327: Kozmo - Street Legend

What makes someone a legend? Some say being one of the best in your field. Others might say it comes after many years of doing that thing you do so many times. Still others think it is when that one name keeps rising to the top of others listed in one category. Such is my definition of why I think Kozmo has reached that status along with only a handful of street performers.

One of the "cover boys" of MAGIC Magazine, Theodore "Ted" Brainard (aka "Kozmo") has built a reputation as a street magician after decades of experience and over 30,000 shows. He has made a comfortable living from the street having performed around the world and nearly every kink of climate.

But as Kozmo is moving away from frequent street performances, his time and attention has been divided between the street and his video production company, "Kozmo Magic". Not only does he direct, produce and market DVD's by some of the top professionals today (like Doc Eason, Garrett Thomas and others), he also produces the bi-monthly digital magazine, Reel Magic.

327 on The Magic Word Podcast with Kozmo talking about street magic and Reel Magic. This was recorded using Facebook's Live Streaming feature. Be sure to Like our Facebook page and not miss future opportunities to join us LIVE! http://facebook.com/themagicwordpodcast For the audio only, please enjoy the podcast at: http://themagicwordpodcast.com/scottwellsmagic/327-kozmo-street-legend

Kozmo talks on the podcast about his mentor, the late Jim Cellini, working the street, how to get crowds, similarities to trade show magic, and Reel Magic.

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Congratulations to Tim Rappel, winner of this week's contest prize "Cool Cash". Watch for upcoming contests on The Magic Word.

For a FREE 48 hour trial of Reel Magic, send an email to KozmoMagic@me.com and Kozmo will turn it on for you.

John T. Sheets presents a collection of impromptu bill switches that are perfect for any magician. Included is everything you need, except the bills. On this DVD, John teaches: Cool Cash: Two bills, of different denominations, visibly change places between the magician's hand and the spectator's hand.

313: Day 2 - MAGIC Live! 2016

Day Two Schedule for August 15, 2016:

24 hours - The Back Room
9:00 a.m. - Registration
9:00 a.m. - Photo Booth
10:00 a.m. - Monday General Session for Maroon lanyards (showroom until 12:15 p.m.
   Keynote - Lance Burton
   Classic Correspondence - Mike Caveney
   The Delicate Beauty of Honesty in Magic - Luis Piedrahita
   Bending the Real - David Penn
   Magician Without Borders - Michael Muldoon
   The Future of Magic - Kevin Phillips
   Parallax - Max Maven
   Friends Remembered
10:00 a.m. - Monday Focus Sessions for black lanyards until 11:00 a.m.
The Power of Invisble Thread - Yigal Mesika
Flashback - Steve Reynolds
The Art of quick Change - Retonio, Natalie & Eli
11:00 a.m. - The MAGIC Shop until 6:30 p.m.
11:15 - Monday Focus Sessions for black lanyards until 12:15 p.m.
   The Power of Invisible Thread - Yigal Mesika
   Flashback - Steve Reynolds
   The Art of quick Change - Retonio, Natalie & Eli
12:15 p.m. - lunch break
12:30 - Close-up Experience until 1:45
2:15 - Monday General Session for Black lanyards (showroom until 4:30 p.m.
   Keynote - Lance Burton
   Classic Correspondence - Mike Caveney
   The Delicate Beauty of Honesty in Magic - Luis Piedrahita
   Bending the Real - David Penn
   Magician Without Borders - Michael Muldoon
   The Future of Magic - Kevin Phillips
   Parallax - Max Maven
   Friends Remembered
3:30 p.m. - Monday Focus Sessions for Maroon lanyards until 12:15 p.m.
   The Power of Invisible Thread - Yigal Mesika
   Flashback - Steve Reynolds
   The Art of quick Change - Retonio, Natalie & Eli
5:00 p.m. Dinner break
6:00 p.m. - Close-Up Experience
7:00 p.m. - Live Onstage until 8:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m. - Close-Up Experience until 8:45 p.m.
7:30 p.m. MAGIC Cabaret: The Secret Class until 8:30 p.m.
9:00 - Close-Up Experience until 10:15 p.m.
10:00 p.m. - Live Onstage until 11:30 p.m.
10:30 p.m. - Close-Up Experience

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:02:08 - Lance Burton kicks off the first General Session with a talk on...the sponge ball vanish. It quickly develops into an object lesson of how we can teach and inspire others to be the next generation of magicians.

