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With the spring holidays just around the corner, Wizz Kids Workshops are ready for another fun filled week of Magic, cooking, Photography and painting classes to name a few. Located in the Southern Highlands of Bowral, NSW.
For more information or to volunteer and help out during these great weeks of fun please email [email protected] or telephone the office on (02) 4861 1150 http://www.wizzkidworkshops.org.au
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With Dynamo Magician impossible airing on Australian TV, lately I keep on getting asked if I can do any magic like Dynamo. Well we have been busy working on a handful of new effects not only for our stage shows but also for our close up performances. So the answer would be other then having a camera crew to make the magic possible, YES we have and will be adding effects that will give you the same impact and most interesting thing about it will be that we can perform them out of a "controlled" environment.
 Sigmund Neuberger was born on 25 February 1871 in Munich, Germany and died on 9 May 1911 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was otherwise known as famous illusionist The Great Lafayette and was the highest paid magician of his time.
In 1890, at the age of 19, Neuberger emigrated with his family to the United States, where he began his career as an imitator of Ching Ling Foo. He became, however, one of the highest-paid performers in vaudeville. His excellent quick-change routines, as well as dramatic illusions, such as his own "Lion's Bride" (lady to lion) illusion, made him very popular with audiences. The pampered object of The Great Lafayette's affection was his dog Beauty, a perky terrier given to him as a pup by fellow conjurer and admirer Harry Houdini. Beauty had her own suite of brocaded rooms, ate five course meals, and wore a diamond studded collar. Beauty died four days before the opening of a show at the Empire Palace Theatre in Edinburgh. After initial resistance from Edinburgh City Council, Neuberger arranged for the dog to be buried in Piershill Cemetery. The Council agreed to provide a plot on the condition that Lafayette himself would be buried there upon his own death. Four days later in a freak accident, Lafayette was performing his signature illusion "The Lion's Bride", when a fault in a lamp above the performer caused a fire. The elaborate set went up in flames within minutes. The audience, thinking that this was all part of the illusion, did not evacuate until the theater manager signaled for the orchestra to play God Save the King. Many of the company, however, were trapped on stage when the safety curtain was lowered and jammed, leaving only a small gap at the bottom, through which a strong drought of air fanned the flames into an inferno. Lafayette himself had ensured that the side-doors to the stage had been secured, to exclude unwanted interlopers and prevent the lion's escape. Lafayette escaped but returned in a vain attempt to rescue his horse. He became trapped in the burning building and perished. Ten of his fellow players from the company were also killed in the fire. The theater burned to the ground. The body of Lafayette was apparently soon found and sent to Glasgow for cremation. Two days after the fire, however, workers clearing the under stage area found another body identically dressed as Lafayette. It transpired that the body at the crematorium was that of the illusionist's body double. On 14 May the urn containing the Great Lafayette's ashes was taken through Edinburgh, witnessed by a crowd estimated to number over 250,000, before being laid to rest in the paws of his beloved (and now stuffed) Beauty, at Piershill Cemetery. Photo by: http://www.theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2011/05/the-great-lafayette-festival-9-may-2011/  The Knowledge to Action Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation committed to positively improving the quality for life of children around the world. Focusing on education, life skills and youth leadership initiatives, the foundation strives to equip young people with the essential building blocks of life. The Foundation’s mission is to provide children regardless of background, with the tools, strategies and emotional confidence so that they can reach their full potential and realise their ultimate destiny. On Tuesday the 30th of July 2013 we assisted our good friends from Knowledge to Action in holding the first ever Australian Tradeathon held in house by Knowledge to Action, in aid of the Knowledge to Action Foundation. In order to raise money for this fantastic cause, we were joined by 45 students, graduates and partners of Knowledge to Action, to trade for 12 hours with light entertainment provided by the magic of Jack Daniels ;) 
I have gone quiet from our social media page. Its too much of a time waster and distraction. I always work better when I'm working in "secret" to a point. Down side is I miss interacting with our fans and supporters and keeping them in touch with our journey. This is why we have decided to call the new show we are currently working on "The Journey - An interactive experience" A new 90 min grand show dedicated to our fans.
This past couple of weeks have been spent finding the right music as we still have many illusions that haven't been choreographed and have no music. The running order of the show is almost complete and hopefully will be finalised by end of this week.  The next few months looks like it will be extremely busy with lots of long hours as we have began pre- production of the new show. Its amazing how its only been 2 days since we accepted this project and already we have had lots done in regards to show planning. Our one man 30min stand up show, even our close up magic took us longer then 4 months to put together and yet a 90min illusion show comes second nature to me. Still lots of planning, research and phone calls to be made not to mention the headache of finding a good freight company to ship out the show and getting visa's for our team members etc etc but this is the fun we have been waiting for.
We will let you know whats going on once we are ready to reveal what we are working on. However for the moment due to the obvious industry reasons this is all we are willing to share to keep our fans updated. |
JACK DANIELSAustralia's Premier Illusionist
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