Michael Jay: There are several new talents on the circuit and I know that you get around, Doc (most recently, FISM 2003). I was wondering if you feel that there are any young magicians who appear to be the "ones to watch." As an example, I think that Danny Cole is a highly talented young man.

Is there anyone who you feel stands heads and shoulders above the rest?

Mike.

Doc Eason: wow...this is a tricky one...

Let me preface this by ...this is only my subjective opinion and so if I don’t mention someone’s name it is only because I am typing as fast as I can and may not include everyone who deserves to be included...

Chris Korn is a tremendous talent. Not only does he have incredible hands but also he is developing a real comfortable style of performing. love watching him work.

While not new by any means, I have to plug my pal Eric Mead...who I feel is one of the best magicians on the planet right now... he keeps to a small circle of friends and is very proprietary about material that he has work on ... as well he should... Eric has work on EVERYTHING... rumour has it he has work on the alphabet...he has it down to 23 letters...

You mention Danny Cole... yes his act blows me away... such poise and style... but I am not really any kind of authority on stage magic...

Let me think about this... a bit...

Nathan Kranzo is a tremendous talent...he will benefit from time in front of an audience.

I met Reed McClintock in Portland recently.. he is a soft-spoken but tremendously talented fellow.

There are more I know...but I am bogging down in the thinking process.. there are a lot of guys out there who are very good... much better than me when it comes to technique... but I am living proof that it isn’t necessarily all about technique... personality is a huge part of it...

Remember ...people don’t remember what you did, they remember how you made them feel...

doc

Michael Jay: I know that Ammar collaborated with you on your Bar Magic video trilogy and Paul Cummins was a collaborator of your book, "Fusilade." Doc, which magicians of worthy note have you collaborated with over the course of your career, aside from the two mentioned?

Are there any particular magicians that you'd like to work with in a business endeavor such as those above?

Mike.

Doc Eason: What a strange word...collaboration...

That is an interesting question... I haven’t given that much thought to that question...

I wouldn’t mind collaborating with Eric about a bar magic project... he is a tremendous source of knowledge and his comedic approach is brilliant. To that end, I hold other bar magicians like Sheets, Jamy Swiss, Stetson, Cummins, Malone, in high regard.

Michael Ammar is of course a constant source of inspiration and advice. He and I are talking about the possibility of reprinting the Aspen Bar Magic issue of his Magical Arts Journal... this is long out of print and in demand... so this may be a project that might see the light of day in the not too distant future...

I am definitely open to other projects that team me up with folks out there. I have contributed some things to Sisti and Kirk Charles in the restaurant field... and so I am open to offers but I am not pursuing anything active at this time -besides the Aspen bar Magic issue...

I hope that answers the question...

doc

Kris: Hi Doc

You have a trick called The Happy Birthday Card Trick, this is one hell of a piece of magic and I wish to firstly thank you for this contribution to the world of magic. Now to the question... you have mentioned in another post that you are happy with your repertoire however things like this obviously fall in and out, Do you have any other routines which are situation specific, seasonal or just the ones you save for that time when the special client comes to the bar?

(Could be your original ideas or simply some insta snow at Christmas or that you do a Killer chop cup routine. Whatever really )

Doc Eason: Thanks for your kind words... remember that the happy birthday card trick is originally “remembrance of cards past... by Max Maven..” all I did was to simplify the handling..

Occasion specific...you can’t beat the Anniversary Waltz for occasion specific... and remember... it doesn’t have to be just an anniversary couple or a wedding couple... it can be “there is something special about the bond of a mother and her son (on Mothers day) or there is something special about the bond between a father and his daughter (on Fathers day) or there is something special about the relationship of our customers and our salesmen... the point is don’t be limited to just the romantic angle...

I do a Santa hat tear at Christmas...

For the introduction of an engagement ring ...something I have done a bunch at the bar... I will do the All Screwed up Nuts and bolt routine... with the final appearance of the ring on the bolt ...screwed on ... that’s how I handle that occurrence...

There are some routines that I reserve for those times when the high rollers comes in ... these are the routines that take a bunch of set up... and prep... like the T&R card that I perform on my new DVD...it is a bit of a hassle to prepare so I don’t do that too regularly... but that I hold in reserve for repeat customers or the “shooters”.

Does this help?

doc