Platinum medallion chair.

I recently had a nasty fall onstage or to be more accurate offstage as I was going down the steps into the audience. I fell flat on my face and onto the floor just a few feet in front of the crowd. It got a lot of laughs but I don’t plan to do it every show.

The next two weeks were a blur of pain. Actually I’m not sure if the blur was the pain or the pain medication my doctor gave me. However pain and blur were a major factor until all the anti-inflammatory medication and cortisone shots kicked in. It was a truly miserable time.

Weighing heavily on my mind was the fact that I needed to end my bed rest and ice pack regime with a really long air trip. During the course of this journey I needed to negotiate airports in Las Vegas, New York, Athens and Santorini. Even when you are feeling at the top of your game these are daunting airports.

Very reluctantly I agreed to utilize wheel chair service at the various airports. The idea of being wheeled around was very foreign to my nature, in fact it made me age about two decades just contemplating it. Little did I know that this was going to be the silver lining in the entire situation?

I arrived at Las Vegas airport and the machine slipped into place. I settled down in the wheel chair with my hand baggage on my lap and was whisked through the security line and arrived at my gate within 10 minutes of checking in. Those of you who have ever negotiated the early morning lines at Vegas security will be deeply impressed at this point.

Upon arriving in JFK airport in New York there was a chair waiting and I was quickly dispatched to my correct gate. By now I was starting to experience the camaraderie of the ‘wheel chair brigade’ and was striking up conversations with my fellow chair bound travelers.

While I was at least twenty years younger than anyone else being wheeled we had much in common and were happily exchanging tips and advice on meds and walking canes. Although I didn’t realize it at the time I suspect we were all heavily medicated which was the cause of this unique island of airport bonhomie.

Upon arriving in Athens I was whisked through immigration in a flash.
While waiting for my attendant to pick up my luggage from the carousal I chatted with a charming elderly lady who had so lost her grip on convention that she was eating a burger with a spoon. She gave me a couple of pain pills that she had found invaluable. Next we sailed through customs to the front of the line at my connecting airline. Within minutes we were off to my next gate where they used a small car with an attached crane to get me onto the crane.

I am executive platinum on nearly every airline but I have never had service like this. Frankly I have now found myself looking at my ankle braces and deciding to slip them in the outer pocket of my suitcase! The only thing that could of made this journey smoother or better would have been doing it without the pain and that was when the elderly ladies pain pills started to kick in………….

Still in the cold.

I raised the blind a couple of inches and looked out onto the gray street. The Berlin twilight was as gray as the road. The only splash of color was some hastily sprayed graffiti on the opposite wall. I took a deep breath and walked out of the bar towards the checkpoint.

The wall was behind me and to the left. Three miles back was Space Beach where the disco lights were beginning to sparkle and the sound of Bob Marley was beginning to start the evening’s movement. I didn’t look back though.

Out of well-trained habit I observed what was happening around me without appearing to move my head in any direction. No one was following me. The only person walking towards me was a Slavic looking tourist who was examining the new Checkpoint Charlie stamp in his passport. It had cost him five Euros.

I kept walking at a steady pace across the crossroad and towards the taxi rank on the corner of the street opposite me. It was maybe a hundred yards away. The light from the small café shone into the solitary taxicab. Sitting inside the cab was a large man reading a newspaper. I was now fifteen feet from the passenger door.

I arrived at the taxi, opened the door, got inside and used my mangled German to request the driver take me to the Zoo railway station. As we drove away I looked around to see if we were being followed. We weren’t. As the cab pulled away I breathed a sigh of relief in three hours I would be back in Warnemunde onboard the ship.

When I arrived back on the ship I had one more question; how long before I could come in from the cold.

The Three Forces

People often ask what a magician does. These are the people who have realized that the answer must be more than; “He fools people.” Magicians have been around for a long time and their standing was a lot better than it is now. During the last century the average magician has been a cross between a game show host and used car salesman. It wasn’t always this way. When people ask me that question, and I think they want a serious reply, I always say the same thing; a magician’s job is to wake up people who don’t know they are asleep. If that answer makes them want to ask more questions then the real conversation can begin.

Aleister Crowley the notorious British magician had another answer; a magician causes change according to will. Crowley (Which rhymes with holy) was the self-proclaimed wickedest man in the world. In the ‘60’s his lifestyle would have made him a prototype hippy. However, not many hippies had his strength of mind or body, he was a one of a kind which is probably just as well! He was also one of the three great magicians of his era. The other two were Rasputin known as the mad monk (His name which means the dissolute one, a more accurate description) and the other is Mr. G.I. Gurdjieff. About Grigory Rasputin I have very little to say except that he was a very tough man to kill! However, modern magick reached the crossing in the road with the works of Crowley and Gurdjieff. Most followers of Mr. Gurdjieff’s ideas would be reluctant to believe that magick has much to do with his teachings. Most followers of Crowleyanity wouldn’t be prepared to acknowledge that much else was worth exploring. Since both men were brilliant, misunderstood and ahead of their time a comparison of their ideas can be a very illuminating experience.

