Description
Omakase is a Japanese phrase that means “I’ll leave it up to you” from the Japanese word makaseru, or “to entrust.” The phrase is used at Japanese restaurants where the customer leaves it up to the chef to serve seasonal specialties. The chef will generally present a series of plates, beginning with the lightest fare and proceeding to the heaviest dishes. The phrase is not exclusive to the service of raw fish with rice, and can incorporate grilling, simmering, or other cooking techniques as well.
Customers requesting omakase style expect the chef to be innovative and surprising in the selection of dishes, and the meal can be likened to an artistic performance by the chef. Ordering omakase involves a high degree of uncertainty, but the customer typically receives the freshest catch available, often items that are not ordinarily available.
Michael Weber will be your chef for a three-week banquet of surprises. He will prepare and offer a unique combination of secrets, techniques, effects, methods, presentations, and theories selected from both new and enduring favorites. Three one-hour classes of online discussion and teaching will be supplemented by exercises and classwork posted in a private online classroom. The additional material will be updated at least twice a week and will be available 24 hours a day for the duration of instruction.
This is live and in real time filled with interaction and not a series of videos.
Skill Levels Welcome: Students should have a serious interest in magic paired with at least three years of active experience.
Each class in the 3-class series runs approximately one hour:
Saturday, April 18, 2020 1-2pm EST
Saturday, April 25, 2020 1-2pm EST
Saturday, May 2, 2020 1-2pm EST
Classroom opens at 12:45pm EST
Lesson runs from 1pm to 2pm EST
Classes are non-refundable, with the exception of classes being canceled by instructor or Conjuring Arts
You’ll receive a link via email before class time.
Open the link and you’ll be in our secure Google Meet.
You must also have a working webcam, microphone, and a table at which to sit during the lessons.
Download the web browser Chrome if you do not have it already.
Michael Weber has studied and performed magic, mind reading and the allied arts for nearly a half-century. He was a student and confidant of Charlie Miller, a member of the Long Beach Mystics and an award winning member of the Magic Castle’s Junior program, then spent a lifetime creating and performing new and original magic effects, many of which have become modern classics.
He is widely respected for his innovation, problem-solving and storytelling abilities and was awarded the Master’s Creative Fellowship by the Academy of Magical Arts and Sciences in addition to awards from the IBM, SAM, Blackpool Magician’s Society and the Psychic Entertainer’s Association.
His unique gifts have also caught the attention to those outside the world of Magic. Weber was appointed as a charter member of Advisory Board of The Curiosity Project. He was the magic consultant for the original David Blaine “Street Magic” television special and helped redefine Magic for his generation. He served as a writer and creator of original magic for the hit series The Carbonaro Effect and as the writer, director and co-creator of the live touring science extravaganza Brain Candy, starring the original Myth Buster, Adam Savage.
Weber co-founded the consulting company Deceptive Practices with the legendary Ricky Jay, providing “Arcane Knowledge on a Need-To-Know Basis ” to film, theater and television. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences held a special event where Weber and Jay were honored to present and discuss their magical contributions to modern cinema.
He has worked with a veritable “Who’s Who” of writers and directors including Wes Craven, David Mamet, Errol Morris, Christopher Nolan, Aaron Sorkin, Martin Scorsese, George Wolfe and Robert Zemeckis. His film work includes Forest Gump, Leap of Faith, Ocean’s 13, Serpent and the Rainbow, Sneakers, The Illusionist, The Parent Trap, The Prestige, and Wolf.
Examples of his work have been seen in Broadway productions including Angels in America, A Year of Magical Thinking, Faustus, In and of Itself, On the Stem, Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants, Rogue’s Gallery, Top Dog Underdog and the recent hit musical, Beetlejuice.
