FISM 2000
July 3 - 8, 2000
By
Sue-Anne Webster & Tim Ellis
(Reproduced
from the pages of AMM2000, July Issue)
|
Australian representatives were Sean
Taylor and Diana Taylor from Arriving in It was exciting to know we would find some
fabulous talent in the competitions and catch up with some wonderful people.
The FISM venue was fantastic. Set in historic A big congratulations must go to the most
incredible technical staff we've ever seen working on a convention. Delays
and power cuts interfered with some of the events, but it took no time at all
for the lighting crew and stage crew to have the ball rolling in a flash. The close up room was quite small and,
although a video screen was available, the camera angle, focus and white balancing
were not adequate to see close up magic in detail... so there were long lines
waiting well in advance to acquire good seats for the performances. Again,
the crew whizzed the acts through quite diligently despite the fact that
extra contestants were added at the last minute and competition sessions ran
way overtime. All said and done, the work was accomplished and some wonderful
performances were displayed. People on the whole had a wonderful time,
although about a thousand people were left stranded one night when the FISM
buses took the audience from the Close up Gala back to their hotels at
11.40pm without waiting for the Stage Gala audience to come out (the show ran
late) at 12.05am. It was cold, there were elderly people without adequate
covering and some in wheelchairs, left to fend for themselves in a foreign
city without transport of any kind... foreigners who couldn't speak English
or Portuguese had no idea what to do. There were no FISM staff to look after
us and taxis were virtually non existent. Some of the unlucky walked back to
their hotels and arriving well after 2:00am. The only other mishap of the
week was the disaster called the Closing Dinner and Gala Show... held in an
outdoor rock concert venue with 3 barbecues and a few plates of salad to feed
2100 people. Most went hungry... others dialed Pizza Hut or visited the
nearby McDonald's. There weren't even enough tables and chairs for everyone.
The wind was blowing and technical faults abounded. A very difficult
situation for all concerned... but again, we were all in it together and will
never forget this adventure as long as we all shall live! Overall, it was a fantastic experience to
be with such friendly, supportive, professional people... grateful at the
opportunity to see the experts in action. Guy Hollingworth, Topas, The
Flicking Fingers, Eugene Berger, Juan Tamariz, Nicolas Night and Kinga, Paul
Daniels, and Ali Bongo to name just a few. And who will ever forget the Gala #2 show
when the unfortunate accident occurred. Mago Anton's water tank exploded on
stage. The sides shattered as Mago, tied to a weight that hit the sides,
dived for a selected card. The water raced towards the front rows of the
audience like a mini tidal wave, splashed over the edge and wet the first
couple of rows. A rare sight, indeed. Thankfully Mago was out of his
handcuffs in a flash and wasn't hurt, save for his broken heart at losing his
$10,000 illusion. The theatre had to deal with the stench of wet carpet over
the next day or two as well. A shock for me was discovering that
DAY ONE MONDAY, JULY 3, 2000 As soon as the FISM bus dropped us off at
the Belem Cultural Centre we set out to register, a surprisingly painless
procedure given the 2100 people who had to do it. Maybe next time FISM could
allow us to register when we check in to our "Official FISM" hotel?
Then we'd have time to properly study the glorious 112 page full colour
programme and play with all the goodies in our FISM satchel. First event was a great opening ceremony
featuring some excellent Black-Art based on the FISM logo by Ger Copper and
his 'Black & White' company, and a brief "moment" from Luis de
Matos accompanied by Tina Lenert on harp. Others chose to attend one of the many
lectures or events which took place constantly throughout the week. Lecturers
included: Anam Cara, David Acer, David Roth, David Williamson, Igal Mesika,
Lennart Green, Mago Anton, Nicholas Night, Guy Hollingworth, Tom Stone, and
Topas. Other events included: The Opus Experience, Ross Johnson, Max Maven,
Don Wayne on creativity, Marvin Berglas and Michael Ammar on marketing,
Roberto Giobbi, and Eugene Berger. Next we were treated to the Opening Gala
where we saw living legends perform the same acts we grew up with: Pierr
Edernac, Ali Bongo, Topper Martyn, Jay Marshall, Richard Ross... all over 60,
some over 80! The oldest by far was well over 150 years old - Robert Houdin's
acrobatic automaton presented by John Gaughan. Next was the Close up Gala hosted by the
impeccable Guy Hollingworth. Bill Malone did 'Sam The Bellhop' at triple
speed, Tom Stone kept producing his shoe, David Acer wore a wig, Richard
McDougal presented an interesting kitchen scene, Guy Hollingworth waved his
aces and reformed a card, Igal Mesika didn't realise his invisible thread
shone under the lights, Camilo did a beautiful card in bottle, and David
Williamson stole the show with a cards across which ended up being
"People Across". We ended up squeezing in a quick visit to
the 70+ dealers at the Magic Fair before seeing the Guy Hollingworth lecture
at 9.30 and catching the 11.00 bus back to our hotel.
DAY TWO TUESDAY, JULY 4, 2000 We
had to arrive early today, because at 9.30am the competition began! ____________________________________ The Categories (143 Contestants) GM = General Magic (37) GI = Great Illusions (8) MAN = Manipulation (21) COM = Comedy (14) MM = Mental Magic (6) IN = Invention (10) CU = Close Up (24) CD = Cards (20) ____________________________________ 1: DER HEXER - T: The competition opened in a really big
way with this grand illusion act featuring a black jeaned, white shirted
magician presenting a Columbus-themed act beginning with an interesting flash
appearance on an empty stage, a little box which changed into a big box which
then had a girl step out of it, a head and body twist, a bizarre 'Columbus
Egg Slicer' illusion, the production of eight flag-waving showgirls and the
final appearance (reveal) of a boat at the back of the stage. He made good
use of sound effects blended with his music and the act was action-packed and
very spectacular... but I couldn't help thinking that we've all seen this
type of eye-candy too many times before. He also suffered a little by
choosing not to use a follow spot, which left the stage a little too dark at
times. S: Huge production act, themed Columbus
performance... pizzazz, ritz, glitz, flags from all nations, colourful and
celebratory... spectacular finish - but, lighting was very poor and illusion
performance was the usual old assistant in the box - out of the box routines
that go nowhere. 2: KEIKO MUTO - T: After a false start, due to a tech
problem with her music, Keiko returned to the stage to begin her act again.
She presented traditional Japanese effects with fans and umbrellas combined
with manipulation with modern items including bells, wands, and her earrings.
Highly skilled, but let down by one or two weaker effects mixed in with some
truly magical moments. S: Beautiful piece, elegant, cultural and
themed. 'Traditional' props, moves and poses. Cleaner moves would have helped
the performance. 3: RUI MORGADO - T: An interesting idea we saw done better
at the last FISM in S: Too much singing and dancing... not
much magic. Very slow. 4: KATIA - T: This was a truly bizarre presentation
of mental magic. Katia was so abusive towards her volunteers "Come here
now! Throw it down! Go there quickly!" that she should have been dressed
as a dominatrix. She began demonstrating her powers by handing her first
volunteer a series of breakaway props, then went into an incomprehensible
series of events where sticks were chosen, props caught fire, and predictions
were revealed. I had no idea what was going on. She did have one classic line
due to her heavy Russian accent though: "This trick was created long
before Jesus and Buddha" came out as "long before cheeses and
butter." Well... you had to be there... S: I have no idea what this act was about.
