DANNY HILL

                             PRESS

                    St. Petersburg Times  9/13/99

                    'Danny Hill makes a ball disappear under a cup in the Time Warner Communications Studio'

 by Edie Gross-Times Staff Writer

     There are no mirrors, no puffs of smoke, no baggy sleeves in which to hide a bag of tricks.    

     Just four playing cards and 13-year old Danny Hill's skilled hands.

"Where's the queen?" he asks a visitor after slowly mixing the cards not 12 inches from her face.                     

    The visitor guessed wrong.  Three times.

     College educated and twice his age, she is no match for the teen known on the magicians' circuit as The Great Hoodanny.  Then again, not many people are.

    "Some of the stuff, I don't even know how it works anymore," said Danny, who received his first set of magic tricks when he was 6.  "I just do it."

     What was once a hobby has turned into a budding career for the eighth-grader who got his start performing for his parents and then the moved on the strangers at Clearwater's Pier 60.

     During the last three years, he has been hired to perform at county festivals, corporate parties, libraries and retirement homes.  He combines magic with storytelling, poetry and comedy.

     He has captured first place in five of the six state magic competitions he has entered.  In June, he won his first International Junior championship at the International Brotherhood of Magicians convention.

     "Other youngsters, they don't stick with it with the intensity that he does.

He really takes up the issue of practice, practice, practice" said Larry Ulman, the treasurer of the Tampa Bay Magic Club.  "For a young guy to do that and have the stick-to-itiveness, he's very good.  He's better than a lot of us."

     Danny's parents, Patty and Paul Hill, said they quit trying to figure out how Danny does his tricks years ago.

     "It's done right in front of your face, and you still can't see it," Paul said.  He'll come up with new stuff, and we don't know how he does it."

     Danny's "office", which looks suspiciously like a teenager's bedroom, is brimming with the ingredients for good magic tricks:  cups and balls, bits of rope, oversized dice and, and of course, scads of playing cards.

     Thousands of them crowd the shelves, spill from the closet, even stick to the ceiling.  Seriously - it's part of a new card trick he's practicing.

     Autographed pictures of famous magicians plaster his walls and cover his dresser top.  The fedoras he wears while performing hang near the door.

     Before it became his passion, magic was just a curiosity for Danny.  A man who lived next to Danny's after-school day-care facility showed him his first magic trick in the second grade.   

     The man displayed an empty case about the size of his hand.  But when he closed and reopened the case, a dollar appeared inside it, seemingly out of thin air.

     "I thought it was amazing," said Danny, who is not as easily impressed these days.

     His parents bought him a box of magic tricks from Kmart that Christmas, and a young magician was born.

    When the family moved to Florida a few years later, 10-year-old Danny began street performing at Pier 60 in Clearwater Beach.  A friend of his older brother, Cory, nicknamed him The Great Hoodanny, and the title that plays on the Houdini name stuck.

     "I had this high, little, squeaky voice and my fedora, a tuxedo vest, red plaid shoes and big red suspenders.  I was so excited when people threw money in the hat," he said.  "I was 10.  I'd never made any money before.  I decided that's what I wanted to do."

    Every Saturday for three years, he entertained crowds at the pier, using the money he made to buy props, books and videos that would help him with his art.

     He practices his moves constantly: in his room, in front of the mirror, for his parents and friends.  He videotapes himself and watches it to look for weaknesses in his act.

     Pal James Amato critiques Danny's routines before he performs for a large audience.

     "I've got to see where he slips up, watch him over and over and over again.  Any slip, any 'Oh, I saw that', 'Oops, you messed up there,' " said James, 14.  "When he messes up, he messes up big time.  But he laughs usually."

      Danny entered his first state magic competition when he was 11, performing against other magicians ages 18 and younger.

     "We thought,  he's going to get beat up and sent home," said Patty Hill, Danny's mother, chauffeur and manager.  "And then he won everything."

     Danny's awards have come in two different categories: stage performance, sort of the David Copperfield version of magic with boxes, puzzles, capes and other props; and close-up performance, where only a small group of onlookers is present and sleight of hand is everything.

     Danny said he prefers the thrill associated with close-up work, the type of magic he performed at the Bay Area Renaissance Festival earlier this year.  He also plans to appear at Dunedin's First Night celebration on New Year's Eve.

     "If you do something in your hands with nothing else but the object, I think of it as a miracle," said Danny.  "But if you put it in a box, I think of it as a puzzle because they (the audience) know it's there somewhere."

