308: 2016 Abbott's Get Together - Day Two

DAY TWO - THURSDAY, AUGUST 4th 2016
9:00AM REGISTRATION OPENS at the Abbott Plant
9:30AM LECTURE - Scott Alexander & Puck at the High School
10:00AM ABBOTT'S DEALERS ROOM OPENS (more info) at Grade School
11:00AM VENT-O-RAMA (more info) at the Abbott Plant
1:00PM LECTURE - Ice McDonald at the High School
1:00PM COLON HISTORICAL MUSEUM OPEN TILL 4PM (more info)
1:30PM DEALERS ON PARADE (more info) at the Elementary School
1:30PM MAGIC SHOW at Abbott Plant with BJ Mallen or Gordon Miller
2:00PM COLON STREET PERFORMERS - outside Curly's featuring Joe Bennett
3:00PM MAGIC SHOW at Abbott Plant with BJ Mallen or Gordon Miller
3:00PM - 6:00PM FACE PAINTING outside 5 Star Pizza by Carol Hendrix
3:45PM FAMOUS MAGICIANS GRAVEYARD TOUR ushered by Al the Only
5:30PM RIVER LAKE INN’S MAGIC SHOW & DINNER with Ron Carnell
7:40PM ASTOUNDING TENT ILLUSION (more info) outside the High School (more info here)
8:00PM ABBOTT'S STAGE SHOW at the High School (Preshow Live Organ Music)
Featuring Vinny Grosso MC, Lynetta Welch, Banachek, Bizzaro
(view seating chart)
10:00PM ABBOTT'S DEALERS ROOM OPENS at Grade School after show
10:15PM CURLYS CLOSEUP CONTEST (more info) after show

00:00:13 - Rick Fisher, Proprietor of FAB Magic Studio, talks about the brick and mortar magic shops and the possible future of magic in Colon.

00:11:23 - Greg Bordner, Abbott's Magic Company proprietor, talks about organizing this and other Get Togethers.

00:18:49 - the "bally" for getting the "tip" for the Girl to Gorilla sideshow attraction

00:20:17 - Keith Stickley talks about bringing in the Girl to Gorilla as a special, one-night only feature to the Get Together.

00:25:42 - John Sturk and Martin Cox talk about the previous night's show plus some tips featured in Martin's lecture..

00:42:28 - Denny Haney, owner of Denny and Lee's Magic Studio, talks about the importance of books and reading.

00:48:43 - We caught Banachek after the evening show before he had to break away to fly back to Las Vegas.

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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/

166: Day 1 - IBM/SAM Combined Convention 2014

July 1st was the first full day of magic starting with a close-up show on stage complimented by large screen image magnifiers with an overhead camera, all very well done to assure good viewing for 1,000+ people in the audience. The show was hosted by Shawn Farquhar in place of Steve Bargatze who was unable to attend at the last minute due to some health issues. David Stone opened followed by Shawn and concluding with Henry Evans.

After lunch, we first of the FISM North America Stage contests. Although I understand that the rules were change to allow only residents of North America though it appeared that some of the stronger candidates were not from around these parts. Perhaps they are being considered for whittling down the field for the IBM and SAM competition.

Opposite of the stage contest was the David Stone Lecture. The evening activity was the Fat Brothers: Dani DaOrtiz, Christian Engblom and Miguel Angel Gea. Richard Turner closed out the night with two late night , one man shows.

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:0 - Richard Hatch and Charlie Randall, formerly of H&R Magic Books, are standing in line awaiting their Starbucks order. Dick Hatch brings us up to date on the Hatch Academy of Magic in Utah.

00: - Jeff McBride and Eugene Burger tell about the incredible experience of working with the youth program for two full days at this convention.

00: - Greg Bordner, Abbott's Magic Company, tells us a little of what to expect at this year's Get Together.

00: - Dale Salwak and Lance Burton talk about the incredible talent that is coming out of Korea, China and Japan and they talk about some of their mentors and instructors.

00: - Bill Cook and his mother/agent, Chris, talk about the 2010 movie "Make Believe" that featured Bill and how it has influenced his life. Bill also gives tips for young magicians.

00: - Lance Burton brings us up to date on the status of his film project, "Billy Topit, Master Magician" and when we might see that film hit the theaters.

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.

308: 2016 Abbott's Get Together - Day Two

213: Chicago Magic Bars & Lounges

166: Day 1 - IBM/SAM Combined Convention 2014

The Magic Word