Frozen by Adam Grace is now available for $29.95. And if you’re one of the first 100 to order, you’ll receive a cool blue Ellusionist gaff deck for free — a $29.95 value.

Frozen is an incredible new effect from one of magic’s most creative minds. The effect is simple: All you do is blow on a coin, and it freezes in front of everyone’s eyes. If that’s not mind-blowing enough, click below and watch what happens when you add a napkin:

If you’d like to learn more about Adam Grace, check out this blog entry for a podcast interview and clips of his stage and close-up magic.

Some of the Ellusionist Elite forum members got the chance to see an advanced copy of Frozen. See their reviews here, here and here.

The Associated Press reports that Patrick Albanese, of the Des Moines suburb Clive, was attempting to move a Martha Stewart Everyday lawn chair when the front legs collapsed. The tip of his right index finger was crushed between one of the legs and a tubular bar on the back of the chair and was severed. The tip was later recovered from underneath the deck by a relative, and reattached in a surgical procedure.

Albanese claims his finger is not as sensitive or functional as it used to be, which is understandable after seeing a picture published by the Des Moines Register (warning: clicking this link might make you gag). With the loss of sensitivity comes a loss in livelihood, says Albanese’s attorney Guy Cook. Albanese is also a hand model and banjo player, Cook said.

“He’s a very accomplished musician and as part of his work, he does various slight-of-hand tricks,” Cook said.

Albanese also co-stars in the long-running play, “Triple Espresso.” Representatives of K-mart and Martha Stewart declined to comment for the reports.

p.s. It appears there’s a bit of confusion over which finger was injured. The AP reports the right, the Register reports the left, and shows a picture submitted by Albanese (presumably) of a left hand.

Angela Funovits, who appeared in Xtreme Beginnerz 2 as a host, was featured in the new iTricks interview series with Justin Robert Young. The star and second-place finisher in NBC’s Phenomenon talked about her experience on the show, why she thinks she gained the most from the show, how her medical school responded to her request to take time off for the show (spoiler: School officials were thrilled).

(Experiences) help you make you the doctor you’re one day going to be. You need to have life experiences … It makes you the person you need to become. It develops character, and that’s half the battle of becoming a doctor, it’s not just all about studying or knowing biochemical pathways. It’s about who you are, and how you are going to relate to people. I’ve learned that it’s OK to take time.

The first segment of the interview, divided into four segments, is posted below. Young has also interviewed magicians such as Joshua Jay, Kostya Kimlat and Jeff Hobson in the new series, which are posted about once a week.

You always knew that Ellusionist’s holiday promotion was crazy. This year?

INSANE.

The three prize brackets are pretty sweet as it is. Depending on how much you buy in a single purchase, you could get a free, never-before-seen Ace of Spades reveal sticker, Ultragaff deck or 1st ed. Black Ghost deck in the stainless steel, bolted case. But this year, Ellusionist has added a ton of awesome prizes
to the holiday promotion.

Want to win a 1st ed. Black Ghost deck signed by Brad Christian? A never-before-released, uncut sheet of Ellusionist gaff cards? An Ellusionist hat with signatures from most of the cast of VH-1’s CelebraCadabra? A red Ellusionist bag PACKED with E cards and videos? Or how about the best prize: A one-on-one master class with Ellusionist founder Brad Christian? If you are the lucky winner, you and he will meet via the Internet for an exclusive master class. Afterward, he’ll select a bunch of videos from his personal magic selection, tailored to your skill level, and send them to you.

All the rules and details of the holiday promotion can be found here. Happy holidays, and happy shopping!

The Inside Magic blog published a letter from Gay Blackstone detailing tapings for a 13-part series related to magic, to air in January on MyNetworkTV. Though short on details about the show, the letter invites magicians and their families to attend tapings from 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 18-20 at Renmar Studios, located at 846 N. Cahuenga Blvd. in Hollywood. From the letter:

“With the success of the 2008 World Magic Awards, Associated Television International, some of the brightest names in magic and myself, the executive producer of this event, are bringing to television a 13 part magic series airing on Fox MyNetwork beginning January 2009. This hasn’t been done in several years and has the world of magic buzzing. I would love to have you in the audience as my guest to share this very special event.”

