406: MagiCuba with Jon Stetson and John Rose

We are at the beginning of the magic convention season having had a great kickoff in Columbus, Ohio with the MagiFest. There are many conventions occurring around the glove that will attract thousands of attendees including Blackpool, MAGIC Live! and FISM. And there are other notable conventions that will be hosted that have long, rich heritages of being fun. But there is one convention that is planned for late 2018 that will be notable because of its unique location...Havana, Cuba.

In partnership with the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, Rose, a global marketing agency led by its founder and MagiCuba creator, John Rose, together with master mentalist Jon Stetson and in close cooperation with Bill Herz of Magicorp, the world's largest talent agency specializing in Magic, brings you the first international festival and conference of magic in Havana.

There are numerous conventions that could use attention and publicity to promote their event. But I feel that this will be a unique opportunity to not only see and learn some great magic, but also to travel to a destination that has literally been off limits to U.S. citizens for decades and to see a country while still in its "pristine" condition before tourism trade is wide open,

Early Bird Registration Rates Extended for Listeners of The Magic Word Podcast

The Early Bird discount ended on January 31st, but we have a special deal for our listeners. When you go through the convention registration process at http://magicuba.org/ be sure to put in the special discount code: themagicwordpodcast and receive a $100 discount now through February 28, 2018. Remember to have your passport information handy when you register.

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:09:19 - Jon Stetson talks about mentalism and classes he teaches and the Mystery Lounge in Boston

00:30:20 - John Rose and Jon Stetson talk about MagiCuba

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. You can download or listen to the podcast through Stitcher by Clicking Here or through FeedPress by Clicking Here or through Tunein.com by Clicking Here. Remember, you can download it through the iTunes store, too. See the preview page by Clicking Here.

377: Day Four - 2017 MAGIC Live!

Final day of MAGIC Live! filled with more sessions and conversations with friends. One of the best things about this convention is the opportunities to visit with old friends and make new ones. Certainly that can be said about all magic conventions, but because this one is during the weekdays, more professionals can attend because they are usually working on weekends.

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:00:16- Jon Stetson shares his favorite moments from the convention

00:04:04 - Lance Rich talks about this convention plus David Sandy's "Workshop" coming soon to St. Joseph, Missouri

00:09:01 - Kerry Pollock tells us what he has been p to recently and at 00:18:33 Brad Henderson tells us about puzzles.

00:26:57 - Brian Gillis was here for just one day so his experience was limited but he talks about the recent movie he was in.

00:25:34 - Joe Turner tells what he has enjoyed most from this convention

00:39:25 - John Shryock and I have not seen each other until this last day so he gives us a recap of his highlights from the convention plus what he has been up to recently.

00:44:40- David Hira gives us some of his highlights from the convention

00:54:25 - Marvyn "Mr. Electric" Roy tells us why it's important to celebrate our history

01:00:58 - Keith Fields and John Archer talks a bit about comedy

00:10:12 - Ray Anderson was one of the presenters during the General Session and here he talks a bit about one of his alter egos in "Esther's Follies"

01:14:44 - Stan Allen wraps up his perspective of the convention as we give him thanks for all he and his team have done.

01:21:48 - Scott Wells gives his personal wrap of the convention.

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. You can download or listen to the podcast through Stitcher by Clicking Here or through FeedPress by Clicking Here or through Tunein.com by Clicking Here. Remember, you can download it through the iTunes store, too. See the preview page by Clicking Here.

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.

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. You can download or listen to the podcast through Stitcher by Clicking Here or through FeedPress by Clicking Here or through Tunein.com by Clicking Here. Remember, you can download it through the iTunes store, too. See the preview page by Clicking Here

Order your calendar from Amazon and help support The Magic Word Podcast