True Astonishments giveaway: Three seats added to dinner table
January 6, 2009
Earlier today, Paul Harris contacted Jason Brumbalow, General Manager of Ellusionist, about our exclusive giveaway for the long awaited, nine-DVD set True Astonishments. Not wanting the 10 seats to be decided solely by who mashes a mouse the quickest, he asked for three additional seats to be awarded in a different way.
Of course, we agreed.
Ellusionist is giving a special dinner to the first 10 pre-orders of True Astonishments, featuring Paul Harris at Brad Christian’s house. Here’s the catch: After the first 10 pre-orders get their seat at the table, we will randomly choose three more from all pre-orders (starting at pre-order No. 51) made between Jan. 6 and 16. In addition, each of the 13 will be given something special directly from Paul.
In other words: If you’re not one of the first 10, take heart. You may still have a chance at the dinner of a lifetime. This dinner will feature a special Q&A from the man who, arguably, is responsible for street magic’s popularity today. And, according to a post on the Ellusionist forums, Tim Trono, a good friend of Harris, said that Harris is already planning what he wants to say to the 13.
The official rules for the giveaway are right here. True Astonishments is available for pre-order at 1 p.m. Pacific TODAY.
While you’re waiting to order True Astonishments…
January 5, 2009
True Astonishments will be ready for pre-order at 1 p.m. Pacific tomorrow, Jan. 6. We know that a lot of you are waiting with itchy trigger fingers ready to click that mouse through the desk so that you can get a chance to be one of 10 lucky winners to dine with Paul Harris and Brad Christian. While you’re waiting, here’s some eye and ear candy:
Rich Ferguson, creator of Tagged, is featured in this week’s iTricks’ Magic Week in Review. During the interview, he talks a little bit about Derren Brown, the upcoming “Masters of Illusion” special and his iTricks’ Trick of the Year-winning effect. The podcast can be found here. You can also kill some time with these online tricks from his Web site.
Jeremy Bennett was interviewed by CBC recently; he talked a little about his new show on the Vision Network, about the law of attraction and did some magic. The video is below:
TAGGED by Rich Ferguson: iTricks’ Trick of the Year!
December 30, 2008
Congratulation to Rich Ferguson, creator of iTricks’ Trick of the Year for 2008.
In a final four fight to the death, Tagged took on Branded by Tim Trono. Also in the first round, Richard Sanders’ Extreme Burn beat out Wayne Houchin’s Thread. That led to a final round between Tagged and Extreme Burn. In a breakneck race, Tagged won 56 percent of the vote, leading Ferguson’s effect to win the title.
The final four was determined by viewers submitting votes to iTricks. Congratulations to all the creators whose effects were nominated, and a special congratulations all the finalists!
Congrats to 2008 holiday promotion winners; get ready for a mind-blowing 2009!
December 29, 2008
The winners in our holiday giveaway have been drawn. Congratulations to everyone who won!
And that closes out a hectic, crazy 2008. From all of us at Ellusionist, we thank you all for your support, participation and business throughout the year, especially through server crashes on release dates. Even with those problems, 2008 was a great year! The hardest part about it, however, was containing our anticipation for 2009. There is SO MUCH cool stuff coming out — I wish I could tell you all about it. You already know about Justin Miller working on an M5 video, you already know about Ringtone from Frozen creator Adam Grace and Serial Biller from Tagged creator Rich Ferguson. And I am absolutely stoked about other projects coming down the pike.
Anyway, from all of us at Ellusionist, we hope you have an incredible new year where you reach all your goals and blow more minds than ever before! Now, onto the holiday winners:
One last sale: Stainless steel card clips
December 29, 2008
Ellusionist’s final sale of the year is a steal in steel. For 48 hours, you can get one of Ellusionist’s classy card clips for $9.97 plus shipping — when you do the math, you’ll see that’s more than 40 percent off. These clips are custom fit for Ellusionist’s larger decks, and you can choose your favorite style: Ghost, Black Tiger or Masters. Because of the demand for them and their prestige, they have never been offered up for a discount before. They will protect your cards and look great doing it.
There is a limit of two clips per customer. The sale ends at midnight on Dec. 30. These clips will likely not be discounted again for a while, so don’t miss out.
Tagged by Rich Ferguson leads in vote for iTricks’ “Trick of the Year”
December 29, 2008
Rich Ferguson’s latest effect “Tagged,” the best thing to happen to mentalism since knives and styrofoam cups, may be headed toward its first official honor. As of last Friday, Tagged led the votes for iTricks’ “Trick of the Year” for 2008. The final winner will be decided during a live chat on Dec. 30.
