One convention my husband and I did together as Santa and Mrs. Claus in early December was quite fun. It was for bulldog aficionados, so basically, we just sat there and held bulldogs while our pictures were taken. It was a blast! All the dogs were so adorable (in their own bull-doggy way). We also posed with two hairless cats from two separate families. They were extremely mellow and softer than a baby’s bottom to pet. We were there in the booth for the Exotic Frenchie Gang. They were all in a great mood, and not just because of hanging with Santa. They cleaned up at the dog show.

We just had our annual Christmas party for the Women Magicians Association of the Magic Castle. I feel so grateful to be able to hang out with these smart and talented women that share my love of magic. It was potluck, but we have some professional caterer quality cooks in our group, so the food was great. There was singing and conversation and white elephants. We all had a great time!

January will be a time for developing new material, refurbishing props that have seen a lot of work, and working on lining out promotional campaigns.

One thing that I did not include in the previous post was that Special Fellowship recipient Connie Boyd credited Max with her being able to do her lecture “How Women Influence Magic” at “the World Championships of Magic” FISM,  Québec 2022. He leaves behind many who admired him very much, and many who knew him and loved him.

We also just lost another magician who carved a unique niche for himself.  He went under the name Andre Kole, and he toured with a big illusion show for over five decades. He performed primarily under the auspices of Campus Crusade for Christ. The show was a top notch illusion show and he was a master inventor of illusions.  His Table of Death, where he was chained to a table and had to escape before a framework of spikes above him came crashing down, has been a staple of television series that wanted to depict a dangerous magic trick. His Squeeze Box illusion has been performed by both Copperfield and Siegfried and Roy. Copperfield also has performed his Head Mover illusion. Andre saved his witnessing for the end of the show. He was a kind and genuine human being and never came across too strong promoting his faith, which seemed deep and sincere. Tim Kole has followed in his father’s footsteps as an illusionist.

The Halloween season was very busy. It started out with a show for a picnic event at Whittier Narrows Recreation Area. You may have heard of the 5.8 magnitude Whittier Narrows earthquake in 1987 that did widespread damage. The park was just adjacent to the epicenter of the quake. Today it is an amazing 1,500 acre park with a museum, nature center, three lakes, and boating and fishing.

It is one of L.A.’s most popular and largest recreation areas, and it has a lot of history. It has a very interesting geological history, and since 1920 this area has been caught in the intersection of California’s turbulent water politics. It is an important part of the story of how Los Angeles rivers were dammed and forced to flow through concrete channels throughout L.A. You can read a more detailed account at this KCET site. Then it was off to a Disney themed birthday in the evening.

The next weekend I did strolling magic for a large company picnic for California Steel Industries at their facility in Fontana. It was a huge event with face painters, balloon artists, a strolling close-up magician (me), carnival rides, and lots of food booths. It was a very fun event at a very historic place- what was originally the Kaiser Steel plant. I made a trick based around steel making that went over very well. It was a lovely day to be performing outdoors, but also a long one as the event lasted several hours. Happily they had a sports theme for the event so I got to perform in tennis shoes for the first time ever.

Founded in 1941, Kaiser Steel produced steel plates for ships that were built to fight in World War II. I grew up near Fontana and they were a huge presence in the area. By 1983, Kaiser Steele was no longer competitive and sold their assets.

They also have had a huge impact on me personally well beyond making steel. In 1945, Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield founded Kaiser Permanente to provide health care for Kaiser Steel employees. While Kaiser Steel is no more, Kaiser Permanente grew into one of the largest nonprofit healthcare plans in the United States. Until I began working for Cedars, they were my primary health care provider for most of my life and they were great.

The plant continues to be in the steel business under different ownership. You probably have seen what the inside of the steel plant looks like. It was famously featured in the climactic final battle in 1991’s Terminator 2.

The next weekend was a bit more tiring, with four shows spread-out all over L.A. They were private events except for Alive Together at the famous Exposition Park. I did this great event focused on suicide prevention last year, and you can learn more about it and Exposition Park in last year’s entry. Working in the shadow of the Los Angeles Coliseum, I also had my first glance of the Lucus Museum which is being built by George Lucas. Having brought us Indiana Jones and Star Wars, I am sure his futuristic and over a quarter of a mile long museum complex will be great once it’s open.

