155: Day Three - F.F.F.F. 2014

More fun and more magic than you can shake a wand at, Day three saw a few more people arrive for the weekend and the afternoon and evening shows were outstanding with many acts that drew standing ovations.

The official activities on the morning began with the Pat Page Memorial Workshop, hosted by Mike Powers, that featured "Tricks from Before 1950". For a PDF of the tricks taught, you can Click Here to read it all. The afternoon show, "World Gala Sho" was hosted by Buddy Farnan, followed by the second afternoon show, "4F Friends, Old and New", emceed by Oscar Munoz. The evening show "Friday's Finger Flicking Frolic" compered by Meir Yedid. The evening's show was divided into two parts with a brief intermission that was punctuated by repeated standing ovation. There was no lecture during the day' however, lots of learning went on everywhere throughout the hotel.

Time codes for this podcast:

00:00:15 - FISM Winner, Soma from Hungary, gives us an update on the status of his book about using music. We last talked in Bristol on May 13, 2013. This will be an invaluable source for all magicians from close-up to stage.

00:10:35 - Rocco returned to the F.F.F.F. after a four year hiatus while he has been performing all over the world. Rocco talks about his experiences working at the Crazy Horse in Paris to theaters in Russia, China and many other places around the world. Rocco will be delivering what may well be his last lecture ever. on Penguin coming this July. More details at Penguin Magic. Rocco also talks about his D'Lites and the future of his products. One such product is his stage version of Slydini's jumbo Linking Safety Pins, among other items available through his website at http://DLitesNext.com or http://TheMagicOfRocco.com By the way, the magician from Spain that Rocco and I talked about was Mario Lopez from Spain.

00:28:48 - Guest of Honor, Shawn Farquhar, talks about his many contests he has competed in over the years and the multitude of awards he has received. Shawn will be the incoming International President of the I.B.M. later this summer (at the combined I.B.M. and S.A.M. convention). Here he talks about what he plans to do during his term in office.

00:50:50 - Richard Hatch, formerly of H&R Magic Books, talks about his recent injury and recovery following a fall that resulted in some stitches (thanks, Raj Madhok, for removing them here at the convention).

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Ouke performed this yo-yo act and received a well deserved standing ovation (this YouTube video was not taken at the F.F.F.F. convention).

154: Day Two - F.F.F.F. 2014

So much on Day One, but this second is the first FULL day and night of non-stop close-up magic and learning. Great lectures by Tim Ellis and Guest of Honor, Shawn Farquhar.

This podcast may be one of my favorites because of the subject matter discussed particularly in two separate chats: one with Chris Pilsworth and the second with Tim Ellis. Great material that should be heard more than once. I heartily advise you to pay attention and maybe even take notes.

Time Codes for this podcast:

00;00:13 - Chris Pilsworth, from Ottawa, Canada, (the guy who puts the cactus in the balloon) talks about creativity and working on the street.

00:29:1 - Last year's Guest of Honor, Stephen Bargatze, gets caught in the elevator talking about creating a routine for the closing show.

00:30:49 - In the Dealer's Room I catch up with Bob Little and Andy Dallas as we talk about the brick and mortar shops, their future, online competition, and more. Plus they talk about the upcoming Bob Little's Super Sunday, June 8, 2014.

00:37:32 - Tim Ellis, from Australia, gives us a short synopsis of his lecture: How to make your audience care about what you do - C.A.R.E. (Connect with your audience, Alter your presentation, Relate to your audience, and Excellent magic). Plus he also talks about FISM 2015 in Italy.

01:01:04 - Geoff Williams talks about his recent lecture tour and his upcoming fund raisers. He also gives his perspective of why he loves the F.F.F.F. convention.

01:11:43 - Vinny Grosso, author of "Exposed and Fearless" gives us a follow-up to his Kickstarter project that we discussed on The Magic Word Podcast posted on September 9, 2013.

Magic & Martinis' Thursday

At Alex's Steakhouse in Batavia, NY with Geoff Williams, Peter McLanachan, Scott Wells, Don Wiberg, and Steve Friedberg.

153: Day One - F.F.F.F. 2014

We're shuffling off to Buffalo for the first day of this four day and night close-up magic bacchanal. The number "four" has significance this year because it is also the 44th annual Four F convention.

This year's attendees are coming from 17 different countries on five continents. Twenty are from Canada, 12 from France, eight each from England and Japan; three each from Argentina, Germany, Italy and Taiwan; two each from Australia, South Korea, Spain and Switzerland; one each from China, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, and Scotland; and about 156 from the U.S.A. We have 43 contest winners from conventions around the world including 12 FISM winners, (three Grand Prix winners), the nine past International Presidents from the I.B.M. plus its current International President and the eight past Presidents of the S.A.M. along with 22 magicians attending the F.F.F.F. for the first time.

An free eBook of the program is available Here.

Made by Matt Episcopo for the Guest of Honor, Shawn Farquhar featuring some of the attendees at this year's F.F.F.F. convention.

Here are the time codes for this podcast:

00:00:15 - Scott Wells talks about what to expect in this and the next few podcasts as we post daily updates from the F.F.F.F. convention

00:05:41 - Gary Plants talks about his experience at the recent Magic Con in San Diego where he was one of the presenters.

00:16:10 - Dan Garrett talks about his recent lecture tour of Japan and his upcoming online lecture to be presented on Penguin Magic. on June 1, 2014

00:23:03 - Chief "Forker", Obie O'Brien, talks about some of the history of the F.F.F.F. convention, some stories about Jay Marshall, Eddie Fechter and others plus some advice on how to get an invitation to this private event.