239: I.B.M. 2015 Convention - Day Two

Day two in Jacksonville had the second day of stage contests plus the beginning of the "Big Three" shows. The "Big Three" shows are when the registrants are broken up into three separate, color-coded groups and see one of the three events each day. On one day a group will see the David & Leeman show. On the second day, that group will see the David Cox show. And on the third day that group will see the close-up show that features Michael Dardant, Dan Garrett, Paul Cummins, Suzanne, Boris Wild and Chad Long. The other groups will see alternate shows each day. I think you get the idea.

The evening show at the Florida Theater had excitement as patrons entered the theater with Kozmo performing in the lobby. The evening stage show, "Shenanigans", featured Eric Buss along with John & Lari Lynn Shyrock, Ivan Pecel and Greg Shibley.

Context Chairman, Oscar Munoz, announced the six stage finalists who will appear in the Friday Night Show:

From New Hampshire: David Chandler

From Japan: Hannah

From Florida: David Hernandez

From Illinois: Trent James

From Michigan: Stuart McDonald

From Nevada: Chris Randall

The late night lecture back at the hotel was the always hilarious, Tom Mullica!

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:01:32 - Ted and Marian Outerbridge, illusionists from Canada, talk about touring with a big illusion show.

00:13:33 - Incoming International President of the I.B.M., Joe Turner, talks about his vision and goals for the organization in the upcoming year.

00:28:03 - David & Leeman talk about their experience on America's Got Talent TV show, their cooperative union on-stage personalities and how they interact with each other.

0043:35: - Lion Fludd talks about his mentalism contest show, preparing for a contest, his one-man show in Las Vegas and his road from magic to mentalism

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213: Chicago Magic Bars & Lounges

Chicago has a rich history of magic bars within the city limits as well as in the outlying areas. The "hay day" of magic bars in Chicago ended around 1998 with the closing of the last magic bar. But Joey Cranford and John Sturk are pumping new life into an old concept with the new nightclub/theater called "Chicago Magic Lounge". This will be a recreation of the early 20th century, prohibition era lounge one night each week on the upper part of Chicago.

Bill Weimer is a local magician who was an integral part of the Chicago magic bar scene from the 1970's through the 1990's. He worked seven of the nine or so Chicago-land magic bars. He has a lot of stories about these clubs in their glory days and in fact, wrote a book about his experiences called "Now You See Them, Now You Don't".

00:03:18 - Joey Cranford and John Sturk talk about the newest venture that will open on March 5, 2015, The Chicago Magic Lounge. They talk about their vision of the Lounge and what they hope will happen. They will also encourage local magicians to come and hang our and create a "magic lab" where performers can try out new stuff.

00:40:56 - Bill Weimer talks about the history of Chicago-land bars from his perspective of one who has been there and done that having worked at seven of the nine or so magic bars within the city's boundaries over a 20 year period. Bill wrote the book on bar magic entitled "Now You See Them, Now You Don't". In this podcast, Bill shares some of the stories from his book and his perspective as a working performer.

Order your copy of Bill's book at his website http://www.magicbarbook.com/

#194 - Theaters of Magic

With the closing of Houston's Magic Island in 2008, it's hard to find a public venue where people can go to see quality entertainment and magicians can find a place to ply their trade. Over the past few years though, some inspired people have been testing the waters to see if there is a market for magic in their areas.

Some started off with the idea of having a venue where they could perform their own material and hone it to perfection, break in some new material, and perhaps along the way get a following and find some who might hire them for more lucrative, long-lasting work. Some theaters offer opportunities for visiting magicians to perform.

Some, like Steve Cohen and his "Chamber Magic" in New York City, or Dennis Watkins and his "Magic Parlour" in Chicago, continue to feature just one performer without any replacements during his absence. These magic theaters, like Chicago's "Magic Cabaret" or "Magic Chicago" offer a more "theatrical experience" in a theater district or in a hotel room. Some offer just magic and perhaps some adult beverages while others offer an evening complete with a dining experience and perhaps some strolling magicians, too!

Though there are several impresarios of magic theaters spread across the U.S. whom I could have contacted, I selected just four random magic theater owner/operators: two from Florida and two from the San Francisco, California area. They represent different business strategies and long term goals.

http://bayareadinnershow.com http://danchanmagic.com Dan Chan Presents: Bay Area Magicians perfect for corporate events and family gatherings.

Bay Area's Best Dinner Show - Cupertino location 2013 Footage Check out our website http://bayareadinnershow.com for our newest videos!

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:02:28 - Erick & Kim Olson talk about "Wizardz" located in Kissimmee, Florida, a great tourist location just within 10 minutes away from Disney World. Erick likes to use his theater to break in new effects while featuring other magicians who pass through the area. Wizardz is open every Monday and seats about 50 people. They talk about competing with all the other tourist attractions in the area. Their Facebook page is http://Facebook.com/ErickWizardzOlson.

00:21:10 - David and Cheri Evangelista, owner/operator of Merlin's Theater next to their magic shop. Their theater is open one weekend every six to eight weeks where they selectively identify acts to come in and perform. That gives them time to advertise and promote the shows.

00:35:37 - Walt Anthony talks about his San Francisco Magic Parlor. The Parlor is inside the Chancellor Hotel Union Square Theatre where Walt spends four hours putting up the stage, sound and lights. They are open every weekend, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening. The decor is old style Parisian with the ambiance of Old Time San Francisco complete with theatrical story telling and magic stories of the area. 90% of the time the show features Walt Anthony; however, there have been instances when he has booked other acts outside of the area.

01:05:31 - Dan Chan, the Magic Man has been operating the "Bay Area Dinner Show" for the past three years. They are open on Mondays and have a variety of different sized rooms available for groups of 15 to 150. They size up or down to fit each size group. Their show also includes dinner and includes tableside close-up. Dan talks about his marketing campaign and how he gets people into the theater.

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.

239: I.B.M. 2015 Convention - Day Two

213: Chicago Magic Bars & Lounges

#194 - Theaters of Magic

The Magic Word