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.

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

169: Day 4 - IBM/SAM Combined Convention 2014

On this Independence Day in the U.S., we saw plenty of fireworks in the close-up and stage contests today. The finals were held in the evening with some solid competitors that made it difficult for the judges to decide upon a clear winner.

Also this day was the annual banquet which included the awarding of the Milbourne Christopher trophies. This year the recipients were:

Illusionist Award - Alex Ramon

Mentalist Award - Joseph Curcillo

Close-Up Award - Dani DaOrtiz

Visual Magic Art Award - Rick Heath

Masters Award - Dale Salwak

Literary Award - Jim Steinmeyer

Lifetime Achievement Award - Stan Kramien

Some of the past winners of the Milbourne Christopher Award.

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:01:48 - Eric Jones will be traveling to China and Australia to perform, plus he has a new effect that will soon be on the market.

00:10:56 - Christian Painter (one half of the Christian and Katalina mind reading duo), was one of the contestants in the FISM North American Championships. He talks about entering contests plus some of his advice and tips.

00:27:41 - Past National Presidents of the S.A.M, Mark Weidhaas and Vinny Grosso talk about this convention as it relates to registration and the contests as each chaired those respective positions for this event.

00:36:33 - Chris Hannibal, another of the contestants (close-up, in this case), tell us about his road to prepare for this competition and his creative process in developing this routine.

00:40:40 - Joe Curcillo talks about his excitement of being a recipient of the Milbourne Christopher award.

00:44:17 - Inside the banquet, I set my recorder to capture the auction for a prized photo of Joanie Spina and David Copperfield, the proceeds of which went directly to help with Joanie's medical expenses. We also hear the announcements of the recipients for the Milbourne Christopher awards.

01:18:43 - Bill Gleason tells about the history of the "Patriot and Patriotism Award" and how deserving members can apply or suggest a recipient for this prestigious award.

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featuring Christian and Katalina in Indianapolis, Indiana

154: Day Two - F.F.F.F. 2014

So much on Day One, but this second is the first FULL day and night of non-stop close-up magic and learning. Great lectures by Tim Ellis and Guest of Honor, Shawn Farquhar.

This podcast may be one of my favorites because of the subject matter discussed particularly in two separate chats: one with Chris Pilsworth and the second with Tim Ellis. Great material that should be heard more than once. I heartily advise you to pay attention and maybe even take notes.

Time Codes for this podcast:

00;00:13 - Chris Pilsworth, from Ottawa, Canada, (the guy who puts the cactus in the balloon) talks about creativity and working on the street.

00:29:1 - Last year's Guest of Honor, Stephen Bargatze, gets caught in the elevator talking about creating a routine for the closing show.

00:30:49 - In the Dealer's Room I catch up with Bob Little and Andy Dallas as we talk about the brick and mortar shops, their future, online competition, and more. Plus they talk about the upcoming Bob Little's Super Sunday, June 8, 2014.

00:37:32 - Tim Ellis, from Australia, gives us a short synopsis of his lecture: How to make your audience care about what you do - C.A.R.E. (Connect with your audience, Alter your presentation, Relate to your audience, and Excellent magic). Plus he also talks about FISM 2015 in Italy.

01:01:04 - Geoff Williams talks about his recent lecture tour and his upcoming fund raisers. He also gives his perspective of why he loves the F.F.F.F. convention.

01:11:43 - Vinny Grosso, author of "Exposed and Fearless" gives us a follow-up to his Kickstarter project that we discussed on The Magic Word Podcast posted on September 9, 2013.