Funny and terrible at the same time. No sense at all... but, what a crazy
girl! Quite funny. 5: LUIS MANUEL - T: A more traditional manipulation act
featuring balls, cards etc. Very clean with a very high skill level. He got a
huge response when he began producing jumbo cards both singly and in fans. S: Difficult manipulation..... Very clean,
very skillful, clever, endearing. Great applause cues. 6: ANATOLI KIRITCHENKO - T: The classic Russian act featuring the
production of lots of "wooden" dolls. It's interesting to note that
almost all of the acts at FISM have featured motifs of their countries
somewhere in their acts, whether it be in the music, costume, or theme. S: Russian cultural act with spinning
dolls. Not magical at all. 7: VALERIE - T: I really enjoyed this act where
"the magician" leaves the stage in disgust when his assistant is
late. Valerie, playing the assistant, turns up and has to play both the
magician and the assistant. The act included some very funny and innovative
moments including a solo sub trunk. S: Quite a clever little act... unusual.
Unbelievable costume changes. Wonderful performer with lots of potential. 8: ROY DAVENPORT - T: S: Highly skillful and very entertaining.
Colourful and patriotic. 9: HILBERT GEERLING - Nederlands - GM. T: This act looked completely different as
he played a professor trying to create life in a lab. Unfortunately he
suffered from too little magic and poor acting. S: Scientist who magically produces
animals then turns into the red bird he was trying to bring to life.
Interesting and different... didn't quite make it as a riveting piece of
magic, but has potential. 10: JORGOS KATSAROS - T: Jorgos played with the theme of size
and scale. He began the act as a midget, and ended and a giant. Unfortunately
his choice of props - magnifying glasses, weights, etc - were simply not
interesting enough. Tighten the act up, change the props, and it'll be great!
S: Very different act with an interesting
premise... but didn't hit the spot magically. 11: TORKOVA - T: Lots of classics (old standards like
Miser's Dream, 20th Century Silks etc) done well, but FISM demands excellence
and innovation. The choice of music (Scott Joplin) also left us feeling we've
seen it all before. S: Standard act. No appeal. 12: MAGIC MAGDI MARY SHOW - T: The curtains opened revealing an
Egyptian setting complete with cut out pyramids, a sphinx and a camel (on
castors). The wanderer from the desert came in, dying of thirst, and
proceeded to "act" for an extraordinarily long time. He pulled six
swords out of a basket, each sword more slowly than the last, and finally -
just as he was about to open the basket - a huge puff of smoke came on from
side stage completely covering both he and the basket - and when it finally
cleared, there was a girl. He then levitated her on the camel. S: No magic, excruciatingly long piece of
over acting, nothing was happening... except the agonising yearn to quench
thirst. 13: JULIUS FRACK - T: He played a mad tailor and had a lot of
fun stuff with thimbles, cloths, and scissors as he created a dress and,
ultimately, a girl inside it. S: Different, offbeat, crazy. Great to
watch. Time
for a lunch break, but we moved to the Close up Theatre to line up for seats! 14: GREGORY WILSON - T: A very tight act themed around the
close-up table as his office. He crammed lots of eye-popping magic into his 10
minute set including multiple card and box vanishes, a card fountain from an
office time clock, and lots of very high skill cuts and flourishes. S: Impressive. Very clever, very clean,
very good... and he knows it! Theming was refreshing. A hard act to follow. 15: ASHORD KNEITEL - T: A pity he had to follow Gregory, but
that's the luck of the draw. He was young and nervous but did well with some
standard finding lost cards and lots of fancy cuts and flourishes. S: Clever, but not so entertaining. 16: ROBERT WOTTSCH - T: An entire act themed around McDonald's
fast food. Nice idea but suffered from poor technique and corny jokes. S: It was nice to see he included audience
in balcony seats. Not an eye opener. 17: ATINOKOV - T: He did a great sequence where he took
the cards out of the case about 6 times, but Gregory had done a similar
effect earlier. A standard act lifted by an amazing instant costume change
from a black to white suit as the finale! S: Act was hard to understand, moves were
obvious. Great kick... costume change to finish. 18: HERMAN KOSTER - Nederlands - CD. T: A fairly standard card act with the
novelty aspect that the last portion was performed blindfolded. S: Average act except for the card
manipulation done blindfolded. 19: ANATOLI KARTASHKIN - T: This was one of the most talked about
acts of the convention. He came out dressed as Zorro and did ten minutes of
'Tai-Chi' with cards to the Bolero. Apparently he was shuffling the cards
while keeping them all in order, but it was done so slowly our minds all
turned to mush as we watched. S: I'd wear a mask too, if I presented an
act like that at FISM! 20: RAMON RIOBOO BUJONES - T: Very good signed cards to pockets, I
have no idea how he did it, but he had virtually no presentation. S: Very clever. Should have used the
microphone... he hardly looked at the audience and performed with no
presentation. 21: CARLOS VAQUERA - T: This act was sensational! After a mime
opening where he attempted to produce all four aces, but only got three, his
"helper" confessed to having forgotten to set the fourth ace. Then
began some great interaction as the two attempted to top each other with
increasingly impossible versions of card effects and matrix. They had to stop
before the act was completed as they ran overtime were disqualified but the
act combined incredible skill with an entertaining and original presentation.
The "helper" turned out to be Jean Pierre Vallarino wearing a false
moustache! S: Fantastic! An absolutely wonderful
presentation... very different. 22: SIMO AALTO - T: Another act we've seen at previous
FISMS and again Simo keeps improving it. He produced budgies, ice, and performed
a lovely cups and balls with bells and chimes. Very polished and well
rehearsed with interesting props. S: Wonderful presentation, amiable
personality, easy to watch, some great productions. 23: THOMAS FRAPS - T: One of my favourite acts of the whole
convention. Thomas began innocently enough, producing a glass of orange
juice, but then was rudely interrupted by a Mr. Punch hand puppet (performed
by Gaston) from behind the close up table. The interaction between the two
was absolutely hilarious, so much so they had to talk over the laughter and
applause at the end to finish the act within the time limit. There were too
many gags and bits to mention here but, after Thomas broke Punch's neck for
stealing material, the act ended with Punch being stabbed and the selected
card being found. They could have scored better in the close up category
(they really only did one card trick) but the audience loved it! S: Absolutely hilarious, brilliant,
different, totally entertaining, fantastic presentation! A+++ 24: MARIO BOVE - T: Clever but confusing card tricks with a
gambling theme. He cut to the kings, aces etc, all while keeping the entire
deck in order. S: Good material, no presentation and hard
to understand. 25: MR DANNYMAN - T: Mr. Dannyman performed in rhyming
patter and themed his act by producing cards, then coins in varying sizes. S: A clever, poetic piece. Technique and
presentation were not so good. 26: DAVID REGO - T: David had a full bar as his table. He
performed to music as a dull, depressed character and strange
"magical" things happened to him. Many effects where too repetitive
and slow, a little variation in pace would have helped a lot. S: Slow performance, but he moved too
prescisely for a 'drunk'. Confusing. 27: JUAN VARELA - T: He performed at a chess board and told
a story using the pieces as characters. The pieces appeared, vanished and
changed sizes... some moves were more deceptive than others. S: Interesting, but not riveting. 28: ARISTON - T: Dull tricks, dull presentation. S: Just a bunch of average close up tricks
that I find hard to remember... except for the fact that he was hard to
understand and unimpressive. 29: RAFAEL BENATAR - T: Good personality and he performed his
card effects with an office theme ("faxing" signed cards, for
example). Very nice, but cut the act short to avoid running overtime. S: Brilliant technician, nice personality. 30: GUSTAVO BARRETO - T: Gustavo presented and explained an
interesting coin gaff for 'International Matrix', and a move for Cups and
Balls which was really innovative. S: Good invention... no personality and
uninteresting to watch. 31: DIDIER LADANE - France - CD. T: Didier presented his act in French and,
with a portrait of Dai Vernon looking on, performed signed card effects,
travellers, twisting the aces and various flourishes climaxing with a signed
card appearing underneath the glass of Dai's portrait. The act was nicely
themed as a "tribute" to the Professor. S: Brilliant technician and a kicker of a
finish. Spoke French but he was understood.. 32: MIGUEL GOMEZ - T: Miguel spoke Spanish but, unlike
Didier, I couldn't follow his effects. They seemed very skillful based on
audience reaction, but he did seem to make one or two technical errors. S: Not gripping, hard to follow. I don't
think language barrier was a real problem here. After
a quick dinner break we headed back into the Theatre for Gala Show #1. This
was a mixed bag of a show, way too long (what a surprise) but Mike Caveney
handled the job of MC quite well. We saw Nicholas Night & Kinga, Hans
Klok, Anam Cara, Mac King, Juliana Chen, Junge Junge, Shintaro, Tina Lenert
(no, not the mop act, her harp and feather piece!), and Ge Qui Ha from China. During
the show Mike Caveney joked that we'd missed our 11pm buses, but not to
worry, we could catch the 12am buses! Unfortunately, when we got out of the
theatre, the buses were gone. According to one source, when FISM President
Marques Vidal heard about this (he was partying at the official FISM late
night venue) he allegedly said: "Not my problem." Some apologies
were offered the next day though... and it didn't happen again!
