began like any other year at the stroke of midnight on 2019 … ushering in a new time - 2020 - New Years Eve celebrations with lots of magicians performing deft defying leg-

erdemain for eager champagne drinking

8 JANUARY | 2021

on-lookers . Throughout the world throngs of folks gathered tightly in ballrooms , bars , nightclubs , casinos , arenas , waterfronts , in living rooms of friends and families and on crowded streets lined with Father ’ s , Mothers and children dressed in warm gloves with faux fur and goose down jackets in the Northern States , Provences , Countries , Territories … and way down south revelers of all shapes and sizes decked out in short sleeved shirts , with sunglasses and well tanned flesh soaking up the sun on crowded beaches and in open air restaurants and clubs … not a care in the world .

Gigs , gigs everywhere … a plethora of magical performances ( sorry , had to use plethora , it ’ s still my favorite word from The Three Amigos movie ) … everyone ’ s calendars were full of dates and times stretching well into the year . Professional and amateurs alike saw a bright future performing stage , close-up , mentalism , bars , private parties , kids parties … what a year , what a time !

Not one person I know of was aware of the impending future … even if you paid close attention , there was just a whisper of a “ virus ” on the 5th of January in another world far , far away ……

Then IT hit … and spread like a deck of cards being masterfully fanned out on a smooth close-up mat .

As we , the “ gig ” workers , full Time Pro ’ s and amateurs alike were to realize , almost overnight , our careers , sidelines , parttime income , our very lives , our existence was infected with a virus that almost in the blink of an eye erased our future . The future of any form of entertainment was clutching to a thin thread of hope . Time stopped for us all .

Dis-belief and panic set in … a new set of rules attempted to shut down our escape routes . However , many of our fellow performers immediately set out to find new and innovative ways to create an income stream . I must admit that the world of magic has some incredibly talented participants . Some through trial and error have succeeded beautifully and others have struggled to grasp new mediums or maybe lacked the funds to attempt a journey into unknown territories such as the ZOOM performance . Of course there are still those who are trying to wait out the down-time preferring to avoid the digital age of entertainment .

As each new twist and turn of the Covid- Era advanced , with each second of time ticking away , more obstacles appeared .

Each nation has faced its challenges and everyone with an online presence can gather information to try to determine how “ things are going ”. It ’ s anyones guess as to what the future will bring … yeah , yeah , yeah , one of you already has the prediction ready in a sealed envelope that was mailed to your local radio or news station to be opened “ at some time in the future ”.

Throughout these months VANISH INTER- NATIONAL MAGIC MAGAZINE has brought you articles , stories , tricks , reviews without a hiatus , even though many of our contributors have been hit hard by the chain reaction of events we now call Covid-19 . We have shared stories of past ventures and even provided information and tools for those magicians wanting to tackle the digital age . Please note , that if this were another time , say 30 or 40 years ago , you would never have gotten any information from folks successfully venturing forward with a new income stream - the old timers ( OMG I am one now ) seemed to hoard their secrets a little more then todays generation . Just a timely observation .

And you should know that none of the contributors who shared their knowledge / secrets / stories / photos have received any compensation from VANISH . As a matter of fact , I hope you realize that throughout the years VANISH , up until June has been a free digital periodical . You may believe that being digital doesn ’ t cost anything , however , you would be wrong .