T.A.O.M. Photos from Day 3

Day two was pretty much a lot of lectures so I didn't get many photos, but Day three provided some great shots. I caught Dani DaOrtiz and Christian Engbloom holding court at their booth with a horde of magicians packed around just to watch Dani work.

The professsional close-up show was a real treat and as good or better of a line-up of performers that I have ever seen at a convention: Eric Jones, Chad Long, Mark Mason, Christian Engbloom, Paul Wilson and Chris Korn.

Mark Mason and Chad Long received standing ovations. This picutre below was Chad's.

The T.A.O.M. convention was not the only convention going on in the Hilton Americas Hotel over the Labor Day weekend. The Miss Texas pageant was also happening on one of the other floors. PJ Campagna hosted one of the rooms for the Professional Close-Up Shows. She and Joy Miller gave us a funny moment during a break in the close-up action.

The late night lectures after the evening stage show started off with Michael Weber who gave us several clever ideas for both close-up and stage plus some cool mentalism tricks, too.

The "Fat Brothers", Christian Engbloom and Dani DaOrtiz gave us a late night (really, it was early morning) tag team lecture on card conjuring.

069: T.A.O.M. Day 3 in Houston, TX

The third and final full day was jam packed with even more great lectures plus the performances of the professional close-up artists. And the evening show really rocked with The Rhythm of Magic, Losander, Danny Cole and Dani DaOrtiz all hosted by Eric Mead.

I chatted today with Craig Fillesetti about his company, Promystic (http://www.promystic.com/) that produces some of the world's finest and most reliable electronic equipment for the complete conjurer. They have a new product that is worth a look. Next I talked with Losander about the state of the economy in Las Vegas as it applies to magicians, plus some moral and ethical issues dealing with undercutting your fellow magicians. Oscar Munoz weighed in with his opinion of how the convention has been going. Just before our conversation, we learned that Past President Bob Karlebach had died earlier in the day. The conversation turned rather serious as we talked about our own mortality. Next we talked with Richard Kaufman about some of the rich history of Genii magazine (www.GeniiMagazine.com) and the 75th anniversary party for Genii that he is throwing in Florida (www.GeniiConvention.com). Richard also shared his veiwpoint and predictions of the print media as it relates to the magic magazine industry (do you think magic magazines only have about ten years left before everything is digital?) Then finally we did a wrap of the convention with Chip Romero, one of the performers at this year's convention who will be featured with his larger show in Dallas at next year's TAOM convention in Dallas, TX (www.TAOM2013.com).

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046: Steve Trash on Character Development

This podcast was perhaps one of my easiest interviews and features someone who maybe talks more than me. Steve Trash, the "Rockin' Eco-Hero" visited Houston for a few weeks to perform on the Kid's Country Stage at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. You can read the article from the March 12, 2012 Houston Chronicle website at: http://bit.ly/wezWsj and you can view some pictures of Steve in costume and see him entertaining (and educating) audiences.

He has performed for over 27 years and developed a character that not only personifies his credo "Reduce - Recycle - Reuse" but he set the standard for solidifying the tangible, real life embodiment of what could otherwise be a difficult concept: the environment.

There are so many directions this interview could have gone and indeed it could have easily slipped into a multi-part installment highlighting his various facets. In this podcast, Steve talks a little about his background but more importantly, he discusses how he found his character and developed his passion. I think you will enjoy the many sides of this complex, and jovial Rockin' Eco-Hero...Steve Trash.

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