DAY THREE WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 2000 33: RUNE STEIRO - T: Rune presented one effect, a
pseudo-broomstick suspension, which turned into a levitation. Neither
exciting nor well-presented, especially when compared with Der Hexer. S: Potential to be interesting, but
totally missed on entertainment. 34: MAHKA TENDO - T: A toilet themed comedy act, which
included lots of toilet paper and multiplying urinals. I guess the Japanese
have an entirely different idea of comedy to the rest of the world. S: No magic, the multiplying urinals were
presented so poorly it was embarrassing.., especially when one of them ended
up on his face. 35: STEPHAN VON KOLLER - T: Beginning with the production of a girl
from a perspex pyramid, Stephan moved through the Origami to a type of
levitation. The act was good, but not great. S: An average illusion act. Unimpressive. 36: KOHEI - T: Interesting ideas as he manipulated with
balls, a sheet of black paper, and various shapes. Some moves worked, some
didn't. Performing with black paper, while wearing black, against a black
curtain wasn't a good idea though. S: Better with more thought to colour and
contrast so we could SEE the act. Some good moves... overall, not bad. 37: GEORGE SATERIAL - T: We saw this act a few weeks earlier at
The Magic Castle. It's a nice dove act set against a grandfather clock. The
dove work was very clean, and he multiplied giant size silver balls. S: Opening was good, when he stops the
grandfather clock. A nice little act. 38: JUST ALAN - T: Beginning with a slide show of S: I liked this act, although all the
taped talking was a bit much for a FISM audience. The Indian character looked
authentic and he presented his trick quite well... clean and clear, but very
long. 39: RICHARD T: A nice act featuring thimbles (a little
hard to see), billiard balls and cards. Richard was the only card act who
"plucked" the cards from the air instead of having them pop out
from behind his hands. S: I have a real gripe about the lack of
understanding on card manipulation... specifically plucking cards magically
from the air. Richard Griffith was the only magician this FISM who came close
to what it should look like... far more magical than even the 'professional'
guests who performed this kind of manipulation on the Gala shows, where a
demonstration of circus skills were the rage. 40: FUMIO - T: Not funny. S: Terrible... not worth writing about. 41: INDIANER POW HOW - T: Germans as American Indians? This act
was as camp as the teepees that formed the backdrop. But it was so corny you
had to love it! Better still, it featured some tricks that were real foolers,
though the creation of 'Rain' (a la Copperfield's 'Snow') didn't please some
portions of the audience. Warning: You WILL get wet! S: A relief to see something different
even though it was silly... you had to laugh. 42: THE TRAMP - T: His set looked great (though a little
too dark) with a city skyline, park bench and flickering street lamp. His
poor tramp character has great appeal and some of the effects, especially the
floating light globe, are excellent. Needs a little more strong magic and
variation of pace. S: Magical, beautiful little piece.
Original and entertaining, although lighting was a real problem. 43: ROXANNE - T: Roxanne appeared as a well dressed,
confident, slightly gothic looking character and presented effects with
roses, chocolates, and even colour changing lipstick. Some were too small to
see, others a tad obvious, but all quite interesting. Her final effect was a
spinning self-levitation. S: Interesting piece. Roxanne looked
lovely in her outfit and her magic was nice. Although most of it was quite
small for distant spectators, it was presented well. 44: MATTHIAS RAUCH - T: Very clever manipulation, but a little
too fast. His card work was especially good. S: Unclear idea, but his manipulation was
very good. 45: KATALIN CZEKMANN- Hungary - MAN. T: After a good start, the act petered out
quickly. The dove pan and ghost tube won't score very well in the
Manipulation category. S: Nice blue trousers, very neat, clean
outfit but not much happening on the magic side of the act. 46: CHARLES GAUCI - T: After a dramatic, well presented start
where various numbers were added up by the audience, the only real problem
Charles had was that his prediction turned out to be wrong. S: Charles has a strong presence and a
controlled manner. He spoke well and carried himself with dignity to the end
of his presentation. 47: ZAUDERER - T: We saw this act at the last FISM where
they came 3rd in Comedy, but they have really cleaned up the ending and
tightened the whole thing. Three guys in matching suits (attempt to) perform
magic in unison, with truly hilarious results. The use of sound effects,
bizarre imagery, and totally unexpected moments won over the crowd as soon as
they walked on. S: Quite funny and entertaining. Very
refreshing! 48: DUO DNS MAGIA - T: This act was a sketch about a robber
breaking into a house. They had a whole set and a well thought out storyline,
and they were only 17 and 19 years old! A little more homework and they've
got something here. A good start. S: Very entertaining. Very clever.
Concentrated on transformations... a bit of a slapstick cops and robbers
silent movie type of performance. 49: ELENA AKATOVA & VICTOR VOITKO -
T: With an interesting opening which
appeared, at first, to be "Multiplying People", this was really
more a costume change act than a magic act. Victor was never seen on stage,
so we can assume he was the secret helper behind the backdrop of life size
Russian dolls. S: Very clever costume changes. Not a FISM
magic act. 50: DINA - T: Dina had a volunteer on stage and asked
him to choose the colour of a sheep (turned out to be a "ship", I
guess I wasn't listening very carefully. I only realised when she said
"So you're on your sheep in the middle of the ocean".) Dina had
correctly predicted the colour, the accessories, and the price of the ship.
