063: A Chat with the Director of the American Museum of Magic in Marshall, Michigan

Following Abbott's 75th Get-Together, it would have been a shame not to have driven a few miles north of Colon to visit the American Museum of Magic in Marshall, Michigan. I first visited this museum following my first Get-Together in 1984. I was fortunate to have been given a private tour by owner and curator, Bob Lund. The Museum is now run by a board of directors but the building and it's contents look pretty much unchanged with what appeared to me as the same posters that adorned the wall way back then.

I chatted briefly with Hannah Lewis who is an intern at the museum who gives regular tours and is quite knowledgeable about the building, its contents and its history. She then introduced me to Jeff Taylor who is the Director. He gave me a little more insight and a private tour of the library which is usually only accessible by appointment.

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Photos of the American Museum of Magic - Marshall, Michigan

Robert "Bob" Lund (May 4, 1925 - October 20, 1995) was a noted magic historian and author, was also one of the world's foremost magic collectors. As a result of his passion (and needing a place to house his massive collection), he created the American Museum of Magic. The Museum was only open by appointment during his lifetime. Since Elaine Lund's passing in 2006, the museum has been governed by a board of directors and has become a non-profit corporation. It wasn't until about three years ago that it was finally opened to the public with regular operating hours.

The Bureau of History (Michigan Department of State) designated the building housing the American Museum of Magic as a Registered Historic Site in 1985.

The first thing visitors see as they enter the museum is the breathtaking statue of the Le Grand David show featuring one of their signature illusions, the Broomstick Suspension. This is one of three of these particular works of art in existence.

The Traveling Magician statue is another rare piece of art that is one of 61 known to exist in private collections.

A block away from the main museum building is the former Marshall Library. This building now houses the promotional materials of known and lesser known magicians. Additional ephemera fill the building plus other treasures like an ultra rare copy of "The Discoverie of Witchcraft".

"The Discoverie of Witchcraft" was a partially sceptical book published by the English gentleman Reginald Scot in 1584, and intended as an exposé of medieval witchcraft. It is considered rare becuase all obtainable copies were burned on the assccion of James I in 1603.

While I was visiting the museum, I video recorded a ten minute tour on my iPad then mixed some magic music in the background. If you would like to see more that just the photos above, then enjoy this short video below.

A short tour of the AMM in Marshall, MI.

For more information on The American Museum of Magic, visit their website at http://americanmuseumofmagic.org/

062: Abbott's Get Together Day 4 - 2012

Just before the final evening show, we got an inside wrap up the 75th Get-Together with owner and organizer, Greg Bordner. The information for next year's Get-Together is already posted at: http://magicgettogether.com/ Following the show and the awards presentation at the elementary school, the group continued the reverie in the village.

I caught up with Stan Allen who talked about this Get-Together, MAGIC Live! and the Essential Magic Conference. We recorded this chat with Stan outside the Legion Hall in hopes that it would be much quieter. Indeed it was; however, the wind picked up and there is some wind noise in this part of the podcast. Please forgive the poor quality of the recording of this chat, but I decided to leave it in because of the quality of the discussion. For dates, registration and more information on MAGIC Live!, visit: http://www.magicmagazine.com/live/

Before we called it a night, I talked with Al the Only and Don Wiberg who together gave a nice wrap and overview of the entire convention. Then just before we signed off, Dana Daniels came out of the Legion Hall so we got to chat with him about him winning the Senator Clark Crandall Comedy Award for Excellence, his "No Show Show" and his future. For information on booking Dana, you can find more information at: http://danadaniels.com/Dana_Daniels.html

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