Then on Tuesday we had a Women Magicians Association meeting. We were happy to have Nader Hanna present his very first lecture ever. Nader is an accomplished mentalist and hypnotist who frequently performs at the Magic Castle. He shared with us some great techniques in addition to some history on the development of mentalism including telling us about Gene Dennis the Wonder Girl (1904 – 1947). It was a wonderful presentation and I feel like I really made a new friend in him. It was the week of Halloween, so almost everyone at the meeting was in costume. It was such fun! Then it was off to Riverside to be with Geoff’s Mom for her skin cancer treatment the next morning at, of course, Kaiser Permanente. She is doing great.

After all that, I was not that upset to have only one show this past weekend. Okay, maybe a little upset, but I was getting a bit tired. Sunday, I went to my advanced card manipulation workshop at the Magic Castle, which I have been enjoying. While my magical characters are more charming than card sharks, it’s always nice to have a few more tricks up your sleeves.

When Covid hit, that ended the awards, with the last one being an outdoor event that we skipped. That’s until September 27^th of this year. We were not originally planning to go, but when the President of the Magic Castle stopped in at our Women Magicians Meeting to offer his support, and shared the news about the upcoming Awards show, it just sounded like such fun. We all decided to go. They put the show together quickly as they really wanted to honor Max Maven this year. He has had significant health struggles. He truly deserves a Masters Fellowship, the highest award that the magic world can bestow, and you just can’t know the future. I think the Academy felt they better get on the stick about this and I am glad they did.

I first met Max in my twenties. He is not someone you forget meeting because as he says he has a look that only really works in Hollywood. He does mentalism (mind reading, psychic effects, etc.) and has a rather intense persona in his performances – dark and mysterious. He is considered one of the best mentalists in magic, and one of the best creators of mentalism themed magic. I think most professional magicians have performed something invented by him at one point in their careers. I have his books on my shelves and own magic he created. He is legendary in the business. I love that his mentalism is so amazing to layman (non-magicians) and often depends on using a somewhat mysterious and dynamic personality (something I love). Almost every show I do has at least one mentalism effect it in, because people just love it – for the everyday person it just seems like real magic.

This year it was held at the historic Avalon Hollywood. On famed Vine Street right across from the Capital Record building (the one that looks like a stack of records), it opened in 1927 as the Hollywood Playhouse. During the depression they presented shows by the WPA Federal Theater. It was renamed the El Capitan in the 1940s, not to be confused with the current Disney owned El Capitan on Hollywood Blvd. They broadcast CBS radio shows from there. In the 1950s it became a television broadcast studio, with shows such as the Colgate Comedy Hour and Your Show of Shows. It was also from there that Richard Nixon broadcast his famous “Checkers” speech. In the 1960s they renamed it the Hollywood Palace and broadcast The Hollywood Palace Variety Show. Over the show’s 7 year run the theater hosted top name talent in music and theater, including the Beatles first West Coast performance. They also had a number of magicians on the show, including Channing Pollock, Carl Ballantine, Kirk Kirkham, Silvan, Michel de la Vega, Milo and Roger, Mac Ronay, Prassano Rao, Ralph Adams, and The Steckles. In the 80s it became the West Coast version of Studio 54. In 2002 it was fully renovated and renamed Avalon Hollywood. It was renovated again in 2016 and looks great inside. It continues to function primarily as a nightclub, but it sure has a lot of history within those walls.

Since they did not have a full normal year of performances at the Magic Castle, they decided not to do the performance awards this year. Instead they focused on various fellowship awards and awards of merit. I bought tickets as soon as they were available. We ended up at one of the best tables in the house. It was front row just left of center. It was just the luck of the draw but a number of people wondered how we rated.

There was one person who I really wanted to meet in person at the event. Connie Boyd was there to receive a Special Fellowship award for her work on the history of women in magic and her many interviews with women magicians. She started doing the interviews after Covid hit and found a lot of people were available to talk with her, what with the whole world shutting down. Born in Canada, she has been living in Europe and flew out for the awards ceremony.

