Greetings, friends! Again it's time/To weave magicians into rhyme.

What was the URL for Claudia Schiffer again?

Siegfried and Roy take it all off

Lee Asher twists the night away

MAGIC 103 -- As promised last month, Harry Potter, the best-selling young fictional magician first mentioned here in April, returned in July, at least in England, in his most exciting and cleverly-plotted adventure to date, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The series has become so popular that both a movie and a tv series are in the offing. The author foresees seven books in all, taking Harry up to age 17. Order from England via amazon.co.uk.

July 1999

SMOKING IN BED -- A meditative Siegfried, reading and smoking in bed and wearing nothing but a gold chain around his neck, strikes a pose in a Vanity Fair shoot and tell article (August 1999) that would seem to contradict the Germanic naivete ascribed to him in the text. To the rescue, Roy adroitly juggles such personal questions as to the boys' sexuality or whether he had died and been replaced by his brother Ray. The 12-page piece, provocatively titled "Married, With Tigers," addresses if not exactly uncovers new ground, but it's a valiant and original attempt. The case is made that these two magicians have redefined entertainment in Las Vegas, something you can do if your "500 sellout shows a year at Steve Wynn's Mirage resort have grossed half a billion dollars over the past decade." Text by Matt Turnauer, hotcha photos by Michel Comte.

KISS THE BABY -- "Margery greeted her visitors in a flimsy dressing gown, bedroom slippers, and silk stockings. This attire, which left little to the imagination, was intended to rule out the possibility of concealment or trickery." In a suprisingly fresh eight-page article, "The Medium & the Magician" (American History, August 1999), Daniel Stashower chronicles the exploits of Mina "Margery" Crandon and her hounding by magician Harry Houdini.

TWIST AND SHOUT -- Judging from the photos in his lecture notes, Sex Sells, Lee Asher has a lot more fun with magic than I do, especially when he's practicing that double lift. For those who would like to share a little of Lee's magic, his new video from Steve Fearson is priced right and features, among its five items, the incredible Asher Twist. Well Done is a reshoot of an earlier and cheesier Asher video (sort of a Mystery Science 2000-caliber exercise) called Cooking With Lee Asher. As an added bonus, the earlier video is included in its entirety. Check our Favorite Links page for ordering info, from Steve Fearson's web site.

HUMPTY DUMPTY -- If you've always wanted to learn the Egg Bag but haven't gotten around to it, there's never been a better time. Joe Stevens has just released The Egg Bag Book by John Novak and The Egg Bag Teach-in Video, with instruction by Martin Lewis, Tom Mullica, Billy McComb, Charlie Miller, and Johnny Thompson. Check the Stevens Magic Emporium site for details.