I received an email from a fellow magician named David Vicenzi a while back and just got a chance to read it. It’s yet another variation for the Goodbye Vanish and it’s another killer.

Here’s the email..

WOW! - ‘ Good Bye Vanish ‘ - GREAT EFFECT! You simply are a genius! I Love this!

Showed people at work - did the morphing effect to my boss - I think he is still in that mystical state of wonderment / borderline psychosis. No kidding - playing with peoples reality like this can have quite a profound or momentary disorienting effect on their inner ‘matrix’. I know that may sound a little extreme - but I believe there are very few powerful illusions like this that have that kind of effect on people.

So thank you very much for this incredible idea!

I would be honored to throw in a little reappearing idea like many others have which have been very inspiring. When I read about having some music on in the background - it got me to think wouldn’t it be cool to have the T.V. suddenly lose its’ signal at the moment you vanish - maybe having your voice trying to speak to them through the on-screen, snowy, distortion; saying you are trying to find your way out or tell them to turn the T.V. off! Then appear walking out from another room or have them find you passed- out on the floor somewhere.

You can imagine there would be all kinds of different ways to do the T.V. thing - I was thinking of just using a remote to switch it to some snowy or blank station at the moment of the vanish with a recording of your voice playing through the T.V. speakers somehow.

Anyways - just something to chew on. I’m looking forward to seeing more ideas from others.

Thanks for your time,

David

-end

I really like that idea. Reminds me of the movie, Poltergeist. “Mommy.. I can’t hear you mommy..”

Thanks for submitting it David!

Click here to VANISH yourself

I’ll pay you $1000 to vanish on video.

That’s right.. this summer DownloadMagic.com is giving away $1000 in cash to whoever submits the best videos of my newest illusions, the Goodbye Vanish and the Monkey Vanish.

I am looking for a video of the Goodbye Vanish that I can use on the site. Those of you who already do the effect realize this is no simple task. You are going to have to get creative.

I’m also looking for a video of the Monkey Vanish, the other illusion contained in the manuscript.

If I use one of your videos you get $500. If I use both your videos you’ll get $1000.

You can submit one or the other or go for the glory and submit both.

Submission details will be coming in about 30 days.

Good Luck!

If you’re not familiar with the vanish you can download it here.

I received another email from Tony Ko with an improvement on his addition to the Goodbye Vanish.

For those of you who don’t know, the Goodbye Vanish is a close up self vanish illusion. Just after it’s release a few weeks ago, Tony sent me a teriffic idea which enables you to reappear immediately at an impossible distance. You can read the original idea here.

This addition makes it even better.

Again, nothing is going to be exposed here on the blog. If you don’t have the trick yet you can download it here.

Here’s the email I received.

Instead of waving to reveal yourself, the spectator sees you take out your mobile phone and call him, telling him to join you outside! You hang up the phone and the spectator moves to the courtyard and sees you there. This adds another layer of deception as the spectator in fact sees you phone him and hears your voice on the phone (as well as your number if he has caller ID). The method of course is that your pal pretends to phone the spectator but in fact it is you who calls (the timing can be easily synchronized because you are able to see your pal’s actions).
-end

Nice idea right? Here are my thoughts quickly..

You can use this as a good way to get them to move to the window and also look out. They do not need to know you are going to vanish. Here’s what you do:

Begin by drawing the curtains on the window with your spectator watching. Then position a telephone from the home or a cell phone immediately in front of the window on a table or chair. Do all of this in a conspicuous manner.

You should have your own cell phone programmed to speed dial the phone you placed by the window. Immediately after vanishing, hit the speed dial to call the phone by the window. The spectator should answer it and when they do you tell them to open the curtains. When they do they see what they believe to be you, outside, very far away, talking on the phone. You are in fact just outside, also looking at your doppelganger.

Tell them to come outside and meet you, and to please bring your jacket. When they move away from the window your double signals you that the coast is clear and you boogie out to take his place. Having them bring a jacket, hat or some other item for you should buy you some additional time.

You can do the above routine impromptu with no double as I’ve described it and appear outside the window on a single story house. You can buy as much time as you need by talking to them. Begin by telling them you are on an island sipping a Margarita or something. Then finally tell them to open the curtains and there you are standing outside the closed window.

I know that reappearing outside a closed window is mentioned in the ebook but the phone could really enhance the effect.

I’m told we’ve had several other suggestions submitted, I haven’t had time to review any of them yet. If I find something worth posting here I’ll add it.

I’ve added a catagory for posts related to the Goodbye Vanish, such as this one. You can access it at the right of the screen in the future if you want to review one of these bonus ideas.

