334: A Magical Christmas Carol

Over the past year, I have attended a LOT of magic conventions. During those events, i have tried to update you with what was going on each day with daily updates from the organizers, talent, registrants, and dealers plus sometimes a little "color" background outside of the hotel.

But while I had some of my guests "cornered" for a few minutes, I asked them to do a reading of the classic story, "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. As many of you don't know, Dickens was a bit of a conjurer himself having performed during the summer of 1949 in a coastal resort off of the Isle of Wight purveying prestidigitation to those on holiday in the area. He was known as the “Rhia Rhama Rhoos - the Unparalleled Necromancer" and reportedly performed many unusual tricks including making playing cards magically burst into flames, transporting a woman’s watch from inside a wooden box and into the middle of a loaf of bread, and even cooking a steaming hot plum pudding in a gentleman’s top hat.

But prior to his venturing onto the stage to prestidigitate, he had already written many of his well-known novels including one published in 1843 which would become the iconic classic and perennial treatise on the holiday, "A Christmas Carol".

So here I present you this year's audio greeting card with great gratitude to all of my guests who participated in this project and also to all of you who regularly listen to The Magic Word Podcast. Happy Holidays!

As a little added treat for you this holiday season, here is a video I filmed and edited in 1985. Magician Scott Wells is visited by "three foreign" visitors who want to learn magic. In this video, Scott performs close-up, stand-up and stage magic for his guests. He also gives magic lessons to his guests; however, these instructions have been edited out of this public video.

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333: Todd Robbins - The Man Of Your Nightmares

Todd Robbins is a man of many talents with many "irons in the fire", so to speak. With a background in sideshow entertainment (eating glass, fire eating, driving a nail up his nose, walking on glass, etc.) he has found a niche in the larger public eye on the Discovery Network as the host of "True Nightmares". He is also the star of the theatrical show "Play Dead" co-written by his friend, Teller (of Penn & Teller fame).

Watch performance artist Todd Robbins Eat a Light Bulb for ART or something like it!

In this episode, Todd talks about "spiritualism" performing seances that led to his producing "Play Dead"; his work doing deshow entertainment (for example, how he eats glass); his work with the Big Apple Circus; producing and performing at "Monday Night Magic" in New York City; hosting the hit TV series, "True Nightmares", being one of the famous "Long Beach Mystics" as a young man, all interspersed with some pretty interesting stories along the way.

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332: Jason Latimer - Inspiring Mystery

Jason Latimer is more than a magician. He has a passion for science and he inspires mystery and wonder in the eyes and minds of young people and adults. You may know him as a multiple award winner of various magic contests including the Grand Prix at F.I.S.M. in 2003 plus close-up and invention at F.I.S.M. He has frequently appeared on the BBC in the U.K. plus he was one of the "wizards" on the SyFy channel's "Wizard Wars" featuring Pann & Teller and others.. He has "semi-retired" from performing magic, particularly for magicians at magic conventions, and focuses now on science and how it looks like magic. He is working with the Fleet Science Center in San Diego, California as well as a joint project with ComiCon.

Jason LATIMER World Champion of Magic Video: World Champion of Magic Latimer and Britain's Got Talent Winner George Sampson pull off the most amazing teleportation in the history of magic! See more at www.facebook.com/jasonlatimerofficial http://www.twitter.com/jasonlatimer http://www.jasonlatimer.com

Challenge what you know, ask questions, and be curious. Its wonder that changes the world. The next technology, the new cure, the next revolutionary advancement all lie behind the question we haven't asked yet.

Time Stamps for this podcast:

00:03;20 - Jason Latimer (http://jasonlatimer.com/) talks about winning magic awards, how to prepare (should you wish to enter contests), and his passion for learning science that led to exploring magic.

01:08:38 - "Narcissus" by Chris Philpott takes his "100 Monkeys" into the close-up world. It is a pretty cool idea that allows your volunteer to snap a picture to keep as a memory of the experience.

01:13:51 - "Deal Sealer" by Cody Fisher is the trick he says gets him the "$100 handshake" as he leaves the corporate party. It is a great presentation for an old chestnut.

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