126: MINDvention 2013 - Day Two

What an amazing, full day of more activities and fun. The scheduled lecturer was canceled because of some passport problems, but was replaced with three outstanding performers: Chad Long, Patrick Redfern and Bill Abbott. After lunch we had a 30 minute lecture by Allison Campbell who talked about being a trade show mentalist followed by another mini-lecture by Paul Vigil who shared an excellent performance piece that he rarely presented but received the most response from his audiences. The brevity of their lectures was because of the extra time that was given to Jheff and Bob Cassidy for an another excellent lecture.

After a dinner break we were treated to a hilarious, R-rated show by Cashetta, a drag queen psychic, who held back nothing. In less than 60 seconds I knew we weren't in Kansas anymore. The fun continued into the evening after his/her show with the Bob Cassidy Roast featuring his good friends telling off-color jokes and stories from Bob's past. Jon Stetson was the host of the roast and included funny/rude stories by Lew Wymisner, Ken Weber, Cashetta, Michael Weber, Jheff, Ross Johnson, and Docc Hilford.

Time Stamps for this podcast:

00:00:11 - Chris Carter talks about working the college campus shows and his creation of the "Anniversary Waltz" card trick

00:11:28 - Eric Citron talks about his upcoming mentalism convention called the East Coast Mind Jam next March 28-30, 2014. This will be an honor for his lifetime of magic and as the owner of Tannen's Magic in New York. More information on this convention can be found at: http://eastcoastmindjam.com/

00:16:36 - Stan Allen gives us a little recap of his MAGIC Live! convention from this past summer and some feedback from the attendees plus maybe a look ahead at what he plans for the next one.

00:20:22 - Chad Long talks about the creation of his character and development of how his stage persona came into being.

00:33:03 - Docc Hilford advises us why and how we as entertainers should tip (provide gratuities) to others and the importance of doing it. He also tells us what he is up to for the next few months. you can order Docc's products by visiting http://DoccHilfordProducts.com

00:52:52 - Paul Draper carries on with the discussion begun in yesterday's panel regarding Magic and Mentalism and whether it can be mixed in the same program. Paul will be traveling on a lecture tour of northeastern U.S. He will be represented by Megan Tholen who will coordinate his trip. If you are interested in hosting his lecture, then please contact Megan at PaulDraperManagement@gmail.com

01:01:32 - In the Dealers' Room, Losander tells why he is a dealer at the MINDvention. When you think about it, the efects that he sells not only look like magic, but they can be presented as mental feats of power to bend physical nature. For more information on his prodcucts, visit http://www.Losander.com

01:04:15 - Lupe Nielsen just returned from the Los Angeles Conference of Magic History and she gives us an update of what happened there at that very exclusive event.

01:11:32 - Pete Poskiparta is a radio host in Finland where he performs mind reading over the radio. He also does voice overs for films in his country.

01:28:20 - Eric Dittelman gives us a follow-up of our conversation last year about America's Got Talent and what happened during the interim in his life including an appearance on the TV show, "Ellen" last April. You can follow Eric on Twitter at @EDittelman and on Facebook Fan Page at http://www.Facebook.com/EDittelman

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125: MINDvention 2013 - Day One

I know what you're thinking. The answer is yes...sometimes.

The tenth annual MINDvention in Las Vegas is underway. Co-sponsored by Danny Archer and Robert Allen, this event is always intimate (around 100 attendees) and always chock full of information shared among the top mindreaders in the world. This year was no exception with attendees from a dozen countries with the largest out-of-the-U.S. contingency from Israel with about a dozen people.

The opening event was the Attendee Show that kind of turned into a dealer show, but there were some nice effects in there. The afternoon lecture by Thomas Heine & Rainer Mees (from Germany) had a few technical problems but it didn't prohibit them from giving some great advice on some solid routines. They came back later in the evening for a lecture on Theory and Presentation, both very important in mentalism.

Paul Draper hosted a panel discussion on "Magic in Mentallism" with Joe Atmore and Paul Vigil. It was a lively discussion with some interesting, if not somewhat heated exchanges, during the Q&A portion with the audience. Apparently not everyone agrees with everything and/or everyone's opinion. Michael Weber packed the house including some local magicians who came to learn some incredible and creative presentations.

