277: Gregory Wilson Returns & Responds - Part One with Brad Stine

This week we have a surprise for those naysayers who thought that he wouldn't return. Gregory Wilson is this week's guest for the first of two podcasts to respond to the accusers who have presented their "proof" in episodes #270, #272 and #273.

Greg was preparing for a trip to the 2016 Blackpool convention where he will perform and lecture and he wanted to present his rebuttals before he departed. Due to his busy schedule, Greg said that he had only recently gotten around to listening to a few of the podcasts. After he returns from England, he intends to listen to episode #274 with John Lovick then respond point by point to each issue brought up by John; however, some of the issues are addressed in this podcast.

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Also on this podcast is an edited bit of a conversation I had with stand-up comic, Brad Stine, who is a long time friend of Greg's. Brad was a comedy magician and regular performer at the (now defunct) Magic Island in Newport Beach, California and has had crediting incidents with Greg. Brad wanted to present his stories in a public forum to show that Greg can, has and will give credit when shown the proof of creation.

2/9/12 - Conservative Comedian Brad Stine went after political correctness in its many forms at CPAC 2012.

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Congratulations to Nathan Reed and Fred King who won a digital download of he Audible.com book "The Ambitious Card - An Eli Marks Mystery" by John Gaspard. And thank you again, John Gaspard for offering these prizes.

276: David Deeble - An Unnatural Talent

The "Long Beach Mystics" became an almost "mythical" group of magicians who grew to fame and notoriety in the magic world. Consider the names of some of these former members: Stan Allen, Mike Weber, Dana Daniels, Mark Kalin, Jonathan Pendragon, Kevin James and David Deeble, Wait...which name doesn't immediately pop out to you as being "recognizable"?

Well, in this podcast, you will see why David Deeble should be another name that you should add to the frontal lobe of your memory data banks. I admit that I had not seen David perform until the MAGIC Live! convention in 2013, but after seeing him there and later hearing his "story of recovery" at the MAGIC Live! 2015 convention, I became one of his biggest fans and it made me wonder where I had been for all these years.

David Deeble is hard to categorize but if I did put him in a box, I guess it would be a comedy juggler. But due to what could have been a life changing injury, he moved from being a conventional juggler. Perhaps that's why I had never seen him perform at a convention...okay, I'll leave the comedy to David.

Here is a taste of the humor of David Deeble recorded live at comedy clubs.

David Deeble tells about his time with the Long Beach Mystics beginning in 1980 when he was 10 years old. He also regales us with some fun stories "from the day" about some of the Mystics. He also talks about attending the 1984 Abbott's Get Together which, coincidentally, was my first Get Together, too. For a glimpse back into history, Click Here to visit an earlier episode of The Magic Word that contains the fun video discussed in this podcast.

Due to a unicycle indoor accident (when he hit his head on the door frame), he lost the use of one of his arms. As a juggler, a husband and soon-to-be-father, you can imagine how devastating it was and could have been on his career. But David decided to move on towards his goal and find other "unnatural acts" that he would do that no other jugglers were doing. In particular, he learned how to toss an olive into the air and catch in on a toothpick held in his mouth. Also, he tosses a billiard ball from his foot into the air and catches it in his eye socket!

David also talks about how he likes to be introduced, how to handle problems when something goes wrong in your act (i.e. dropping the juggling club, etc.), releasing tension with comedy, using "stock" lines versus writing your own lines, working on cruise ships, and more.

275: Where Comics and Magic Collide with Jon Armstrong

Pow! Bang! Wham! - Poof!Whoosh! Flash! - Hocus Pocus! Abracadabra. Presto Change-o

Jon Armstrong is not only a pretty face in the magic community (among other things like being the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Academy of Magical Arts, Close-up Magician of the Year, Consultant to theme parks, film and television, headliner at Caesar's Magical Empire, and appeared on many TV shows including "Penn & Teller Fool Us" and other talk shows), but Jon is also a self professed "comic book nerd".

Jon visits ComiCons each year and is a sought after as a panelist discussing the confluence of "magic" with "comic books" or "graphic novels",

Magician Jon Armstrong (www.cardjon.com) performs his signature effect "Tiny Plunger" which Penn calls the most original card trick he's seen.

In this podcast Jon Armstrong talks about how art influences life and vice versa, how magic and comics intertwine and how and why we should wisely choose our selection of tricks. Basically, we should select those things that reflect our unique personalities rather than just buying the "trick of the hour" that just came out.

He also refers to a book entitled "Understanding Comics - The Invisible Art" and why it should be required reading for magicians. You can read the free PDF excerpt by Clicking Here or download the entire PDF by Clicking Here or just read online all 223 pages of it by Clicking Here. Jon discusses how he approaches groups to perform close-up during cocktail parties. And he talks also about "branding" yourself and how he does it.

Click on the image above for more information and to order your Tiny Plunger direct from Jon Armstrong.