Magic & Martinis Thursday - Aug. 29, 2013

This was a week for recuperating from hand surgery. All went well for my carpal tunnel and I am on the mend and able to do double lifts though I can't do the Erdnase Palm Shift very well. But then again, I never could. :) My doctor was funny. Before I could ask him if I could play the piano after the surgery (you know the old joke), he told me that I could play the piano ONLY if I played it before the surgery. Wise guy. He stole my line. So this past week I have been working on mentalism and performing tricks not requiring much sleight-of-hand.

During this past week, I performed John Archer's "Blank Night" (sold by Vanishing Inc.) to great success plus the Magic Square. If you are considering performing The Magic Square, then you have to buy the  Luis DeMatos DVD on The Magic Square Very well done and complete with professional routine and a bonus effect plus stickers for your marking pen. I have also continued to use To-Do VooDoo by Rick Lax. I impressed my doctor as well as our Sunday School teacher. It is a great impromptu trick that can easily be carried in your wallet. I wish I was compensated for mentioning any of these tricks, but just so you know, I paid full price like everyone else for all the products I mention. I only rely on your generosity through PayPal donations (see the upper left hand corner of this blog).

Later this weekend, I will be traveling to Dallas for the Texas Association of Magicians (T.A.O.M.) annual convention. I will be riding with Jamie Salinas who is one of the product reviewers for the M.U.M. magazine. It was Jamie who put me on to To-Do VooDoo. I ran into Rick Lax at the recent MAGIC Live! convention in Las Vegas and showed him a little improvement created by Jamie. I also told him about the presentation that Banachek shared with us. Rick was pleased to hear that we are enjoying his effect so much and thrilled that we are putting a different spin on it.

And speaking of Jamie and mentalism, he will be selling his Lotto Fever at the T.A.O.M. which is a killer effect that plays for audiences both big and small. It is another effect that can be carried in your wallet though you can also use other "sorcerer's sidearms" to aid in the effect, if you wish.

Enough for now. I'm off to see the wizards in Dallas. If we run into each other at the convention, please shake my left hand. :) Be sure to watch and listen for my updates from the T.A.O.M. Cheers! 

Martinis aid in the recovery of my hand surgery. 

086: MagiFest 2013 - Day Three

The final day of Version 2.0 of the Magifest was another success. The day opened with a lecture by John Archer then we had another great T.E.D. talk by outstanding magicians like Peter Pitchford, Ben Train & Chris Mayhew, Simon Aronson and Kainoa Harbottle with a little extra thrown in by co-organizer, Andi Gladwin, the day was magnificent. The afternoon lecture was by Dani DaOrtiz which was even more incredible to learn how his magic is accomplished. The evening show was hosted by Simon Lovell with the opening act by John Archer with some comedy mentalism followed by Peter Pitchford with an homage to Cardini. Justin Flom rocked the house with some outstanding, visual magic and closing the show was Justin Willman with some time-tested classics. The two Justins closed with dueling floating tables.

The podcast starts off with a nice chat with Kozmo about Reel Magic which is now available for streaming online. We talked about street performing and how Kozmo decided to quit working the streets and why he decided to return.

13:12 - After the evening show, I took my wandering mic around the lobby to get some feedback from some of the non-magicians who were in the audience and what they thought of the show.

20:40 - I then got to chat with a couple of the stars from the evening show, Justin Flom and Justin Willman. They had some great thoughts on the direction of magic and some advice for the young magicians.

32:41 - Ginny and Simon Aronson talked about their two person mind reading act, their inspiration, and some of their more difficult and unusual things people have had in their pockets and purses.

42:01 - Another one of the stars from the evening show was Peter Pitchford who talks about his interest in Cardini, branding, and making a living for a family of six as a stage magician.

53:35 - Braden Richards was the winner of the Junior Scholarship for the Sorcerer's Safari Magic Camp. We had a brief chat with him then talked with Mike Segal who is the director of the Magic Camp which will be the last week of August. For more information, see http://themagiccamp.com

59:23 - Convention organizers, Andi Gladwin and Joshua Jay finally got to relax and take a breath after the convention was over  They talked about what they did and didn't do and what they might do in the future. John Archer chimed in with a few comments (and some Jager shots) during the chat, too.

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084: MagiFest 2013 - Day One

The MagiFest in Columbus, Ohio missed the wrecking ball after several  decades of successful conventions and great management. The MagiFest  was always considered the first major convention of the year drawing  well over 500 peoply annually who would brave the traditionally frigid  environs of the Midwest winters. Registrants traveled from around the  region and talent was drawn from across the globe to make the MagiFest  one of the premier conventions on the scene.

But after Jep  Hostetler turned over the reigns of management to Ron Spangler, it  appeared to be more than the new organizers were equipped to handle.  Although last year's convention was a financial success, they kind of  looked around the room and everyone agreed that perhaps they should let  it go.

Joshua Jay was one of the hundreds of magicians who grew up  attending the MagiFest and learned to love and appreciate magic. He saw  some of the best talent in the world and learned from them. He and  business partner, Andi Gladwin from the U.K. teamed up to organize "The  Session", a close-up convention in England. Buoyed from the success of  that convention, they felt that the MagiFest was too important to let  die. Moreover, they thought if the MagiFest is to survive well into the  future, it was time to take it in a new direction with some traditional things for the "regulars" plus have an appeal to the  younger set of "up and comers"...just like Joshua was.

The first day  allowed the registrants to squeeze into the small Dealers' Room for a  chance to get the latest and greatest...and indeed, they had it all. I  have never seen such a feeding frenzy; however, it reminded me of The  Magic Circle Centenary cramped Dealers' Room many years ago that had us  all packed in like sardines. At least this Dealers' Room had air  conditioning, though it wasn't necessary since it was 12 degrees  outside.

The registrants were split into two groups one of which  saw Simon Lovell's one man show "Strange and Unusual Hobbies" that he  has presented off Broadway in New York for eight years while the other  room Scott Robinson hosted the other group with a workshop.

Before  anything started and while the corridor was filled with anxious  shoppers with time on their hands and money in their pockets and  awaiting the opening of the Dealers' Room, I stopped long-time attendee  (and local restaurant magician) Carroll Baker who talked about the  demise of the Red Coats (the former organizers of the MagiFest) and John  Sturk from Chicago and this being his first MagiFest. Steve Bryant  (editor of "The Little Egypt Gazette") also said hello.

For  "Magic and Martini Thursday" (see Facebook to join us each week for a  virtual martini) we went into the bar for a real treat with Jania  Taylor, John Archer and Simon Lovell. This may be one of the best and  most fun (and funniest) interviews I have recorded on The Magic Word at  conventions. I think I was able to bleep out all the potentially  offensive language, but it wasn't easy. :)

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