Then she did an exploding lightglobe. S: Mentalism acts can be a little tedious
to watch sometimes, but Dina (although hard to see for the black on black on
black problem) was amusing in her own way. Lunch
break. 51: KONSTANTYN - T: I couldn't see what was going on in
this act at all. It used threads, so they chose to use virtually no lighting. S: I couldn't see a thing. 52: ALBERTO GIORGI - T: A standard act featuring small effects
like the smoke appearing in the glass. He had two columns on stage that
looked nice. S: Small effects. Average act.. 53: THE MAGIC PLUMBERS - T: These guys have a lot of fun on stage
presenting a vanishing toilet, signed toilet seat to wallet, and other crazy
plumbing themed tricks. Unfortunately, the audience didn't seem to enjoy it
nearly as much, and technical mishaps with their music didn't help either. S: Amusing. 54: DUO MAGIC DIAMOND - T: Small magic, too little light on stage
didn't help as his props were black, on black costumes, against black
backdrops. S: Can't comment, couldn't see it. Any
performer serious about showing an audience some magic should note colour and
lighting. 55: YUNKE - T: Now this is how I think Grand Illusions
should be presented. The curtains opened on a grand mansion: fireplace,
curtains blowing from the wind of a storm, and a terror stricken girl ran in
looking for somewhere to hide. We were immediately engaged in the story! She
climbed into a cardboard box and the madman chasing her entered
(coincidentally dressed in the black pants/white shirt uniform of all
illusionists!) and plunged sharp rods through the box in order to kill her.
(At last, a motive!) After removing the sticks, she slipped out without him
seeing and hid under a cloth. Unfortunately for her, when he pulled the cloth
away, she'd hid inside an Andre Kole 'Head Mover' illusion. The madman
pierced her head with spikes, then removed the bloody head from her body and
took it away as a trophy. His mission accomplished he was drawn to a very cut
down version of Interlude (no box, just sticks and a few cloths) and a life
size demon emerged from his chest, leaving him writhing in pain, and finally
dying, centre stage. Great act! Loved it! S: FINALLY... people who understand how to
work with illusions. A gripping act with great acting. A psycho scene... the
punch comes at the end when we find out why the man was so hell bent on
killing the girl...he was demon possessed! Most illusions are sadistic forms
of punishment, or killing devices. To stick a girl in a box (that looks
flimsy and is treated as if it's flimsy), stick a few hundred blades in her
body (that look as if they wouldn't hurt a flea), pretend to be gone and come
back to life again is stupid. They were designed for effect many years ago...
it doesn't have the same effect today for many reasons, unless the performers
create reason and direction... which these performers have accomplished.
FANTASTIC act! 56: JOB GRANELL - T: Dressed in a white suit made it hard
for us to see his doves as they were produced. He was a young guy, and it was
reflected in the way his magic contained too much movement and confusion. The
switch at the end with a clown character was a little too obvious. S: Disjointed.. but a good try.. 57: DANNY COLE - T: Nice act, but looked very small on the
big FISM stage. His effects, all themed around him getting dressed, were
great but seemed to lack the really strong finish the act deserved. S: Red suit enhanced sharp image. Nice,
neat, clean moves... smooth, suave, sophisticated. 58: THE MAESTRO - T: I hadn't seen this act since S: Imaginative, mostly original, themed
and clever. Interesting to watch, very good skill level. 59: JORGE BLASS - T: Very well constructed act with three
framed portraits of Frakson, Cardini and S: Very interesting act. A tribute to
three masters of magic. Jorge Blass tripped over one of his props, but went
on with his act (after walking off stage, having his prop removed and came
back on to continue). Impressive save. He performed a cigarette routine in
honour of Frakson, cards in honour of Cardini and Symphony of Rings in honour
of Vernon... all, no doubt, his heroes. 60: MARIO DANIEL - T: Mario produced candles and cards (some
cards appeared with confetti, which was a nice touch). His jumbo card
productions went down particularly well. S: Not bad. 61: VOLKCANE & CIA - T: A truly enchanting act where a puppet,
operated by three people dressed in black, performed the magic. Tricks
included the vanishing cane, a dove production, blammo box, bubble
manipulation, and the zombie. S: Three puppeteers brought a banraku to
life. The banraku dreamt of being a magician as he leafed through a magic
book... turning to his operators to plead for his cause (they were like
'guardian angels' who looked after him) they allowed him his wish. A
beautiful, magical story and a clever performance. 62: T: Using the premise that "Father is
ill, his son is performing for him" S: Delightful performer, courteous to his
volunteer. Endearing and confident. 63: KOJI KISHIOKA - T: Entering in a black mask, with black
clothes against a black backdrop... he did some average card work, and
billiard balls while trying to break dance. No real sense of routining or
presentation. S: Not overly entertaining. 64: MASK - T: A truly magical, beautiful routine
featuring bubbles, marionettes, amazing tricks, emotion, and a killer finish
where the puppets came to life. Standing ovation! S: What an act! The success ran in the
ability to reach the hearts of the audience. Very skillful bubble act. The
magic occurred when objects appeared inside the bubbles and the bubbles lit
up on a candelabra. The act was a story and themed like a Geppetto scenario.
The puppets coming to life was the killer finish which forced a full house
standing ovation. INCREDIBLE act! 65: SATORU FURUKAWA - T: High skill level, but nothing really
stood out in this act... with the exception of the sheer volume of cards
which shot out from behind his hands. He was a card producing machine! S: Lots of skill. not much magic. 66: MARIO CANTO - Brazil - GM. T: A ballet dancing florist attending to
her flower cart while on points at all time. The magic was mostly mechanical
but what kept our interest was the question... "Is it a woman or a
man?" Then some pyros caused a plastic bush to catch fire in the last
moments of the act. It's just not FISM if someone's props don't burn... S: Crossdressing? A man in a tutu? Ballet
moves were wonderful... no magic, though! Next
was a real treat as Juan Tamariz was interviewed by Stan Allen. Keep your
eyes out in MAGIC for a transcript of this chat, it was great! Tamariz is
truly up there with Vernon! After
the interview, we headed into the huge dinner tent next to the Theatre for a
night of, as usual, too little food, lots of drunk magicians dancing about to
a band, and no formal entertainment.
