Home, once again...trying to stay here

After another two weeks on the road I have arrived home safely. I did leave a car on the Jersey turnpike. But all the wonderful friends and magicians I got to see along the way in DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Long Island, Goldsboro, Charlotte, and Asheville made it all worth the trip! Thanks to everyone who came out to the lectures, seminars, and workshops. The last three days were spent in Daytona Beach, where I performed and lectured at the Florida State Magic Convention.

If you are a magician, along with picking up the great "Jinx" copy of Genii magazine, pick up the October issue of MAGIC. Inside there you'll find a new "discovery" in card magic that I call "A Curious Case of Murder." It's really just a story...words conjured up from the art printed on playing cards many decades ago. But it's something that took me a decade of looking at playing cards before I noticed it. I'd like to call it an anthropological find, if anything. And it's also a fun effect to present, if you're into that sort of thing.

Thanks again to everyone who came out to the lectures. East, West, Home is best. I'll be in sunny Florida, doing card tricks during this winter season. There are a few one-day corporate events in Dallas and elsewhere, but truly, this is the best time of year to be here in sunny Florida...even if the hurricanes are just around the corner. If you're in the cold parts of the world, come and say hello.

Magic, Neuroscience and the Brain

I just got home from Chicago, where I attended the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting, which opened up with a session on how the art of magic can help scientists make discoveries about the brain. I had the pleasure of watching my friends Eric Mead and Apollo Robbins intrigue and astonish an audience of ten thousand scientists.

Check out the USA Today Article.

I am incredibly excited about these studies and discoveries. I do hope that the researchers and neuro-scientists won't get tripped up by confusing methods for effects and lose sight by focusing too much on the technical "secrets" of magic. There's much more to be explored. Right now neuro-scientists are focusing on the optical. Would they be interested in the psychological or the emotional? I would love to see the effects on the brain of certain magic effects.

There's lots of room for discovery ahead and I am excited to see what comes next.

The magic never ends...

I'm home for just a few days, recovering from an incredible weekend of magic in Toronto, and it's time to pack my bags again and head to the other side of Canada. I'll be performing on the X-elent Lecture Series that is orgnized by Lee Asher. As soon as the tour is over I'll be heading over to Denver for the Magic in the Rockies convention, which is always a blast.

The response is coming in from the WARNING Trailer and short clip shot at LIVE - I'm glad that people are excited to receive it. The release date is set for September 18th.

We shot some more short clips for the WARNING "instructional area" while I was in Vegas, and I just got permission from some other creators to include their ideas, as well. I'm excited to have contributions from: Vito Lupo, Derek Hughes, my friend form Austria - Philip Tawfik, Michael Weber and Chad Long. It's really the small touches that make this effect so powerful. Can't wait for everyone to see these new videos.

Live Performance in Vegas

Live Performance of WARNING from Las Vegas.
Shot at the very end of MAGIC LIVE at 4:30 a.m.
You thought I was kidding about the no sleep part?!? :-)

Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL58fdNFWnE

Thanks to the awesome guys at iTricks !

Off to MAGIC LIVE!

I'm packing my bags and heading off to Las Vegas for MAGIC LIVE!
Last year I got to do 12 close-up shows in Vegas. This time, I get to hang out and hopefully get fooled badly by some of the best magicians in the world.
I'll be hanging out and performing !WARNING, so if you're around, be sure to say hello.

Jeff McBride and Chad Long say...

A few more friends have responded:

"What a fun, direct piece of magic." - Jeff McBride

"So off the wall and visual - what a great idea!" -Chad Long

It's been non-stop work to get this all ready.

Coming soon...

"WARNING"

David Regal says...

"Kostya has produced an opener for the real world that lets an audience know you do the impossible in a nanosecond." - David Regal