Mystery School Mondays Begins its Second Year

JEFF MCBRIDE’S “MYSTERY SCHOOL MONDAY” CELEBRATES FIRST ANNIVERSARY ONLINE

January 23, 2012, Las Vegas – One year ago, Jeff McBride and his Magic & Mystery School faculty and staff launched the first worldwide one-hour weekly streaming show on the subject of magic and magicians -- as an experiment.  Now, 52 episodes in, Mystery School Monday is thriving.  The show is hosted each week by world-renown magician Jeff McBride, and includes a variety of different segments each week.  Magic and Mystery School faculty, including Dr. Lawrence Hass (Cutting Through the Noise), George Parker (Big Idea, Little Idea), Bryce Kuhlman (Kick Ass Reviews) and Tobias Beckwith (The Wizard’s Corner) are regular contributors. Other reporters include Mystery School alumni Tim Wise, with his "Las Vegas Report," Jordan Wright offering a weekly segment on “Cinemagic,” Mario Morris presenting “Busker Tales,” and George Robert’s “Hollywood Report,” which is usually recorded at The Magic Castle in Hollywood.  The Dean of the Magic and Mystery School, Eugene Burger, appears once each month, as do many special celebrity magician guests. "Master" Leo Diaz is the shows chief engineer, and often appears on the show as well.

Highlights from the first year have included McBride broadcasting live from Japan, Sweden, Denmark, France, Hungary and Russia, as well as live coverage from several magic conventions.  One thing the show has stayed away from is any revelation of the workings of tricks or magic products.  The show has successfully avoided being a part of the unfortunate phenomenon of exposure that has become too much a part of the viral video phenomenon. Mystery School Monday is freely available to anyone who wants to tune in at www.mcbridemagic.tv, either during the live broadcast or anytime, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to watch past episodes on demand. Early sponsors who have made the show possible include Murphy’s Magic, Wizard Headquarters, and Fantasma Magic.

In its first year, Mystery School Monday has logged over 1.2 million viewer hours, with more than 20,000 unique viewers.  A live audience shows up each week to participate in the ongoing classroom chat during the show and more than 2,000 people log in to view the show in its immediately archived format most weeks.  Audience members come mostly from the US, but also come from as far away as India, Australia, Brazil, Sri Lanka and several European countries.

“We see Mystery School Monday as an extension of our core mission at the McBride Magic & Mystery School,” says founder Jeff McBride.  “We promote ways for serious magicians to take their art to a higher level, one step at a time.  We realize not everyone who is serious about their magic has the means to make it to one of our Master Classes in Las Vegas – but through this free offering, and our upcoming Locked Room classes offered on the internet, we have a chance to connect with them right in their own homes.”

Future plans?  You bet!  As this goes out, plans are underway to begin offering online “Locked Room” classes with the Magic & Mystery School faculty on a regular basis.  Various faculty members will begin offering small classes on particular tricks and techniques, business development for magicians, story building and more.  The locked room sessions will vary in price and format, but are designed to form a bridge between the always-free live broadcast of the “Mystery School Monday” show and the classes offered in Las Vegas.  They will take place in an interactive video conference setting so all members can participate and get feedback on their work.

To learn more about the McBride Magic & Mystery School, Mystery School Monday and McBridemagic.tv, visit  www.magicalwisdom.com.

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