John Scarne who claimed that Teeko, a game he invented, was one of the greatest board games of all time is featured in a Washington Post article. The writer of the article came across a copy of the little known Scarne book "Scarne on Teeko" (published in 1955) and decided to examine it. He managed to track down Scarne's widow, who is identified as Steffi Storm in the book, in Clearwater, FL where she told him that "John Scarne Games Inc. remains in business." A biography of Scarne from the game inventor angle is recounted in the article as well as descriptions of Scarne mementos, letters, photos and awards seen as Mrs. Scarne's home. To read the Jul. 15 story by Blake Eskin titled "A World of Games" click: HERE.(7/16)

Paul Daniels' latest TV project is exposed in a Mail on Sunday story, which explained that he has been traveling through various cities in the US pretending to be "Eldani the Unusualist." He has already taped shows in Peoria and Chicago an is currently on the way to Los Angeles. The show is supposed to air on BBC later this year. To read the Jul. 15 story titled "The dark secret of Eldani the Unusualist" supplied by YellowBrix and Infoseek click: HERE.(7/16)

HAWAII: Mike Ching presents his "The Art of the Floating Ball" lecture on Thursday Jul. 19 at 7-9pm at the Kalihi Library in Honolulu. Admission is $12 per person. For more information e-mail: MikeC1800@aol.com or click: HERE.(7/16)

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The International Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, Canada is widely considered to be the most prestigious comedy festival in the world. Every year, alongside the stand-up comedians that are its bread and butter, Just For Laughs presents a handful of variety acts, including some of the world’s finest magicians. This year, the 19th annual edition of the Festival will present "HA-bracadabra," a comedy and magic show featuring David Acer, Mac King, Simon Lovell, David Williamson and Rick Bronson. ...Go to full story.(7/17)

Drew Richardson's semi-silent short moving picture, "The Guy Who Lived on a Chair" has been making the rounds lately at various festivals and screenings. The next stop is at the Chicago Short Comedy Video and Film Festival at The Biograph Theater (2433 North Lincoln Avenue) in Chicago on Tuesday Jul. 19 at 9:30pm. For more information and reservations phone: 312-409-1860 or click: HERE.(7/17)

Penn Jillette wrote an article for the New York Post, which ridicules the proposed campaign-finance reform bills. To read the Jul. 13 story by Penn Jillette titled "No Speech For You" click: HERE.(7/17)

Dana Daniels working two shifts in Las Vegas this week where he will be filling in for Mac King at Harrah's on Jul. 18-21 at 1pm and 3pm. After the two shows he will drive to the Golden Nugget where he opens for The Amazing Jonathan at 10pm on Jul. 18-22.(7/17)

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David Blaine's life story, which was purchased by Robert DeNiro to be made into a movie, is investigated in a Hollywood.com story. We find out that Leonardo DiCaprio will not be a part of it, the working title is "Trick Monkey," a screenplay has been written by Jim Uhls (Fight Club), and MGM Pictures confirmed that it is on their development list. Also mentioned in the article is Blaine's book "Mysterious Stranger" which is scheduled to be released this fall. To read the Jul. 17 story by Guylaine Cadorette titled "Hot Projects: De Niro Makes Magic" click: HERE.(7/18)

Mac King just extended his contract at Harrah's Las Vegas until Jan. 2006. According to a Las Vegas Review-Journal article "King rents, or "four-walls," the 350-seat Improv comedy club during the daytime for his one-man shows." In the same article is an update on the new Gary Ouellet venture which can open as early as April 2002. To read the Jul. 17 story by Mike Weatherford titled "Electra soothes some investors' fears for new Aladdin nightclub, 'Lumiere'" click: HERE.(7/18)

Dixie Dooley is pictured in chains, in a Las Vegas Sun article, during his fundraiser at the Magic Star Casino which lasted 25 hours. To read the Jul. 16 story and see the photo click: HERE.(7/18)

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Norm Nielsen, Franz Harary and Allan Slaight received the 2001 Milbourne Christopher Awards during the SAM National Convention in New Orleans. The Milbourne Christopher Foundation, headed by Maurine Brooks Christopher, established these annual awards in 1989 "to advance the performing art of magic." Nielsen received the "Lifetime Achievement Award," Harary received the "Outstanding Illusionist Award," and Slaight received the "Literary Award" for his work in producing the magic of Stewart James. During the same event Nielsen and Brad Jacobs were inducted into the SAM Hall of Fame and Dan Garrett had a SAM Assembly named after him.(7/19)

