071: Eric DeCamps - Pure Magic

Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Eric DeCamps has been preparing for a lifetime and while opportunities keep knocking, he keeps answering...in spades!

Eric will present his one man show, "Pure Magic" at the Potter & Potter Gallery in Chicago on October 19-21, 2012. In this half hour chat, Eric talks about how he has put together this show and the journey he has traveled in preparing for this next opportunity. For anyone who might want to put together their own one man show, Eric gives insight that you might heed by listening to his experiences.

Regrettably the quality of the audio was not the best for our Skype connection, but the content is "golden" and I am certain that you will enjoy this final edit of my conversation with Eric DeCamps about "Pure Magic".

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"Now You See It with Scott Wells" from MAES 2011

"Now You See It with Scott Wells" is a TV Talk Show format for magicians. It is something different that Scott has been doing at magic conventions. Imagine something like "Late Night with David Letterman" or "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" or Johnny Carson but the guests are magicians. The guests are pulled from the talent featured at the convention who are often good friends of Scott's and whom he has known some time. It allows for the opportunity to chat openly about personal matters rather than being the standard interview-type chat like you would expect on "Actor's Studio".

Each show is dynamic and different as it is completely unscripted and is dependent upon the personalities, the direction of the conversation, and the interactions among the guests. It is not a panel discussion or a Q&A from the audience. It gives the convention registrants an opportunity to "eavesdrop" on what might seem like conversations at a bar. It also "humanizes" the talent so the registrants feel comfortable approaching them throughout the rest of the convention by giving them "talking points" so they can perhaps follow up on one of the topics discussed.

Between the introductions of each guest Scott shows "magic-themed" commercials. These are professionally produced spots made by ad agencies from around the world that often feature many well-known magicians such as Penn & Teller, Harry Blackstone, Jr., Lance Burton, David Copperfield, Paul Daniels, Melinda and more.

This episode was filmed by Marc DeSouza (who also provided the voice-over introduction) at the Magicians' Alliance of Eastern States (M.A.E.S.) on September 30, 2011 in Cherry Hills, NJ. Scott's guests in this episode include: Denny Haney, Eric DeCamps, Jania Taylor and David Corsaro. It is a one hour video episode in a QuickTime (MP4) format so the file was compressed to be just under 100MB making the quality a bit low.

Scott Wells presents a fun, lively talk show at magic conventions featuring other magicians who are on the bill at that event. Imagine a late night television talk show except with all magicians, hosted by a magician, and you have an idea of what this is all about.

If you would like to have your own free Dropbox storage account and receive an additional 250MB of storage, then follow this link: http://db.tt/B3mzVMT I love it and I know you will, too.

015: 2011 M.A.E.S. - Day 3

I started off the day talking with Will Fern about his show last night. What a talent! Then we chat with David Corsaro from http://www.timetobeawesome.com/ , one of the regular registrants but first time performers. Then we take a side trip to nearby Bayard's Chocolates that's located just right next door to the Crown Plaza Hotel. You can get additional information about Bayard's at http://www.bayardschocolates.com/ I must say that it is awesome and well worth the visit. While I was there, several local New Jersey residents stopped by just for a visit and some came to specifically to buy a particular type of chocolate.

Next up is a chat with some of the youth who competed in the contests. We hear from 15 year old Alex Boyce, 17 year old Ian Flinn and 17 year old Bill Boyce with their thoughts on developing a competition act, attending conventions and magic camps. After the evening show we go back in the dealer room where we have a lively conversation with Adele Friel-Rhinedress who talks about her best selling book, "The Elusive Moth" and her experience with working the Blackstone, Senior's "1001 Wonders Magic Show". And finally we chat with Jan Goodsell, SYM overseer and SAM Past President, who talks about the young magicians. Also heard in this interview is Eric Decamps who happened to be sitting nearby and threw in his two cents.

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