I spent last thanksgiving in the south of Israel on the banks of the red sea – we had turkey shawarma, no gravy.

Silly Billy, Josh Jay, Thom Peterson and I performed and lectured at Roei Zaltzman’s convention, Magic on the Red Sea (MARS). Our hosts were kind and gracious. The audiences laughed and came to be entertained. The board of tourism even gave us our own tour guide for two days after convention. It was a fantastic experience.

Though I gave my first magic lecture ten years ago, trips like this make me remember that magic can take you to incredible places. Take a look!

Not bad for a working weekend, eh?

Here I am with Josh Jay. He showed me some of the best close-up ideas I’ve seen all year. In the ten years I’ve known Josh, he’s become an incredible magician.

This is Ariel, my scuba instructor. I’d never been under water with a tank before, and it was even crazier than I’d imagined. Eilat is known for it’s diving and now I know why – it was like real magic.

This was taken after a performance for some local teens. Many people don’t know that Israel has compulsory military service – at age 18, everyone joins the army. These kids weren’t allowed to put their rifles down, even to select cards! While I’ve never performed for such a heavily armed audience, I have to say they were a lot of fun…and they love ambitious card.

Josh Jay took this and the next photo. He’s one of those guys that actually aims the camera first. Behind me is the Dome of the Rock. Am I flashing?

As you can tell from the cropping on this photo, I was definitely flashing in this shot.

I’ve known Josh and David Kaye (aka Silly Billy) for a long time now. But the two other guys in this photo were revelations. In the middle stands Thom Peterson. He performed and lectured at the convention. He hasn’t performed at many conventions – he’s too busy working cruise ships and corporate events out there in the big bad world. His magic and charm were both top notch. He’s got two videos out on the market right now, and they’re filled with audience tested, practical material.

The fellow on the left is Menny Lindenfeld. You may already have some of his many original effects on the market. If you don’t, you likely will soon. His clipboard is a wonder to behold.

Here’s a picture of my grandpa Melvin at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Uh..sorry. That’s Thom.

What did you get for Hanukkah this year kids? I got the SCUBA SUIT SILLY BILLY PLAYSET. It’s AWESOME!

That’s Roei Zaltsman on the right. He’s a card man, mentalist, TV personality and the organizer of the convention – He put on one hell of a conference.

Several months ago Lee Asher introduced me to Albert Tam. Albert has made a great life in magic. He’s a performer, producer, magic store owner and booking agent. Among his many projects this year, he managed to find time to put on the Asian Magic Association’s yearly convention.

Thankfully, this year Albert and his friends decided to book me to lecture and perform close-up magic at the convention.  I met at least a hundred magicians, saw hours of new magic and had the kind of adventures you only experience when you perform magic on the other side of the globe.

Today I finally had a chance to look at the photos……I hope you enjoy them!

The view from the top…

The AMA Gala – a reserved evening of magic

(Fantasma Magic CEO Roger Dryer, the multi-talented Harry Wong, myself and tormented card star Simon Lovell).

These guys made the convention. Roger Dryer gave me enough Chinese slang to vamp my way through the show. The very solid Harry Wong asked me to shoot a short spot for his TV show and any visit with Simon is like a visit home. When I was 19, I camped out on Simon’s couch for a week while he improved my card magic. Simon is  one of the last real card men – his show earlier that day was a site to behold!

Danny Cole: now that’s a magician.

It’s always a pleasure to see Danny Cole – his original, inventive material and charming approach make him one of the only manipulation acts I really enjoy watching. As per our standard magic convention custom, we were both working all weekend – this was the only time we actually saw each other.

The Magic Convention debut of PANIC!

I got an email recently asking if I still get nervous us before I perform. YES! I woke the morning of the show and realized I had never performed Panic, my new  trick out from Theory 11, in a formal lecture situation.  In this photo, I’m attempting to entertain the audience while trying to teach Panic coherently in under five minutes.  A healthy language barrier always adds a new dimension to the learning process!

If you look front row center, you’ll see International FISM President Eric Eswin….is he smiling?