We just had Fashion Week here in New York. Carolina Herrera was kind enough to invite me to her runway show in Bryant Park to see her beautiful new collection. I also had fun performing for Austrian supermodel Iris Strubegger and Marc Jacobs and his team at the premiere of the new fashion movie La Demimondaine at The Box. This innovative new film was shot on the Red Camera, a camera that is changing the fashion industry because it can shoot digital video, audio and stills at the same time.
Click here to watch the movie (shot at The Box) and here to watch a short clip about the making of the film.
The next part of my trip took me to the lovely town of Ayr in Scotland, where I shared haggis and magic stories with Andrew Galloway, a legendary misdirection expert who studied with the master John Ramsay. We had so much to talk about! Thank you, Andy, for your wonderful hospitality!
I have always wanted to see a pantomime in Scotland, and this year I was lucky enough to catch a performance of Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates at the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh. The show did not disappoint… It was filled with topical references and outrageous comedy. Allan Stewart (as Robinson Crusoe’s mother) and Grant Stott (as Blackheart the Pirate) had the audience rolling in the aisles, and one of the highlights was when Stewart did his spot-on impression of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ superstar Susan Boyle.
(Find out here what happened when the real Ms. Boyle came to the show a week later).
From DC I flew to Holland to celebrate New Year’s with my in-laws. We were treated to a lot of snow and took these photos on a magical early-morning walk down the road that Susanna grew up on. The last shot is of one of the many windmills behind her childhood home (click to enlarge):
This is what happened on New Year’s Eve, when a neighbor shot his bottle rocket across the street instead of up in the air. Kaboom!
Cellist Sean Grissom’s ‘Holiday Vaudeville’ show at the Kennedy Center is now in its tenth year. I have been on it, together with the Alexandria Kleztet, for five of those years. It is such a fun show. We perform for two nights together and always have a packed house. Our day off is usually spent sightseeing in our nation’s capital. This year, we visited the Washington Monument.
Just managed to get a copy of this picture taken at the Galerie Gmurzynska party in Miami. This is the moment when Sylvester Stallone discovers that the signed and ripped-up photo of Rambo in his hand is now restored and mismatched, like a David Smith sculpture. That’s his lovely wife Jennifer beside him in the black dress. Peter Stevens of the David Smith Estate is looking on in the left of the picture.
Ben Davis said the kindest thing at the end of his review of Art Basel Miami:
“If you had to ask me the best thing I saw in Miami… I would say that it was the close-up magic of the amazing Mark Mitton, world-class magician who had been flown in from NYC to perform at some special events for the weekend! Seriously, if you ever get a chance, go see Mark Mitton. Very few artists are as good at their craft as Mark is at what he does. He has some interesting things to say about art too.”
As you can imagine, my mom was overjoyed. Me too. Ben is a fascinating guy. Check out the article that he wrote about art and craft.
My mother, Cay Mitton, turned 80 on December 7th. We celebrated this joyous occasion with the family in Superior, WI, and the ladies at Mom’s church worked hard to put on a lovely reception for friends and neighbors. Thank you to all the people who turned out for the festivities! Mom really enjoyed her special day.
Mom as a young girl – Church ladies – Unwrapping gifts
[click to enlarge]
Two nights later, I found myself working at Michael Capponi’s home on Sunset Island, at a benefit for hip hop producer Russell Simmons’ Diamond Empowerment Fund.
Here I am doing a trick for Russell – if you look carefully you’ll see that the magic wand is actually a diamond bracelet (specially created for the D.E.F. event) in the hand of the woman on the right.
Art Basel Miami was amazing this year. I am so grateful to the Galerie Gmurzynska for bringing me down to perform at their party for Sylvester Stallone and Princess Michael of Kent at the Setai. What a night it was. There were mermaids in the pool, and fabulous people all around.
I did a trick for Mr. Stallone where I had him sign a photograph of himself, ripped it up, and asked Peter Stevens – the Executive Director of the David Smith Estate – to hold the pieces in his hand. Then I had three women, including Jennifer Flavin (Mrs. Stallone), “weld” the pieces back together in Peter’s hand in a “new unity” (a tribute to David Smith), and when he opened his hand, Sylvester’s signed photo was restored but all the pieces were mismatched.
Sylvester Stallone was a delight to spend time with. He told me stories about growing up in Hell’s Kitchen in New York, the neighborhood where I studied magic with Slydini. Princess Michael was lovely and charming, and told me all about her new book.
The video from our panel discussion at the Philoctetes Center last October 4th has been posted on YouTube. Participants in this discussion included George Bisacca – conservator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Laney Salisbury – author of Provenance, and yours truly.
Pay special attention to the section between minutes 50 and 55, and find out when a ruler is not a ruler…
[If you have trouble viewing this video, click here]
