June 23 - 24. Orange County, Silhouette Art And Tu Tu Tango.

With the Caltech lecture out of the way, it was time to move on from Pasadena. My good friend David Alexander and his lovely wife Penny had kindly invited me to stay with them for a couple of days at their home in Orange County.

David is a magician, writer, biographer (he wrote the biography of Gene 'Star Trek' Roddenberry) and fun guy to hang out with. Penny is one of the most gifted portrait painters I've ever seen. She has a strange style you don't see much of these days: she paints portraits that actually look like the people she's painting! And she does it extremely well. I should also mention the third member of the family, namely Megan, a grand old lady who bears her advanced years with great dignity:

David collected me from the Pasadena Hilton, and after a bite to eat we paid a visit to Diego Domingo, a magic historian and collector.

Diego is a fascinating guy, with a wealth of knowledge about the history of magic. His collection of posters alone was rather awe-inspiring. He is one of those 'never a dull moment' conversationalists, and his fund of fascinating tales of magic past was a revelation.

It was a non-stop whirl of a day. My friends Apollo Robbins and Shoot Ogawa, whom I had already met in Vegas, were lecturing at the Magicopolis venue, and David and I were invited guests. Prior to the lecture we all met up at the Monsoon Lounge on Third  Street for drinks, food and magic talk, and were joined by close-up magic 'dude' Chris Korn.

The lecture itself was superb, as I knew it would be since Apollo and Shoot are both masters of their craft.

And so to my second day in Orange County. Among his other accomplishments, David Alexander is a highly skilled silhouette artist.

Luckily for me, he happened to have a silhouette-cutting gig, so I could go along and see him work. Click here for an amazing, beautiful sequence of photos.

After the silhouette gig, David, Penny and I drove over to Azusa, which I think has to be one of my favourite place names. It's worth relocating there just for the name: Azusa. If I did, I think I'd want to marry a woman called Susan. Azusa Susan. All the better if she played the sousaphone.

David had kindly arranged my own private tour of Owen's Magic Supreme, manufacturers of some of the finest magic props and illusions in the world. The business dates back to 1891. Current owners Les and Gertrude Smith have run the place since 1963, and it was a pleasure to meet them both. Below left, one of their showrooms, and below right myself with Penny and Gertrude.

In the evening Daivd and Penny treated me to dinner at Cafe Tu Tu Tango. This has to be one of the more 'distinctive' restaurants I've ever been to. The walls are filled with the work of local artists and painters. The artists pay a very modest weekly fee to have their work on display, and if they sell a painting the restuarant takes a small commission on the sale. Isn't that a good idea? In addition, our meal was enhanced by a very energetic display of professional belly dancing by two rather captivating young women.

> > > Continued in Part 3

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