WOW! What an evening! Tonight was absolutely AMAZING!
From 4:00 PM until 10:30 PM has been nothing but magical!
The evening started off with my 45 minute drive from my home in Sonoma County over to Brad Christian's house in Marin County.
When I arrived, many of the other dinner attendees had already arrived.
Upon entering Brad's house, I quickly met everyone (sorry guys - I still don't know everyone's names, but glad to have met you all - you're a great bunch of guys). And of course, I met our wonderful host, Brad Christian, Paul Harris and Tim Trono of Murphy's Magic Supply.
The evening's events started off with some hordevors, and us all sitting around in a circle with Paul at the head. We all introduced ourselves - we discussed who we are, where we are from, how we became interested in magic and where each of us are currently at in or magical career.
Then the discussion started - Paul discussed his philosophies of "astonishment" with us. We discussed many topics - everything ranging from magic as an art form, to marketing ourselves to, to discussing other magicians that we all know and love.
Brad announced dinner - Lasagna, Caesar Salad, French Bread - perfecto!
More round table discussion with Paul, Brad and Tim.
Then we watched a short session of video clips from the True Astonishment DVD series - this included some insider information from the master, Paul Harris himself.
Brad then introduced us to "Ringtone" - we got to see the new trailer and discuss the effect to some degree.
From there we had a photo session -- everyone had their picture taken with Paul. We all received parting gift bags that contained an amazing amount of DVD's, 3 decks of Ellusionist produced cards, and two unreleased effects/props from Paul Harris.
We all left Brad's house around 7:30ish PM and went downtown to a small ice cream shop. The lot of us sat around, ate ice cream, compliments of Murphy's Magic (thanks Tim), and had more one-on-one time with both Tim and Paul. And of course, what kind of session would it be if cards did not come out of their cases. One-on-one with Paul Harris, cards in hand! DO YOU LOVE IT OR WHAT?!?!?!
As the evening went on, Paul and Tim left but the majority of us stuck around. Next thing we knew, we were performing for some of the patrons in the ice cream shop. We all left around 10:30 PM, tired, but with the adrenaline still pumping.
We wished each other farewell until we meet again.
Brad has promised to post photos in a couple of days. Video footage was taken - not sure how that will play into everything, but I'm looking forward to seeing it.
Anyway - an awesome time was had by all. It was truly an amazingly magical night to be had.
On top of all that, I had my personal copy of "The Art of Astonishment" autographed by both Brad and Paul to commemorate the evening and looks like I'll be getting a tour of Murphy's Magic in Sacramento, CA on Monday morning at 11:00 AM - again, thanks Tim!
Can't wait to hear what everyone else has to say about tonight!
PS - I can't thank Ellusionist, Brad Christian, Paul Harris, Tim Trono, the rest of the guys there tonight, and Mark McPhee (my sponsor) for such a wonderful evening. It was something that I will remember for the rest of my days!
Last edited by SoulGrind; 01-25-2009 at 02:19 AM.
Caine Hörr
The Amazing Caine
http://www.amazingcaine.com
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by sivartn
