075: Day 1 - MINDvention 2012 in Las Vegas, NV

After a little bit of a travel difficulty due to a layover in San Diego, I finally arrived in Las Vegas for the first day of the annual MINDvention at the Palace Stations Hotel & Casino. I missed the first couple of lectures but Gregg Lancaster and Bob Patilla filled me in on the details that you will hear in this podcast. I then chatted with Roy Zaltsman from Israel who will lecture for us tomorrow plus he will be one of the featured performers in the final night gala show. Roy talked a bit about the MARS convention (Magic At the Red Sea) he produces in Israel. One of the things he offers is a webcast of unpublished videos that is more of a sampling of some of the tricks extracted from the lectures featured at MARS. You can learn a lot from these free videos by subscribing to his newsletter at: http://telepathy.co.il/unpublished

We wrapped up the day with an interview with Paul Draper who talked about his upcoming lecture tour and his long association with MINDvention as one of the emcees.

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072: Danny Archer - On Target

Danny Archer sat down for a nice chat during his recent lecture tour.  Danny is another one of the really nice guys in magic who has a  creative mind and an excellent head for business. Here he talks about  his Magicians' Lecture Network that he used to run. Danny and his  business partner, Robert Allen, were the ones who also put together LVMI  (Las Vegas Magic Invitational) and later the Coin-vention (a one time  event) which were the progenitors to the MINDvention (which will be coming up in Las Vegas on November 11-13, 2012).

Danny  regularly performs at two high end restaurants in Vail, Colorado. He  alternates with magician Dan Fleshman appearing one week at the Vail Chophouse and the following week at the Beaver Creek Chophouse. He talked a little about how he and Dan Fleshman got that engagement.

Danny  talked about the development of his performing character, Gino  Mozzarella, and how important it is to have a separate character so you  can book additional shows. The insight he shares on this subject are  fascinating and a "must hear" for any magician who is looking tor an  additional stream of revenue.

At around 38 minutes into this  podcast, Danny also shared the secret of a great little impromptu  mentalism effect using your business cards. This drawing duplication  effect is called "Drawn Again" that is straight from his lecture and  explained here on The Magic Word.

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030: MINDvention 2011 - Day Three

It's official. MINDvention is history and everyone agrees that it was one of the best. Today's activities started off with another attendee's show which featured some pretty good entertainment. After a quick burger it was time for Eugene Burger's lecture on his spirit theatre and seances that was hosted by Larry Hass. Richard Osterlind lectured on some dynamite stuff that included some of the subtle nuances that made the effects real magic. After the dinner break it was time for the evening Masters of Mentalism Show hosted by Robert Allen. If opened with Pete Poskiparta followed by Jan Forster, Eugene Burger, Ted "Saint James" (Karmilovich) in the middle with RIchard Osterlind closing the gala.

(left to right) Scott Wells, Banachek, Lior Suchard, Ted Karmilovich, Ken Weber, Ross Johnson at lunch.(mobile upload)

I was fortunate to have a chat with Ted Karmilovich before the day's activities began. Next I pulled aside Lupe Nielsen and Simone Marron to hear from the distaff side of mentalism. Then it was into the dealers' room where I chatted with the men from down under, the lads from Oz, Sean Taylor, Nick Morton and Richard Paddon. After the evening show I sat down with Eugene Burger to recap a few details from his earlier lecture. Then it was off to the Irish pub for a recap of the convention from the perspectives of Dan Strange, Peter Studebaker and Bob Patillo. For a final wrap of the convention we chat with Rick Maue, Tom "Cue Ball" Cutts, and Banachek.

Next year's MINDvention dates are set for October 21, 22 & 23, 2012 back here at the Palace Station Casino. Mark your calendars and don't miss it.

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