Castle Capers II

What a weekend! Around noon on Friday, we arrived in Hollywood, California and had lunch at the world-famous Musso & Franks. What a party it turned out to be. In fact, I'll just show you:

Starting left center clockwise: R. Paul Wilson, Pete Biro, my son Max, my son Cole, my daughter Renee, me, Robert Baxt, Carl Ballantine, Gerald Kirchner (obscured), Chuck Kirchner, my wife Betty, Lou Hirschorn, and Joe Porper.

Mike steals Carl's cigar!

Carl receives a gift from Max!

R. Paul Wilson, Pete Biro, and Joe Porper showed us several of their new releases, which you'll see appear on our web site first. In fact, the rumors are already flying around the Internet about how cool these new products really are. I agree!

We stopped by and visited Hollywood Magic, but not before saying hello to Houdini!

My daughter, Renee, having just turned 21, couldn't wait for her first time at the Castle. She sang with Irma, and even got involved in the acts that evening!

My daughter Renee and me

That evening at the Castle, we enjoyed an excellent dinner and headed over to the Palace of Mystery where we saw the performances of Joseph Tran, David Deeble, and Jason Baney. All great acts, the highlight was watching the young Joseph Tran and his unique approach to the Shadow Box Illusion involving Barbie and Ken dolls. If you've seen Joseph's act, you know just how clever and cute this routine is. It never fails to get the crowd's reaction! Next up, we saw Doug Brewer in the Parlor of Prestidigitation. He borrowed my $100.00 bill without even knowing it was me and reproduced it one of the final loads in his Cups & Balls routine. Very clever.

The next day was pure pandemonium. I have never been to a Castle Swap Meet that had so many vendors and buyers. I was able to pick up many antique and hard-to-find items, which you'll see popping up on the web site (if you haven't already). One of the things I am most excited about was finding and original Richard Himber Upside-Down Pail! I couldn't believe it! This thing is terrific, and if you've ever seen Richard Himber perform it (look on volume 2 of the Magic Ranch video series), you know what a head-scratcher it is!

No matter where you looked, there was magic, magic, magic everywhere!

After a great 2 days of wheeling and dealing and seeing old friends, it was time to leave. I was happy to see that my other daughter, Aimee, was able to visit and spend some time with us from Santa Barbara (she's standing to my right). Can't wait until the next one in April!
I appreciate all your comments and suggestions. Please keep 'em coming and thanks for taking time to read this page.

Paul