I know a lot of people are having fun with the Goodbye Vanish and I do appreciate the submissions but what I’d really like to see are videos of you guys performing the Monkey Vanish!

Or maybe an audio clip of the impromptu vanish? Hmmm…

I received an email today giving me permission to share an idea submitted by a customer. It’s a variation on the Goodbye Vanish which allows you to reappear at quite a distance from the place you vanished.

I’m not tipping the full method of the Vanish here, this is a bonus for customers who’ve already downloaded the trick. I think this idea is very strong and a great addition to the routine. It takes the trick to someplace beyond impossible. It would literally floor someone.

Reappear Virtually Instantly, Hundreds of Feet Away!

Do the Goodbye Vanish the usual way, vanishing completely as described in the manuscript. Instruct your spectator that if anything strange happens they should look out the window.

When they do, they see you have teleported yourself to quite a distance outside the courtyard waving at them indicating that they should come out and join you!

The one standing outside the courtyard is of course your pal.. dressed like you. And when the spectator moves away from the window (preferably on the 2nd floor) to make his way to the courtyard to join you, you have the perfect opportunity and time to switch place with you pal.

This also solves one problem: the misdirection needed to buy you enough time to get out the door, because the spectator will be running for the window, which of course is in the completely opposite direction.

Single Person Method to Reappear at a Distance

Again you should be on the second floor. Perform the Goodbye Vanish as per the manuscript again instructing your spectator to run to the window.

Upon arriving at the window he sees a mobile phone. It rings and it’s you calling. You tell him that you have teleported yourself to the ground floor and ask him to stick his head out of the window and he will see you standing right under the window!!!

The illusion is that the spectator should think that you have already arrived at that position when the phone rings, which of course is not the case. You are still on your way to that spot under the window. But the phone ringing and the initial conversation should buy you enough time to make your way there.

The same effect can be done perhaps by placing an envelope containing the message on the window.
–

These ideas are from a law student in Hong Kong named Tony Ko. There’s some nice thinking here. If you like it, thank Tony!

If you haven’t downloaded the Goodbye Vanish yet, get it here.

Wow did I have a great vacation!

We went to LA to visit with Aaron Fisher who showed me something I can only describe as “real magic”. I won’t get into details here, but my head is still spinning!

We stayed in Ventura on the beach which was nice. But then we stumbled upon the place that we will not soon forget.. Pismo Beach. I’ve never been there before, only heard about it. We were really impressed to say the least. We stayed right on the beach and the weather was perfect. It’s a very relaxing place, I highly recommend a visit. Most of our time was spent combing the beach with the baby, searching for the mysterious Pismo Duck (who we never found, but did hear).

In other news, the Goodbye Vanish is a big hit. Actually it’s a freakishly big hit. Over 3000 have sold so far and the thing has only been available for about 2 weeks! I’m thrilled with the response and am eagerly awaiting video of some performances. I’d especially like to see a video of a constructed Monkey Vanish. If you have a video you’d like to share, I’d love to see it. Contact us through the site and we’ll give you an email address to send it to.

Those kind of sales could fool someone into thinking inventing magic is a very profitable venture. Don’t be fooled, it is not. I put a crazy amount of energy and time into magic. I’ve literally spent years developing certain tricks and even a big hit in magic doesn’t usually profit more than $10,000. The market is small. If someone in the magic business sells 1000 of an item it’s considered a “hit”. A few of us have learned to make it work but it takes extraordinary effort.

And on that note.. I am making reservations for Sedona. I deserve another break.

The Impromptu Self Vanish illusion I’ve been working on is ready, I hope you enjoy it!

Click here to VANISH!

It’s not easy to do. But I do believe it’s the only way.

So who will be the first to get on TV with the Monkey Vanish?

Vanish update..

I’m just about done. The proofreaders have returned the text.

This thing is going to be available late, late tonight or tomorrow.

I really need a break. When this goes online I will mail everyone and then..

I’M GOING TO DISNEYLAND!

Or maybe Sedona I don’t know. But I have to get away from this monitor.

For a few months now magicians all over the world have been waiting patiently for the release of my new Self Vanish Illusion. Ok, some of you haven’t been so patient.

Several days ago I announced that I was preparing the final product and it would be available this week. Up until yesterday that was still possible. While I was putting it together I had an idea flash into my head that absolutely MUST be added to it. I’m sorry to keep everyone waiting and I’m not putting it off to hype it up.