Blackstone is the wife of legendary Harry Blackstone, Jr., who passed away in May, 1997. She leads the production company Blackstone Magik Enterprises, created by Harry in 1971. That gives us a great feeling about what the special will be.

But, MyNetworkTV is the network that aired “Secrets of Psychics Revealed,” “Secrets of Street Magic Finally Revealed” and the Masked Magician’s latest foray into exposure, “Magic’s Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed.”

Photo courtesy CITYarts

Street magician David Blaine is up to his old tricks.

In one of his first appearances since his “Dive of Death,” the magician was a guest of honor on Wednesday during a ribbon cutting for the restoration of rolling benches around Grant’s Tomb in Morningside Heights. The project’s aim, guided by CITYarts, was to renovate and redecorate unique benches at the park.

Blaine performed magic for a lot of kids, judging from the pics.

If a spectator sees Adam Grace perform an ambitious card routine on the streets, that spectator has no idea what Grace will say. That’s only because Grace doesn’t know, either.

The creator of Frozen talked to us in a special podcast about his performance persona, and how he loves to speak completely ad lib when he performs strolling or street magic. He talked about his other skills, including music and acting, how those enhance his magic performance and how he assembles a routine. He also dished plenty about his newest effect, Frozen, and even dropped some nuggets about his next big effect, Ringtone.

The podcast is below. Listen and enjoy.

Grace’s stage magic and close-up magic are discussed in the interview; the below videos should give you some frame of reference.

Photo courtesy AFP

Agence France Presse reports that three Seoul men have been arrested for making and selling marked playing cards that can be read with specially designed contact lenses. The three made some popular cards: They had allegedly sold 26,400 of the decks in the span of a year, and their technique was sold to Chinese interests for “handsome sums,” according to Seoul prosecutors.

The prosecutors said the men were also busted for smuggling about 2,000 pairs of the special contact lenses. A brick of the cards sold for about $739 (U.S.). From the story:

The backs of the cards were marked with patterns and figures printed in special fluorescent pigment. These can be read with the special lenses to show what kind of hand another player is holding.

Unreported in any of the stories is the use for which the cards were intended. Derek McGovern of the Mirror assumes they were poker cheats and, although he writes with his snark on full, we’re inclined to believe him. But if the cards were intended for magical purposes, then why hasn’t every magic company in the world been arrested?

What is Frozen? It’s a way to freeze a coin, or other things, just by blowing on it. The coin can be passed out to spectators afterwards — in fact, that’s the point. You want them to feel how cold it is.

Before the release of Frozen, keep checking this blog. We’ll have much more from Adam Grace, the creator of Glass. You can also talk about it in this thread on the Ellusionist forums.

You can get it starting at 4 p.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. Pacific. And if you are one of the first 100 to order, you will get a free Blue Gaff Deck, which includes some cool card effects. You know how quickly things like this go, so make plans. Get your gloves and prepare to get Frozen.

Las Vegas’ home for closeup magic mixed with arts and nightlife has about two weeks left.

The Las Vegas Sun reports that Jeff McBride’s Wonderground will close and follow him to Asia, where he will be touring over the next year. It and McBride’s show “Magic At the Edge” won’t return to the Palace Station, but will find a new home on the strip, McBride said.

Reporter Melissa Arseniuk gives a pretty interesting account of what it’s like inside the club. You can get a glimpse online live, every Friday and Saturday at 10 p.m. Pacific, at www.streetofcards.tv. For the next two weeks, anyway.

The big question: Did McBride create enough of a success for some other entrepreneur to emulate in McBride’s absence? And would it be as cool?