285: Magic's Theater of Illusion & Museum

That is not a typo. The apostrophe is correctly placed and means the subject is possessive. In other words, it is not "Magic Theater" nor "Magics' Theater", but correctly spelled "Magic's Theater". That is because it us the brainchild of and belongs to Johnny Magic. Hence, it is called his theater, or "Magic's Theater"

John Wright, aka "Johnny Magic", opened his theater in Austin, Texas in December, 2013. Since then he has been expanding his collection and adding more talent and rooms to the theater. He now offers close-up magic in the new theater on Friday nights in addition to the weekly stage shows every Saturday.

Magical Pieces in the Museum

A replica of Harry Houdini’s famous Chinese water torture cell.
Famous American sculptor, John Rogers' original 1877, The Traveling Magician group and 1877 School Days group
A 1924 Carter the Great Vanishing the Elephant poster
World famous magician, Doug Henning's personal wardrobe, props, and photographs
Original Cardini photographs and award plaque
Original T. Nelson Downs’ photographs and coins
Photographs and posters of contemporary magicians, David Copperfield, Dean Dill, Fred Kapps, Professor Dai Vernon, Lance Burton

According to his bio in "The Magic Castle Walls of Fame" (Norm Neilsen 1988):

John Wright is an accomplished magician in the art of both stage and close-up.magic. He has performed at many nightclubs in Los Angeles, on television and in motion pictures. As technical advisor, Wright has contributed to such television shows as Gidget, Eye to Eye, Fantasy Island and Bring Them Back Alive.

John presently owns a magic studio in Los Angeles where many well-known magicians have rehearsed. At his best in each aspect of magic that he practices, John continues to contribute to the advancement of this art.

13419 Fitzhugh Road Austin, TX 78736 magicstheater.com

John Wright, aka "Johnny Magic", opened his theater in December 2013 in Austin, TX. Here you can enjoy a short tour of his museum. For more information about the theater, please visit: http://magicstheater.com/

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Time stamps for magic product product reviews (check our Download Store to order):

00:57:23 - Cash Converter by Richard Griffin. Effect: A borrowed bill is folded in half lengthwise. It is then pulled through the fingers where it visually changes into a different bill. Then with a blow it visually changes back to their original bill, you can then unfold it and immediately hand it back for examination.

01:02:31 - Diception by Chris Congreave from Magic Tao. Effect: Showing that your deck is mixed and ordinary, you also show a card with a prediction written on the back. The spectator chooses a card completely at random, by rolling 1,2 or 3 dice. You deal to their number (no forces). When you reveal the prediction you have not only predicted their chosen card, but also what number they rolled on the dice.

01:06:45 - Fobulous by Steve Shufton. Effect: The spectator examines both of two key fobs and finds them to be exactly as they in fact are: common and ordinary in every way. The two fobs are of different design, so it is easy to tell them apart. The spectator retains the fobs as she examines your hands, and finds them to also be exactly as they are: empty. The fobs are now positioned, one in each of the participant's hands. She clasps her hands tightly around them - yet with a gesture and snap of your fingers, they trade places.

Get $50 off the registration price now through April 30, 2016. Send an email to 2016MindJam@gmail.com with the subject line The Magic Word Podcast to receive the discount. You will then receive an invoice to pay the reduced registration price. This … — Get $50 off the registration price now through April 30, 2016. Send an email to 2016MindJam@gmail.com with the subject line The Magic Word Podcast to receive the discount. You will then receive an invoice to pay the reduced registration price. This is an exclusive offer for Magic Word listeners.

284: Alex Pandrea - Changing Lives with Magic

Alex Pandrea doesn't just do wonderful sleight-of-hand...he changes lives with it. On a recent lecture tour of the U.S., he stopped by The Magic Word's microphone to spend some quality time talking about his magic creations, his playing "NOC" card company, and his performing philosophy. I found it fascinating that he no longer performs magic for paid engagements but prefers to perform when he believes people need the magic in their lives.

This all came about due to a discussion related to the recent rant by Dan Sperry that was seen, heard and discussed by the magic community. Basically, Dan believes that people should be performing rather than just posting their magic on videos filmed in their room. We need to be "out there" performing for real people. You can watch and listen to his Facebook video by Clicking Here Warning: explicit language.