Connie Boyd (r) with presenter Diana Zimmerman (l)

Connie is one of the leading advocates for women in magic, but she has also had a very impressive career herself. Her big break was in Las Vegas in 1987 when she began appearing at the Riviera Hotel in the Splash showroom. She starred and headlined in production shows such as the Tropicana’s Folies Bergere, and Bally’s Jubilee.

She’s won lots of awards, has designed stage illusions and created original magic effects. She has appeared on many television shows and magic specials, and has had a very impressive performing career. She later transitioned into directing and producing. She also produced female centric magic shows for cruise ships.

Because our table was close to the stage and Connie had to go backstage to get ready to receive her award, she was at our table for the Awards show. I very much enjoyed talking with her. It was great to catch up with someone I only really knew through her online presence and it was such a joy to chat with her.

The second woman to receive a Special Fellowship was Gloria Dea, who accepted via video. She just turned 100 years old the previous month. She is the first magician to appear on the Las Vegas Strip, performing at El Rancho Vegas in 1941. In my husband’s book The Greatest Adventure, he credits Carl Ballantine as the first magician to perform in Vegas, but Gloria beat him by 15 years. So, to be more accurate, Carl was actually the first magician with lots of pockets to perform in Vegas. Connie Boyd flew to Vegas to give the award to her personally, after the event.

Gloria Dea via video

Many members of the Women Magicians Association were there. It was great seeing so many of them there, all looking so fierce. We are working hard to make this group for women an important source of encouragement and support. I loved seeing women so well represented at the show, as winners, and presenters. Charming and talented magician Elizabeth Messick-Fernandez handed the awards to the presenters and Erika Larsen was co-producer of the show. It had a warm feel that I enjoyed. It was so great to see everyone again.

WMA member Elizabeth Messick-Fernandez brings on the awards

The show was hosted by Michael Carbonaro, in my opinion one of the most creative magicians working today. His The Carbonaro Effect series on truTV is brilliant. He did an excellent job of moving the show along and was very funny and entertaining. I also enjoyed the humorous mind reading routine he did with Brunhilde (played by Liberty Larsen).

Host for the evening Michael Carbonaro

It was great to see Lance Burton on the show. He retired at the age of 50 at the very top of his game after being one of the most successful Las Vegas magicians ever. They built the Lance Burton Theatre for him at the Monte Carlo casino and he performed live in Las Vegas in over 15,000 shows. We first met him when we worked together on his first It’s Magic! Show, which led to his first appearance of many on Johnny Carson. He has always been a first class performer and a first class human being. For the awards show he performed one of Max Maven’s best known magic effects. While Max’s character is mysterious and dark, both Lance’s and Mac King’s comments showed how fond they are of “Uncle Max”. By they way, Mac King is at Harrahs in Vegas now and has appeared there in over 5,000 shows, so he’s no slouch.

Mac King also had on a Jay Marshall Lefty tie, which was great. Lefty was a character that appeared back in the day on the Ed Sullivan show. He was a glove on Jay Marshall’s left hand made to look like a rabbit. I found Jay to be a rather grumpy ventriloquist/magician when we met him on a lecture tour, but he had the luck to marry the fabulous Frances Ireland (born Frances Marie Ahrens Vandevier). She was so kind and charming. She was a well loved magician, and with Bess Houdini she started the Magigals in 1938, the first organization just for women magicians. Frances fell in love with the owner of the magic shop where she worked. She married Laurie Ireland, who ran that magic company in Chicago, and after his passing married Jay Marshall. They renamed the company Magic Inc, and it became a fixture in Chicago. So was Frances, and her “Around Chicago” column ran for years in magic magazine The Linking Ring. She was a prolific writer, publishing many books and articles, and was editor of the Magigals first newsletter. L. L. Ireland Magic Company, opened in 1926, continues in business as Magic Inc, and is now run by Jay’s son, Sandy.

