Saturday, March 06, 2010

Troy Hooser at the Magic Castle

Friday was a full day. Couple loads of laundry in the morning, straighten up around the apartment, charge my amp for the evening and get my shit together to head north. Left Redondo Beach around 12:30 took the 405 to the 105 to the 110 to the 101 and got off at the Barham Exit in Hollywood. First stop my old gym. The idea was to try and beat some of the Friday traffic and get to work early enough to go to the gym for a couple of hours have a quick bite afterwards then head into the CityWalk. After work I was excited to head to the Magic Castle and see and old friend work.

I met Troy Hooser over 20 years ago back in Ohio (where we both are from). Those were the days, footloose and fancy free. One of the nice things about living in LA is that sooner or later, all of my pals come in to town to work the Castle. I've always been a fan of Troy's work. He's always had a soft touch with the coins an exceptional ability to put together commercial routines that are foolers; like his "Charming Chinese Challenge" and his variations of "3 Fly". He opened with coin routine for his Parlor Act, after that the rest was new to me. A sort of mental routine with socks and his trademark low key personality. I thought he did a great job.

I've really been enjoying visiting the Castle these days. When I moved here almost 4 years ago, sometimes I felt like the odd man out. But now, I feel a bit more like a member of the community. Got to meet a Facebook friend, Friday night as well. A fellow named Tony Blake. We had a nice chat upstairs. Also spent some a little time talking to Maurice Newman. Another person who has always made feel welcome at the Castle is Vanessa Lauren. Nice spending a few minutes finding out what she's been up to. Later jammed a bit at the Owl Bar w/ Billy Goodwin and David Jockish. We ended up closing the joint, then heading over to Billy's apartment, walking distance from the Castle. We did card tricks well into the night and I didn't end up going to bed till 4:30AM.







Cups and Balls


Cups and Balls, originally uploaded by photine.

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Nice. . . . . rings


Jessica Guloomal, originally uploaded by Jessica Guloomal Magic.

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Polly made these last night. Yummy


Brewer's Blondies

Yield: 24

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons malted milk powder

14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 3/4 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup malted milk balls (like Whoppers or Maltesers), coarsely chopped in a food processor

3/4 cup (9 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and malted milk powder together.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until completely combined. Scrape down the bowl, add the eggs and vanilla, and beat until combined.

Add the flour mixture in two batches until just combined. Add the malted milk balls, chocolate chips and walnuts and beat until just combined, about 10 seconds. The mixture will be thick. Turn the mixture out into the prepared pan and use an offset spatula to spread it evenly.

Bake in the center of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the blondie comes out clean.

Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 20 minutes. These blondies taste delicious warm. Cut them into squares and serve with ice cream. They also taste great at room temperature. Once thoroughly cooled, cover tightly with plastic wrap and keep at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Tayade Cups and Balls


three cups and three small balls, originally uploaded by eschipul.