312: Day 1 - MAGIC Live! 2016

Day One - Sunday, August 14th

24 hours - The Back Room (hang out cdenter)

10:00 a.m. - Registration and Name Badge photos

7:30 p.m. - Anniversary Party

7:30 - 11:30 - The MAGIC Shop (dealer faire)

7:45 p.m. - Grand Prize Giveaway

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:00:13 - we depart Houston Hobby airport via Southwest Airlines and start off the journey with a couple Dunkin' Donuts and get excited about the upcoming adventure.

00:03:44 - we finally arrived at the Orleans Hotel & Casino and get in line to pick up our registration packet and chat with a variety of people in line: Michael Perovich, Michael Trixx, Kirk DeWeese, Steve Trout, Bob Festa, R. Paul Wilson, Billy Hsueh

00:11:24 - Rory Johnston, one of Stan Allen's "right-hand-men" and co-organizer, chats about some of the organizational challenges, attendance, and the "back room" where registrants are expected to hang out. He talks about the "Art Deco" theme of this year's convention.

00:18:48 - MAGIC Live "custodian", Stan Allen, talks a little about what things he can talk about now without giving away too many "secrets".

00:24:05 - Rick Merrill and Steve Bargatze tell us about their experiences with attending past MAGIC Live! conventions,, plus Rick talks about the first MAGIC Live! inspiring his award winning magic act.

00:32:08 - Ian Rowland presented on the Focus sessions for the past three conventions and this year he will be on the general sessions on stage. He also talks a bit about his "origami cards". He also "confesses" to being the inventor of all of the effects that were in question during the recent Gregory Wilson controversy. LOL

00:42:34 - Chip Romero and Mark Jensen talk about their respective magic collections plus some tips on planning on the disposition of property after one's demise.

00:48:26 - Mark Jensen tells a story of the origination of the Marshall Brodein TV Magic Cards and how Johnny Thompson wrote the instructions.

0051:13 - Nathan Burton talks about his 4:00 p.m. daily show at Planet Hollywood.

00:53:16 - Vinny Grosso is finally able to talk about his recent win on Penn & Teller Fool Us, how he developed the act, all about his experience, when he will appear in the Penn & Teller show at the Rio. He also chats about an update to his book "Exposed and Fearless" which you can hear about in much more detail in our podcast HERE which is also available on Amazon.

00:59:18 - Shawn McMaster celebrates his birthday at MAGIC Live! and talks about his experience of working at some of the past conventions plus working on the magazine.

01:02:48 - Paul Draper has been stage manager of all of the past MAGIC Live! events, but this year he is experiencing this year just as a registrant. During our conversation, we are joined by Chad Long who talks about some of the conventions he has been working.

01:05:40 - Terry Ward talks about the many MAGIC Live! conventions he has attended and some of the memories he enjoyed from previous years.

01:09:14 - Steve Sabo (a Friend of The Magic Word) and his father, Dick Sabo, talks about getting interested in magic thanks to this convention.

01:12:05 - Erik Dobell and Chris Collins talk about how their show "Impossibilites" has been going since we did a podcast with them. HERE. This is Erik's first magic convention ever of any kind and finding it overwhelming.

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254: Tales from Old Las Vegas

During a party in the Team Land Studios in Las Vegas, I enjoyed a great conversation with some notable figures in the clowning world who shared some great stories about the old days of Las Vegas. The party was hosted by Scott and Lisa Land and turned out to be a little of a surprise birthday party for Scott. Despite the inclement weather, they had a decent turnout of guests on the day after the MAGIC Live! convention ended.

Team Land Studios is located in a warehouse adjacent to McCarran Airport. The doors to the warehouse were open so you can hear the occasional airline traffic in the background of this podcast. There was also a terrible storm going on with flash floods and lightning. You can hear the occasional thunder on the podcast, too.

Many of Scott and Lisa's friends are from the variety arts world rather than just magicians. During one conversation I was having with Scott and a group of his friends, things got real interesting real fast. I asked them to hold for a moment while I pulled out the microphone to see if I could capture some of this "lightning in a bottle" (no pun intended, despite the weather).

Most of these guys have lived and worked in Las Vegas for decades and rubbed shoulders with the greats and legends of the past. They lived during the time when the city wasn't run by politicians...if you know what I mean, and I think you do (thanks, Bill Malone). After some delightful discussions with Scott Land, Charlie Strachan, and Don Hendrix, it was Earl Chaney who soon took over as the central story teller with some fantastic stories about anyone and everyone who was someone in Las Vegas from Sammy Davis, Jr. to Elvis Presley.

Earl Chaney performs at the Red Skelton Clown Follies

Enjoy a delightful breakfast outdoors on the riverfront property of Trixie Bond with Jay Scott Berry and Suzanne the Magician.

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235: FISM Italy - Day Four

It may have been a little overcast outside, but the weather and the magic was perfect in the convention center. After viewing the stage competition from 8:30 to 12:30, I got to walk around the dealers a bit more, chat with friends, and attend a couple lectures. And of course, it was Thursday which meant magic and Martinis in the evening with friends at the bar.

After watching Luke Jermay's one man show, was the evening gala featuring: Cyril Takayama and Eun Gyeol Lee as co-MC's with Mike Chao, Topas, David Kaplan, Tony Frebourg, Alberto Giorgi, Rob Zabrecky, Sos & Victoria and Samuel.