Magic Tricks

Wow. What a jump Penguin made from last year’s “Penguin Expo’s” to this year’s “Maxx East!” Admittedly there was some sticker shock, as I think last year’s early bird price was $19.99 and this year’s was $99.99. So the mega question is “Was it worth it?” And the Answer is “Yes! Yes! Yes!” The biggest difference between the two formats was that before it was essentially a dealer fair with a headliner (Mark Wilson at the one I attended,) and several shorter seminars with a little teaching and a lot of selling.

But this year, there were about a half-dozen headliners and a TON of teaching. I filled up five single-spaced notebook pages with comments. It opened with the “Gala Show,” which I would have easily paid $35 for just on its own. For somebody who follows magic closely, it was a special treat to see so many top-tier magicians perform their signature effects, such as Lousander’s “Levitating Table,” Diamond Jim’s Tyler’s “Diamond Jack” routine, Dan Harlan’s “Card In Glass” routine with a cheese sandwich, and Michael Kamiskas’ “Cups and Balls.” (The latter effect is one that everybody does, and hardly anybody does well.) I’d put Kamiskas’ routine up against any I’ve seen before, and that includes Gazzo’s busking routine, and Penn & Teller’s clear cup routine.

While the classes included a ton of teaching, they didn’t diminish from the dealer’s room. Most of the dealers had show specials, and many had products that weren’t yet available online. I especially enjoyed chatting with Chad Long and John Lovick/Handsome Jack.

You could tell that Penguin really paid attention to the comments from last year’s expos and made some distinct improvements. For one, the lecture hall had much better sound, big screen projection and most importantly, was separated from the noise and hubbub of the dealer’s room. The higher price tag and longer, more detailed format, cut the crowd down to a manageable size, which was great. While I enjoyed last year, the crowds made it tough to see the dealer demos, seating for the speakers was limited, and there were too many people and novice questions to have an effective back and forth dialog between the teachers and the audience.

You’ve likely heard the cliché’, “If you learn one thing you’ll use from a class, product or book, it will be worth it.” Well in the case of Penguin’s Maxx East, that adage proved itself many times over. I learned a lot more than just one thing, and much of that will be going into my performances immediately!