     Members of the Tampa Bay Magic Club, ages 13 to 92, say they are impressed with Danny's close-up performances.

     "He does the hard stuff.  He doesn't rely strictly on apparatus.  He does sleight of hand,"  said Ulman.  "He's the youngest member of the club and one of the best." 

 Stage magic, with all of it's props is more glamorous, Danny admitted.  Danny says his stage act is more cardboard and duct tape.  Occasionally, he is joined by his two doves, Astro and Rocket, who, in one routine, seem to disappear in a puff of feathers when Danny shoots them from a miniature cannon.  The birds are never harmed.

     That act startled Danny's classmates at Coachman Middle School in Clearwater when he performed in one of the school's talent shows, said principal Larry Goodbread.

     "The students went, 'Ugh, he killed the bird.'   He had to show them the bird, that it was still alive," said Goodbread, who was impressed with Danny's skill.  "It's a very unique talent and not everyone has it, obviously.  If he sticks with it, he probably has a good future.

     That is exactly what Danny is counting on.  The A student plans to go to college, "so I'll have something to fall back on," he says with a roll of the eyes.

     But he is intent on making magic his career.

     "You pick your own hours," he said.  "I hope I'll never have to have a real job.  That's my goal."

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May 1997 - Florida State Convention: 1st Place Jr. Stage, 1st Place Jr. Close up, 'Most Promising Youth Award.'                                                                                                                                  July 1997 - IBM Convention: 'Funniest Magician' in the Walk-Around Competition.                          May 1998 - Florida State Convention: 1st Place Jr. Close up, 2nd Place Jr. Stage.                          April 1999 - Tampa Bay Renaissance Festival: 'Best New Act.'                                                     May 1999 - Florida State Convention: 1st Place Jr. Close up, 1st Place Jr. Stage.                             July 1999 - IBM Convention: Ist Place Jr. Close up.                                                                          Feb 2000 - World Magic Seminar: 2nd Place Jr. Close up.                                                              Aug 2000 - Tannen's Camp: 1st place Jr. Close up.

Our young magician is quick to point out that his success is due not only to his hard work, but also in part to the many people who have helped him to grow and learn about his magic. Fourteen years ago his parents, Paul and Patty, named him Danny Hill, but the magic world will long remember him as ...

Danny, what was that whole experience of performing on the 'Stars Of Tomorrow Show' like for you?

When I watched your act, you did not have the 'typical" kid magic act. Who would you say has been the biggest influence on your performing style, and why?

I've had a lot of different influences. First there was a neighbor kid. I traded him a magic trick for a fedora hat. That started the soon-to-be trademark fedora of "Hoodanny.' Then, when I moved to Florida, I met a local magician Hugh Turley at a local magic shop. I started learning from him. He was instrumental in getting me ready for my first beach performance and competition, and still helps me today. Then when I was told I looked like a young Harry Anderson, I found a tape of him and thought he was stealing from me. Then it was explained to me that he'd been doing that act for a long time. So, I watched how he did what I was trying to do. Then I met another street worker who introduced me to two more local magicians, Windy & Sunny (a married couple of performing magicians) who have helped me develop material often, taught me about magic and business and have become like grandparents to me. Then I found the McBride tapes! That started me watching the tapes of all the magicians I could. A little of this and a little of that and my character developed to what it is today, although I think it is still developing.

Wow !  I don't know if I could choose just one. Each has something to offer: Johnny Thompson, Michael Ammar, Harry Anderson, Ricky Jay, and there would be a different magician for each aspect of performing magic. But if I could only pick one, and by meeting, you mean more than just a photo opportunity - it would probably be Lance Burton. Learn from the top, right?

I attended camp to improve my showmanship, develop my character, and to learn a few tricks and sleights on the side. I learned about stage movement and all kinds of small things I will use in shows and routines. The lectures were good and I came away from each activity knowing more than I did when I went in. The competitions were fun, and l was happy to win junior close- up. This was my first camp.

I agree, duct tape SHOULD be a part of every act, because it is like the 'Force' in Star Wars. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together. Ba-da-boom. I heard that your doves are named 'Astro' and 'Rocket.' Since you like cartoons, are these references to 'the jetson's'?

What has been your most exciting or memorable performance?

