Tim "Santiago" Converse Joins the Ranks of The ICBM

San Francisco/Santa Cruz - February 18th, 2006.

Local Magician Tim "Santiago" Converse, while attending the West Coast Inner Circle of Bizarre Magic gathering in San Francisco, was admitted to the very exclusive ranks of that magic fraternity.

The Inner Circle of Bizarre Magic, founded by Joe Cabral, is devoted to bringing the art of story telling and theater back into the art of the performance magician. Although the ICBM has existed for about fifteen years now, it is only allowed a very small number of people into it's actual membership.

Every year, in Connecticut, the ICBM holds an annual gathering where magicians from many different disciplines gather to discuss their art and share their knowledge with each other. Often this gathering provides entertainment to the public as part of the festivities and that entertainment is always of a most unusual and fantastic nature.

The ICBM has many noted magical names among it's members including such Las Vegas luminaries as Eugene Burger, Jeff McBride and Max Maven.

"Being invited to join their ranks in an extreme honor," says the Santa Cruz Magician.

For more information about "Santiago's Magic" visit the web at:

http://www.santiagosmagic.com

Who-dini

The other day I was sitting in a friends living room and he happened to mention that he met someone at a convention I might be interested to know. A writer by the name of Paul Dini.

Now as it happens Paul writes for many of the animated series I have loved to watch over the years.

But what caught my interest in this particular moment was that someone else in the room, upon hearing the name "Paul Dini" automatically thought that my friend was speaking of some magician.

It's that dreaded "-dini" addition to the name. Everyone thinks that and they certainly have a reason to. For how long now have people been adding the "-dini" extension to their names in order to say "Hey I'm a magician."

One wonders if the Oxford English Dictionary, that bastion of language, will eventually include "-dini" as a suffix meaning "the magician."

Certainly this is an honest mistake to make. Look at this history at play here to begin with. The man everyone knows as Houdini was actually named Eric Weis. He changed his name to Harry Houdini in deference to the two magicians who had the greatest impact on his life; Harry Keller and Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin. He took the name "Houdin" and added the "i" on the end in the mistaken belief that it would mean something like "Son of Houdin."

Isn't it ironic then that generations of magicians have named themselves after a man who named himself after other men?

Well I think it is. Imagine what some of those famous magicians might have called themselves if they had followed the pattern.

Eugene Burger -Eugeni! Hmmm, interesting thought.

Teller - Tellini? Sounds like a talk show.

Penn - Pennini. Okay, I think I've seen that on the menu of an Italian Restaurant.

David Copperfield - Davini! Oh wait. He actually did that when he was a kid.
Well, I suppose if there is anything to be learned it's one of the same lessons I have gone on about before.

Develop your own character.

Develop your own style.

Develop your own personality. (Especially if you don't have one.)

There are enough amature "-dini's" out there. I don't think we need any more.

I wonder if Paul ever gets asked to do a card trick?


Tim "Santiago" Converse
You Are Invited to Enter a World of Elegant Magic
Santiago's Magic

The Act of Destruction and Creation

It is certainly human nature to destroy. It is also human nature to create. We forget that.

We assign "creation" to specific groups of people. Women create. Artists create. Builders create.

But in doing this we also block ourselves from accepting the role of creator.

"Men don't create, women do."

"I don't have any artistic talent to create."

"I'm not good with tools so I can't build or fix anything."

Denying that side of things makes us weaker. Destroys us.

Destruction and Creation are often the very heart of what the Magician is about.

Things are "Cut and Restored", "Torn and Restored" or in some fashion destroyed and reformed from the parts, the ashes, the remains.

So why do so many magicians focus upon the act of destruction but give so little thought to the act of creation? You've seen it without thinking about it I'm sure.

Consider the "Cut and Restored Rope."

Magician's cut that rope with great zeal and enthusiasm. They use huge knifes or scissors and they struggle as if cutting the rope were hard. All done in the name of "convincing the audience of the reality of the rope being cut."

Destroying it is somehow difficult. And so much effort, so much focus is placed on this act of destruction that the assumption must be that the act of creation or restoration is equally as difficult.

But when the time comes to restore the rope it is treated as if there could be nothing easier. It is handled with an almost casual, off hand manner, as if such things are almost common place.

Is there magic in this? Is there really a sense of magic to be gained? Perhaps.

Or could the thought simply be "Well, I'm so powerful a magician that restoring this rope is child's play!" Indeed it would seem that this is very much the thought that crosses the minds of these magicians.

