439: 2018 MAGIC Live! - Day One Update

Day One Schedule - Sunday August 5, 2018

24 hours - Back Room Lounge

10:00 a.m. Registration and Photo Badges

7:30 - 11:00 p.m. Welcome Party

7:30 - 11:00 p.m. - "What's New" Dealers Faire Open

10:30 p.m. - Grand Prize Giveaway

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:00:16 - Prepare for takeoff from Houston Hobby airport with coffee and Dunkin' Donuts on "red eye" to Las Vegas

00:05:35 - Jeff Copeland will be a first time dealer at MAGIC Live! and talks about a few of his products.

00:13:02 - Jessica is a clerk at Gambler's General Store which is one of my favorite stops in Las Vegas

00:17:45 - Bill Malone has a few gags to share while we were getting our convention badges made.

00:19:55 - Charles Bach talks about Chappy Brazil and Kevin James chats about the upcoming season of "The Illusionists"

00:25:34 - Max Krause chats about his magic shop and theatre in Oklahoma City that is the second highest rated attraction in OKC.

00:29:10 - Martin Lewis talks about his late friend, Harry Anderson, and recounts his "Unicorn Story" that Harry wrote to accompany his linking finger rings performance.

00:34:46 - Bob Kavooras tells about his new line of vodka, Illusion Vodka

00:44:54 - George Tesoro and Michael King talk about producing and directing magic video and major motion pictures

00:52:52 - Jonathan Scott is one of TV's "Property Brothers" and also a magician who happens to be in town and is a magician

01:01:43: - Pat Hazell trips down memory lane telling us about fooling Slydini, his film appearances, and more.

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376: Day Three - 2017 MAGIC Live!

Day Three was the second full day of activities, and depending upon the color of your lanyard holding your badge, determined whether one attended the morning General Session or two of the three Focus Sessions. I had the red lanyard which meant that I attended the General Session in the morning which was again capably hosted by Jonathan Levitt and Julie Eng. Their guest were interesting and entertaining and included Jonathan Goodwin, Levent, David Williamson and Richard Turner.

The Focus Sessions were okay, too, but the evening show was first "In Concert with John Archer" who gave a one hour comedy performance then I finally got to see the Thayer 49 Puzzle Boxes. This is the hardest thing to describe in writing but was for me one of the highlights of the convention. And for those reading this blog who may still be at the convention, I don't want to spoil it for you but will tell more in tomorrow's report.

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:00:17 - Mark Mason just arrived from holiday in Germany in order to be a dealer here at MAGIC Live!

00:03:31 - Everybody's funnyman, Bill Malone, is not part of the convention this year but just hanging out and he tells a funny story.

00:09:20 - John Bannon has a new fourth DVD coming out to complete his "Move Zero" series.

00:14:09 - We go into the dealer's room and chat with Erin Wimmer with Bicycle Cards and she tells us about some new cards coming out soon plus some decks that were made just for this convention.

00:19:46 - Gabe Fajuri has another auction this coming Saturday at Potter and Potter Auctions

00:23:11 - Master Payne is not performing this year so he is enjoying being a general registrant this week. He also talks about Mystery School and Eugene Burger.

00:28:26 - Brent Braun from Penquin tells us about the newest tricks available from Penguin plus talks about the Magic Expo.

00:32:09 - Levent talks about photography

00:35:15 - Richard Hatch tells us about the newest publication about "Expert at the Card Table"

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.

358: Mat Franco - Magic Reinvented Nightly

Winner of Season 9 of "America's Got Talent [sic]" (AGT). Mat Franco has a successful show on the Las Vegas Strip for the past year and a half in the newly remodeled Linq Casino and Hotel, which was the former Imperial Palace. His show is unlike any other on the Strip and pulls from many of the popular tricks he performed on AGT. The name of his show "Magic Reinvented Nightly" is the perfect title because, without giving away any surprises, every show is different but...oh, darn it, I really can't say any more. But I do recommend the show. It is done with pure skill and personality. The focus is not on the props, dancers or music but focused on the performer himself. And he is riding high on the success of his TV appearances. I know that his show will have "legs" and should remain popular for many years to come.

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:04:50 - Mat Franco talks a lot about his experience on America's Got Talent [sic] television show. He obviously had a completely different experience than all the other magicians who preceded him. We also chat about his new show at the Linq Hotel and Casino (which is owned by Caesar's). He also tells about his years performing on the college circuit, his early inspirations, trick selection, timing, nervousness, developing his character, bad decisions along the way, creating his vision of the show, and more.

01:12:46 - Product review of "Matrix Pad Reloaded" by Richard Griffin. Effect: a Post-It notepad is shown. Four spots are drawn in each corner of the pad with a Sharpie. One by one with a rub of the finger, the spots visibly assemble to one corner. The top sheet can be peeled off and given to a spectator. Highly recommended.

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

Click the graphic above to visit The Linq, get directions, make hotel and show reservations.

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439: 2018 MAGIC Live! - Day One Update

Day One Schedule - Sunday August 5, 2018

376: Day Three - 2017 MAGIC Live!

358: Mat Franco - Magic Reinvented Nightly

The Magic Word