Oh. The scariest magic moment I have ever had was at that nursing home show, which happened about four years ago. I was doing a linking rings routine, and my finale was swinging the rings around violently and having them end up all linked together. I called up an assistant, who was about 95+. She was wearing an Afghan shawl. Unnoticed by me, my key ring unintentionally hooked the shawl. I swung the rings around again, only this time I had a lady attached to them. She went for a ride, and I felt very bad afterwards. But she was fine.

A good friend of mine at school, Cliff Whitty, (his real name) is very funny and quick and makes me laugh a lot. He has the same type of humor as I do, which is warped according to the court records. That's a joke - I swear. We laugh at things fellow classmates or teachers do not think are funny at all, but then what do they know about demented humor.

The funniest magician I know well is the young up-and-comer Mike Baron I mentioned earlier. He is from Sarasota Florida. We think alike and find the same silly things funny. We can go for hours putting together silly magic and laughing all night. (Recently at 3AM we found a card stapled to the face routine we put together hilarious - in fact I have put it into my paid performance and get great responses. I have not yet put Mike and the falafel routine we wrote into my act. (That's a Long story for another time. We derived the routine at a McBride Class we attended together.) One of the funniest people I enjoy is Michael Finney. I have met him only once, very briefly, but he is one of my heroes. I find his material extremely funny. And, as much as I hate to admit it, my mother and I share a sarcastic and quick-tongued humor and have had many giggle fits together.

I have never and will never do serious dramatic illusion magic, until I find a way to put some humor in it. I think that people enjoy and need to laugh and I enjoy and need to make them laugh. I think too many magicians take themselves too seriously, and I try very hard to avoid that. Nothing makes me happier than to see my audience laughing and really having a good time.

I also will never do dark, dirty or humiliating types of routines. As Red Skelton said, 'Do every show like your mother and a nun are in the front row. 'John Calvert has also told me many times to keep my act clean - he apparently has the premonition that I could go to the other side with my act and he feels it is important to entertain everyone and offend no one. I respect him and his opinion, and plan on abiding by it.

"Getting Started"  5/99 The Linking Ring (magic assoc. publication)

by Danny Hill

The first time I performed publicly I remember how incredibly nervous I was.  I was 10 years old, and had no idea what was going to happen.  It was at the Sunset Festival at Clearwater Beach, Florida.  I was broke and needed money for magic.  My parents were tired of my constant requests for money and decided it was time for my magic to pay for itself. 

So I dragged my homemade table out onto the pier, along with my so-called case of tricks.  Before I could get set up, a group of teen-aged girls came up and said, "show us a trick!"  I was completely rattled and couldn't remember the order that I planned for my act, so I dug into my pocket to pull out my thumb tip and silk.  I proceeded to very roughly vanish the silk.  Next, I took out Sidewalk Shuffle and stumbled through that routine, with a flash here and there.  Then, the audience started to applaud.  I was surprised to say the least, so I decided it was time to "pass the hat."  When I noticed that someone had thrown in a dollar or two, I was pretty excited and decided that was the easiest buck I've ever made in my life!

I was hooked.  I felt I was now a true magician, and the youngest street busker they had ever had at the festival.  I have been their regular magician for 3 years now.  What great experience!  I've learned so much to help me in magic and in life.  The most difficult thing I had to overcome was gathering my crowd.  It can be very intimidating walking up to strangers and convincing them to "step into my office."  It is also painful to see people walk away in the middle of an act.  I've learned to accept that not everyone is interested and that it's nothing personal, and that the effort is worth it.  I consistently have large crowds and pull in decent "hats" which is busker talk for good tips.  I no longer ask my parents for money and my magic business has grown.

In the beginning, people at the beach asked for my business card.  I handed out many playing cards with my phone number, and then finally had business cards printed.  Pretty soon, I was getting calls for birthday parties and I had to put together a real routine that lasted longer than a few minutes.  Next think I knew, I was booking 2 or 3 parties a month, and thought I was in the big time!

Every time I work at the beach, I learn something new. Who would expect anyone to heckle a young magician working so hard?  Believe me when I say, there are many who do.  These people used to rattle me and ruin my show.  Now I have learned how to handle them with "funny" comebacks that usually shuts them up as well as get laughs from the audience.