The time stamps for this podcast are as follows:

00:00:00 - Excitement builds as I depart Houston for Las Vegas.

00:01:55 - I ran into Bob Cassidy (Guest of Honor at this year's MINDvention) at the airport so we chatted about a lot of stuff. Bob went off into many nooks and crannies on mentalism including his new book which is being premiered today. I'm glad I had my recorder on to catch all of this one.

00:17:23 - Danny Archer and Robert Allen talk about some of the people who are attending this year's convention and some of the surprises in store for this year.

00:24:15 - Bill Gladwell is headlining his own show called "Headcase" at the Iris Theater in Gatlinburg, Tennessee and bringing in big crowds. TripAdvisor.com lists his show as tops in the area. Be sure to see his show if your travel plans include Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. More information at: http://www.iristheater.com/bill-gladwell.html

00:29:24 - Banachek talks about shooting their last episode of this season's Criss Angel's TV show on Spike TV. He also talks about Criss's upcoming surgery and those who will be filling in for him for a few weeks. He also talks about some of the upcoming traveling shows he is involved with in addition to a possible second season for Criss on Spike TV. We talked about his passionate dislike for "magicians" who are exposing magic. We chatted about Banachek's Magicians' Pledge which is posted below. Many clubs should post this on their websites and require all members swear to uphold the pledge.

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124: Scott Hollingsworth - Magic Coach Extraordinaire

"Some people clap,. Some people throw money. Some people just say...WOW!" - Scott Hollingsworth.

Over the 25 years that Houston's Magic Island was open, Scott Hollingsworth served as the House Magician. He was also the Entertainment Director. As such, he booked and coordinated the talent that came through the Island that included the well known and celebrated to the lesser known and forgettable (the latter didn't usually last for the duration of their contracts). During that time, Scotto (as he is known to his friends), provided invaluable advice and stage direction to many of the acts who would listen. Today Scotto offers coaching through his website at: http://www.magicianscoach.com/index.php It is well worth the visit.

But prior to that, Scotto was one of the country's early restaurant magicians and one of the first, if not THE first, to publish a set of lecture notes exclusively for the restaurant magician on the "business" of working restaurants. The year was 1974 and the notes, called "Cashing In With Close Up - Restaurant Magic", included how to move from being a Salesman Entertainer (planning and proper attitude) to the Host Entertainer, to being the Entertainer.

The notes have long been out of print and some of the advice is antiquated, (for example the marketing materials that predated the internet and desktop publishing), but the bulk of the basics are still as solid gold as they were nearly 40 years ago. He has now reprinted and completely updated those notes and added supplemental material that makes this a "must have" for the working and the aspiring restaurant magician.

During a series of recent meetings of our Houston Association of Magicians, Scotto was asked to give us a series of three mini-lectures consisting of about 30 minutes each. The podcast this week features his third and final excerpt from this series. He talks about the secrets of "show business", the importance of networking in getting work at restaurants, how to do it, how to interact with patrons at the restaurant, being prepared for the unexpected, and much more. He also performed a few of his signature effects like his Bermuda Triangle (video below recorded earlier before a live audience) and Ring on String. It is great to hear his professional patter that has been honed to perfection over decades of constant repetition.

A lot of insightful material is packed into this short mini-lecture. As a bonus to this week's podcast, I have a link to three PDF's compliments of Scott Hollingsworth. The first is: Advantages of Having a Restaurant Magician. He refers to this document during this mini-lecture. Click Here to view the document. Secondly is a nice card trick for the birthday person, regardless of age, called Special Moments. Click Here to view that PDF. And finally, he demonstrated a coin trick called Brown and Silver. Click Here to view the instructions for this effect.

If you would like to book Scott Hollingsworth to lecture for your group, then please contact him directly at: Scott@ScottHollingsworth.com If you would like to thank him for giving us this sneak peek at his lecture, then I'm sure he would enjoy hearing from you.

To show your appreciation for Scott's generosity of providing this mini-lecture and two free tricks, please visit his website where you can purchase a set of his lecture notes and more. Please Click Here to visit his online store.

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