This new idea is big. And it’s funny that it came to me when it did. To be honest I’m a bit peeved. This happened once before when I was about to market an illusion. When I was putting together the manuscript for the Fantastic Floatation I had another totally different method for a close up levitation pop into my head. The trick was great if not better than the one I was putting together and it popped into my head in it’s complete form. I had already put so much work into the Fantastic Floatation that I didn’t want the new trick to exist. At least not until I had sold the first one! My stupid brain was creating competition for my new release. I decided to make myself forget about the trick and I really did. I didn’t think of it again until several years later and put it on the market as Fearson’s Box. Because I didn’t want to work on it and already has a set plan with advertisments ready, the magic community didn’t get to know about the Box levitation for years.

Now the same thing has happened again with this Self Vanish illusion.

I had an idea after not being able to crack the case for 10 years. I knocked the idea around with Paul Harris and Angelo Carbone. They both had previously worked on the same puzzle and all 3 of us were in the same ballpark which was very encouraging. But now straight out of left field comes this completely different idea.

Most of today was spent deciding what to do with this idea. It’s completely different in method and performance than what I was going to offer. Actually it’s driving me a bit looney because for the past few weeks I’ve been telling my friends I am not going to devote any more time to magic projects. The DownloadMagic website does well but releasing new products in the current marketplace isn’t profitable at all. It doesn’t make sense for me to pursue magic as a means of making money anymore, there are many more lucrative options available. I made mention of “leaving magic” a while back in a mailing, this is for the most part true. I did want to release this last effect though. In fact this Vanish is titled THE GOODBYE VANISH and will be my last trick. That’s why having this new idea pop into my head at the last minute feels a bit odd. It’s not like it’s just a little extra something to add to the trick. It’s a blockbuster of an idea. I’d rank it right up there with Copperfield’s Laser.

So I tossed around the idea of putting off the release and making a video of this thing and offering it to someone famous…

I wondered if I should sell this new one by itself in the future. Start by making a prototype..

But wait.. I don’t want to do any of that!!

See what happened? I told myself that my time is better spent elsewhere than magic so now the universe dumps one of the best magic ideas I’ve ever had right in my lap. Now it’s got me all excited thinking this and that about different ways to make money with it.

The truth is that these kind of ideas are very hard to come by. You can’t make a living selling once in a lifetime ideas when magicians want a new trick every week.

I said I’m done and I am done. I don’t want to work on any more magic so here’s what I’m going to do..

I’m spending the next couple days sketching out plans for the new routine and will add it to the manuscript. Simple as that. The price will not change. A lot of people have been curious about what the price will be. This is going to be a VERY inexpensive product.

I absolutely guarantee it will be worth the wait.

Hopefully the next details you see will be the ad. You’ll have to give me until next week to finish this though.

Disclaimer: I am not trying to hype up this trick I’m trying to give some insight into what I’m up to. If you are reading this and think you are famous enough that we need to discuss selling exclusive rights for this I’d be more than happy to sell them to you for a period of one year for $50,000 USD. Start by putting that in my Paypal account and I’ll get back to you.

Like a lot of you I’ve been following the Michael Jackson child molestation case in the news. I really believe it’s nothing but another publicity stunt for Michael. The best publicists know that today a good scandal gets more attention than any advertising ever could. I’m pretty sure his album hit #1 in Europe upon it’s release. I never would have known he had a new album if it were not for the scandal.

Anyway, here’s my concern. I heard he is going to speak on television and I’m a bit worried. This guy is so rich that I can picture him holding a little device up towards the camera and pushing a button that makes us all freeze up like zombies. Then our kids all march out the door like little robots towards Neverland Ranch while we stare helplessly at the screen. Like an electronic Pied Piper.

I’m sure it’s all just a stunt. But I turned the tv off.

If you’re on my mailing list or you keep up with this blog you know that I’ve had a self vanish illusion in the works for quite a while. It’s been 10 years actually.

10 years ago I had a sort of magic revelation. Like a voice it cried out to me,

“Magicians have been stuffing people into boxes since the dark ages… It’s time someone shed some light on the subject.”

I was that someone. I knew it was my duty to wake up magic by taking 3 classic illusions and bringing them into modern times. Up close.. full lights.. no more boxes.. no more BS!

The first was the levitation. At that time there was no close up self levitation on the market. Zip.. nada.. nope.. none. I wanted very badly to be able to levitate myself in a close up situation in full light without any weird props and I realized that other magicians did also. It took over 2 years but eventually I released my Fantastic Floatation

My next target was the Sawing in Half illusion. When people think of magic they think of sawing someone in half. It is the definition of modern magic. Sawing myself in half close up without a box proved to be a huge challenge. But after a couple years I had a workable method and could perform it.