I started to meet other magicians from around the Clearwater who would stop and talk to me after watching my show.  One of the first magicians I met, Windy Douton, has turned into my mentor and friend.  He introduced me to other magicians and brought me to the local magic club as his guest because I was too young to join.  My knowledge of magic and performing were growing fast.  Another magician I met told me about the Florida State Competition and gave me a registration form.  I put together an act and used my beach audience to practice.  What a great opportunity to have a live audience to show my routine to and their feedback came in the form of applause and money!  At my first competition I won first place in both stage and close up and was awarded as the most promising magician.  Thank you Clearwater Beach!

I now perform around Tampa Bay at public functions, retirement communities, and corporate events.  I do realize I have not yet hit the big time, but at 13 I feel that I have been successful at building a small magic business.  I will be performing at a local Renaissance Festival this spring and am booked for a centennial New Years Eve party.  I know that all my success is due to the hours I have stood at the beach, begging people to watch, making them laugh and impressing them with my tricks and then hustling them for tips.

My first night at the beach I was very nervous and my act was pretty rough.  In fact, looking back now, it is a little embarrassing, but with determination, help and practice, the experience ha brought me a long way and taught me things that will last a lifetime.  My advice to all young magicians, find a place in your community to set up your office and never give up no matter what happens, the rewards are many.

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"Young magician wows audience with tricks and humorous banter"  The Suncoast News 4/19/00  BY Charles McKinney

The magician stopped in front of a child in the audience and, smiling broadly, told the young boy, "I'm looking for a helper and this is your lucky day.                 "Because," he said, abruptly swinging his head toward another child sitting in the next chair, "I'm going to choose you."

Both children and others in the audience guffawed loudly at the humorous actions of magician Danny Hill.  Returning to the stage area he described himself: "I'm the Great Hoodanny, 14 year old magician with 27 years of experience."  Again laughter greeted Danny's remarks as the teen put on a magic show spiced with humorous comments, for an audience at the Palm Harbor Library.

Danny entertained youngsters and others not so young with his sleight of hand tricks delivered within the framework of a commanding stage presence which included many humorous one-line jokes, ad libs and asides.  His humor garnered nearly as much applause as his magic.

While using an egg in one of his feats of prestidigitation for example, he said the tricks were "eggactly right", "scrambled up my act", adding that "you better laugh now, that's as funny as it gets.

And again, when a 7 year old girl he selected to help him piped up with a remark that brought chuckles from the audience, he put a frown on his face as he looked at her and said, "Kid, I work alone".

Danny said he has been doing magic since he was 6 years old.  "I like to go back to the tricks the old magicians did.  The ropes, the scarves, the eggs - things like that"  he said.  "I alter my patter depending on the age group."

He initially learned his magic through books and tapes and now also receives the help of many local and national magicians.   Danny's expertise has resulted in national recognition by magicians' organizations.  He is the International Brotherhood of Magicians' national champion of close up and was also voted funniest magician in 1997 by the same organization.  He has been invited to perform at the national convention of the Society of American Magicians in Milwaukee in June.

"I do several shows each month, at libraries,  retirement communities, schools and community events."  Danny said of his normal performing schedule.  Each year he alters and adds to his repertoire.

Danny is a student at Coachman Fundamental School in Clearwater.  "The magic takes up a lot of time but I still get As and Bs in school"  he said.

While he isn't sure yet where he will go after high school.  He will probably go to college, he says, but definitely intends to make a career of being a magician.

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Congratulations to Danny "Hoodanny" Hill!                            8/97 Linking Ring Magazine

It was at the Florida State Convention in May:  Danny Hoodanny Hill, age 11, won First Place in the Junior Stage Competition, First Place in the Junior Close-Up Competition and also won a trophy for Most Promising Young Magician.

Danny performs every Saturday at the Clearwater Beach, Florida pier.  He has outstanding stage presence and his presentations are superior to many adults.  His patter and eye contact are superb.  The money Danny earns is going towards his college education.  We're proud of you, thrilled at your accomplishments and delighted to have you as one of us!

Winter Wonderland Opens    The Communication Line  by Kari Wise 12/7/99

...The Great Hoodanny, Magician extraordinaire, astonished visitors during his one hour performance.  Danny Hill, the 14 year old known as the Great Hoodanny, recently won a national championship at the annual convention of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

"His magic is incredible," said Stefio Fiorenza, producer of the All Starz show which can be seen on TV shows and in live performances all over Florida.  "I've had three cameras taping Danny from different angles at the same time and I couldn't see how he does it."  

But anyone who has ever seen the Great Hoodanny knows the secret of his illusions, it's magic!

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