00:13:45 - Ken Scott is the coordinator of the Focus Sessions and he talks about his experience of working behind the scenes at MAGIC Live! He is also the organizer of the upcoming Atlanta Harvest of Magic on September 29 - October 1, 2016

00:24:50 - Mac King has been on the cover of MAGIC Magazine many times.

00:29:14 - Jonathan Kamm talks about this being his first MAGIC Live! and his experience plus he talks about his trick "Toi Box"

00:34:17 - Jamie D. Grant talks about his "Anything is Possible Bottle" (deck of cards in a bottle) that are hidden around the hotel. Clues are given daily on Instagram and Twitter using #Jamie_D_Grant

00:38:52 - Steve Brooks, Webmaster for The Magic Cafe, talks about his forum plus his experience this year at MAGIC Live!

00:44:51 - Kozmo, producer of Reel Magic, talks about his mentor, Cellini.

00:50:41 - Daniel Will, a Friend of The Magic Word, talks about what he has enjoyed at this year's convention.

00:53:47 - Stan Allen makes a major announcement about the future of MAGIC Magazine.

00:58:35 - Noel Brittan talks about not having to do anything this year since he was a presenter in the past.

Click on the graphic above for more information about Ken Scott's convention "Atlanta Harvest of Magic"

248: Day Four - MAGIC Live! 2015

The General Session for the final day was hosted by Mark Kornhauser who talked about lessons to learn from his monthly column "For What It's Worth:. Charlie Frye talked about the subject of Character and the importance of building one. Axel Hecklau talked about how to produce your own show in your own area. And the feature was the panel discussion hosted by Bill Malone with Ron Conley and Steve Forte as they talked about the differnce between gambling moves and magician moves.

In the Focus (breakout) sessions, Tony Clark discussed Slydini;s "Paper Balls Over the Head:; Mike Bent and Buster Balloon talked about "Monster Kids" and Joseph Barry blew us away with his card handling in "There's Always a Beginning".

The evening show was hosted by Justin Willman who was a standout highlight with an affable character that easily broke the fourth wall. Mark and Jinger Kalin premiered a new illusion and closed with a double "thin model sawing" with a twist. Xavier Mortimer put in not one, but two outstanding, original performances including a self levitation while "jumping rope". Den Den and Hun Lee both did very nice manipulation acts. The Evasons were stellar with their two person mind reading act. Dan Sperry reprised his fantastic, creative and bizarre bird act from the Illusionists tour. But the real highlight that got everyone talking was the 17 year old juggler, Ty Tojo who eaily juggled seven balls with alarming aplomb.

The Farewell Party featured an opportunity for some lucky registrant to win either $500, $1,000, $5,000 or $100,000. The lucky winner played a gamer wherein he selected certain tiles (similar to large Scrabble tiles) that had the value of one of the denominations inside the envelope. Whatever five numbers the person drew would be the amount he/she would win. The winner drew five $1,000 envelopes so he won $1,000.

My signature Coin in Bottle routine being performed at the 2014 TAOM Magic Convention in Fort Worth Texas

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:00:26 - Sean Popp talks about the Rubic Cube and Show Cues updates that are coming.

00:05:55 - David Deeble talks about being the MC for the morning session and a synopsis of his presentation.

00:13:26 - Master Payne talks about working Renaissance Festivals and Kozmo talks about working on the street.

00:28:35 - Axel Hecklau talks a bit about the presentation he gave on puting together a venue in your own community.

00:37:28 - Kayla Drescher talks about working behind the scenes at MAGIC Live!

00:39:43 - Richard Myer and Steve Bedwell give their comments on highlights from the convention.

00:47:02 - Tony Clark talks about his presentation on Slydini's "Paper Balls Over The Head"

00:53:21 - Giovanni Livera and Ian Pigeon are joined by Rafael Benatar as they talk about some of their highlights from the convention. Ian is the creator of "My Pet Boris" spider app and he talks about the creation of this variation of Jim Pace's "The Web".

01:19:15 - Dan Sperry says hello and goodby then we chat with Rory Johnston about his participation in the production of MAGIC Live!