DAY FOUR THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2000 67: GAELANO TRIGGIANO - Italy - GI. T: An act set in a haunted mansion as two
people explore and discover the magic. The piece featured amazing overacting,
and a great self-opening book. Despite an obvious rip off of both the
Pendragons sub trunk cloth rip and Lance Burton's cloth exchange (for which
they would have lost a lot of points) the act was quite good and very well received. S: Themed, but not original. 68: SHIMKOH - Japan - GM. T: A Japanese Lance Burton right down to
the style of music. Very nicely performed, but no points for originality at
all. S: Seen it all before! Another copycat. 69: FANG YINTING - China - GM. T: A traditional Chinese waterbowl
production. It's a pity we'd already seen it in the Gala Show #1, though this
act performed it a little better. S: Cultural, but no magic... just skillful
at holding waterloads under his HUGE traditional costume. 70: LIU YUTEN - China - GM. T: Very nice manipulation with billiard
balls (an 18 ball routine), sword through neck with no stock, and then she
went into a patter spirit cabinet act (with translator) which took her way
over the time limit and she was disqualified. S: Disqualification was a shame... she was
doing really well. I like the act. All Chinese dialogue. 71: DUBY MIGUIO - Argentina - MAN. T: A 17 year old with CDs, candles, very
good doves, and a surprise doves to fishbowl ending. Some technical problems
but overall well done. S: CD's just don't make it... hard to see,
but his manipulation was pretty good! Some nice moves. 72: EDUARDO - Brazil - MAN. T: A 19 year old performing with a bar
magic theme. Very nice moves and a billiard ball routine with different
colour, solid balls. He had four in each hand running them from finger to
finger. The audience loved that! S: Another good little piece. The young
performers are doing well... I just hope they don't form bad habits as they
become more adept at magic. 73: CAVALIERE - Argentina - COM. T: Not funny. The crowd almost turned on
him when he started doing a three legged act a la Rudy Coby. S: Terrible. 74: EINSTEIN JR - Germany - MM. T: A young guy who actually performed
muscle reading. Very entertaining as he had an audience member hide an item
and then he discovered it's exact location, but too short, we wanted more. S: Very, very clever. Very interesting! 75: YUMI - Japan - MAN. T: Delightful act, truly beautiful as Yumi
manipulated flowers, silks, and cards as delicately as petals. S: Cultural. Dressed in a green
traditional Japanese outfit producing pink and white flowers. Slow and graceful
movements... magical... just beautiful! 76: ZAUBERTEAM FLICK-FLACK - Germany -
GI. T: Two guys who began with a weird
shadowbox thing, a levitation with a fairly obvious vanish, and a clear sub
trunk climaxing with one of the duo emerging from the audience. S: Average illusion act. No punch.. 77: LEMBENI KHONZANI - South Africa -
GM. T: Great authentic look as he came out in
full tribal costume and danced to African music. The audience really got into
it for a while, but I can't remember him doing any magic... S: No... he did no magic! But the cultural
flavour was fabulous. 78: MR GRIFFONY - Yugoslavia - GM. T: A very slow moving act as an old grey
haired man transformed into an old bald man and performed the magic of his
youth. S: Didn't quite make it. Interesting
premise, but did nothing emotionally or magically. 79: NICOLAI FRIEDRICH- Germany - MM. T: After a jumbo any-card-called-for
rising card effect which appeared to be gimmick-free, this young performer
presented an effect where the missing piece of a Mona Lisa jigsaw puzzle was
mentally divined. Very entertaining! S: Quite clever and very good performance.
Different. 80: DAN DEVOE - USA - MAN. T: Dan and his partner did a lot of
ballroom dancing, then his partner sat down at a dinner table as he impressed
her with his magic. They have obviously spent a lot of time studying dance,
but need to spend some on acting now. S: Nice dancing. 81: VALERI BOSTROKOV- Russia - GM. T: Not only the traditional multiplying
Russian dolls, but multiplying balalaikas as well! S: Another cultural performance with not
much magic. 82: ROUSSEAU - England - MAN. T: A well dressed gent standing under a
street lamp. There were shades of Cardini as he is puzzled by the magic
happening around him. Just a little too slow for my tastes. S: Average performance... a little slow. 83: RUIZ DE RETES - Spain - GI. T: A cleverly designed mirror shadowbox.
Nicely done, but more than one illusion would have helped increase his point
score. S: Not much magic happening in this act,
but the illusion was good. 84: CHARLES BROOK - Portugal - GM. T: Fairly standard act, unfortunately. S: Not a memorable performance... Lunch
break - race to the close up auditorium. 85: YASUYUKI - Japan - CU. T: Yasuyuki is one of the Napoleons, which
explains why this Japanese act was actually funny. In order to let us see his
magic better, he lay on the table and had his close up pad up on it's end.
All of the props stayed on the pad with cleverly concealed magnets. Not only
that, but he utilised the gravity of the unusual orientation to get away with
some extremely deceptive original sleights. Very entertaining! S: Very clever, funny and very
entertaining. His joke to do the magic on his side so we could see better
actually worked! 86: MR GASSERT - Germany - CD. T: Sequence themed around impressing a
female volunteer. His technique was quite obvious and he did choose to use
the 'F word'... which won't get you any extra points at FISM. S: Crass... and embarrassed his female
volunteer. 87: DINA - Argentina - CU. T: Dina told a story about shopping with
her friend. The story was good, her personality was over the top, but the
magic was quite standard. Her final costume change under the table was a
little too slow. S: Interesting, but average act. Has
potential. 88: KALLE HAKKARAINEN - Finland - IN. T: Two clever effects. One where he
appeared to "inflate" a glass bottle just by blowing into it. The
other where a signed card appeared inside the frozen contents of a bottle of
water. S: Very clever and interesting effects. 89: ARIEL JR - Uruguay - CU. T: He spoke Latin American but it was easy
to follow as he performed cut and restored balloon, then had a balloon doggy
find a selected card in a bag. S: Not a bad act. 90: HENRY EVANS - Argentina - CD. T: Technically astounding and quite
entertaining. Henry vanished the box and changed the colour of the deck, cut
to the kings, dealt 10 piles, each of which contained 1, 2, 3, 4 etc cards up
to 10 in the tenth pile, he rearranged all the cards into order and finished
with an invisible deck routine where the card was found inside a balloon.
Great standard of effects, high skill level, and good routining. S: Top technician and entertaining, too. 91: ANTONIO ROMERO - Spain - CU. T: Antonio spoke Spanish and presented a
nice colour changing knife routine with a lot of surprises, then a cups and
balls routine with clear cups, sponge balls, and a covering cup. S: Another fabulous technician. Fantastic
magical pieces. 92: ROLAND MEISTER - Switzerland - CU. T: He began with a colour changing shirt,
then did card and coin effects followed by a cups and balls routine climaxing
with final loads of an orange, sand, and water. S: Pretty good performer. 93: KATIA - Russia - CU. T: Blatantly capitalising on her sexuality
Katia performed the first half of her act with 'Sex Bomb' playing in the
background and she leaned over a lot in her low cut dress. She found three
signed cards: one in her hair, one in her lipstick, one in her compact. Then
she finished off with her cups and balls routine which climaxes with a
miniature Kremlin as the final load. S: Had magicians completely fooled... as
Katia bent over her table and the camera operator tried to adjust the lens,
we all copped an eye full of her cleavage. She's funny... and entertaining,
but not in the magical sense. 94: MAGO MIGUE - Spain - CD. T: He spoke Spanglish and was quite
similar in style to Juan Tamariz. He had a double back deck and wrote the
names of selected cards on the backs, then the cards became real, and
eventually the entire deck was printed correctly. Quite original, extremely
clever, and a crowd pleaser. S: VERY entertaining, clever and skillful. 95: STEVE SANDOMIERSKI - South Africa -
CU. T: Steve had a nice premise as he played
an ex-postal worker. But he had an evil laugh which made the whole act quite
creepy (when you think of how many postal workers in the USA go crazy...) He
did a "posted" signed card, linking onion rings, and a selected card
into sandwich... but he ran overtime and was disqualified. S: Themed... but what a strange act!
Entertaining for the wrong reasons. 96: THORSTEN STROTMANN - Germany - CU. T: Not a highly skilled act, he destroyed
a volunteer's signed FISM nametag then found it restored inside an hourglass. S: Average act. 97: GASTON QUIETO - Argentina - CD. T: He began with a vanishing white glove,
which distractingly dangled beneath his black jacket for the rest of his act.
