I should’ve had something a little bit stronger to take care of that problem. Do you see where I am going with this one? What people thought as being one thing back then is easily explained away by science because we now understand about viruses, diseases and immune system. I mean look at the Greeks & Romans they had a God for every little thing that happened. Now in this modern day we understand that there isn’t some maniac God throwing lightning bolts down at us because he is angry…or at least I think there isn’t, but I’ve been wrong before.

In 1561 over Nuremberg, Germany there was supposedly a war in the heavens that was seen by the entire town and was also painted in a semi-famous scene. It was reported that on the morning of April 14^th a scene of epic proportions erupted in the sky. The sky was filled with what seemed like different colored disks and crosses. The event was said to have lasted for over an hour and a half and while I research this more and more I find that the actual shapes that were reported vary in many ways and are not consistent, so that’s a red flag to me. They always say there are 3 sides to a story…yours, theirs and the truth.

Now first off when you read about these shapes in the sky couldn’t it be something as simple as sunglares? Do a google image search and check our sunglares, there are a number of different types of sunglares because the human eye sees them so differently. Plus, you know how when you first wake up you have that sand like junk in your eye and your eyes are watery then you take a look at something bright? You see different shapes and things tend to look blurry, well this event happened early in the morning when the sun was rising so wouldn’t it make sense that waking up suddenly to go take a look at something wouldn’t make you see clearly as to what is going on? Ok now why where they woken up suddenly…who knows, maybe some natural explosion, which does happen or maybe it could have been something else. The point I am making is that you can’t always believe what you see, plus as the story gets told over and over again it turns into “whisper down the lane”. You know that kids game where you tell one person one thing and by the time it reaches the 10^th person the statement is completely changed. These UFO reports are just in fact that, they are stories passed down from generation to generation…I know a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy, who saw these things in the sky. How reliable of a source is that, it gives you a starting point to look at, but can you take it as an actual fact, I don’t think so. We have the best in picture capture technology in the world today from digital cameras to High definition video cameras and yet we still don’t believe what we see when faced with actual evidence, so why are we trusting a painting and a passed along story?

In closing I would like you to question what you see and hear. Don’t just look at something and go into some full blown wacked out idea in your mind and then claim it a truth without really looking into it. What you may be seeing may have a logical common sense explanation for it, and then once you have researched it and eliminated the junk you will then have what you really saw. Take some time to do the research and you will be rewarded well, I am sure of that.

Be safe and remember…sunglares kill, actually they don’t,
John Cannon