317: Day 1 - TAOM 2016

Friday, September 2

10:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. Registration - Ballroom Foyer
10:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. - Dealers Room Open - Beachcomber
1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. - Harry Allen Lecture - Kokomos
2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - David Hira Lecture - Kokomos
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Board Meeting - Kokomos
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. - Stage Contest and Show with Trigg Watcon and Stuart McDonald hosted by David Hira - Ballroom
9:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. - Fantastic Fun Game Show - Ballroom
10:30 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. - Stuart McDonald Lecture/Workshop

Time Stamps for this podcast

00:00:13 - Marshall Peterson, owner of H&R Magic Books, talks about the many conventions he has attended as a magic dealer plus what it's like to pack and travel with all the books across the country. He brings us up to date with some of the newest book titles out this year. Marshall also offers a special deal for The Magic Word Podcast listeners: Use the code word "The Magic Word Podcast" and receive a 15% discount on any H&R Magic Books titles (search the website for all of these titles) now through Sunday September 11, 2016.

00:08:01 - 2016 T.A.O.M. President, Judy Donaldson, tells us what is in store for registrants at this year's convention. It is not too late to hurry down to Corpus Christi and register for the rest of this convention.

00:14:20 - John Dahlinger will compete in the senior division of close-up this year. He talks about his road to the competition with advice for others to learn who want to compete in magic convention contests.

00:19:27 - David Hira lectured for us this afternoon and will be a featured lecturer in November for Penguin Magic. He talks about the new Penguin Lecture format. David was listed as one of the top magic lecturers as voted by readers of MAGIC Magazine.

00:31:00 - Jamie Salinas recaps the evening stage contest show "bookended" by Trigg Watson and Stuart McDonald plus the game show. And as we were ending the chat, C.J. Johnson walked by who produced "Survey Says" game show.

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Come to Corpus Christi, Texas TODAY and register at the convention to enjoy all the rest of the activities.

253: Day Three - T.A.O.M. Convention 2015

Morning until night (well, really...the next morning. It's nearly dawn on Monday morning as I publish this podcast), Sunday was full of activities again including lectures, contests and shows. And the stage contests were the best I've seen in years...here or anywhere at any magic convention (except FISM, of course).

The Order of Willard (for members with 25 years or more of consecutive membership in the TAOM) featured a wonderful presentation by Margaret Steele on an historic figure in magic, Adelaide Herrmann.. The stage contests then began followed by John Carney's wonderful lecture. Next was an afternoon awards presentation (because of the Esther's Follies evening show off site). This was immediately followed by Joe Vitale's inspirational, motivational lecture.

Contest Winners this year were: Junior Stage - Hannah; Senior Stage - Keith West; Senior Comedy - GSparks; Senior Close-Up - Trigg Watson; Best of Convention - Hannah

The evening had the group broken into two groups, one staying in the hotel to see the "Stars of Tomorrow" hosted by Amanda Eve and featuring James Irwin, Ava Byers and Drake Stanton. And closing the bill was Nick Lewin. The other group went to Esther's Follies for a special presentation that featured my favorite magician, Ray Anderson. There were many who had never seen this show which has cutting edge, topical humor that is PG to R rated.

Back at the hotel, the evening concluded with the President's Purple Palooza Party where everyone was encouraged to wear purple. We were treated to snacks, live music and multiple variety acts including singers, tap dancers, pole dancers, plate spinners and more. It was a real hoot, as we say in Texas.

One of the things that was not discussed in these podcasts but was an integral part of the convention was the music. Throughout the event, there were live musicians who played and sand and juggled between events. It made for a festive convention with never a minute without something going on.

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:00:14 - TAOM 2016 President Judy Hollingsworth talks about next year's convention in corpus Christi, Texas.

00:03:02 - Margaret Steele briefly chats about her book, "Adelaide Herrmann - Queen of Magic" before her presentation.

00:07:16 - Margaret Steele gives a presentation from her book to a brunch meeting of "The Order of Willard" members (those with 25 or more years of consecutive membership in the T.A.O.M.)

00:40:03 - Ali Shelley talks about creating her magic act while at 35,000 feet above the earth

00:48:14 - S.A.M. National President David Bowers tells us about how he is enjoying the convention plus his travel plans to other conventions as the President.

00:51:53 While in the bar at Esther's Follies before Ray Anderson's show, we talk with Peter Samelson and Chip Romero who give us their viewpoint and comments on the convention.

00:54:43 Jade tells us about her Chinese act and how she got on "Penn & Teller Fool Us" show.

01:07:10 Jay Scott Berry talks about the difficulty of selling yourself when you have multiple facets to your performing resume.

Order your copy of Adelaide Herrmann, Queen of Magic, (published by Margaret Steele) from Amazon and support The Magic Word throuigh the affiliate program.

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/