Alex is the Chief Executive Officer of "Blue Crown" and the "House of Playing Cards", (that creates the "NOC" cards) both which offer the finest magic products on the web and perhaps some of the most beautifully designed playing cards, too.

Time stamps for magic product product reviews (check our Download Store to order):

01:00:42 - "I.D.D." by Christopher Rawlins - Chris Rawlins is back with an offbeat and amazing solution to the classic drawing duplication. As in the classic effect, someone is invited to walk away from the group and draw any shape or thing she likes. You are able to duplicate what she drew with uncanny accuracy.

01:04:00 - "Your Card Is" by Grant Maidment - You have a card selected, signed, this then gets lost in the pack. You produce a set of four of the same cards i.e. - four Jokers. You show the backs to be all blue. One by one each joker turns face up from face down. You then place the four cards in the spectator's hand and ask them to wave their other hand over the cards. One card turns face down. You take the remaining three face up Jokers and show that they have now each turned into a different colour back with the words "YOUR CARD IS" and an arrow written on the back of the cards. When the spectator turns the card in their hand, it is their signed card.

01:05:57 - "Rubber Band Through/In Card box" by Gogo Requiem - A perfect opener for your close up-restaurant, bar or walkaround routine. Great illusion where the rubber band penetrates the card box or goes into the card box.

283: Gregory Wilson - The Final Chapter, or On The Offense

Are Lovick and Apollo liars?

Gregory started it. Gregory will finish it with his final words. He is not defending himself, but rather going on the offense to prove his points with defensible "truths". I said in the beginning that "at the bottom lies the truth" of this #MagicCereal. Well, it is now up to you critical thinkers who have heard both sides with allegations and accusations with defenses and offenses.

Unfortunately, we could not coordinate a confrontational debate of the issues with Greg and any of his detractors. But included here on the blog are links to many of the documents supplied by Greg as evidence of his truth. Lots of additional information packed into these PDF links, so prepare to do a lot more reading.

As a supplement to Gregory's comments in today's podcast, he sent me several more points that he inadvertently omitted but wanted to have on the record. Please Click Here to access those additional details.

Alan Wong was mentioned on this and in a previous podcast regarding his "Himber Passport Wallet". Click Here to read his statement of permission for Greg to use/market this effect. Also included with this statement is another endorsement from friends, Carl Andrews and Tim Trono. These statements are provided here so as not to take up any more valuable air time on the podcast and to reserve time for Gregory to address his accusers.

To get more details on the metal detector "wand" controversy, Click Here to see Gregory's explanation and a Magic Castle program that Gregory refers to in his statement.

Regarding the publications date and originality of the card move controversy between Gregory and Seth Kramer, Click Here to see: "Two sources of evidence that Seth Kramer's move is DIFFERENT than mine. One of them is from The Magic Menu and the other is from Labyrinth, that were both in print BEFORE we ever met."

John Lovick said in the podcast that on many occasions he had asked Greg for proof of where he (John) was lying or had lied in his product review. Click here to read the response that has been sitting in Greg's email outbox referred to by Greg in today's podcast.

Rob Zabrecky has an excellent lecture using important points in magic from A to Z. Greg said he had been working on the idea for many years and had the Word program to prove it. Apparently there is a difference in the "creation date" than the "modification date" and the date apparently viewed by both Rob and John was the "modification date". Click Here to see Greg's original idea.

The "Coin on Shoulder" routine that initially stirred the controversy, is still just that...controversial. Gregory says that his routine is completely different from Apollo's. Greg sent a copy of Apollo's routine as published in his booklet, "The Art of Stealing Watches" with the request that I share the PDF here. Click Here to see the PDF of that section of "The Art of Stealing Watches" that relates to Apollo's "Coin on Shoulder" routine.

Time stamps for magic product product reviews (check our Download Store to order):

01:37:39 - Emotional Drawing by Luca Volpe

01:39:54 - iMind by Pablo Amira

01:43:17 - Anniversary Waltz by Doc Eason and Garrett Thomas

01:47:13 - Hate TIc Tac byMayank Chaubey