I also really enjoyed Anni Küpper’s performance. She is one of the top female jugglers in the world. From Germany, her extensive training in the theatrical arts makes her performances a cut above. For the awards show she juggled pins with consummate skill, but also while defying physics as pins remained spinning in the air much longer than gravity would normally allow. It was both magically amazing and impressive.

Anni Küpper and her minimalist gravity defying act

The In Memorium segment of the people we had lost since the last show was difficult as expected. So many great performers have passed. Luckily, I had been through a preview of this at Magic Live (where I kind of lost it). Also, it was done to a lovely song by Liberty Larson, that went on just a bit longer than the photos, so we all got to compose ourselves a bit. I could still see the tears in Geoff’s eyes as the show moved on though.

Covid was brutal for live performers. Most full-time pros are not rich, and everyone struggled to make it through without any live performance work. To be cut off from the only other people who really understand why you do what you do was tough. Magicians tend to be very social. Being back together again was such a joy. it was a wonderful evening, and my thanks to all those who worked so hard to get this event up and running in such a short time. You rock!

It has always been my nature to try and step in and run things. Of course, when you do that you have to deal with all of the politics and other less fun elements of any organization. Just being a member is so much more fun. You don’t have the headaches or responsibilities. I saw myself as just being a member of the WMA.

Now I feel I need to step up and be of service. I have had a lot of experience running meetings and organizations. I helped found and run a non-denominational church in Hollywood. I ran meetings with actors at Actors’ Equity. I was an officer for a not for profit national computer graphics organization. I know the pitfalls and that it is not always fun, but I am also excited at the prospect of being able to help and make things happen. Supporting women in magic is one of my major life goals, and I will actively help out the group however I can.

Our first post-Covid WMA meeting went extremely well. We had top magician, author, and former board member Ice MacDonald do a Q and A session about whatever we wanted to ask him. He shared tons of useful information for working magicians. Chuck Martinez, the President of the Academy of Magical Arts (Magic Castle) also showed up and talked with us and offered his support of our group.

He also gave us some behind the scenes info. The Magic Castle is the most famous organization for magicians in the world. It is housed in a beautifully restored Victorian mansion that is amazingly larger on the inside than on the outside. The problem is that it is in the heart of Hollywood, a short walk from Hollywood Blvd. and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre (or whatever they are calling it this year). Property values here have only continued to skyrocket. The Academy had a landlord, the family of the man who was the original landlord when the Magic Castle opened with a handshake deal. The temptation to sell the property was just too much. Developers were making huge offers.

For years the Castle has been living on a lean budget, putting as much away as possible for a future purchase. Covid came along and wiped out a lot of that money. Things were looking pretty grim.

The Castle found an angel at almost literally the last minute. Randy Pitchford swooped in and purchased the property to preserve it for the Magic Castle. He is a co-founder of Gearbox Software, which has had many huge hit games and revitalized the classic Duke Nukem game. There was a second angel who also wrote a check for the other half of the negotiated price. She is Kristy Pitchford, his wife, who wrote a rather popular game called Borderlands.

Randy Pitchford’s roots in magic go very deep. His great uncle is Richard Valentine Pitchford, one of the most highly respected manipulators of the early 1900s. His great uncle performed under the name of Cardini, with his wife Swan as the assistant in the act that featured a slightly tipsy well-dressed gentleman and a bellhop (Swan). In the Magic Castle there is a large case featuring Cardini props and memorabilia donated by Pitchford.

While common now, Cardini did the first silent card manipulation act set to music. He had one of the most successful acts in Vaudeville. It was also the first manipulation act to tell a story. It began with an offstage voice calling out, “Paging Mr. Cardini” as he walked out on stage. Swan as a bellhop would come out and deliver a note to him. He was dressed as any well dressed gentleman of the time, in top hat, tails, coat and cape, with a cane and white gloves. He had clearly been out drinking and was just a touch inebriated. He did not do magic, but magical things happened to him. It still stands as one of the greatest manipulation acts of all time. You can see the act on Youtube.