However if that is the case and you are that powerful a magician then why was cutting the rope so hard in the first place? Haven't we always been told that the act of destruction is always easier then the act of creation?

Consider what kind of impact the "Cut and Restored Rope" might have if it were approached in this fashion.

Cutting the rope is easy. Casual. Yet another act of sad destruction in a world which is always suffering such things. A casualty of common place proportions.

But to restore it. Ah, there is magic. With gentle strength the magician picks the ends up and weaves them together right before your eyes. It takes focus and concentration. It takes control. It takes real power. Something mysterious is happening that shouldn't be.

It takes an act of creation, of restoration, of healing.

As a magician think about it. Try it. Consider your "Cut and Restored Rope" routine (or some other "Torn and Restored" type routine) from this light. Try changing the way you perform the routine to conform to the idea that the hard part is the restoration of the rope.

You don't even necessarily need to change the words you speak. Just change the way you relate to the object you are using your magic to restore and see what kind of impact it has on your audience.

You'll feel the difference I'm sure.

And maybe it's for you and maybe it isn't. But you won't know until you try.

In that effort you will destroy your old perceptions and create new ones. You will think about what you have accomplished in the minds of your audience.

You may just give them a deeper feeling of wonder then they've felt before.

And that is a true act of Creation and Destruction.

Read a Book!

My mother used to say that to me all the time.

“Read a Book!”

“Go outside and play!”

Anything to prevent me from being sucked into the television.

Of course now I read all the time.

I’ll bet you do to. After all, you’re a magician. Your reading books and pamphlets all the time right?

But what else do you read?

If you had to stop and think about that one, then you may be having the same revelation I had not long ago.

Before I got involved in magic I read all the time. I read Science Fiction and Fantasy mostly. The occasional Horror or Mystery. I read them all for pleasure.

Then I got into magic and gradually I was reading fewer and fewer novels and more and more magic books, magazines and instructions. I got pretty darn good at all the stuff I spent time with as well.

But what use have I for telling the story of ‘Sam the Bellhop’ or ‘Diamond Jack’?

Don’t get me wrong. These are good stories and for the right performer they are hysterical. I remember watching Doc Eason do his version of ‘Sam the Bellhop’, which just killed me. But I digress.

So I was learning more and more magic and I ran across this thing called ‘Bizarre Magic’. I was at that stage where I was just absorbing everything I could, so I checked into it and I found that it really appealed to me.

Okay, so I wasn’t sure about some of the darker aspects that the whole field seemed to be filled with. I wasn’t sure I wanted to deal with all the ghosts and goblins and stuff. I don’t believe in that stuff, but I knew that I had read some really good books about it. Like there was this one..... but I digress.

Well, I found, after some open minded digging, that the real goal of Bizarre Magic is story telling. Good story telling, and I knew that I liked a good story. There was this movie that I saw not to long ago..... but I digress.

So there you have it. The trick is story telling. I liked that a lot. I sat down at my computer with a deck of cards, determined to write a story using some particular new card sleight I had just learned.

My brain locked! I couldn’t write a word. I had no referent to work from.

No books, short stories, recent movies. Nothing.

I had so completely immersed myself in magic books and magazines that I had lost touch with popular culture and just didn’t know what to write. I hadn’t developed a character, I just knew that I wanted to write stories for my effects.

After all, what audience would really want to hear a story about how I learned to do a “Luben Gearing Pass”? (Thanks for teaching me that one Mr. Mruzik.)

What is a “Luben Gearing Pass” you ask? Well I could tell you, but then I would be digressing.

And then the voice of my mother came flooding back.

“Read a BOOK!”

Not a magic book. A novel. A story. Mystery. Fiction. History. It didn’t matter. Just something other then magic.

So what’s the connection?

Check out a Bizarre Magicians reading list sometime. You’ll find that unlike most other magicians, the Bizarrist is reading books about history, culture, mysticism, religion and a fair amount of trivia as well.

The Bizarrist is getting ideas. He/She is collecting them from all kinds of places.

Check out the music a Bizarrist is listening to as well. You’ll probably find lots of interesting stuff there.

The point is this: Immerse your self in more then just magic books, videos and magazines. You aren’t going to find stories there.

You’ll find them in music and movies and novels.

You’ll find them in history, science and religion.

You’ll find them in popular culture.

In other words: “GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY!”

“READ A BOOK!”