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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".

View fullsize Chicago Magic Lounge Crew
View fullsize magic lounge stage.jpg
View fullsize magic lounge magician.jpg
View fullsize Bill Weimer
View fullsize Now You See Them Now You Don't.jpeg
View fullsize Heba Haba Al
View fullsize Al James
View fullsize Little Bit O Magic.jpg

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.

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. You can download or listen to the podcast through Stitcher by Clicking Here or through FeedPress by Clicking Here or through Tunein.com by Clicking Here. Remember, you can download it through the iTunes store, too. See the preview page by Clicking Here.

Open Thursday Nights at 8:00

Open Thursday Nights at 8:00

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

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

Tagged with Bill Weimer, John Sturk, Joey Cranford, Now You See Them Now You Don't, Chicago, Chicago magic bar, Chicago Magic Lounge.

March 5, 2015 by Scott Wells.
  • March 5, 2015
  • Scott Wells
  • Bill Weimer
  • John Sturk
  • Joey Cranford
  • Now You See Them Now You Don't
  • Chicago
  • Chicago magic bar
  • Chicago Magic Lounge
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TAOM 2013 logo Epilogue.jpg

TAOM 2013 Epilogue - Awards

TAOM 2013 logo Epilogue.jpg

Of course nearly every convention has contests. I encourage magicians, young and old alike to enter and compete in contests. It strengthens you as a performer, introduces you to other competitors who will become lifelong friends (just ask Lance Burton and Jeff McBride), and winning gives you credibility in your promotional material. So, here are the winners from the 2013 T.A.O.M. Convention in Dallas, Texas

Junior Close - Up - Steffen Banta

Senior Close -Up - Kayla Drescher

Senior Stage - no winner

Junior Stage - tie resulted in two winners: Chase Hasty and James Irwin

Senior Comedy - no winner

View fullsize James Irwin with Bob Emory
View fullsize TAOM 2014 Prez Bill Irwin with Chase Hasty
View fullsize Jr. Co-Winners James Irwin and Chase Hasty with Bill Irwin and Mark Jensen
View fullsize Kayla Drescher and Bob Emory
View fullsize Jr. Close-Up Winner Steffen Banta aside of Bill Irwin and Mark Jensen
View fullsize Front row: James Irwin. Back row (left to right): Kayla Drescher, Steffen Banta, Chase Hasty

Other certificates and letters of Appreciation went to outgoing President Mark Jensen, I.B.M. International President, Bill Irwin, and Tom Mullica. 

View fullsize S.A.M. International President Dal Sanders awarding certificate to TAOM outgoing President Mark Jensen
View fullsize I.B.M. International President Bill Evans receiving certificate from S.A.M. International President Dal Sanders
View fullsize I.B.M. International President Bill Evans presented a certificate to Tom Mullica
View fullsize Mark Jensen, Bill Evans, Tom Mullica and Johnny Thompson
View fullsize Tom Mullica accepts special poster from Mark Jensen and Chip Romero

Posted in Convention Report and tagged with Chase Hasty, Tom Mullica, Johnny Thompson, Bill Evans, Mark Jensen, Bill Irwin, T.A.O.M., Dallas Texas, Steffen Banta, Kayla Drescher, James Irwin, Chip Romero.

September 4, 2013 by Scott Wells.
  • September 4, 2013
  • Scott Wells
  • Chase Hasty
  • Tom Mullica
  • Johnny Thompson
  • Bill Evans
  • Mark Jensen
  • Bill Irwin
  • T.A.O.M.
  • Dallas Texas
  • Steffen Banta
  • Kayla Drescher
  • James Irwin
  • Chip Romero
  • Convention Report
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TAOM 2013 logo day 3.jpg

113: T.A.O.M. 2013 Day 3

TAOM 2013 logo day 3.jpg

The third day of the 2013 T.A.O.M. convention was action packed from start to finish beginning with a lecture by Fielding West then panel discussion on "Magic, Movies and a Cast of Characters" hosted by David Magee with Daniel Baldwin, Burton Gilliam, Johnny Thompson and Tom Mullica. Harry Anderson's lecture followed the panel discussion with lots of tips and great advice, anecdotes and jokes with a couple cool tricks interspersed along the way. The professional close-up session had five magicians rotating among five rooms which must have been exhausting. It featured Allen Okawa, John Shyrock, Shin Lim, David Stone and Jared Copf, all great performers.

