This was his FISM act... I did'nt really like it... I mean it was good in parts, but it lacked substance and magic...

For history's sake there was a letter from Tom Mullica in the March 1995 (Vol. 58, No. 3) issue of Genii(he's on the cover). In it he seems to indicate professional magic had lost its luster for him. He seemed to be worn down by various things in the magic community, being topped off by ridicule received for doing what some deemed a "hanky expose" on one of those NBC magic shows of the 90's. Too bad. He was amazing whenever I saw him.

Best,
Fatts

It was the Tan Hock Chuan cut & restored handkerchief, and, with all due respect, it really was too good an effect to expose. The other "lessons in magic" in that WGM episode were just silly bits like "fork in eyeball". If you watch, the woman he does it for (some MTV veejay? I can't ever make out her name) looks thrilled and amazed when he first shows her the effect, and then, after the explanation, just disappointed - not even annoyed, just let down. There's a lesson there, for those who want to learn it.

I saw Mullica live at the TomFoolery a number of times and it was an experience I'll never forget. That man owned his audience.

Tom and I had the same mentor. Hs name was (he is deceased now) Ken Greunwald who owned and operated the "Airport Bar" in which he wowed the patrons with his lovable character and magic. I was performing magic for some years when I was brought to the bar and Ken and I formed a close freindship that lasted until he died. I was on the road touring at the time and couldn't make his broken wand ceremony.

Tom was just a kid who found Ken (how I havent a clue) and Ken would have him show up before he opened the bar and worked with Tom. Ken told me about the "kid" he taught some stuff too. Then I saw the photo of Ken in the companion book of "Magic at the Tomfoolery" where Tom ranked Ken at #4 of the worlds best close uppers.

Ken will only be remembered by a choice few but I have used him as a yardstick to measure myself and anyone else I see. I'm still trying to measure up.

Bryan

I think that performance was fantastic. Talk about woodshedding.


And Tom: Kudos for posting the Dusty 45's on your .mac homepage, they are great guys. They single-handedly were responsible for getting my then-band on at the Viva Las Vegas Weekender. We used to play with them a lot in Oklahoma City.

And, kudos for being a mac user!!!

I saw Tom do the cigarette routine a few years ago at his lecture in Indianapolis. It was super, but what really got everyone was a cat's meow that he sells. He'd make that thing sound just like a cat and would turn his head real quick and look over to the corner of the room. It was great misdirection and fooled the whole house.

As far as the gigarette routine goes, he said he was giving it up because of health concerns and that it was becoming something that was not in good taste.

He had a great lecture, one of my all time favorites.

Jerry
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