When Randy was young, Swan gave him a copy of Bobo’s Coin Magic, an advanced tome for professional magicians. It was beyond his skill level at the time, but it gave him encouragement. The almost identical thing happened with my husband. He was a very young magician and was given magician Stan Noxon’s personal copy of Bobo’s book by his niece who had inherited it. It was also my husband’s first professional level magic book, and he found it inspiring and a little beyond him at the time in the same way. Both grew up to be quite accomplished magicians.

Randy continues to perform and has worked on many magic related projects, including working with Penn and Teller on a series of VR based magic effects. The Magic Castle will continue to be run on a day to day basis by Wendy Larsen, daughter of founder Bill Larsen. It feels like everything is in good hands.

There has been some sadness this year, though, and some real loss. I lost my father-in-law at Christmas, then my beloved cat Leeloo passed from cancer and, then a close friend died from a brain tumor. She had her own events company and shared lots of great advice with me. My car was stolen. Although that was just a thing, it was pretty scary as the thief also broke into our house while we were home.

I went to the Magic Castle on Sunday and they had the memorial for Shimada. He was perhaps the best known Japanese magician in America, and I was fortunate enough to work with him on shows many times. I even got to play the role of one of the assistants all dressed in black for a television special,  Shimada in America. His dragon act was amazing and I worked behind the scenes on the show when he premiered it. He was an incredible performer whose performances were also quite beautiful. The family legacy of magic continues on through his daughter Luna, who appeared as a princess on that same television special.

Before the memorial I went to the Erdnase class I have been taking at the Magic Castle for awhile. Magic involves lifelong learning. You are always improving your skills and adding new magic effects. Erdnase is a mysterious person whose real identity is not known. His book, The Expert at the Card Table, first published in 1902, has long been considered a foundational book for both card cheats and magicians. One of my husband’s favorite magic and science writers, Martin Gardner, called it, “the most famous, the most carefully studied book ever published on the art of manipulating cards at gaming tables”. Martin was right.

There is a lot of great information to study in this seminal work and the patient and knowledgeable instructor, Todd Karr, is not only a magician, but an author and editor. He’s currently writing a book about Erdnase, and the Magic Castle magicians taking his class are all benefitting from his dedication and hard work. I don’t consider myself a card magician. I don’t do fancy card flourishes in my performances. I intentionally handle cards like a regular person. I want it to be magic for the audience and this works well for my character. That said, I do love to do a few card tricks, and I can’t seem to stop collecting new decks of cards. In the class we are exposed to a lot of advanced techniques, and quite a few have snuck their way into my strolling magic act.

We got a new cat and named her Lily! She is a little different looking, with very asymmetrical coloration (one paw is light brown and 3 are black) and a bit of a spooky face, especially when she was in the back of the cage where it was darker at the pound. She looks like she is wearing a mask, has large gold eyes, and was very skinny. Most people were just passing her by and focusing on the abundance of new kittens, who were all adorable.

I am happy that we chose Lily for many reasons. She is turning out to be the sweetest of cats. She did not look particularly healthy when we got her, and while the animal shelter gave her a clean bill of health the vet we took her to did not. We have a habit of going to get a kitten and coming home with the cat who really needs us. She was a year and a half old and unbelievably skinny. I think the problem was that she had an infected gum and all she was fed was kibble, which was hard for her to eat. We put her on wet food, and antibiotics knocked down the infections.

Unfortunately, she also has an incurable, although not fatal, disease: Feline viral rhinotracheitis. It is more commonly known as Feline Herpes, and it is very common in cats, much like the human form is common in humans. It is not transferable to humans. You have to watch for outbreaks that can lead to upper respiratory problems and eye infections. Can she infect the other cat? Yes, she will be infectious during outbreaks. All we can do is our best to keep a close eye on her health and treat her with medication as needed.

We also have to deal with her video game addiction. It started innocently enough. She has been separated from the other cat and limited to the office areas of the house while she was recovering and building up her strength.. In my husband’s office is a 43 inch 4k computer monitor mounted on the wall above the desk. When we played a 4K bird video for cats, I thought she was going to leap through the screen. After looking behind the TV, she sat on the desk and just watched.

