219: Lee Earle - Clear Vision

Lee Earle has been a leader and pioneer in the field of mentalism for decades. He recently came through Houston on his "Farewell" Lecture Tour where he imparted some of his years of experience in a concise two and a half hour lecture filled with advice and solid, commercial mentalism effects. Unfortunately, Lee has not created nor marketed many new effects over the past several years. Moreover, he has not been seen on the convention or lecture scene either. As a result, he is best known, remembered and respected by those "long of tooth". If fact, he said that perhaps 80% of those attending his 20+ lectures across the U.S. had gray heir. Too bad for this generation who missed out.

Lee has had a remarkable career having started out as a magician then transforming into a mentalist, which is the typical way people get into mentalism. He laments that actors and drama majors don't go immediately into mentalism and skip magic altogether thus not "tainting" them with "bad habits" that are hard to break in the performance of mentalism.

For those who are unfamiliar with Lee Earle's background, he was the secretary and membership chairman of the Psychic Entertainers' Association (P.E.A.) for a number of years. He authored the newsletter "Syzygy", produced and marketed several mentalism tricks along with Larry Becker under their company, "Mentalism Unlimited". He was the medium who developed and produced "Manifestations" in Phoenix, Arizona. And early in his magic career, he started the circuit for performing in large, upscale RV Parks across the southern part of the U.S.

The podcast begins with opening a can of Diet RC Cola then we get down to business. Lee talks about his experience of performing magic at Recreational Vehicle (RV) Parks across the south in the 1970's. He then talks about his transition from magic to mentalism and the stumbles along the way that made him more determined. Lee then tells us about "Manifestations", the seance he conducted from 1986 through 1989, some stories from the performances and its demise.

Lee concludes this podcast talking about his friend and business partner, Larry Becker, and their business "Mentalism Unlimited" which is no longer in business. The items remaining are being sold by Lee during his "Farewell" Lecture Tour which is helping him clean out his inventory following his move from Phoenix, Arizona to Atlanta, Georgia.

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Enjoy supplemental material from Lee Earle as he talks about the basic premises upon which mentalism is based. Plus he gives some great advice on use of sound (i.e. microphones, speakers, etc.)

211: Nick Lewin - A Brit Under the Brim

British born Nick Lewin has been in America for over 40 years but only recently found his way to the great state of Texas where he and his wife, Susan, reside in the state's capital city of Austin. Most of you know Nick as a regular contributor to Alan Watson's "New Zealand eZine" and as the co-editor for the fantastic, FREE digital magazine for magicians, "Vanish". But you may not know that he was the first afternoon show in Las Vegas performing two shows for six days a week for five years at the Maxxim Hotel & Casino. When he left, Mac King took his spot as Nick moved on. Nick has been, and remains. a popular cruise ship entertainer. He even wrote a book on the subject entitled, "Cruise Magic 101".

Nick's mentor and friend was Billy McComb from whom he learned a lot. He was also influenced by Maurice Fogel and Ken Brooke. After moving to Los Angeles in the 1970's and settling near the Magic Castle, he continued to learn from and befriend many of the magical "luminati".

Nick recently traveled a short four hour drive to Houston where he lectured to our local magic group and spent some time behind the microphone to chat about his life. Nick shares tons of interesting stories right from the start of our conversation including funny memories with Maurice Fogel, Billy McComb and more. He also talks about his early years in Las Vegas, working cruise ships, hanging out at the Magic Castle with Dai Vernon, Charlie Miller, and more. If you enjoy stories about the "old guys" and the "old days", then you will enjoy this look back at some of our magic history. Plus he gives us some performing tips along the way that are well worth the price of this podcast.

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). You can download or listen to the podcast through FeedPress by Clicking Here. Remember, you can download it through iTunes. See the preview page by Clicking Here.

Join us for another episode as a few magicians dine and chat. There is a little magic talked about in this episode, a little...okay, very little. Just another boring dinner with David Stone and Martin Cox and a few local Houston magicians.

141: Marc Salem - Piece of Mind

Star of stage and screen (well, small screen...television), Marc Salem stopped by for an extended chat about mentalism, world travel, building a show and the structure of a show, theatre work, celebrities he has worked with and known, and more. In particular, he shares some stories about his appearance on the TV show, 60 Minutes, stories from the stage perspective, stories about Uri Geller and more. This was an interesting conversation in that we seem to be "all over the board". It was difficult to keep a focus and get direct answers despite redirecting. It was kind of like trying to nail Jell-o to to the wall.

One of the interesting analogies he draws are the three types of spacial displacement: human years, dog years and entertainment years. He also talks about the dangers of making predictions, making meaning of our magic and lives, using psychology, how to get publicity, The 13 (secret mentalism New York group), and so much more.

Marc was low-key in promoting his book to the point of not even mentioning its title in this podcast. For the record, his book is "The Six Keys to Unlock and Empower Your Mind: Spot Liars & Cheats, Negotiate Any Deal to Your Advantage, Win at the Office, Influence Friends, & Much More". Whew! With a long title like that, it's no wonder that he didn't mention it in order to keep the podcast short. :) But for those who are interested, you can find it on Amazon. Just Click Here for more information on Amazon and to see an excerpt from the book.

If you are interested in hearing more from Marc or you have any questions about anything he mentioned during our chat, then please drop him a note via email to masalem@aol.com

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.