He displayed a good level of skill and finished off with MacDonald's Aces. S: Skillful, but average presentation. 98: WILLY MONROE - Spain - CU. T: Balloon to silk, cut and restored
floating modelling balloon rat... but you could clearly see the thread... and
it floated for ages... then, as he left, a trail of balloon rats on another
"invisible" thread were dragging along behind him. I'm sorry, but
this act was not good at all. S: No magic... a stupid act! 99: KARTIS - Argentina - CU. T: He began with the production of bills
and coins which was okay, not great. Then he climaxed with an over the top
cups and balls to music with tons of final loads (which the crowd loved!) but
many of the loads were blatantly obvious... S: Audience went crazy over this act... I
have no idea why. His loads were obvious, his technique was average, he
produced some interesting loads, including a liquid load from cups and balls
(copying Tim Ellis' milkshake ending), but missing the point. Maybe the
audience was tired by this stage and welcomed the music, colour and pretty
objects produced... bells, ribbons and purple water. Who knows? 100: FELIPE DE ABREU - Brazil - CD. T: Entered as a high school student
talking on a mobile phone, then performed a series of card tricks, with
nothing really standing out. His finish was finding one signed card in his
phone, and stabbing the other in the air with his ruler. He then ended by
walking off leaving his volunteer sitting alone on stage. S: Young kid with loose act.... has no
idea how to treat a volunteer. 101: MICHAEL JOSEPH- Portugal - CU T: He produced a beerglass and a bottle
from an envelope, then upstaged himself by announcing there were peanuts
under everyone's armrests. So, as we all sought out our snacks for the next
45 seconds, he had to stop and wait. Then he put a peanut in a volunteer's
pocket and sewed it up! He threw a hard shelled giant peanut into the
audience to select (or maybe knock unconscious) another volunteer. But the
best part, because of his accent, was when he announced, "I threw a
giant penis into the audience" when he meant to say "peanut".
Undoubtedly I'd do a lot worse trying to speak Portuguese... but you had to
be there, we had tears rolling down our eyes. S: This one had us in fits of laughter!
Swearing and mistreating his volunteers were entrees to the rest of his act,
I had no idea what his magic was about... but his mispronunciation was the
life of the act. Apart from Tim's quote above, Michael also said to the
volunteer: "Here, hold my penis while I bring out familiar magician's
paper (toilet paper)... Do you know how we use this paper? First, you take a
few shits (sheets)....". 102: FUJIMOTO - Japan - CU. T: Fujimoto also had trouble with English,
but spoke slowly and very deliberately... and knew it was funny! He did
effects with contact lenses, coin to jumbo coin, cups and balls where the
wand really penetrated the cup and left a hole, signed card to lemon... but a
sponge ball ended up in the lemon and the selected card was in the cup...
which now had no hole in it! Very original, funny, and entertaining. S: Quite an entertaining act, funny with a
few surprises. 103: SHINGO HARAOKA - Japan - CD. T: Shingo did some "You Do As I
Do" by-play with a volunteer and had some fun by-play (coming a little
too close to putting down the volunteer though), and moderate skill. S: Not a bad act. 104: HIRO SAKAI - Japan - CU. T: Highly original material as he trapped
the sound from a music box in a bottle, vanished water from a foam cup, unzipped
his card case, and did a signed card transposition while one card was stapled
to a board. Some effects need a little more work to become less obvious, but
great ideas, and excellent use of music. S: Highly original and entertaining. A
very good act. Now
we raced back to the Theatre to catch the last part of Paul Daniels being
interviewed by Stan Allen. Paul got a standing ovation! After
a dinner break came the Gala Show #2 and the exploding water torture tank.
Max Maven compered the show, very well, in several different languages (which
should be a prerequisite for ALL FISM comperes!) Ger Copper presented some
more delightful black art, we saw The Napoleons, Carlos Barragan, Michael
Mendes, Voronin and Derek Scott, Endovi, Ya-Lipu (a Spaniard dressed as a
Chinese magician), two Chinese sisters who weren't listed in the programme
but did a mask changing act, and of course Mago Anton. Mago was handcuffed to
a block of concrete and he jumped into a huge plexiglass tank of water where
he was going to find a selected card from a deck which had been tossed
inside. Unfortunately, his concrete slab hit the front wall of the tank as he
jumped in and the entire tank disintegrated. Water flooded the stage and
covered the front two rows of the audience (the VIP seats!) but Mago was OK.
Max handled the disaster well and Derek Scott and Michael Mendes
entertainined us while the stage was being mopped dry for our final act,
Topas.
DAY FIVE FRIDAY, JULY 7, 2000 106: MICHAEL ROSS - France - GI &
IN. T: Michael appeared from inside a huge
balloon, then produced a girl from a roll of paper. Next they placed her into
a big box, pulled her middle out, and gave her head a twist for good measure.
Finally, they created a sub trunk by covering a frame with tissue paper.
Original magic, but not 100% deceptive. S: Original, but average presentation . 107: NANA HITOMI - Japan - GM. T: Entering wearing a witches hat, red
tails, and no pants, Nana presented a dove act but with wine glasses instead
of doves... even down to doing a tails vanish of a glass full of wine! S: I can understand why she didn't wear
trousers...very average act. 108: NORBERT FERRE - France - MAN. T: Exceptionally high skill level
displayed as he began with a billiard ball routine where he tossed each ball
from finger to finger as they appeared. Not only that, but he played an
interesting and entertaining "daggy" character between effects,
transforming into "Mr. Magician" for the manipulation pieces. His
priest gag when he needed a deck of cards was priceless. The only let-down
was that his card work, which was brilliant, couldn't live up to the standard
he set with his billiard balls. However, he was amazing! S: FANTASTIC. High skill level,
manipulation unbelievable. Real magic! 109: OS INCORRIGIVEIS- Brazil - COM. T: Two guys, one needs an assistant so the
other dresses as a woman. The man makes a sword from a modelling balloon and
displays it holding it at crotch level (get it?) then forces it down his
"assistant's" throat as a metaphor, we assume, of rape... well, why
else? They hold up a huge cloth and a third guy, wearing a dove suit runs
out. Finally, the dove guy goes into a tent that could conceal a car, and
when the cloth is dropped it reveals the dove guy... now plucked of his
feathers. The end. S: No magic. Rude and stupid. 110: IRINA FROM MOSCOW - Russia - GM. T: So many surreal moments... a dancing
shoe, a red wooden duck/boat, Irina putting the shoe in the duck/boat with a
wooden doll and having them all follow her around the stage, a mysterious
object "zombie-ing" under a cloth turns out to be three spoons
which "click" at her, trees explode into flags... all performed by
a woman dressed, apparently, as an orthodox high priest. S: Russian cultural dance with snow... no
magic! 111: RIKU ISAAKAINEN - Finland - GM. T: Cards, candles, masks, Richard Ross'
ring routine... At this stage of the competition, the audience was becoming
less tolerant of standard magic, not done particularly well. S: Terrible. No originality, no skill . 112: KENJI MINEMURA - Japan - MAN. T: Wow! Very highly skilled, very
original, manipulation with plates, cutlery, bottles, glasses, GREAT stuff!