She is only mildly interested in most things are on TV. However, when we played a walk-through of the popular summer release of Stray, a video game where you play a stray cat in a humanless and decaying cyber city, she sat up and watched intently. Her head followed every move of the on-screen digital cat. She was totally engrossed by it, more so than the bird videos. I got bored with it before she did. Not that the game is boring, but this was not interactive, just a demo. The game itself looks pretty amazing, different, and wildly imaginative. When I went to look for a screenshot to use here, I discovered that cats watching Stray is a big thing. They love it. There is even a Twitter account called Cats Watching Stray. Finally, a video game that humans and cats can play together. Sales of the game also help raise money for animal shelters.

We continue to nurse Lily back to health and she already looks so much better. Here are some pictures of her.

Her fur was so rough when we got her. Now it is smooth and glossy.

She is making friends in high places

Being a box jumper comes naturally to Lily.

(magic slang for an illusionist’s assistant)

And of course the leaving at noon part came as close to plan as it could – meaning I left about 1:30. Geoff’s primary computer decided to take it’s own vacation this week and he couldn’t use it at all. So after a series of frustrations, he put together some publicity material to take with me about “The Greatest Adventure”. It’s a great book he has written about our lives in magic. I just don’t know what I would do without him. Not only is he an excellent writer, he is also my biggest cheerleader. He asks about every single show, and always has good ideas to share. Being married to someone so smart, funny, and creative is the greatest joy in my life.

So a long, boring, drive across the desert where I couldn’t point out the adorable wild burros I saw or the two top gun jets, flying low to the ground and close together out of George Air Force Base, chat about show ideas or make plans. I did manage to not talk to myself, but it was a stretch.

The moment I arrived at the Orleans hotel in Las Vegas, I knew I was at a magic convention. I pulled into the valet and saw Jibrizy’s car. Not hard to spot because it’s bright green with pink detailing and has a custom plate. Happily, I ran into him and his friend Mariah that evening in the dealer’s room at MAGIC Live! I got to share with him that his handling at the end of Vortex rocks. I have been using it for years. Vortex is an effect where as you spin two cards in front of the audience they melt into one mixed up card. He added a little snap of the cards at the end that takes it from amazing to mind blowing. He had the most amazing tennis shoes on. His kicks were 100% sparkly (hightops) and I LOVED them. You can see some of his magic and hear his inspiring story overcoming a disease that nearly ended his magic career before it really got started on this Youtube video.

I immediately got checked in, got my badge and a quick shower in time to arrive at the reception. It was a celebration theme, and everyone was encouraged to wear bright colors. It was cheery and fun and I met new friends and reconnected with old ones. Having to wear bright colors got people out of their shells.

Who knew Les Arnold was on To Tell the Truth in February? I did because I saw his “duck master” shirt and had to ask him about it. Les is a well-known magician from an impressive magical lineage. His grandfather was the legendary illusionist The Great Leon who is credited with inventing such classic magic effects as the Duck Tray, Ribbon Shot Through Woman, and the Doll House (a trick that does not involve shooting anything at a woman). His father was well-respected magician Leon Leon, who worked in Hollywood on the movies as a sound engineer when sound in the movies was a new thing. Les himself was a past president of the Long Beach Mystics (a club for young magicians) and founder of their annual show. Before the Magic Castle Juniors program, the Mystics were known for members who went on to be very successful as magicians. In fact, MAGIC Live! Is produced by Stan Allen, himself a former Mystic. When my husband auditioned the first year of the Juniors program, most of the people who were accepted (it was tough to get in) came out of the Mystics.

Of course, I took a quick pass through the Magic Shop, the dealer room at the convention. There is so much amazing stuff there. I resisted the impulse to buy anything on the first pass through, but ran into more friends, and started to make a spending plan. By the way, a huge shout out to Bicycle Cards, who not only sponsor The Backroom Lounge where you can share magic with your friends, but are offering decks at a great price at their booth in the Magic Shop. All magicians must have more cards. More cards, and more wands. Oh, and more books.

