Thursday, December 2, 2010

DUSTY TRAILS COWBOY-BILL BRINSFIELD


Bill is an icon in,
san diego and hollywood.


















Bill has a long history in show business.

he's done movies, theater, T.V., private parties, corprate and everything else imaginable.

He has a site that will go into detail about his amazing life;

http://billbrinsfield.orgfree.com/

His following here in san diego is legendary.

he is highly respect with the other performers on the street here.

he is also an inventor and has created thousands of effects.

he has taken me under his wing many times and has been crucial to the growth of my show and me as a person.

of course he is famous as a cowboy statue act on the street, but he has an amazing magic sidewalk show.

he also has a mark twain monolgue for the street, he looks and sounds dead on like the twain.

i will be writing more on him later.

he is a great friend and a master teacher of theater and magic.
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Bill i can't thank you enough for everything you have done for me.

but from all of us out here san diego and L.A. thanks for your lifes work.
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look for more on Bill here later.
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"BANKS" Paul Brown


Teachers-

Jimmy Talksalot.

Owen Lean.

"Banks is a world traveler,

but his main town is London.











As I sit here listening to burroughs.....
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I think back some years ago to that day in Covent Garden, hangin with all the fellahs on magician's corner.....what a siight it was to see Paul walk up sporting his three piece business suit.....somebody blurted, "hey banks"

he set up and went to work.

watching Paul proceed to do parlor manip and creative visual magic with sophisticated patter, left us and the audience with the feeling that the pros from the higher order had shown up.

alot of people ask me where i get my inspiration for my unusual parlor stuff and i tell you it's paul, my secret weapon.

you hear about the proffessor vernon or marlow for close up cards....well paul is that for parlor.


don't get me wrong he is a master at close up and stage, but my interest is in his parlor, because there are so few accessable masters to this.

every time i meet one of these guys a actually stop talking for once and pay attention.

his extensive knowledge landed him a job at Davenports the most famous and exclusive magic shop in the world.

he spends much of his timeworking indoors, but has informed me he misses the streets and will be going back out maybe eve full time.

he has been awarded and sought after by the most prestigious magicians in the world.

check out his work for the magic circle;
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he's got a site that you can learn more about him and remember he's got a lot of stuff on him on the web if you search it;
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http://www.world-of-wonder.co.uk/
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once again, i am talking about a student as though he is the teacher....

simply, at magic, Paul IS the master and this is my priority.

i believe it is our art first.

Admittedly, mostly, I am a clown out there, but my teacher Doug Conn is a master magician and had instilled in me to seek out other great magicians and teach them the street to bring up the quality of magic shows on the street.

my priority is to help real magicians.

and Paul, is a case in point.

i have always encouraged him on the street and taught him what i knew. the streets of course is a different animal then a prepaid indoor gig and hence everyone must learn at some point this skill.

Paul is a scholar, inventor, raw talent, and a close friend, i thank God i have had the chance to meet him.

here's he is with his other teacher.

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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Sleeveless the Magician Stephen Sloan


When i started this blog it was for those masters who never really got thier due.

Sleeveless is definately one of those performers who should be a house hold name for his talent and determination in his lifes work.

but, lo, he is one of us, a busker.....

this magician has worked in san diego on the streets for well over 20 years.

This feat, to me and anyone else who has traveled the world and then come here, knows this is one heck of a thing.

since i have been here in san diego, i have seen some of the top traving buskers come and quickly go, they don't last much more then a day or two because they can't cut the mustard.

san diego is tough.....real tough.

sleeveless, not only provides one heck of a show, but actually brings some sorely needed world class proffessional talent to san diego.

the people here know it and appreciaite it.

he is one of the few performers here that has been asked to work on all the major venues available in the city, and here, that is also very tough to do.

san diego seperates the boys from the men and sleeveless has done it for a long time and made it look easy.

i have had a great deal of respect for him and he has helped me out with my show and other things, with my stay here.

it should be understood that he is a bit of a recluse out side of "show time", infact i have been reluctant to write anything on him outta respect for this, but i feel compeled,

to let our peers know about the gem here in san diego.

i am grateful to have met him.

i would highly recomend his show to any one.

he is often photo'd and filmed because of his gritty, friendly, street wise, persona.

sleeveless, i could never repay you for all you've done,

but from all us guys learning from you out here......THANKS FOR YOUR LIFES WORK.

