A OPEN LETTER TO THE WORLD OF MAGIC

Dear members of the Academy of Magical Arts, and those who were members, but have not renewed, especially after “the assessment,” but they are thinking about rejoining and/or are waiting to see if the new lease deal is going to work, Thank you for your vote in the last election, I was honored! I strongly urge everyone to renew their membership. Think back to the first time that you saw great magic or your first visits to our grand clubhouse. The Magic Castle is unique to the world! I know, because I have been sailing around this planet, on cruise ships, off and on, for almost 20years. New York, Paris, Rome, and others, would all love to have such a unique jewel of a nightclub. Great credit must go the Larsen’s, and we, in-turn, must all say Thank You!

We also need to thank the Glover family for being great landlords, and now with the culinary expertise and the professional efficiency of Andy and Dave in MFB, the possibilities are limitless All we need to do now is hold up our 3rd of the triangle. Each member, especially my fraternal Professional Magician friends, should be asking what they can do to help support the Academy. I have verbally agreed with Mark Wilson that we should really strive to become a non-profit organization, a “501 C3.”

That doesn’t mean that we cannot make money - we can. We just have to do something with it. The donations to the Academy would be substantial. The sale of Awards Show program ads could also be huge! We wouldn’t be worrying about “comping” 40 dinners vs. 50 dinners. I recently performed at the “Magic Aid” hurricane relief benefit. What a great feeling it was to know that the Castle could be used to generate “good deeds” and at the same time expose some different audiences to the Wonderment of the Art of Magic. During this period of transition, the Academy has a huge opportunity to raise the bar with regard to the highest quality Magic performances possible. Remember our history: Dai Vernon, Jay Ose, Al Goshman, Tony Giorgio, Mark Wilson, Peter Pit, Johnny Thompson, Charlie Miller, Charlie Miller, Charlie Miller, Goldfinger & Dove, S & R, Copperfield, Henning, Blackstone, Johnny Carson, Orsen Wells… . If the next 43 years are anything like the past 43 years, the future is so bright we’ll have to wear shades!
If you have the time, think about joining a committee or join the great things that the “Magic Castle Knights” are doing. You get out of our club, what you put into it. When I first ran for the Board, we’ll call it 13 years ago, Bill Larsen and Peter Pit were the first to lend their signatures, knowing that a 29 year old, former “Junior” could never get elected, but they encouraged me to try. They knew the importance of trying. No pain, no gain! And while it is impossible to “turn back time,” it is possible to keep the fire burning. When Bill Larsen was alive and things started to get “political” at the Castle,
I remember Bill tearing up the signs and crushing the campaign buttons of Bill Cosko. Bill Larsen said, “This is politicking and has no place at the Castle.” I know that William Larsen, Sr. envisioned for the Academy as an organization free from politics. If only his dream could come true. In the early 1980’s when I was working for David Copperfield, David taught me the best way to look at criticism. In those days, many of the older magicians thought of David as a “punk kid….with a network TV special.” He was no Doug Henning! I remember being at the Castle and at Hollywood Magic, listening to the “nay-sayers” talk badly about David, I asked him what he thought about that. David very wisely said to me, “Nobody is going to try to tackle you, unless you have the ball!” I’m going off on a tangent for the sake of history. I’m feeling very “Mc Comb- ish” right now…
I remember being in Hollywood Magic the very day after the airing of the 1980 CBS-TV special “The Magic of David Copperfield III” and David came into the shop. Jay Scott Berry had the “billiardballs” to confront David for “ripping-off” Jonathan Neal Brown’s (now just Jonathan Neal’s) Linking Ring routine. The place erupted when David copped to the truth and put JSB in his place. He said, “If you think I’m ripping off Jonathan, than you have never seen Richard Ross!” The Castle has gone through many changes. Some of them for the better…I really like Andy Ulloa and his brother Carlos. I think that they have done great things for the Yamashiro, the Castle and the hill in general. I knew their grandfather Tom Glover Senior pretty well for a young man, and I understand why he got on so well with Milt…They were both dreamers. In the Castle’s 43 year history/evolution, we have the best kitchen we’ve ever had. Thanks to Andy and Dave Williams. The best part for me is “food at the bar.” This is something that I’ve been asking for since John Shrum used to eat his dinner with toothpicks at the Owl Bar almost every night after taping  the “Tonight Show.” Thank you to MFB, you’re doing a great job!

 What concerns me though, is the unfortunate perceived divide with in the membership. There has been a growing group of disgruntled Magicians since the passing of Bill Larsen. I know from the past experiences with Palace seating tickets and guests
 of performers, especially, the Castle is no longer a place where top magicians go out of their way to perform. I want to change this! I’ve said in past BOD candidate statements that “Magicians are not staff, they are stars!” How do we expect to attract the top stars of Magic unless we treat our Magicians like stars. We really have allowed the concept of our employees to change in the past few years. When I think back to people who were really “hosts,” like “Senator” Crandell, Don Lawton, Michael Flemming, John Corbet, Charles Arrlington, Patrick Albernasse, E.J. Thaker and even our own club manager Michael Gingras. I think of men who really knew how to smooth out problems, not create them. Some of our current “hosts” have repeatedly embarrassed professional Magicians and other members, in-front of friends, family, clients and other business associates. This is truly bad behavior and should never be tolerated again. In a similar vien, I believe that it is imperative that we help to ensure that the proper respect and recognition will be given to all magicians by all employess. After all, we are a club for Magicians. To aid in this I suggest that we produce a history book/face book, which can also be marketed by the AMA as a nightly “Theater-type” program - Possibly even highlighting the Magicians of that week. Not only would this generate additional income for the AMA, but it would also provide us with a text book of sorts to help instruct new employees, as well as new members, a little about the history of Magic, the Castle, and a current who’s who of the performers and current committee members.
The best part is that the book will help to ensure that when living legends, and we have several, walk into the club, they are recognized and venerated. This book could also house ad space and pay for it self several times over…we have to metaphorically think outside the box…and maybe re-think the stenciled dragon. It is also very important to acknowledge multi-award winners. Many know, some don’t, that if a performer wins a voted on Castle Award twice, that performer is no longer eligible to win in that category ever again. I say, if a performer wins in a category twice then they should receive an honorary life membership. It is a huge accomplishment and deserves special recognition and graduation to a new level. This is the exact type of thing that the Academy can do to keep the Stars of Magic hangin’ around. Let’s all start “Hangin’ around our Magic Castle and show the world what a

GREAT club is all about. Happy 2006!

-Lorenzo Clark