The evening show was hosted by actor Burton Gilliam after being introduced by Daniel Baldwin. The show opened with the illusions of the Beckers (Fred and Bobbie) then Larry Haas, Ian Richards, and David Magee. A well rounded show. The late night show was Johnny Thompson interviewing Tom Mullica, one on one. It was hilarity at its best as they dealt with microphone problems.

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View fullsize Day 3-1 Burton and the Beckers.jpeg
View fullsize Day 3-3 Fred Becker.jpeg
View fullsize Day 3-4 Daniel Baldwin.jpeg
View fullsize Day 3-5 Burton Gilliam.jpeg
View fullsize Day 3-6 Larry Haas.jpeg
View fullsize Day 3-7 Ian.jpeg
View fullsize Day 3-8 Magee.jpeg
View fullsize Day 3-9 Tom and Johnny with mics.jpeg
View fullsize Day 3-10 Tom on floor.jpeg
View fullsize Day 3-11 Chip and Tom.jpeg
View fullsize Day 3-12 Tom get award.jpeg
View fullsize Day 3-13 Walter and Tom.jpeg
View fullsize Day 3-14 Tom and Scott.jpeg

The timestamps for this podcast:  

00:00:08 - We catch David Magee for a few moments before he goes in to host the panel discussion with Burton Gilliam (Blazing Saddles actor), Daniel Baldwin (actor), Johnny Thompson and Tom Mullica. Walter "Zaney" Blaney also adds his two cents on the topic of "where did magic lose its audience appeal?.".

00:07:10 - Walter Blaney loves Rob Zabrecky's act and we get to chat with Rob for a short time just before the afternoon panel discussion began. 

00:09:36 - Chip Romero talks about Doug Henning and gives us some personal insight that was not discussed during his lecture.

00:28:00 - Burton Gilliam hosted the Sunday Night show. Here he gives us a story about his friends, Slim Pickens.and his wife.

00:31:35 - Burton Gilliam told us a funny golf story ab out him playing in a celebrity golf tournament in Paris, Texas.. 

00:35:22- Tom Mullica began to chat with us about his first meeting with Red Skelton just before we had to cut it short due to the show was to begin that was to honor him.

00:37:17 - Tom finalized our brief chat about the Red Skelton routines he performs.

00:41:55 - Johnny and Pam Thompson talk about the T.A.O.M., ending their Tomsoni & Company in Vegas and their favorite city in the world.

Download this podcast in an MP3 file through FeedBurner or directly by Clicking Here and then right click to save the file. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed by Clicking Here.

Posted in Convention Report and tagged with Chip Romero, Mark Jensen, Johnny Thompson, Tom Mullica, Dallas Texas, T.A.O.M., Burton Gilliam, Daniel Baldwin, Ian Richards, Gene Anderson, Walter "Zaney" Blaney, Ronnie Ramin, Rob Zabrecky.

September 2, 2013 by Scott Wells.
  • September 2, 2013
  • Scott Wells
  • Chip Romero
  • Mark Jensen
  • Johnny Thompson
  • Tom Mullica
  • Dallas Texas
  • T.A.O.M.
  • Burton Gilliam
  • Daniel Baldwin
  • Ian Richards
  • Gene Anderson
  • Walter "Zaney" Blaney
  • Ronnie Ramin
  • Rob Zabrecky
  • Convention Report
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The Magic Word The Magic Word

A Podcast for Magicians, About Magicians, Hosted by a Full Time Professional Magician, Scott Wells

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