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Paul Daniels who is traveling in the US this month pretending he is "Eldani" while a BBC TV crew is following him around is featured in a Journal Star - Peoria article which caught his show at the Jukebox Comedy Club. The article explains that, "The premise of Daniels' film, which he says will air on BBC in the fall, is that Daniels gives up his fame, goes to America where no one knows him and tries to start a show-biz career from scratch." To read the Jul. 12 article by David Moll titled "Cue Card -- 'Eldani' has something up his sleeve" supplied by YellowBrix and Infoseek click: HERE.(7/20)

NORTH CAROLINA: The Southeastern Alliance of Magicians convention (SEAM) will be held on Jul. 26-28 at the Airport Holiday Inn in Greensboro. Featured performers include Bev Bergeron, Rich Bloch, Chris Capehart, Peter Marucci, Dan Alan, Paul Cummins, Woody Landers, Lanny Miller, and Bill Robinson. Registration is $85 per person. For more information e-mail: tonyecon@aol.com.(7/20)

Paul Critelli, Joe Cole, Shawn Farquhar and Peggy Palermo at the Society of American Magicians awards ceremony on Saturday July 14 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Cole and Farquhar were the winners and silver medalists in the Senior Close-Up division. (Photo: MagicTimes).(7/20)

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Lance Burton has been named as the recipient of a "Humanitarian Award" from Opportunity Village. The award will be presented on Tuesday Jul. 24 at 7:30am during their 46th Annual Awards Breakfast at the West Oakey campus in Las Vegas. Peter Reveen is expected to accept the award on behalf of Lance Burton. For tickets phone: 702-259-3741.(7/21)

Shawn Farquhar and Richard Forget who managed to win the close-up and stage competitions at both the IBM and SAM national conventions earlier this month are featured in a National Post article, which quotes Farquhar, "Canada scooped the world" and Forget said, "It's pretty rare to have won both awards at the two conferences… Canada has never won everything. Shawn and I walked away with the whole thing." To read the Jul. 19 story by Michael Higgins titled "Canadians work their magic, win top honours" click: HERE.(7/21)

Professor Putter and his Gadgetorium performs at The Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck, NY on Saturday at 11am. According to a Poughkeepsie Journal article tickets range from $5-7. To read the Jul. 20 article by Rebecca Rothbaum titled "Roundup of weekend events" click: HERE.(7/21)

Darryl Waterman who performs under the name "Magic by Darryl" is teaching magic at the Sidney Memorial Library in New York. A Daily Star article reported that he became interested in magic after seeing a Harry Blackstone Sr. performance in 1948. To read the Jul. 20 article by Mark Boshnack titled "Sidney man teaches kids magic behind magic" click: HERE.(7/21)

8-year old magician Melissa Worley is featured in a Orlando Sentinel article which describes her performance on the cups and balls routine. Wolery is quoted, "I want to be a professional magician when I grow up." Another young magician mentioned in the article is Danny McCollum, their teacher at the magic camp is Dan Dyer. To read the Jul. 20 article by Sara Sheckler titled "Magic, drama happen when kids go to college" click: HERE.(7/21)

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Siegfried & Roy will be celebrating their 5,000th live show at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas on Monday Jul. 23. According to a Las Vegas Sun article "The 'Magicians of the Century' also mark their 20,000 live performance worldwide and can count more than 20 million audience members who have attended their Las Vegas productions." A cast-party to celebrate the event is scheduled for Monday. To read the Jul. 20 article by Kate Maddox titled "ESPN guests are good sports" click: HERE.(7/22)

The Genii Magazine website has added a message board "The Genii Forum" which is open to subscribers and non-subscribers to interact with other readers, columnists and the publisher. Moderators Richard Kaufman, Jon Racherbaumer and Matthew Field will be taking an active roll in the discussions, which range from gossip and rumors to reviews and techniques. To visit the Forum click: HERE.(7/22)

The popularity of magic and the acceptance of magicians in the corporate world and high-society is the subject of a Sunday Times story, which mentions magicians Guy Hollingworth, David Blaine, James Freedman, and Nick Einhorn. To read the Jul. 22 article by Sasha Slater titled "You'll Like This…" click: HERE.(7/22)

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