It was on Warner Bros. largest backlot set “Midwest Street”. Built in 1939, it represents “Any Town USA”. It comes complete with a small town square, center gazebo, white church and steeple, brick courthouse and street level storefronts. A small tree-lined residential street meanders off the town square and is highlighted by six different homes. It’s been used in many productions, from “Rebel Without a Cause” to “Grease Live”, and served as a great backdrop to the many booths featuring gourmet offerings by amazing chefs (calling them snacks would be a disservice) and wonderful California wineries doing samplings.

In the town square were tables where guests could sit to enjoy the band, nosh, and reconnect with friends. I realized the band, the LA Allstars, was the same band that played at my Halloween show at the casino. Small world! Later in the evening, there were presentations including one by Fritz Coleman, a beloved Los Angeles weatherman whose idea of retirement includes doing speaking engagements, raising money for charities and working on a comedy act he never really abandoned. Shifting gears is definitely my idea of a great retirement. The evening was highlighted by a live auction.

About the time the auction was due to start I got to sit down with Scotto, Dan and Sarinda and catch up a bit. It was great to chat about the tricks we had done that evening and the new ones we are all working on. Scotto seemed to know a lot about wine and I know I certainly learned a lot at this event just by talking to the folks from the wineries. I’m proud to be a native Californian, and seeing two of our great industries represented together (wine and motion pictures) with people eating, drinking and contributing to such a worthy cause is my idea of a great Saturday.

Now to pack up for Magic Live! in Las Vegas. It begins tonight and I have a long drive across the desert ahead of me. My husband will be staying home to stay with the cat, who is still a bit freaked out by the loss of her kitty compatriot. My next entry will be about the convention in Las Vegas.

My husband and I were still a little on edge. At sometime after midnight the previous Thursday morning, a hot prowler jumped our back wall and broke in through a sliding glass door. I was already asleep upstairs. My husband had on his noise canceling headphones and was watching television next to me.

The prowler went through our stuff and took small items. He opened a box and found the remote to our front gate. He took that. He took a set of keys and all the other loose keys he could find. At around 12:30 in the morning, a neighbor reported seeing someone drive off in our car. He threw the keys to the second car that he attempted to use into a neighbor’s yard. We know he tried them because the backup key in the fob was extended and the gate remote from the other car was missing.

We felt relatively safe here. It is a gated community with cameras everywhere. We have a very secure front door but he came in through the back, which required climbing over a concrete wall with no gate for a quick retreat. Sliding glass door locks are not equivalent to a deadbolt. He got in easily. We have since remedied that problem. We just thought that having no gate to the back would make us less of a target. We were not counting on a thief quite so athletic. He was experienced enough to know not to even try going through the front door to get out (it keeps logs and he clearly knew it might trigger an alarm).

I had a show booked for Saturday. I was able to get a friend and fellow magician booked for the same show, and she was kind enough to drive me to the gig since I no longer had a car. The show was great fun and a much needed stress reliever.

The car was insured, although now is a terrible time to buy a new car. We do have friends in the business who may be able to help us cut through the shortage problems. Nothing irreplaceable was stolen. So, basically, I am grateful we are both okay.

Geoff did hear a sound when the guy was downstairs, but he listened for a moment and decided it was not enough of a concern to go check out. He assumed the cat had knocked something over. That was the wrong assumption, and I am so glad he did not go check it out.

Our plan was to do local activities. On Thursday we hung out at Universal Studios, as we have season passes. We got out our Voodoo doughnuts at Universal Citywalk, the best donuts I have ever had and pretty much the only donuts I’ll eat. Our favorite is the namesake, a Voodoo doll with a pretzel pin. Inside is raspberry filling so it bleeds. It is also super delicious.

Voodoo doughnut

The Magic Castle has a member’s only lunch on Fridays. Having a fancy meal in an ornate private club is a long ways from our small desert town roots. The food was terrific, although I might have been more excited about the Prime Rib had my husband not just slow smoked us an entire Prime Rib Roast. He then turned the bones into the most amazing French Onion soup using the Julia Child recipe.

