Morning until night (well, really...the next morning. It's nearly dawn on Monday morning as I publish this podcast), Sunday was full of activities again including lectures, contests and shows. And the stage contests were the best I've seen in years...here or anywhere at any magic convention (except FISM, of course).
The Order of Willard (for members with 25 years or more of consecutive membership in the TAOM) featured a wonderful presentation by Margaret Steele on an historic figure in magic, Adelaide Herrmann.. The stage contests then began followed by John Carney's wonderful lecture. Next was an afternoon awards presentation (because of the Esther's Follies evening show off site). This was immediately followed by Joe Vitale's inspirational, motivational lecture.
Contest Winners this year were: Junior Stage - Hannah; Senior Stage - Keith West; Senior Comedy - GSparks; Senior Close-Up - Trigg Watson; Best of Convention - Hannah
The evening had the group broken into two groups, one staying in the hotel to see the "Stars of Tomorrow" hosted by Amanda Eve and featuring James Irwin, Ava Byers and Drake Stanton. And closing the bill was Nick Lewin. The other group went to Esther's Follies for a special presentation that featured my favorite magician, Ray Anderson. There were many who had never seen this show which has cutting edge, topical humor that is PG to R rated.
Back at the hotel, the evening concluded with the President's Purple Palooza Party where everyone was encouraged to wear purple. We were treated to snacks, live music and multiple variety acts including singers, tap dancers, pole dancers, plate spinners and more. It was a real hoot, as we say in Texas.
One of the things that was not discussed in these podcasts but was an integral part of the convention was the music. Throughout the event, there were live musicians who played and sand and juggled between events. It made for a festive convention with never a minute without something going on.
Time stamps for this podcast:
00:00:14 - TAOM 2016 President Judy Hollingsworth talks about next year's convention in corpus Christi, Texas.
00:03:02 - Margaret Steele briefly chats about her book, "Adelaide Herrmann - Queen of Magic" before her presentation.
00:07:16 - Margaret Steele gives a presentation from her book to a brunch meeting of "The Order of Willard" members (those with 25 or more years of consecutive membership in the T.A.O.M.)
00:40:03 - Ali Shelley talks about creating her magic act while at 35,000 feet above the earth
00:48:14 - S.A.M. National President David Bowers tells us about how he is enjoying the convention plus his travel plans to other conventions as the President.
00:51:53 While in the bar at Esther's Follies before Ray Anderson's show, we talk with Peter Samelson and Chip Romero who give us their viewpoint and comments on the convention.
00:54:43 Jade tells us about her Chinese act and how she got on "Penn & Teller Fool Us" show.
01:07:10 Jay Scott Berry talks about the difficulty of selling yourself when you have multiple facets to your performing resume.
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