Jeff in Beauty and The Beast was probably one of the most magical experiences of my life .
Upon arrival in Las Vegas I was met at the airport by Jeff ’ s lovely partner Abbi McBride . Abbi is an amazingly talented woman and immediately made me feel welcome and comfortable staying at the McBride House of Mystery . I stayed in the Burger room as it ’ s often called as Eugene himself would stay in the same room whenever he would come to Las Vegas to teach at the Mystery School . After settling in , I started downstairs and was immediately overwhelmed by every manner of magical artifact . So much so that I tripped and almost fell down the stairs ! After regaining my composure ( and holding the railing !) I went downstairs to talk to Jeff about how the residency experience was going to unfold . With that in place Jeff invited me to spend some time in his private library . He took me over to a book case adjacent to the living room and instructed me to say “ Abracadabra ” and with that the bookcase slowly opened revealing one of the great magic libraries ’ in the world . I saw books and manuscripts on every discipline of magic and mentalism . It was hard to even know where to begin . I made the choice to look for work by Juan Tamariz and soon found one of the few English versions of his rare tome The Seven Veils of Magic . For the next several hours I found myself sitting on the floor and studying this amazing text . When Jeff came to check on me and ask about dinner , he saw that I had found this rare treasure . I felt pleased with myself given the thousands of choices available to me .
During dinner we talked about the history and evolution of
Jeff McBride , jeff and Kozmo
" As a reward he arranged for us to visit his friend and card legend Martin Nash who kindly gave me my very first close up mat !"
Jeff ’ s water bowl routine . This is something that Jeff instills in all of his students . That is , to understand the history of the magic piece one is performing . Over the course of 4 days I had the opportunity to share many meals with Jeff and we would talk about magic for hours . When I would return to the library , I would find a stack of books related to the questions that I ’ d brought up during our meals . It was like being at Hogwarts ! All of this extra information and knowledge was such an unexpected bonus . During my residency I not only learned the water bowls but I found myself improving just about every other effect that I was performing .
Jeff and Lance Burton
Over the course of several days Jeff taught me the movement , timing and philosophy of the Rainmaker routine . I can honestly say that I ’ d never studied a piece as thoroughly and as deeply as this . My first response was one of awe as I realized that one of the greatest secrets of magic was being shared with me . With this came a feeling of tremendous obligation to honour this knowledge . For the next several months I found myself studying and practicing the piece for hours on end until almost five months later I felt myself ready to perform it . I was working at a small festival and my job was to get people to stop and check it out . The organizers positioned me along a path next to a small lake . At one point a child in the audience I was performing for said “ I ’ m thirsty ” to which the father responded , “ We ’ ll get a drink