I only got to perform it once though before it was purchased by David Copperfield and became his Laser Illusion. I know there is a copy of my original performance floating around on the web, a quick search for “fearson sawing” on google turns up a few sites where you can see it.

The final chapter in my magical odyessey was to be the Self Vanish Illusion. So many times while performing I’d hear people joking, “Can you make my wife vanish?” or, “if you’re a magician lets see you vanish.” Well as it turns out the vanish is the tougest of the 3 illusions to accomplish close up without props. I’ve been tossing around different ideas for years now and have felt none were worth pursuing seriously. None met the “no BS” requirement. I had all but abandoned the project until very recently.

Several months ago I was lying awake in bed one morning when I had a shift of perspective regarding the vanish. I suddenly saw a real, workable solution. One with no props or gimmicks that could be done virtually anytime, anywhere by anyone. I was able to perform a rough version of the trick for my wife that very day!

Since then I’ve only shared the concept with a very few select magicians. Angelo Carbone and Paul Harris are two who’ve played with it and helped me refine it. I’m happy to have had the opportunity to run it by some of the brightest minds in magic and the response has all been very positive.

I’m ready to put together the final product. It will be released this week, in a brand new downloadable format I am working on. Updates in a few days!

Why do people still buy macs?

Why would someone buy a computer that isn’t compatible with so many things?

You’ll hear mac users saying, “macs are superior for graphics”. No they’re not. Maybe 20 years ago they were but not today. And how many of you mac users are actually working on the next Toy Story anyway?

Less than 1% of my visitors are mac users, yet they account for about 50% of my customer service because of compatibility issues.

It’s like buying a diesel car and complaining everywhere that you can’t get the right gas. And then insisting that diesel is the superior system.

Well I’m back in action.

That was the worst ear infection ever.

I give it an 8.0 on the richtear scale.

richtEAR.. get it?

It’s an EARthquake joke.

Yes I’m back and I’m as funny as I ever was.

My ear hurts. Bad.

No, my hear hurts really really bad.

I went to the doctor yesterday because I have a bad ear infection. The entire side of my head is swollen, my ear is pushed out to the side and up. I’ve got two kinds of drops to put in it but neither can go in because the ear is swelled shut tight. I’m taking Lortabs which are generic Vicodin. I thought Vicodin were supposed to be strong? Well they aren’t nearly strong enough for this. The pain is so severe I was up all night, vomiting every 2 hours. It’s the kind of pain that makes you shake like an injured puppy.

I just wanted to mention it here in case someone who reads this blog has a voodoo doll of me and is poking a pencil or something into my ear. If that is the case, I’m begging this person to please stop. I’m sorry for whatever it was I did to you that made you so angry. Please, please stop it now because the pain is terrible. I feel like I’m losing my mind.

Thanks.

Maybe I’m out of the loop but I’ve never heard of this before.

Tom Cruise is playing Jasper Maskelyne in “The War Magician”, a new movie due out in 2005.

Details

More details

Even more details

It couldn’t get any more interesting than that.
A must see for me.

I just bought a copy of the book at this link. It cost me $25 bucks but the value will skyrocket if the movie is a hit. I’ll review the book on this blog when I’ve finished with it.

I really wanted to release the self vanish illusion by Christmas but I have to be honest with myself. It’s not going to happen. It will happen, just not by Christmas.

And that’s OK.

It’s better to keep working on this for a bit. I have had the opportunity to do a little brainstorming with a few really smart guys and they’ve contributed some great ideas. I have a session planned about a week from now and will need to do some online consulting with one other person before I’m finished.

It still could be out very early next month though.. keep your fingers crossed and I’ll keep you updated.

There are a few things about ATM machines that confuse me.

1. How come when you use the little ATM machine at a grocery store, the cashier has to ask you if it’s debit or credit, and then you have to reply verbally? There are buttons on the machine that say debit or credit. Why can’t they rig the machine up to tell the cashier whether you pressed debit or credit, rather than making us announce to everyone in line that we are using a credit card to buy a 99 cent package of baloney? A few feet of speaker wire and a soldering iron would save everyone a lot of breath.

2. How come the drive up ATM at my bank has braille buttons? Is it the same reason my camcorder does?

3. How come we don’t have a national ATM language? What I mean is that different parts of the country and different people use different terms for the machines. Sometimes I try to save the cashier the trouble of asking me “debit or credit” and I just chime in first with “debit!”. They look at me like I spoke French and ask, “ATM?”. To which I humbly reply, “yes, ATM.” That’s what I get for trying to save time.