By the way, if you have not seen the new Julia Child biopic series on HBO, you should check it out. Sarah Lancashire completely transforms into Julia Child and most of the time it feels as if you are watching Julia and not a talented actor. It is an amazing performance, supported by a terrific cast. David Hyde Pierce plays her husband. Besides not being given enough credit for just how great an actor he is and so much more then just Niles Crane, he was also a great ally to me when I was working on the SAG Commercial strike. Bebe Neuwirth plays Avis DeVoto. She is phenomenal, and was one of my deputies for a production when I worked at Actor’s Equity. I have been continually impressed by her body of work ever since.

We ran into a lot of people that we knew at the Castle at lunch. Nani Wilson, wife and performing partner of legendary magician Mark Wilson, was there with her grandson. Mark passed recently, and it was great seeing her out and looking so good. She has been at the Castle quite frequently lately.

There was someone my husband wrote about in his book, The Greatest Adventure, who had an impact on him in his younger years but had completely disappeared off the radar. We were in the Magic Castle library, which is not just about all the great books and research materials, it is also where you can get the best gossip and information on what is going on in the world of magic. Geoff asked around about whatever happened to this guy. The response was “Oh, he is upstairs meeting with Milt.” Milt Larsen is the 91 year old co-founder of the Magic Castle. We had not seen Geoff’s friend in over 30 years, but I recognized him immediately when he came down. Like me, he had gotten away from the world of magic, and like me, after many years, he recently returned. He had a very good reason for keeping a lower profile as he had been working in law enforcement. He is now retired and becoming active at the Castle again. It was really great to see him after all these years.

We then went to the Academy Museum, from the same folks who bring us the Oscars. It opened last year and we thought we should finally go take a look. It is described on their site: “The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is the largest museum in the United States devoted to the arts, sciences, and artists of moviemaking.” It is in what used to be the old five story tall Macy’s department store building originally built in 1939. The building is interesting in and of itself, one of the greatest examples of Streamline Moderne (Art Deco) architecture in Los Angeles, and it has been fully restored to its former glory.

There is a strong focus on education and explaining the various aspects of film making, along with a lot of rare one of a kind pieces. The Wizard of Oz area has a lot from the movie, including the Tin Man’s oil can (they actually used chocolate syrup) and Dorothy’s dress and ruby slippers. There is the last remaining version of Bruce, the shark from Jaws. They have the full size backdrop two stories tall of Mount Rushmore from the classic North by Northwest. There is the only remaining of the three Rosebud sleds from Citizen Kane (they burned up the other two). I saw the typewriter that Psycho was written on, and tons of amazing costumes.

Dorothy’s Dress from The Wizard of Oz

I was very impressed by the Toy Story Zoetrope. You can see a Youtube video but it is nothing like seeing it live. It is large and made up of 214 Toy Story maquettes on a turntable. It starts spinning and they turn on the strobe lights (a better solution than the traditional slit) and suddenly the characters come to life. It is something you really want to see in person to fully appreciate.

There are several places in Los Angeles that offer exceptional open air views. One of the best views is from the Getty museum. On a clear day you can see all the way to the ocean. I very much like the view from the Griffith Observatory. On famed Mullholland Drive you can get a great view of the Hollywood sign and the surrounding city from the Hollywood Bowl Lookout. I am now adding the Academy Museum’s Dolby Family Terrace. You cross the glass (but slightly opaque so not quite as terrifying) Barbara Streisand Bridge to what is basically the roof of the David Geffen Theater. It has a domed glass roof but is otherwise open air and has a great view of Hollywood and beyond.

The white building near the center of the picture is the SAG-AFTRA building, where I used to work. Between here and the SAG building is the La Brea Tarpits, where I would often stroll during my lunch break, always being careful not to step in the tar which was constantly oozing up from the ground.

We were going to get a kitten, but this adult cat was so excited to see us. We learned that it was her last day at the pound. She was a little bitey, but it was just her way of showing affection. We knew we could easily train her out of it and we did. Still, they were hesitant to let us adopt her, but we talked them into it. She turned out to be a great and affectionate companion. I already miss her horribly.

Me and Leeloo sleeping

She did love to sleep with me