News from Mark Mitton

It’s Old Masters Week in New York. Otto Naumann held his traditional wine-and-pizza party last night for clients and associates in his beautiful Upper East Side gallery. It was fun to perform under the watchful eye of a spectacular Rembrandt and many other works of Dutch and Flemish art.

A special thank-you goes out to Jan Six XI, descendant of Rembrandt’s famous sitter Jan Six I (1618-1700), who delayed his flight back to Amsterdam in order to attend Otto’s wonderful party and enjoy the magic!

The new Consul General of Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Knebeler, mentioned in his speech tonight that he was struck by the diversity of New York City, especially during the holiday time.

Tonight, December 6th, we celebrated not only the American holidays, but also the feast of Saint Nicholas, or “Kleeschen” (as he is known in Luxembourg). On this day, little children all over Luxembourg find chocolate in their shoes, and bakers make loaves of bread shaped like little men, called “Boxemännchen“.

I had a great time performing at this fun international event, and a woman’s wristwatch appeared inside one of the loaves of bread…

Just one day after flipping a switch to inaugurate the Empire State Building’s new LED lights, native New Yorker Alicia Keys celebrated the release of her new album, Girl on Fire, with a star-studded bash at The Box in downtown Manhattan on Tuesday night. Her husband Swizz Beatz DJ’ed, together with DJ Cassidy. Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Babyface, Clive Davis, Maxwell, Tommy Hilfiger, Akon, Geo Bivins and many other prominent guests were on hand to congratulate Alicia and dance the night away. It was a pleasure to do magic for them and be a part of the night.

DJ Cassidy and Swizz Beatz on stage; a glowing Alicia with her ‘cake on fire’:

 
[click to enlarge]

Had a great time tonight at a benefit for The Helix Center. The incredible soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom and her trio provided the music.

The Helix Center organizes interdisciplinary roundtables of leaders in the arts and sciences. Red Rooster is Chef Marcus Samuelsson’s wonderful restaurant in the heart of Harlem.

The Calder Foundation celebrated its 25th anniversary last night at the Pace Gallery on West 25th Street. It was a star-studded event. Entertainment was arranged by yours truly, and included the incredible contortionist Elayne Kramer (currently starring in the Big Apple Circus), the beautiful Andrea Adam and her snake Ka, drummer Brian Rosenworcel from Guster playing with Gryphon Rower-Upjohn and Dave Nuss, and master puppeteer James Godwin.

James Godwin (photo: Arthur Marker/BFAnyc.com)

Elayne Kramer (photo: Arthur Marker/BFAnyc.com)

 Performing magic for Arne Glimcher
(photo: Arthur Marker/BFAnyc.com)

Andrea Adam with Ka
(for more photos of the event, click here)

Once again, my old assistant Luke Leafgren brought me to Harvard to do a show for the students. Last year he had me perform at Winthrop House, but he has since become the resident dean at Mather House (known for its lively social life, and fun events…), so I headed up to Cambridge to admire his snazzy new digs and show the students and House Masters some magic as part of the Mather Gathers series.

House Masters Christie McDonald and Michael Rosengarten took this picture:

Last night at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Ken Soehner and I presented “Magic in the Stacks” for the Friends of the Thomas J. Watson Library. Ken is the Chief Librarian of the museum, and he showed off some priceless treasures, including the ever-so-rare Morgan Book of Jewelry. I performed magic and talked about perception, and we gave all the guests their very own “blow book” which allowed them to take home some magic from this very special evening.

   
[left to right:] Card tricks in the stacks of the museum; Ken Soehner shows the Morgan Book of Jewelry; a magical “blow book”.
Click to enlarge.

Over the years, I have performed in many unique places. However, there is a first for everything. This past weekend, I was invited to do a show on board of one of the word’s largest and most magnificent private yachts, the Archimedes, which was anchored between Sag Harbor and Shelter Island. This ship is 68 meters long (you can find more specs here), and it is simply spectacular inside and out. We had to be tendered back and forth in a dinghy, with all our props and sound equipment.

We had a wonderful time on board! The crew was incredibly kind and helpful when we were setting up the show, the guests were a delight, and our gracious hosts had us stay for dinner and dancing under the stars afterwards. What a truly magical experience!

It was an honor to be able to attend the Francis Crick Memorial Conference on “Consciousness in Humans and Non-Human Animals” in Cambridge (UK) yesterday, thanks to my friend, neuroscientist David Edelman. The conference concluded with a dinner with acclaimed cosmologist, Stephen Hawking.

Last night, at the beautiful Colony Club on Park Avenue, the Pei Family celebrated the 100th birthday of Aileen Pei, and the 95th birthday of her stepson, architect I.M. Pei. Aileen’s 106-year old matchmaker was also in attendance. It was a lovely party! All the generations were celebrating together, there were lots of elegant ladies and gentlemen dancing, and then there were the wonderful cakes! Aileen’s was shaped like a mahjong game, and I.M. Pei was surprised with a chocolate rendition of one of his most famous works, the Louvre Pyramid.

It was a pleasure and an honor to perform at this very special event. Thank you to the Pei family for having me share in this celebration.

 The Pei family and friends were captivated by the magic show. This picture is a bit fuzzy, but I love the expressions on their faces.

I.M. Pei (95) was delighted with his ‘Louvre Pyramid’ cake. The lady in white (100) is his stepmother, flanked by her matchmaker (106) in purple.