Among the conclusions that a careful study would reveal is that both men were expert and adept at controlling forces that very few people realize exist, let alone understand.
Without adding much detail at this point let me define these three forces in Gurdjieffian terms.
Force One: Holy Affirming.
Force Two: Holy Denying.
Force Three: Holy Reconciling.
These forces have been given many different names and feature in every major spiritual practice.
In his final writings Mr. Gurdjieff turned them into a very practical code for living.
I Am
I Can
I Wish
In this form they become the key to All and Everything.
Later on I will explore these ideas in more detail but for now just let the words run loose in your mind. Rearrange the order.
Before you realize them as a key you need to see the door they will open.

The Case

Someone first noticed the case at 8:35 am. It was a compact black leather piece of hand baggage of the design known as a ‘sample case.’ It was a Delta counter assistant at gate 43 who saw it sitting next to an empty seat on the end of a row slightly to her left. It was no big thing when she saw it but she made a mental note of it because that was part of her job. She assumed that the owner was just getting a coffee from the Starbucks opposite gate 30.

Ten minutes later the gate assistant noticed that the case was still there and still unattached to anybody. She did what she was supposed to do and called airport security. She explained the situation and location: the security officer replied that someone would come along and check it out.

Four minutes later an airport security guard arrived at gate 43 and walked up to the case. He asked several of the people in the area if they knew whom the case belonged to. Nobody could give him any details other than one youth in a Led Zeppelin tee shirt who said he thought it had been placed there by a tall middle-aged man.
“But he wasn’t wearing a turban or anything.” He joked.

The Security officer fixed him with a stern look and said: “We don’t appreciate remarks like that sir; please keep them too yourself.” The fact that it was exactly the kind of remark that the security branch and TSA employees exchanged all the time remained his little secret. The young man looked somewhat abashed and replaced the earbuds from his ipod into his ears.

Next the security officer removed his walkie-talkie set and reported to his senior in the small office space that was shared by their department in the center of the airport. Having done his job he stepped back and kept his eye on the case. This kind of thing happened at least four or five times a day. There was never much to get worried about.

Five minutes later a uniformed officer with a small work case arrived in the company of another uniformed man who had a lively looking dog on the end of a short leash. The dog approached the case and sniffed around it for a moment or two before returning to the side of his trainer. The trainer gave him a dog treat from his pocket and the dog ate it happily. He liked to sniff things and he loved the Pupperoni he was given as a treat for doing so. Life was good.

The second officer approached the suspicious piece of luggage with a small instrument he had removed from his work case. There was a brief whirling sound and the small LCD screen on the instrument registered a series of different shapes and colors. The officer looked at it carefully and said to his colleague: “There is a lot of stuff in there, quite a bit of electronics. We had better play it safe.”

The security guard who had been on the scene first picked up the case carefully and flanked by the other two officers walked the case carefully away from its resting place. They made there way to the concrete bunker that was housed in the bowels of the airport. Everybody involved had done his or her job in a timely and correct manner.

In just a little over 20 minutes the case had been spotted, reported, investigated and removed. In another few minutes it would be covered in thick white foam and destroyed by a highly controlled explosion by the head of the mechanical team. The explosion would be watched and videotaped by him as it took place behind the 24-inch concrete wall in front of his computer stand.

It was at about this time that the tall blonde haired man arrived at gate 43 with a cardboard Starbucks in his hand. He had a smile on his face as he had been enjoying drinking his latte in the company of a fellow magician he had met inside the coffee emporium. The smile left his face when he realized his case full of magic props was no longer where he had left it.

He approached the person sitting closest to where the bag had been and asked him if he had seen where his case was. He didn’t hear it but almost exactly as he spoke there was a muffled bang from a concrete room in a distant part of the airport. Life is hell during wartime.

Visualization. See it for yourself.

You don’t go far into any self-improvement study without bumping into the topic of visualization; and it’s kid brother affirmations. Strictly speaking the Fourth Way doesn’t emphasis the art of visualization particularly. It is more involved with self-study and the recognition of what already is and which of your three brains is functioning at any given moment.

The general literature of metaphysics and in particular the ‘New Age’ is littered with references to visualization. I use the word littered advisably because most of it is garbage. The biggest mistake that beginners often make is confusing visualization and affirmation with repetition. Like most things in life it is better to do something once and do it right than to keep on doing it wrong.

The true nature of visualization is to create/visualize something clearly the way you want it to be and then leave it embedded in your subconscious mind. Once you can ‘see’ it clearly then leave it well
and truly alone. For God’s sake let go of it with your conscious mind
or the mental brain will never stop messing with it and changing the image and checking up on the progress. Nothing will slow down progress faster than a non-stop progress report.

The reason for eliminating words in the first place and using visual imagery is because this is the language of the emotional brain. The difference in power between the emotional and mental brain is fairly profound when it comes to changing any future situation. Check out the difference between something you think and something you emotionally feel and you will see what I am getting at.

