218: Steve Spill - I Lie For Money

I'm reluctant to produce a podcast solely for the intent purposes of promoting something that someone wants to pitch; however, there are exceptions. And this is one of them.

Steve Spill has had a magical life...and it's not over yet! One could say that Steve "grew up" in the Magic Castle because his father, Sandy Spillman, was a long-time host and also conducted the seances there for many years. Through his early teenage years he had unprecedented access to hang out with many of the greats such as Dai Vernon, Charlie Miller, Francis Carlyle, Kuda Bux and many, many others. Steve also worked at the Jolly Jester with Bob Sheets in the early days of "bar magic" in Aspen, Colorado. Later, the two of them opened the "Brook Farm Inn of Magic" in Delaware. And for about the past 20 years, he has owned and operated "Magicopolis" in Santa Monica, California.

You can follow Magicopolis on Twitter @Magicopolis and find them on Facebook at http://facebook.com/MAGICOPOLIS (note the all caps for their name plus be sure to look for the "monkey" profile picture so you know you have the correct "Magicopolis")

Steve and I first met over 30 years ago when he came through to perform at Houston's Magic Island and I was one of the House Magicians. Although it was not quite like "two ships passing in the night", we had fallen out of touch with one another since then as we both followed our separate paths. When Steve contacted me with the idea of pitching his new book, I knew that we needed to catch up to talk about all the "water that has run under our bridges."

Steve begins at the end by talking about Magicopolis which he built and owns and where he and his wife, Bozene, appear weekly. He then talks about his many experiences at the Magic Castle and relates stories about the eight mentors at the Castle who shaped his future. He also talks about Bob Sheets and the Jolly Jester in Aspen as well as the Brook Farm Inn of Magic. There a lot of stories from his new book plus some that are not there bu only appear here in this podcast.

You can read many of these stories plus dozens more in Steve's new book, "I Lie for Money" coming out soon and only available through Amazon. You can Click Here for more details and to order your copy.

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Exclusive Interview with Professional Magician & Magic Theater Owner Steve Spill

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#188 - Charlie Randall, the "R" Behind H&R Magic Books

While traveling to Ft. Worth for the 2014 Texas Association of Magicians annual convention, my wife drove the car while Charlie Randall and I sat in the back seat and chatted about the creation of H&R Magic Books which grew into one of the world's leading magic book sellers. Please forgive some of the ambient road noise you hear in the background during this interview. But you should get the feeling as if you were riding along with us as you sat in the front seat and listened to our chat.

H&R Magic Books

Richard Hatch & Charlie Randall - 2006

Charlie talks about the beginnings of H&R Magic Books, its evolution, and how you might consider starting your own business. Today, Richard and Charlie have sold the business to Marshall Peterson and they have taken a back seat as Marshall moves the business forward. Charlie now occasionally helps out behind the booth at magic conventions but he mainly focuses on publishing new books.

In this interview, he also talks about publishing books and what he looks for when people submit material for his consideration for publishing. Charlie also talks about brick and mortar magic shops, the evolution of videos to DVD's, and more.

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. (please note: this RSS Feed subscription system may not work with Android systems). Remember, you can download it through iTunes. See the preview page by Clicking Here.

Second installment of "Meals with Magicians" featuring a dining experience with Banachek...well, not so much of "dining" as it was an "eating" experience at one of Houston's premiere burger chains, Southwells.

106: MAGIC Live! 2013 - Day 1

We haven't even begun to do anything yet but there are so many friends everywhere I turn. I decided at one point just to leave on my microphone and see who I ran into as I strolled around the floor. This is certainly THE magic event of the year. It is so exciting and there are so many fun mysteries to unfold over the next few days. I am having a blast and I hope the podcasts show that. It is so much fun also getting to meet several of the listeners to this podcast who hear my voice and introduce themselves. Thank you one and all.

00:00:07 - We take off from Houston for MAGIC Live! in Las Vegas, Nevada

00:02:19 - Marvyn Roy, aka "Mr. Electric" was one of the first friends I bumped into after I checked in. Marvyn talks about his new project of reading his book, "Mr. Electric Unplugged" which will be published by Mike Caveney and hopefully out by this Christmas.

00:18:34 - David Bull from Le Grande David Show in Beverly, Massachusetts talked about the sale of their movie theatre and what's going on at the Larcom Theatre with new traveling shows coming in for special engagements.

00:24:45 - Editor and Founder of The Magic Cafe, Steve Brooks, chatted with me about the phenomenal growth of this free online resource.

00:35:13 - Arthur Emerson talked about his 30 year association with Larry West and their partnership, Emerson and West that made many of the packet tricks that sold so well in the last century.

00:40:40 - Mark Kornhouser has an interesting video project going on during this convention. It's entitled "My First Trick". The intent is for anyone who is interested in sharing to show the first trick they learned and talk about how they got into magic and what the art means to them. In this interview, I left on the microphone during my segment as they were videotaping.

00:55:21 - Kyle Knight (I remember him when he went by Tyler Knight) and his wife, Mistie, talk about working Disney ships.

01:02:37 - Trigg Watson (formerly Burrage), David Hinkin and Krystyn Lambert talk about magic as a youth, contests, movies and more.

01:09:57 - Editor and Chief of MAGIC Magazine, Stan Allen, gave me a few minutes to talk about what's in store for this convention...well, as much as he could tip. Most of it will unfold just as you turn the page of the magazine. But Stan isn't afraid to take chances.

01:20:19 - Richard Hatch, former part owner of H&R Magic Books, talks about the reprint of The History of Magic book by Taschen. If you act quick, you can get a copy for $70 postpaid in the U.S. for an incredibly low price, but only if you mention that you heard it here on The Magic Word and if they have any left in stock when you order.

01:24:56 - Owner and proprietor of one of the world's largest wholesalers of magic, Mark Murphy (of Murphy's Magic Supplies) talks about his business and how inventors can get their ideas to market.

01:31:03 - Trade show magician, David McGee, talks about his upcoming six page spread that will appear in the September 2013 issue of MAGIC Magazine where he talks about his latest project: a game show at casinos. Plus he talks about the importance of working at charity shows. This is fascinating stuff.

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