#189 Noel Britten - Magician/Humanitarian

Noel Britten is from, well Great Britain, so it should be an easy name to remember! Noe is the co-founder and host of "Bizarre Bath" which is a walking tour in the tourist community of Bath, England. He has also been a staple of the comedy club circuit in the U.K. as well as a noted street performer. He is currently the talent booker for the MacMillan's International Magic Convention and long time compere of this convention.

I have known Noel for quite some time, but I was unaware of his humanitarian efforts until I recorded this podcast. He was always interested in natural history and orangutangs and during a performance in Hong Kong, he and his wife dropped down to Indonesia to see the animals in their natural habitat and, well, one thing led to another.

We recorded this podcast in September during which time Noel and his wife were in Ketapang, Indonesia where they spend six months each year working with orphaned orangutans as part of the Animal Rescue Projects sponsored by the International Animal Rescue Foundation.

In this podcast, Noel begins with a discussion of his passion, International Animal Rescue and what he is doing at the orphaned orangutang sanctuary helping other volunteers. As a result seeing the plight of these animals, Noel has been finding less and less humor in the world which has dramatically affected his outlook on the world such that he no longer performs as a comedy magician.

At time stamp 00:13:00 Noel discusses the walking tour he conducts in Bath, England, called "Bizarre Bath" and how it was started and how others might replicate his efforts. He also talks about the rise and fall of comedy clubs in the U.K. like in the U.S. plus performing street magic. He gives us some good suggestions on how to get a crowd and getting people to put money in the hat. Noel has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and talks about the difficulty of working those shows and drawing crowds.

Download this podcast in an MP3 file by Clicking Here and then right click to save the file. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed by Clicking Here. (please note: this RSS Feed subscription system may not work with Android systems). Remember, you can download it through iTunes. See the preview page by Clicking Here.

Click the banner above to visit the International Animal Rescue website for more information and how you can donate to the cause. Please consider a donation to this organization if you can.

#188 - Charlie Randall, the "R" Behind H&R Magic Books

While traveling to Ft. Worth for the 2014 Texas Association of Magicians annual convention, my wife drove the car while Charlie Randall and I sat in the back seat and chatted about the creation of H&R Magic Books which grew into one of the world's leading magic book sellers. Please forgive some of the ambient road noise you hear in the background during this interview. But you should get the feeling as if you were riding along with us as you sat in the front seat and listened to our chat.

H&R Magic Books

Richard Hatch & Charlie Randall - 2006

Charlie talks about the beginnings of H&R Magic Books, its evolution, and how you might consider starting your own business. Today, Richard and Charlie have sold the business to Marshall Peterson and they have taken a back seat as Marshall moves the business forward. Charlie now occasionally helps out behind the booth at magic conventions but he mainly focuses on publishing new books.

In this interview, he also talks about publishing books and what he looks for when people submit material for his consideration for publishing. Charlie also talks about brick and mortar magic shops, the evolution of videos to DVD's, and more.

Second installment of "Meals with Magicians" featuring a dining experience with Banachek...well, not so much of "dining" as it was an "eating" experience at one of Houston's premiere burger chains, Southwells.

#187 - Kevin James, The Inventor

Kevin James has been called many things, performer, creator, manufacturer, world traveler, author, lecturer, producer and all around great guy. But what he's perhaps best known for is his moniker he has been tagged with for The Illusionists world tour: Inventor.

Certainly Kevin has had his share of inventing original, commercial tricks he has released like "Living Hand", "Floating Rose", "Snow" and "Bowl-A-Rama", among many others. He has won the "Parlour Magician of the Year" from the Academy of Magical Arts and competed in the second season of "America's Got Talent" (sic) where he advanced to the semi-finals. Kevin was also on CBS TV on "World's Greatest Magicians at the Magic Castle". He had a three year run in Paris' Crazy Horse, a multi-year contracts in Las Vegas with the Riviera in "Splash" and at the Greek Isles Casino "The World's Greatest Magic Show".

In this podcast, I caught up with Kevin before his tech rehearsal for his performance at the 2014 Texas Association of Magicians convention in Ft. Worth, Texas. We sat in the quiet theatre before the construction and hub-bub started and talked about The Illusionists world tour, his creations and his process for creating and his association with Gaeton Bloom, his experience on "America's Got Talent" (sic) and advice for others considering an audition. He also talked about some of his performances around the world and his early upbringing and association with the Long Beach Mystics.

This is a very insightful and thorough look at Kevin's magical world and career. Join us as we look through the eyeglasses of Kevin James.