More Celebracadabra gossip!

Entourage star Kevin Dillon hosted the star-studded grand opening of McFadden’s Irish pub restaurant saloon at the Rio resort casino. Celebrity magicians also appearing at the red carpet gala opening were Penn & Teller, Nathan Burton who appears in Comedy Magic at Planet Hollywood’s Miracle Mile, and Murray Sawchuck, one of the magic coaches on VH1’s new reality series Celebracadabra sponsored by Ellusionist.

Murray is one of the veteran magicians coaching the celebrities for performances in front of tough crowds who will ultimately judged by a panel of master magicians who determine which celebrities get to advance to the next challenge.

The celebrities appearing on the show are C. Thomas Howell, comedian ANT, Hal Sparks, Chris Reid (Kid from Kid n’ Play), Lisa Ann Walter, Carnie Wilson, Kim Wyatt from The Pussycat Dolls.

Currently, Celebracadabra is slated to debut on Sunday April 20 and run 9 weeks.

You’ve all heard Penn speak. It’s rare you get a chance to hear Teller. The usually silent Teller gave a talk for the Mind Science Foundation and he speaks, there is a lot to listen to.

Ahoy, mindfreak magician Criss Angel kept mum about the two band-aids he had on the side o’ his now-bearded face when he hit the new Cathouse restaurant and loungerie at the Luxor. E’en the Coquette dancers couldn’t pry the secret from him as t’ if it was a stunt gone wrong, an accident, or gi’in’ up on the first attempt t’ sha’e off the beard, shiver me timbers!

Criss’ stylist has watched Pirates of the Caribbean one to many times. Criss, Cap’n Jack Sparrow called, he wants his pirate style back.

Since the fire at The Monte Carlo last week in Vegas, Lance Burton’s show has been down. While the fire was contained to upper floors of the hotel and his show was not affected, he hasn’t been able to resume his regular performance schedule.

Lance is hoping to resume shows this Thursday, but has not had confirmation. He told Robin Leach of Vegas Luxe Life “He tells me he checked every square inch of his theater and “all is fine and ready to go.”

When evacuated guests were permitted to retrieve their belongings, Lance did magic tricks in the lobby to entertain them.

You never know when your street magic skills will come in handy!

Has Criss Angel set magic on television back 48 years?

In a recent newspaper interview in the Fresno Bee, pioneering illusionist Mark Wilson stated some strong comments about the current state of magic on television. In 1960, Mark Wilson had a challenge – to get a sponsored magic show on television. All the naysayers told him early on that magic would not work on television because the viewers would think it was TV trickery behind the illusions.

Wilson commented about Criss Angel, “He violates all the rules. Speaking as a professional magician, I will tell you that you cannot levitate from the top of one building to another without using television tricks. My fear is that using these kind of tricks will make it like before I began and people will start thinking that true magic can’t work on television,”

Angel has always denied the accusations of camera tricks and has said that every illusion can be duplicated in a live show.

Back in 1960, when Mark Wilson first started doing magic on TV, the show went out live. In the 70′s Doug Henning’s 1 hour magic specials went out live. How ’bout it Criss? Why not 1 half hour MindFreak done under these conditions:

1) The show goes on the air live
2) Shoot live in front of a studio audience
3) No trick photography or editing and preferably done in a single shot
4) No magic tricks that cannot be performed in a live situation
5) No stooges

It hasn’t been done in 30 years. It would be ground-breaking. It probably can’t be done by Criss Angel.