078: Part 1 - The End of the World/Year Podcast

"This is the end, my only friend, the end. Of our elaborate plans, the end. Of everything that stands, the end. No safety or surprise, the end.” – Jim Morrison, The Doors.

Is the Mayan calendar predicting the end of days correct? Maybe yes and maybe no. But why tempt fate? When is the last time you said that you would do such and such, “if it is the last thing I ever do,”? Well, time may be growing short my friend and now could be the time to do that “last” thing. Whether it’s talking to a long lost friend, forgiving someone, or telling someone you love them, now is the time for all good men (and women) to do what needs to be done. But if December 21st comes and goes with a fizzle, then by doing that “last thing” will be one more thing you can cross off your bucket list.

But one thing is for sure, it is the holidays and I want to celebrate the season and also my one year anniversary of The Magic Word with 77 podcasts in the archive since August 10, 2011. Okay, my calendar is off and it’s actually more than one year. Maybe I have a little Mayan blood in me. So this extended podcast is my holiday gift to you.

This podcast is “Ginormous”, as my grand daughter, Sarah, would say. It is definitely epic with interviews with magicians from around the country, over the border and across the ocean. I talked with a sampling of 15 magicians whom you may know and some you may not. But the variety of topics and their perspective on each subject is more than just a little fascinating. I focused our short chats on their areas of expertise.

But it seems that I was more than just a little ambitious in trying to keep these “brief”. And in the end, I had nearly five hours of interviews. So, rather than uploading this in one long “Ginormous” podcast (at over 130MB), I broke it up into smaller bytes of five, back-to-back podcasts. They are mostly unrelated to one another; however, there is a thread that goes through some of the discussions: the importance of youth involvement in our art to ensure the life, health and future of magic.

To make it easier to locate the chat(s) with the people you want to hear, here is a time chart of where we start the conversations with the following people in this Part One:

00:02:12 – Richard Kaufman, editor and publisher of Genii Magazine, gives us a peek at The Genii Speaks column for January 2013 where he talks about the death of printed magazine and the rise of digital editions. Plus we talk about the rise and fall of desktop publishing in magic and its evolution into less writing and more talking and performing on videos on sites like YouTube http://www.geniimagazine.com/

00:28:58 – Marc DeSouza talks about the magic lecture circuit: the importance of what is being taught, the difficulty of going on tour, and the level of interest and attendance at lectures.

00:45:57 – Banachek discusses the state of magic and mentalism on television now and in the future. http://www.banachek.com/

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077: Day 3 - MINDvention 2012 in Las Vegas, NV

Another MINDvention breezed by that will go down as one of the best yet. Danny Archer and Robert Allen always find some new twist for us each year. In the opening chat with Danny, he talks about this year's event but he also tips some stuff exclusive for our listeners such as next year's dates, a special Guest of Honor (hint: his initials are B.C.), a special contest that is in the making, and more.

After the convention, I took my roving Blue Microphone Mikey into Jake's Irish Bar in the Palace Hotel & Casino. I took a broad sampling from many of the attendees from this year's MINDvention. The overwhelming highlight seemed to be Satori's act this evening. It was spectacular. He came into the bar and I asked to chat with him on the record but he politely asked not to be interviewed because, he said, "Now is the time for everyone to talk about me, not for me to talk about myself." And indeed he was correct. Everyone was talking about him.

One of the friends I cornered was Colin McLeod who was another one of the hits of the convention. He compered the "2nd Masters of Mentalism" show this evening and did an outstanding job. In our half hour chat, Colin discussed a lot of stuff he didn't have time for during his regular lecture. So for those who wished they could have heard and learned more from Colin, then I know you will enjoy this podcast.

Download a MP3 file of this podcast by Clicking Here then right click to save the file. You can also download the MP3 media file directly from the RSS feed by Clicking Here.

MINDvention 2012 Pictures from Days 2&3

Finishing the second day, Colin McLeod gave the last lecture for the day before the evening show. Colin always has commercial mentalism and his lectures are thorough, fun and creative. I think I bought (and will use) his complete lecture package.

Later that evening, Kenton Knepper was one of the featured performers on the "1st Masters of Mentalism" show. His lecture opened the second day and included material that is unique to him but sparks creative thought in all of us. He talked about loving your audience and having them love you.

Eugene Burger was in town for the Master Class for Mentalism that will follow the MINDvention. It will feature Ross Johnson, Eugene, Jeff McBride and Lawrence Haas. Which is why, in part, that Eugene came to introduce Larry Haas' lecture.

Lawrence Haas' lecture was another thought provoking talk. It was more than a lecture but more of a collegiate class on deep thinking about your own performance. Larry was one of the performers on the "1st Masters of Mentalism" show on Day Two. His performance style gave me pause to consider his character. I think you would get a clear picture of him if you could imagine Eugene Burger and Kreskin having a "love child".

Ross Johnon followed Larry with a lecture tribute to Al Koran. It was a fascinating study and history of one of the titans in mentalism. Ross finished his lecture with a ten miute blindfold act that killed. Well done, Ross! I am so thrilled to have seen his performance.

A big "thank you" goes out to co-roducers of the MINDvention, Robert Allen and Danny Archer and all the guys behind the scenes who make everything fun and run smoothly. Thanks, guys and we look forward to next year's tenth.