The toughest part of this process is that your third brain (or the instinctive/moving brain) will be very anxious to do what it usually does and back up your intellectual center/brain in spite of the fact it usually doesn’t work. Visualize the outcome you want and then spend a few moments in your inner world basking in the glorious feeling of it having happened. Then you can let your emotional center/brain get on doing what it does best.

The man with magic markers

If you have ever visited the Magic Castle in Hollywood you have admired this man’s work even if you can’t quite place the name. In fact I am fairly willing to bet that 95% of the visitors the Castle receives have never heard of Ted.

I hope I captured your interest with my snappy opening paragraph because there isn’t a lot that is flashy in my memories of Ted Salter. However in his quiet and unassuming manner Ted has left an indelible mark on the Castle with his wonderful portraits of magicians that grace the walls of our clubhouse.

In fact quiet and unassuming isn’t a bad way to begin describing Ted; then you could add kindly, gifted and multitalented. Ted was a successful freelance graphic artist who transplanted himself from England into a small friendly office on Highland Avenue in Hollywood.

A lover of all things theatrical, Ted was as pleased as punch to contribute his talent to the Magic Castle. Every now and then an 8X10 was sent to his office and a short while later he delivered one of his drawings to the upstairs office at the Castle to be added to the impressive collection that he had previously donated.



Ted was an artist in a wide variety of fields. His wife Eileen had accompanied Ted in many of his theatrical endeavors. They were the kind of couple who could not only create and write a musical production but they could build the scenery and perform it too.

My favorite ‘Salter Production’ was their annual New Years Eve Party. I write that title in capitals advisedly as this was no small event. I suspect they began work on it by February or March at the latest each year. It consisted of games, entertainment and enough excitement to fill half a dozen regular parties.

When you had the opportunity to visit the Salter's home on a less busy evening it would often end with Ted removing a picture (painted by him of course) from the wall and revealing a movie projector that lined up with the only blank wall in their home. You could then settle back and enjoy one of his collection of classic British and Hollywood movies. Ah, the joys of film in a pre-video era!

After the birth of my second daughter Ted asked me to drop around to his house. To my amazement he had built an incredible miniature theater for them. It was a prototype and he was donating the full design and blueprints to the ‘Mirth Maker’ magazine but he wanted to make sure it really worked!

Eventually Ted retired and they moved from Hollywood. Finally his original artwork ceased to arrive in the Castle office and one more special touch was missing from our unique clubhouse. Before he left Los Angeles though he had one more surprise for me. He built an amazingly intricate and beautiful dolls house for my daughters. It is still in our garage and every time I see it I remember with real affection Ted Salter. He was another of the unsung heroes that contributed to making the Magic Castle in its heyday such a special place.

Changing places with Mr. Fellows

Back in the very early days of the comedy club circuit I met Bob Fellows.
I was performing at the Laugh Stop in Newport Beach for a special magic night. As was usually the case in these clubs there was a tiny, primitive stage with neither wings or curtains. In fact there wasn’t even a backstage area. Much to my amazement when I arrived at the club I discovered someone setting up illusions onstage. Illusions in a comedy club!

I introduced myself to the performer and met Fellows for the first time.
I was very dubious about how any performer could perform illusions and a levitation on this stage, there just wasn’t enough room and the sight lines were impossible. I needn’t have worried the show went perfectly.

After the show I chatted with Bob and told him how impressed I was at the way he incorporated the illusions into the show. We joked with each other about our shows with me stating I would never, ever want to travel a big show. Bob looked at my tiny working case and said that he could never work with so few props. How wrong we both were!

The next time I ran into Bob was when Dick Foster was mounting his first production of “Spellbound” at Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe. The show was just about ready except for the addition of a mind reader. Dick had looked at every mind reader in the business and didn’t think any of them were suitable. When he heard about the gap in the line up, Bob literally put together a mind reading show overnight that Foster thought was perfect. No wonder it was perfect for the show it had been designed for it! The mind reading was a huge success and opened a new chapter in Bob’s career.

I had graduated meanwhile to producing and performing magical extravaganzas for the corporate market. I acted as MC and then added an illusionist and a manipulative act to complete the bill. Before to long I was thinking about adding an illusion or two to my repertoire. One day, out of the blue, the phone rang and on the other end of the line was Bob Fellows who asked me if I wanted to buy his illusion show. He was now performing his mind reading show as the heart of a highly successful corporate seminar. The idea behind the seminar was to expose cults and the way they were constructed. In order to demonstrate how this was done Bob created a cult from the audience using his psychic powers.

I thought about the offer for a second or two and said yes. Two days later I was the owner of a full illusion show. The props were delivered to my garage and the deal was done except for one thing, I had no way to transport them. Two days later Bob phoned up saying he didn’t need his van anymore would I like to buy it? You bet I would! In a flash the transposition was complete and I had a van full of props and Bob was traveling with a wireless microphone and a tiny working case!