Speaking of time.. When I lived in Wisconsin the ATM machines were called T.Y.M.E machines The letters in TYME stood for Take Your Money Everywhere. You pronounced TYME like the word, time. When I moved to Las Vegas I was unaware that the machines were different. They were not TYME machines. People said ATM’s or money machines.

I looked different at the time also. I had long, wild hair and usually wore a tie dye t-shirt. Most often no shoes. I did still have the same maniacal glare in my eyes that I have today though.

So now picture this. Steve Fearson wanders into a Seven Eleven in Las Vegas wearing no shoes and a tie dye. He wanders around the store in search of something. As he approaches the counter he has the unmistakable look of either a professional magician or a serial killer in his eyes. And finally he asks the clerk..

“Is there a time machine here?”

The clerk pauses, stunned by the question. As he reaches under the counter to push the alarm button, Steve displays his ATM card and says..

“I’m looking for a time machine.”

“Oh!”, says the clerk, “a money machine. Yes, right over there..”

For months after moving here I was Hippie G. Wells asking everyone in Las Vegas where I could find the nearest time machine. People probably assumed I had lost all my money gambling and just snapped. I had no idea why they were reacting so strangely. I knew I looked a little weird but this is Las Vegas. There are a lot of weird looking people here, why do all these clerks look at me like I’m so crazy? After a while I realized that they didn’t have TYME machines here and didn’t call them that. But I still didn’t realize that I had been saying TIME MACHINE for a very long time, until someone pointed it out to me. I was so used to calling it that in Wisconsin it never crossed my mind. No one back home had ever made a joke about it, or pointed it out. I figure it’s not my fault, we do a lot of weird things in Wisconsin. It made me feel like I wasn’t fitting in here, that’s for sure.

So now you know. If you ever see someone eating raw beef, wearing cheese on their head or searching for a time machine.. they’re probably from Wisconsin.

Well I managed to move DownloadMagic to a new server.

The move was easier than I expected but it still took days and no doubt there are probably a couple of things I missed. If you’ve noticed any bad links or stuff not working on the site, by all means drop me a line and tell me about it. Orders are going out properly but some of the less noticeable things may have been overlooked.

The new server is really fast and has a lot of options that are going to come in handy this coming year as I plan to launch a few new projects online. I have a few ideas that are going to surprise you, I guarantee it!

The Impromptu Self Vanish illusion is coming along also. The main problem I am having right now with the development is that I am no longer a performing magician so I don’t have a lot of opportunities to field test the trick. I’ve shared it with a select few individuals though and I have great faith in their ability to find and iron out any bugs.

Last night I crossed paths with a couple of famous magicians. Alain Nu and later on, The Great Tomsoni.. Johnny Thompson. Both of them did a bit of magic. Alain bent a fork which sent Johnny into a sort of fit and he started channeling Dai Vernon. He sounded just like him.

That’s the thing I know I’ll miss if I ever decide to leave Las Vegas. I’ve begun to take it for granted but I’ve really met some of the greatest magicians of all time out here. Some of them also happen to be great people. Visiting with Alain and Johnny just reminded me of that.

Still, Vegas is no place to raise a kid in my opinion. And I’ve also met some of the worst magicians out here. And some of the lousiest people on earth. Vegas attracts losers like flies to poo. And the place is starting to stink. This last summer they announced that Vegas made #1 on the list of most dangerous cities in the nation. Las Vegas is becoming a demented yellow brick road.. Drug addicts, Transients and Gangsters.. Oh My! It’s no secret our mayor used to be the head lawyer for the mob. His name is Goodman. And he’s a good man. You know.. like a good fella. He’s one of us.

Oscar Goodman really is the OG.

Don’t get me wrong here.. I love Oscar Goodman. He’s funny. Not funny like a clown, but funny nonetheless. I would have voted for him but I didn’t have to. I don’t think there was an election, we just woke up one morning and he was mayor.

To give you an idea how funny this place is, here are a couple of quotes from our illustrious mayor.. the Wizard of LV. Please keep in mind that I’m quoting him from memory, things I heard him say on television. I may not have it exactly right but I know I’m damn close.

Oscar on Benny Binion: “People say Benny murdered somebody. Let me just say this. This is Las Vegas. Benny was a character. Just like I’m a character. (winks)”

Oscar on increasing police funding: “We need more money to protect you, our citizens. In the old days I would say this is an offer you can’t refuse. (winks)”

Vegas is a wild place. And Oscar Goodman makes a perfect mayor. He is true to the game. He is the icing on the cake that makes you wonder if this is all just a really funny dream.

Yes, sometimes I forget how unique this town is.

Viva Las Vegas!