Cheeky charm, good music, everything clear, deliberate and magical. Have you
ever seen serving trays or champagne bottles appear or vanish as cleanly as
playing cards? This guy is good! S: Winner! Original and classy. Real
magic! Great moves, nearly all perfect. Body movement sharp and clean...
charming personality. 113: BIDOU - France - GM. T: Black art balloon doggies. Why? S: They went to the wrong convention...
even so, the balloon act was a shocker! 114: FITO PAVESE - Argentina - GM. T: A nice idea as he plucks projected
items from a screen, but the stage was too dark for us to appreciate the act
properly. S: Original, very imaginative... lacked
energy, probably due to poor lighting. 115: DAVID SOUSA - Portugal - MAN. T: A young guy, black on black on black
again! Very good, very slick manipulation including jumbo cards, but nothing
unique or outstanding. S: Quite good. Hard to watch when dressed
in black with some black props against a black curtain. More thought to
colour would make it a little more appealing. 116: SALGUERY - Portugal - GM. T: Standard dove work with invisible
harnesses. He would have lost points on simple things like when he pulled his
lit match out, which wasn't lit, he didn't have a spare. S: Black and white were the only colours
used which didn't help this standard magic act. 117: LUCE - France - GM. T: Lots of fire and special effects, but
not a lot of magic. She had huge jets of flames, floating flame, and juggling
flame. Very popular with the crowd. (I noted the nearest exit!) S: Couple of good ideas. The use of party
poppers in her act was unnecessary... it didn't help the presentation. 118: JASON BANEY - USA - MAN. T: Very much the look of Jason Byrne.
Unusual effects with chains, smoke, balloons, and the final production of a
(why?) sandcastle. S: Unusual. No theming, no meaning. 119: DAN DEVOE - USA - IN. T: He presented a tall shadowbox. Was this
invention or simply modification? S: Bigger shadow box, nothing new. 120: WOODY PITTMAN - USA - COM. T: He presented the dancing hanky, clocks
from his coat, and several other effects which didn't get many laughs at all. S: Averages act. 121: FUJIMOTO - Japan - MAN. T: Here he did thimbles, but had the great
idea of covering them with sponge-balls and, guess what, we could SEE them!
He also did card manipulation with CDs and climaxed with laser-discs. S: CD's are shiny, but hard to see no matter
how good the lighting. 122: BRENDO & SYLVANA - Argentina -
GM. T: Very similar act to past FISM winners,
the highly original Junge Junge. As a result, this pair (an English gent and
a street urchin) actually got booed and hissed when they pulled out a head
sword box. S: Sad to see copycats. 123: PEDRO III - Spain - GM. T: A great opening with lightning effects
and we have another haunted mansion. This was spoiled by bad acting, shoddy
sets (moved either by the "ghosts" or instability) and no plot at
all. At one point he transformed into Santa, then returned as himself. S: Great start with thunder clouds made of
smoke and a little too much lightning (although it kept the stage well lit)
Looked to have potential... lots of things happening on stage but I couldn't
understand what they were. Confusing 124: MASAK JIN - Japan - COM. T: A promising entrance to the Inspector
Gadget music, but then he brought out breakaway props, tried his hand at
mime, and produced a toy dove and rabbit. S: Slapstick. Not funny, not entertaining. 125: GEORGE HONDA - Japan - GM. T: Lance Burton inspired classic tails
dove act, but the doves were produced in cages. Terrible music, but the
audience really enjoyed this act. S: Actually, the 'doves' were budgies...
elevator music enhanced this average act. 126: SHIMADA BLACK - Japan - COM. T: Tom Mullica's act, done by a Japanese,
dressed as a Mexican, without the humour and with only half the skill. S: Not entertaining. 127: McMAGIC - Spain - COM. T: A great opening as one monk came out
and magically produced a second monk to 'The A Team' theme music. Then it got
a little offensive as they performed magic with communion wafers, did a sword
box where a pillar of black smoke emerged from the sword filled box, then the
smoke changed to white as the swords were removed and the Pope emerged. Not
enough comedy or magic. S: Religious parody... not a good topic,
especially when it lacked the essential magic content for a FISM competition. 128: MARITESS - USA - GM. T: She performed the multiplying billiard
balls, floating goldfish bowl, floating rose, and a fishbowl production. Too
many "dealer" effects and nothing to reflect her as a unique act. S: Very average performance. 129: HYASHI TAI CHI KIRARIN - Japan -
COM. T: Everytime the words 'Japan' and
'Comedy' come up on the screen together... people start to leave the theatre.
But I'm glad we didn't miss this one! An old woman magically brings a
leprechaun doll to life, and he teaches her about recycling! He takes her
mixed up bottles and cans and magically separates them, he changes a stack of
newspapers into toilet rolls (and throws them out to the crowd), then he
becomes a midget, she turns into a bride, there's a wedding... this was
really weird! S: Save me! 130: EZAWA - Japan - GM. T: It was hard to tell what she was doing,
but she was using Japanese looking props combined with drinks, liquids,
glitter and small items. S: Cultural... no magic. 131: SCOTT THE MAGICIAN & MISS
MURIEL - Nederlands - COM. T: This act was hilarious. The
"daggy" magician had no assistant to saw in half, so he was given a
mannequin. After putting all of the pieces of the mannequin in the box and,
inadvertently, sawing her in two, she came to life! She "helped"
him perform a few simple effects, then finally got into a torture box which
accidentally collapsed and crushed her. Then, the suspicious looking illusion
stairs started moving away, we saw a pair of feet and a head emerge from
inside, but when the stairs opened up we saw they were mechanical and Miss
Muriel, now a cheerleader, came running in from the back of the theatre!
Totally fooled everyone, as well as being hilariously funny. S: Totally deceptive! Fantastic act...
very, very funny! Miss Muriel stole the show... she was completely crazy (a
dumb, fun loving, joyous live mannequin who hasn't quite got full control
over her mannequin legs). The comedy worked because the two magicians had
totally opposing and well developed characters. They remained in character
for their entire act without fault. Mock drama and suspense added to this
delightful act that received a well deserved standing ovation. A diamond. 132: YUVAL KEREN - Israel - IN. T: After a sexist display of repeatedly
kissing his volunteer on the lips, Yuval got down to business and
demonstrated a fork which bent in the hands of a spectator, the straightened
itself again. S: The treatment of his volunteer was
embarrassing. A turn off! A neat improvement on an old trick... of course,
you can't use just 'any' fork! 133: HARRY HONG - Hong Kong - COM. T: Harry attempted stand up comedy magic.
