Friday, May 4, I returned to Avalon Catalina for the First Friday “Magic at the Museum” and for the Grand Opening of the Houdini Terror on the Magic Isle Exhibition.

After late breakfast at Jacks, spent the day on the beach, before going to meet John Cox when his boat arrived in the afternoon.

John Cox and I then went and had an early dinner, before going to the Catalina Island Museum around 5pm to setup for John’s Houdini talk.

And then, Jessica Zumberge (Curator) and Gail Fornasiere (Director of Marketing and Public Relations) gave John and I the first look of what truly is a very special and unique Houdini Exhibit.

Check out John’s May 5^th blog where he describes some of the amazing artifacts that are on display for the first time ever from Houdini Collectors: John Cox, Arthur Moses, Fred Pittella, Chip Romero, Mark Willoughby and yours truly.

• Houdini is back on Terror Island starting TODAY

I love everything about this exhibit and am particularly proud of the museums audio-visual presentation that reconstructs missing Reels 3 & 4 from my work at the Margaret Herrick Library and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.  Julie Perlin Lee (Excecutive Director), Gail Fornasiere (Director of Marketing and Public Relations), Jessica Zumberge (Curator) and all the staffers (e.g., Jason Clay, Lydia Dixon, Patty Salazar, etc) deserve a standing ovation.

After our breath-taking first look at the exhibit, it was a little after 6pm and time for the Friday Night festivities to begin.

World Champion Magician, Johnny Ace Palmer circulated throughout the crowd and performed a variety of jaw-dropping close-up magic until about 7:30. A coin even ended up under my wristwatch.

Gail Fornasiere then introduced Houdini Expert John Cox. John gave a well-received presentation on everything you need to know about Houdini in 15 minutes. He ended by playing a snippet of Houdini’s voice recording which was a perfect way to conclude an excellent talk.  John did Houdini and the exhibition proud.

Gail Fornasiere then introduced to the stage, the main magic performance by #1 Close-up Magician, Two-time Magic Castle “Close Up Magician of the Year.” And Academy of Magical Arts “Parlour Magician of the Year” Johnny Ace Palmer.

Palmer’s performance was magical, funny and downright entertaining. He performed magical feats with a bottle opener, coins, cards, rings, sponge balls, and ended by producing 3 live baby chicks under cups, along with making a rabbit appear from nowhere.

After the show, grabbed a cocktail from the Bartender (aka Kevin Liebson), who did an amazing job, and then hung out with John Cox and Johnny Ace Palmer briefly before they had to catch their 10pm boat.

I was spending the night so I could spend some more time in the new Houdini exhibit on Saturday May 5th, when it officially opened.  I also had plans on Saturday to do some more Houdini detective work on the Island before catching my 2:15 boat; And with the help of Museum Curator, Jessica Zumberge, we discovered some cool things which I will share in a future post.