Mandrake, the Magician... Artwork project

The other day while I was at the local thrift shop, I found this really cool looking frame that was priced just right! I wasn't sure what I was going to put in it, but I knew I could find something really cool to replace the purple plant art that was in it currently. Once I was home, I had a look at all the things I had printed recently, looking for just the right image to put into this frame. The frame looked to me to be 'old' and had a certain retro style that made me think of something that would be hanging in a study, Hall, Billiard Room or Conservatory [yeah, I just played Clue a few days ago] of some cool old home. I decided on the Mandrake, The Magician theatrical poster from the 1939 Columbia Pictures theatrical serial because I love old magic posters, am a fan of Mandrake, and it looked like something that should be in this cool old frame.

There is a shadow box in the centre of the frame, and its height was not as tall as the 11 x 17 poster I had originally printed, so I had to go into photoshop and remove some of the top and bottom of the poster to make it fit.

It took way longer than I had thought to open the frame, as it was never meant to be taken apart. It was nailed and glued together very tightly. After pulling it apart, I was able to remove the flower picture and add a sheet of black construction paper to the back of the shadow box and then affix the newly printed Mandrake poster, before putting the whole thing back together.

I think the final result is pretty awesome, don't you! I can't wait to find a spot to hang this gem on my study wall - that's the fancy name I'm giving my living room.

Magic Related Comic Book Covers

Here are two awesome comics I picked up in the 3 for a dollar bin at a local comic shop. These two issues happen to have magic related covers which I love!
Hi and Lois issue #9 from Charlton comics, 1971. I have always loved the Hi and Lois comics from the newspapers, so when I found this comic I snapped it up. The fact that is has Trixie coming out of a magic top hat on the cover is a bonus. Unfortunately when I got home and flipped it open hoping to read the cover story, I didn't find anything even remotely resembling a magic show in the comic. No magic hat, no rabbit nothing.
The second comic is Mandrake the Magician from King Comics, 1967. As well as being a really fun comic, I especially enjoyed the two page spread in the center of this one called the King Comics Corner Store which featured some great stuff including; The Green Ghost game (a great board game featuring aglow in the dark ghost), Hypno-Spex, the Chose ' N Play Automatic Phonograph, Spunkie Punkie Puppet (Skunk puppet), and a real live Venus Fly Trap you could send away for! Boy, if only I could go back in time to buy some of this neat-o stuff!

Mad about Magic

I picked up this great Mad Magazine pocket novel "The Mad book of Magic and other Dirty Tricks" by Al Jaffee (1970) at a local thrift shop the other day. Bing a huge fan of magic and Mad, I was thrilled to find this amongst a bunch of romance novels and out of date computer books. Well worth my 65 cents, as this book is filled with great magic tricks, and other dirty tricks.
The forward to the book reads: [If there is one word that is the byword of all magicians that word would have to be SECRECY. In the foreword of every book ever written by a magician, the reader is always constrained never ever to reveal a trick's secrets. The reader is told that this is some sort of unwritten but nevertheless inviolate magician's code. And somehow, this code is honored by millions of readers of millions of books that show how millions of tricks are done.
But as far as we are are concerned, this is all nonsense. Our tricks do not need to be kept secret. Our tricks do not have to be hidden. Our tricks do not have to be reserved for a chosen few. Why...? Why do we fly in the face of tradition? Because our tricks do not work, that is why.
Anyway, we just don't go in for sill codes and restrictions. Go ahead and tell anyone whatever you want from this book. Tell them all you like to your heart's content. Just one little thing we ask you not do do with this book. Don't lend it. Lending means not buying. Not buying means that not only won't the tricks in this book work, but the author of the book won't work either.
And now on this entertaining, engrossing, fascination, and ofter diverting volume about which one reviewer said, "Once you've started reading, you'll certainly want to pit it down."]
Ok, I know what they just said, but I don't want to get in trouble with the Secret Magic Society, so do me a favour and don't tell any one you just read this blog.

Little Golden Book Monday #18

Today's Little Golden Book is The Amazing Mumford Forgets the Magic Words! featuring Jim Henson's Muppets (1979). This book combines three of my favorite things; Little Golden Books, the Muppets, and magic! And I love the artwork in this one. Check out this two page spread from the book, which shows The Amazing Mumford standing outside the theater where he is about to preform. Luckily it looks like Santa Claus is going to be able to see the show as it is only ALMOST Sold Out.

I don't want to give the whole book away, but that "D" on the marquee is going to fall and hit poor Mumford on the head, and cause him to forget who he is and where he is. That sure is going to make things tough for him to put on a good show.

Goofy Card Tricks

I have loved magic ever since I was a young child. I even wanted to be a magician when I was younger and performed for kids parties etc. I had piles of magic tricks, was subscribed to the British "Magic Magazine", I used to get up early on the weekend to watch the Magic Castle TV show and I had two identical black gerbils which were a part of my act. I also loved to collect any books on magic I could find.
I remember that any trip to Disneyland (also Knott's Berry Farm) was a great chance to visit a magic shop.
This weekend I found a great used book shop where I ended up finding all kinds of treasures including this great 66 page, 1977 Walt Disney's Goofy Card Tricks book, which I image was sold in the magic shop on the Main street of Disneyland back in the 70's.
I can't pass along any of the tricks in the book, a magician never revels his secrets, but here is the introduction from the book:
Magic is fun... for the magician and for the audience. Magic can make people laugh [as a kid magician, my audiences seemed to laugh a lot!], it can make them wonder, it can make them marvel. The magical card tricks in this book are mystifying but easy and fun to do. Here are some tips from Goofy on giving a good magic show:
1. Never tell anyone your secrets-not even your best friend or your mother! [Ronn: go ahead and tell your dad though!] If you do, all the mystery will be gone!
2. Never perform the same trick twice in front of the same audience. The second time, your audience will notice much more, because they will know what to expect.
3. Practice, practice, practice! Learn to perform your tricks smoothly and with ease. If you can, practice in front of a mirror; this way, you will be able to see yourself as your audience sees you.
Good luck, and good magic!

Mandrake the Magician

Mandrake the Magician is a U.S. comic strip created in 1934 by Lee Falk (also creator of The Phantom) and mainly appearing in syndication in newspapers. Mandrake was an illusionist whose work was based on an impossibly fast hypnotic technique. As the narrator informed us: "Mandrake gestured hypnotically" and the subject or subjects of this hypnosis would suddenly see a cane transformed in a bouquet of flowers or a cat into a tiger. Mandrake also worked against crooks and other bad guys in his spare time. This would include common gangsters, mad scientists and aliens from space. In their case, he would gesture hypnotically and they would see their guns change into snakes or red hot irons. Leon Mandrake the stage magician, who was known for his top hat, pencil line moustache and scarlet-lined cape, bears a strong resemblance to the comic strip character. In fact, Leon Mandrake had been performing for well over ten years before Lee Falk introduced the comic strip character and today most people would acknowledge the striking resemblance between them. Many diverse sources assert that the comic character was drawn to resemble Leon. Davis did meet Leon Mandrake, they became good friends and corresponded for years afterwards. I loved magic at an early age. I loved watching magic shows on TV, and decided I wanted to learn magic. I became a member of the Magic Guild of England, and even performed magic at parties etc into my early teens. In August 1992 I had the privilege of meeting the real life Mandrake at the Robson Square Theatre, at possibly his last ever public performance. I was thrilled to get a signed picture of Mandrake, one of the most famous magicians of all time!