He did some magician only gags, clumsily levitated the red light (which goes
on if you go over time) and sent a volunteer back to the audience after he
pretended the guy had stabbed him with scissors. Harry got a cardboard cut
out of Copperfield, which changed into Claudia Schiffer, then the masked
magician... as he tried to put the cutout into a sawing... the sawing started
to fall to pieces... unintentionally. Harry left the stage for a whole 30
seconds and when he returned dressed as the female assistant and took off his
cone bra and pulled silks from a pointy breast, the curtain came down. He
must have run overtime... S: Just terrible rubbish! No magic, not
funny. Crass. 134: IONG TAT CHI - Macau- GM. T: Music themed act where he produced
various instruments. He climaxed by producing (well, pulling out from behind
his table) a cardboard keyboard and set off a confetti cannon so loud that it
woke everyone up. S: I had no idea what this was about...
but the closing effect had me scared me out of my wits! 135: LUIS BOYANO & ISABELLA - Spain
- MM. T: A very entertaining presentation of the
Spirit Cabinet. S: Standard Spirit Cabinet routine
performed very well. Now
we moved to close up auditorium for the last few acts who had been postponed
from last night because of lack of time. Unfortunately, the Jury didn't join
us, they went off to Maurice Pierre's cocktail party (he could have postponed
that?) leaving us all waiting in the auditorium for almost two hours. Lennart
Green treated us to an impromptu show , astounding stuff!!! Then we got to
see a little of the David Blaine interview broadcast live from the large
Theatre... which we would have gone to see live if we'd known the Jury would
take so long. 135: GERY - Austria - CU. T: Gery has competed with this act at
previous FISMs. It's a completely themed act of incredibly skilful
dice-stacking. He was a guest act at the SAM in Milwaukee with us. He had one
or two fumbles, but he had been on standby since yesterday, then again for
two straight hours today! His act went over very well! S: Very clever piece... colourful and
interesting to watch. 136: PHILIPP - Austria - CU. T: Produced a mini Statue of Liberty but
then came across as a little arrogant by making negative remarks about
Copperfield. He did coins across complete with spectacular coin vanishes,
then a cups and balls routine and ended up giving his volunteer a little
reward of a chocolate liqueur. S: Lovely clean moves and very clever. 137: MAGO GRAGNELL - Mexico - CD &
IN. T: He spoke Spanish with a translator,
which may have thrown his timing out and could have been why we saw all his
lapping. He did lots of colour changes and five signed cards ended up in his
wallet... but what was his invention? S: Looked quite skillful, but I had no
idea what was going on. 138: ETIENNE PRADIER - England - CD. T: A fairly cocky French man who put down
David Blaine then said "I only perform magic for my wife and
mistresses." He vanished the aces, did a gag where he exposed back
palming, he did a very visual ace assembly where they visually appeared face
up in four piles, and finished with aces to pockets. S: Cocky attitude didn't help his
presentation. 139: KIKE - Spain - IN. T: He'll sell tons of these! With a
reincarnation theme he took a blank card, a glowing heart visibly appeared on
it then split to become three hearts. It looked like real magic! S: Where can I buy one of these?
Absolutely impressive! An excellent effect. 140: FRANCISCO HERRERO - Spain - CD. T: He spoke Spanish, did an ace trick,
found a selected card and, I guess, told a lot of gags in Spanish because a
lot of people were laughing. S: Presentation seemed good, but I
couldn't understand the Spanish language. 141: CHRIS KORN - USA - CU. T: He had intro music as he walked on
which worked beautifully. He did stock gags and standard coin moves which
suffered in comparison to the more skilful acts we'd already seen. A
previously vanished coin fell from his sleeve, not a gag, he'd lose a few
points for that. Then he finished by pulling a selected card out of a fake
bottom he was wearing, he'd lose the rest of his points on that one... S: Cocky attitude... sick jokes. Not a
nice act to watch... farting and pulling cards out of his fake bottom exposed
to the audience. Disgusting gutter material. 142: MANUEL MUERTE - Germany - CU. T: Cigar tricks, champagne tricks, lots of
fun, killer surprises, a signed bill reappeared inside a plastic champagne
cork... and then... the champagne bottle was seen to be resealed and given
away as a gift. Add to this Manuel's delightful comedic personality, and the
excitement of his race against the red light as he was coming to the end of
his act... and you have total entertainment! S: Wonderful act... very funny, clever and
entertaining. Themed and a delight to watch. 143: ARISTON - Argentina - IN. T: Ariston presented his creation, via a
translator, "any card called for rising cards", which he'd been
selling at the Magic Fair. It was quite a good new method and the cards
appeared to be ungimmicked. S: Very clever. Now
it was off to dinner, as there was nothing scheduled for us this evening. We
met up with those who saw Gala Show #2 and took the bus back to the hotel
with them, while many others headed to the Altis Hotel, the "Official
Late Night Venue". Well, when the strolling magicians are Juan Tamariz,
Bob Sheets, and Lennart Green... who's going to say no? Many people who'd
never seen Juan live before were absolutely astounded. Just ask David Jones:
"He doesn't do magic, he does miracles!"
DAY SIX SATURDAY, JULY 8, 2000 Today
wasn't quite as busy as the first "Event" was the Award Ceremony at
noon, but we still took the 8.30am bus in so we could make a few purchases
from the dealers. Many dealers had sold out of the more popular items and
reported tremendous sales. Even Charles Gauci, who's stock arrived late
thanks to lost luggage, sold out of many items. We
also managed to sneak in a quick look at Topas lecturing. He's only 27 but he
speaks with a wealth of great experience about how to really perform magic.
Very inspirational. Now
we moved into the Theatre again for the Award Ceremony, and the winners
were... _____________________________________ THE WINNERS Manipulation 1-
Kenji Minemura - Japan 2-
Norbert Ferré - France 3-
Eduardo - Brazil Comedy
Magic 1 -
Not Awarded 2 -
Zauderer - Germany 3 -
The Maestro - USA General
Magic 1-
Mask - France 2 -
Yumi - Japan 3
(tie) - George Saterial - USA 3
(tie) - Roxanne - Germany Illusions 1-
der "Hexer" - Germany 2 -
Yunke - Spain 3 -
Zauberteam Flick-Flack - Germany Mental
Magic 1 -
Not Awarded 2 -
Luis Boyano & Isabella - Spain 3 -
Nicola Friedrich - Germany Card
Magic 1 -
Henry Evans - Argentina 2 -
Mago Migue - Spain 3 -
(tie) Gregory Wilson - USA 3 -
(tie) Thomas Fraps & Gaston - Germany Close-Up 1 -
Simo Aalto - Finland 2 -
Manuel Muerte - Germany 3 -
Gery - Austria Inventions 1 -
Michael Ross - France 2 -
Ariston - Argentina 3 -
Kalle Hakkarainen - Finland Grand
Prix Scott
the Magician & Miss Muriel - Nederlands After
the awards it was announced that the next FISM would be in Den Haag in 2003
and many people (including us) rushed the booth to sign up and register. A
leisurely boat trip took us to the site of Expo '98 where we had a few hours
to explore this amazing place before lining up for the Gala Dinner and
Show... The
less said here the better! 2100 people, one skinny entrance, and everyone
racing inside (dressed to the nines!) to try and get a seat. There weren't
enough chairs, tables, or food to go around and Luis de Matos apologised from
the stage telling us that more people turned up than were expected...? Now
you couldn't get in without a ticket... so how did that happen? Many people
left before the show, which was truly terrible. Outdoors, on a huge rock
stage, many of the winners couldn't perform. We watch the Close up and Cards
winners perform on the stage via a giant Jumbotron screen. We watched an
appalling comedy act from Sweden, Topper Martyn sang a song then got off,
Richard McDougall presented his cigarette act... why these acts for THIS
venue? We even had a videotape of David Copperfield which we couldn't hear
because of bad sound, then we crossed live via phone to David, and couldn't
really hear him then either. Max Maven did his best to compere the show, and
David Williamson added humour throughout it... but it really ended what was a
good FISM on a bad note. The show ended with a spectacular fireworks display (which set off car alarms) as people walked out trying to find the buses. |
Article © Magic Unlimited 2000