234: FISM Italy - Day Three

On the third day, magicians created more magical moments. More stage competitions and the last of the close-up contests. That means tomorrow, I'll get to attend some lectures since there will not be any afternoon close-up contests to watch.

But today, between contests, we talked with friends and made new ones as I chatted with some of the talent from the gala shows plus a perspective from a competitor. We also chat with the new SAM National President, Dave Bowers.

the evening broke up the registrants into two groups. While one was at the Close-Up Gala, the other attended the "White Dinner" where everyone was encouraged to wear at least one white item, whether a white scarf, pants, Hat or carnation. The performers in the Close-Up Gala included: the Fat Brothers, Guy Hollingworth, David Williamson, Eugene Burger, and Armando Lucero with David Stone as the Master of Ceremonies.

the midnight show was actually a lecture by Dan Sperry on "the dark side of magic" And the midnight bar session featured Luke Jermay, Tony Montana and Juan Tamariz.

Street artists and their shills working the crowd during FISM 2015

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:01:33 - Dave Bowers, National President of the Society of American Magician

00:05:28 - Trigg Watson

00:12:08 - David Kaye, aka Silly Billy

00:23:03 - Topas

00:36:05 - "Mecki" Ludwig Gantner and Peter Pudill, from Vienna, Austria

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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.

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

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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