DIOBO


world traveller.
mostly in europe.
Student of Jimmy Talksalot.











DIOBO has the most unique character i have ever seen.

he does a silent sidewalk act, he begins with a cigerette act on the ground it moves around posessed then levitates, then a manpulation act and a vanish.

this all compounded by his mysterious appearance. dark close fitting rugged clothing and a mideavel hood, creates an almost instant crowd..

a very bizzar act, at one point a glass fills with smoke, things vanish and appear in peoples clothing. small animals seem to appear at his command.

he's tall and his very strange moods and theatrics and etched nordic features seem to attract alot of women to his act....which of course brings men.

i have not listed alot of the effects of his act out of respect to his creative privacy.

he does alot of experimental stuff.

he's a full timer with lots of experience.

he lives well and adventurious.

his show is a rambo type, he shows up does his bit collects and moves on unless he feels he can milk that pitch.

he has little problems with the cops even working forbidin areas, because his crowd is instant, his show is quick in and out, no amp, little to no equipment to be seen and he has an uncanny street smarts as to whats happenning around him at all times.

this is not to say that he is not capable of doing circle shows, because i have seen him do some incredible ones. i have also seen him work with a borrowed amp to music which made him seem like a huge expencive act, creating huge crowds absolutely inthralled in what he was doing.

where diobo excels is in his creative mind always dreaming up incredible effects never seen to rarely ever seen on the street.

a real worker, genius.

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.......WATCH THIS!.......
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sorry about it being cut in half.

watch his latest;
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CHANZ


Student of Jimmy Talksalot.
Home town San Diego.




















CHANZ- works primarily in Seaport Village and the Gaslamp Quarter of down town San Diego.

When i first met Chanz it was in seaport village in the park out back they call the embarcadero.

he was dressed in regular street clothes, no costume really, and no real character to speak of except of course his own personality....which was workin for him, because he's a nice guy.

i was outta costume and he stopped me to show me a trick. he had amazing close up chops and would work primarily for just a few people with small stuff.

Funny enough, now, he commands the largest crowds in seaport and has the most unusual magic show in the business.

he trained for a year on the streets of san diego before he came to work in seaport and it shows.

his act is a huge combination of, juggling, walk behind mime, magic, sight gags, and audience situation comedy skits.

he has become one of the most beloved and sought after acts at seaport village.

many tourists have come down to the village looking for him and talking about him.

Chanz is a fanatic, always pushing himself to learn more and experiment on the street.

Off stage he is loyal, humble, and a perfectionist to creat a quality act.

this has landed him many gigs and spots on t.v.

he has a large cult following in the hispanic community and has been seen on a few spanish speaking t.v. channels.

years ago,he began with a spoken show dressed in normal magician garb, but has evolved into a silent act.

the reader should know that working as a silent act in the states on the streets, is almost impossible.......and working on the west coast only compounds this.

but because of his drive and determination to express his vision of the character he has not only pulled it off, but makes it look easy.

i will be posting some footage later when we put it together.

I love Chanz because he makes me look like a great teacher, with his huge success, but the truth is, he's pure talent and determination.

it should also be noted that he has a very important skill, he take any bit he sees and change it around and add on and improve it so that it cannot be recoginized from the original.....this is what makes his show so genuis.

he doesn't need to steal, he just needs to learn the gist of atmosphere to create something he also puts brand new stuff together from responce from the audience...he learns from his audience.

i could go on and on.

but simply, he's a great performer and a great person.

Angelique "The Living Music Box"


Her names is Zoe and she is my favorite attraction at seaport village.










she reminds me of the many wonderful statue acts peppered through out europe. she has as large back ground in theater and is in high demand in soutern california....and everwhere, i'm sure.

And it's no wonder, she is the only statue i have seen of this caliber in southern california.

the same grace and gentile sophistication she displays in her act is also present in her "off stage" real life personality.

having been away from my beloved New orleans and braving the california culture she is a breath of fresh air, not only is she a Lady, but she is talented and devoted to her calling as an artist.

it is a great honor to work with her at seaport village.

i think here work speaks for itself,

so,

here's some promo of her.
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And here is some peoples opinions who stumbled upon her.
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she's gotta really fun site, check it out;

http://zoetantrum.com/about.html
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