148: Day 2 - East Coast Mind Jam 2014

The second day of the East Coast Mind Jam had the "Mind-Jammers" gathered to see and hear a lot of amazing stuff. The lectures were longer than most time allotted at other conventions. And with the lower number of attendees (about 75 people), everyone had quality time with all the performers and lecturers.

Patrick Redford (George Tait) was up first in the morning following breakfast. Next was Devin Knight, then Jim Sisti (on marketing). Richard Osterlind held court for nearly two hours with an SRO audience. That only left an hour with Ted Karmilovich to give some really wonderful ideas in his lecture.

Scott Wells hosted the evening show with a lot of original introductions that will only be seen once. The bill included Devin Knight, Ted Karmilovich, Joe Atmore (who recreated The Amazing Dunninger's old time radio show) and closing the first half with Patrick Redford (George Tait). The second half was a real treat with Richard Osterlind presenting his one man, hour long corporate show to the audience that included many from the public who came in for the evening show.

The hotel had a private party in the bar, so the festivities closed rather early tonight even though there was a cash bar outside the dealers room until the "late" hour of 11:30.

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:00:00 - Ben Salinas is a card and coin guy with 46 DVDs to his credit. But he is going the way of mentalists and adding more mind reading into his routines. Find out why.

00:09:14 - Joey the See "Mentalist to the Mob" (Joseph Curcillo) talks about how magic and mentalism leak into the courtroom as an attorney.

00:20:30 - Docc Hilford can finally take a breather to relax and chat for a brief moment. He talks about how much he has enjoyed this convention and what makes this one so different from others.

00:25:44 - Ed Russe and Eric Dittelman talk with Joe Atmore about his portrayal of The Amazing Dunninger and the history of this radio great.

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141: Marc Salem - Piece of Mind

Star of stage and screen (well, small screen...television), Marc Salem stopped by for an extended chat about mentalism, world travel, building a show and the structure of a show, theatre work, celebrities he has worked with and known, and more. In particular, he shares some stories about his appearance on the TV show, 60 Minutes, stories from the stage perspective, stories about Uri Geller and more. This was an interesting conversation in that we seem to be "all over the board". It was difficult to keep a focus and get direct answers despite redirecting. It was kind of like trying to nail Jell-o to to the wall.

One of the interesting analogies he draws are the three types of spacial displacement: human years, dog years and entertainment years. He also talks about the dangers of making predictions, making meaning of our magic and lives, using psychology, how to get publicity, The 13 (secret mentalism New York group), and so much more.

Marc was low-key in promoting his book to the point of not even mentioning its title in this podcast. For the record, his book is "The Six Keys to Unlock and Empower Your Mind: Spot Liars & Cheats, Negotiate Any Deal to Your Advantage, Win at the Office, Influence Friends, & Much More". Whew! With a long title like that, it's no wonder that he didn't mention it in order to keep the podcast short. :) But for those who are interested, you can find it on Amazon. Just Click Here for more information on Amazon and to see an excerpt from the book.

If you are interested in hearing more from Marc or you have any questions about anything he mentioned during our chat, then please drop him a note via email to masalem@aol.com

Magic (or is it "Mentalism") & Martinis' Thursday

126: MINDvention 2013 - Day Two

What an amazing, full day of more activities and fun. The scheduled lecturer was canceled because of some passport problems, but was replaced with three outstanding performers: Chad Long, Patrick Redfern and Bill Abbott. After lunch we had a 30 minute lecture by Allison Campbell who talked about being a trade show mentalist followed by another mini-lecture by Paul Vigil who shared an excellent performance piece that he rarely presented but received the most response from his audiences. The brevity of their lectures was because of the extra time that was given to Jheff and Bob Cassidy for an another excellent lecture.

After a dinner break we were treated to a hilarious, R-rated show by Cashetta, a drag queen psychic, who held back nothing. In less than 60 seconds I knew we weren't in Kansas anymore. The fun continued into the evening after his/her show with the Bob Cassidy Roast featuring his good friends telling off-color jokes and stories from Bob's past. Jon Stetson was the host of the roast and included funny/rude stories by Lew Wymisner, Ken Weber, Cashetta, Michael Weber, Jheff, Ross Johnson, and Docc Hilford.

Time Stamps for this podcast:

00:00:11 - Chris Carter talks about working the college campus shows and his creation of the "Anniversary Waltz" card trick

00:11:28 - Eric Citron talks about his upcoming mentalism convention called the East Coast Mind Jam next March 28-30, 2014. This will be an honor for his lifetime of magic and as the owner of Tannen's Magic in New York. More information on this convention can be found at: http://eastcoastmindjam.com/

00:16:36 - Stan Allen gives us a little recap of his MAGIC Live! convention from this past summer and some feedback from the attendees plus maybe a look ahead at what he plans for the next one.

00:20:22 - Chad Long talks about the creation of his character and development of how his stage persona came into being.

00:33:03 - Docc Hilford advises us why and how we as entertainers should tip (provide gratuities) to others and the importance of doing it. He also tells us what he is up to for the next few months. you can order Docc's products by visiting http://DoccHilfordProducts.com

00:52:52 - Paul Draper carries on with the discussion begun in yesterday's panel regarding Magic and Mentalism and whether it can be mixed in the same program. Paul will be traveling on a lecture tour of northeastern U.S. He will be represented by Megan Tholen who will coordinate his trip. If you are interested in hosting his lecture, then please contact Megan at PaulDraperManagement@gmail.com

01:01:32 - In the Dealers' Room, Losander tells why he is a dealer at the MINDvention. When you think about it, the efects that he sells not only look like magic, but they can be presented as mental feats of power to bend physical nature. For more information on his prodcucts, visit http://www.Losander.com

01:04:15 - Lupe Nielsen just returned from the Los Angeles Conference of Magic History and she gives us an update of what happened there at that very exclusive event.

01:11:32 - Pete Poskiparta is a radio host in Finland where he performs mind reading over the radio. He also does voice overs for films in his country.

01:28:20 - Eric Dittelman gives us a follow-up of our conversation last year about America's Got Talent and what happened during the interim in his life including an appearance on the TV show, "Ellen" last April. You can follow Eric on Twitter at @EDittelman and on Facebook Fan Page at http://www.Facebook.com/EDittelman

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.