Other effects available from Ellusionist getting nods from voters are Flow by Dan Hauss and Extreme Burn by Richard Sanders. Have your say by e-mailing iTricks.
Kreskin releases predictions for 2009
December 28, 2008
The Amazing Kreskin has released his predictions for the upcoming year, which begins this Thursday. Among them, as reported in the Ithaca Times:
- If Obama doesn’t win a second term, it is not going to be because of who is running against him. There will be a growing effort to have Hillary Clinton run for president again in 2012.
- The economy is going to stink like the Detroit Lions. Specifically: If the (government) increases bailouts to more and more areas of the economy, then the recession will last longer, up to 4 1/2 years.
- Hollywood will slowly disappear. The entertainment capital is more of a legend than a reality. Hollywood will move to India and the state of Connecticut. Connecticut will have one of the greatest financial boosts in decades; give it 2 to 2 1/2 years (to happen).
- UFO sightings and talking to the dead will increase. This bothers Kreskin, who doesn’t believe in spirit communications, but does believe in UFOs. There will be more and more sightings of UFOs and more and more cases of people who believe they talked to the dead, he said.
- Clowns will gain new status. The clown will have new degrees of prestige and importance. They are important in therapy. They communicate in a nonverbal way. They will have an important role in ways to come.
Kreskin nailed this year’s Super Bowl and presidential election winners, according to his Web site.
Bro Gilbert: The Ellusionist Interview
December 26, 2008
Paul Harris (pictured, left) and Bro Gilbert met each other at a good time in their lives.
Harris was wanting to get away from the Las Vegas scene, Gilbert was considering the continuation of a consulting gig for Criss Angel’s “Mindfreak.” One night, Gilbert spotted Harris at a Vegas-area bar and introduced himself. After talking for a few minutes, Harris said he wanted to go somewhere, some place like British Columbia. As it turned out, that’s where Gilbert lived. With that coincidence began an almost two-year collaboration resulting in the highly anticipated True Astonishments, the nine-DVD set filled with some of the most genius magic work.
Gilbert spoke with Ellusionist about the beginnings of the project, Harris’ reputation and legacy, some of the magic philosophies in the set and where Harris stayed for a month thinking up illusions.
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True Astonishments will be available for pre-order on Jan. 6 for $300. Ellusionist is offering an exclusive giveaway for those who pre-order.
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From all of us: MERRY CHRISTMAS!
December 24, 2008
If you haven’t seen the holiday greeting video from the Ellusionist forums, produced by forum moderator Goudinov, then click here. From all of us at Ellusionist, we wish you a merry Christmas and a magical new year. May your double lifts be smooth, your pass be invisible and may you drop jaws and boggle minds like never before. Merry Christmas!
Ten people will have dinner with legend Paul Harris at Brad’s place
December 23, 2008
The words legend and legendary are thrown around so casually these days. But we think they don’t do Paul Harris justice.
The legendary magic creator is ready to release his magnum opus to the world. The True Astonishments DVD set will be released this January.
Originally intended to be a video edition of his incredible Art of Astonishment books, collaborating magicians added to the effects and made them even more incredible. The end result is a 9-DVD set contained within a beautiful wooden box. This is not a casual purchase. This is an investment into some of the most mind-boggling, beautiful magic you have ever seen.
Harris has collaborated with David Blaine, Doug Henning and David Copperfield. He has created hundreds of incredible effects used by magicians around the world. True Astonishments will be Paul Harris’ current, definitive and final legacy. This is a monumental project of the highest caliber, from the production to the material. True Astonishments is one of the most important projects to be released in the last 30 years.
In other words, it’s a legendary work created by a legend. And the legend is working with Ellusionist to present a one-of-a-kind, once-in-a-lifetime promotion.
At 1 p.m. Pacific (4 p.m. Eastern) on Jan. 6, Ellusionist will begin taking pre-orders for True Astonishments:
- If your order is the 26th through the 50th, you will receive an Art of Astonishment DVD signed by Paul Harris.
- If your order is the 11th through 25th, you will receive a set of the Art of Astonishment books signed by Paul Harris.
- The first 10 pre-orders will get to hang out at a special meet-and-greet at the house of Brad Christian on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009.
- Every order will come with a three-pack of Ellusionist’s custom playing cards.
True Astonishments will be available from Ellusionist on Jan. 15 for $300. The nine-DVD set will come in a beautiful wooden case; a special package of props to get you started will also be included. For a description of the effects, as listed from The Astonishment Project, keep reading:
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