361: Terry Herbert - A Right Jolly Old Elf

Terry Herbert is most noted as a children's entertainer based in the U.K. but he is so much more than that. In this podcast, Terry talks about working with children and how close-up magic developed into what it is today in England. Pour yourself a cup of tea as you sit back and enjoy this podcast. It is full of great stories about some of the English magic legends and a "trip down memory lane".

Terry Herbert - Live on stage at the "Meet The Magic Circle 2007". www.jacksharpe.co.uk

Selected originals (offcuts, selected scenes, out-takes, rushes) for story 'The Piddingtons Keep Millions Guessing' - 50/10 Material for newsreel story - extra shots. A radio thought transference act. Various shots of the this act. Mainly shots from the BBC Radio studio in Piccadilly in London.

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:06:15 - Terry talks about working with children and the how he came to star in one of the earliest "hit magic videos" on teaching how to entertain children. He also talks about the state of performing close-up in England today and what is in his current stand-up routine for adults. We chat about mentalism in the U.K. and it was interesting to find that Terry has done quite a bit of study on the history of "The Piddingtons" which he discusses here on the podcast. Terry talks about his friends Ken Brooke and tells stories about Tommy Cooper and other U.K. legends.

01:14:17 - Product review of "Horoscope" by Chris Congreave and Magic Tao - a volunteer reads their horoscope from a magazine page in your wallet that also has a playing card printed on the page which matches the card and astrological sign on the card also in your wallet.

01:22:16 - "Sparks" by JC James. Thirteen effects, routines and moves (mostly card sleights) that are mostly ideas that can be incorporated in your routines.

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251: Day One - T.A.O.M. Convention 2015

The first Day of TAOM 2015 was only a few hours long, but what a few hours it was! If you are anywhere near Austin, then you should get here immediately! This has been a great day to kick off another great convention. Thirteen dealers from around the world (from Germany to Oregon and Japan to Ft. Worth, Texas) we have it all. The afternoon kicked off with a nice dealer's show followed by an outstanding lecture by Jay Scott Berry.

the evening Masters of magic evening show was hosted by Robert Baxt and featured Ken Scott, John Carney, Paprika, Bob Fitch, Mark Merchant and Peter Samelson. After the show, Peter Samelson gave a lecture followed by another lecture from Randi Rain. Then Brian Brushwood presented "Scam School Live" with some guests from previous episodes making guest appearances like David Rangel and Diamond Jim Tyler.

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:00:11 - Scott and Don Wiberg (Past International President of the IBM) talk in the car about the upcoming convention. This is Don Wiberg's first TAOM convention.

00:06:11 - President, Trixie Bond talks a bit about her expectations for the convention and some of the surprises in store for registrants.

00:09:47 - Oscar Munoz and Ken Scott talk about school shows and library shows and how they differ.

00:18:52 - Fumio Inagaki, seven time winner of TAOM's Comdy Award, talks about his invention of the bar code (UPC) gag.

00:29:40: - Walter "Zaney" Blaney has had a long road to completing his dream of building the perfect vanishing bird cage. Here you can hear his woes that will hopefully end with good news soon.

00:50:44 - Ventriloquist Mark Merchant talks about being topical in his scripting that makes him asuccess on cruise ships

010:58:55 - Mandy Nicot tells us about the surprise wedding she and Roger had at the FFFF convention earlier this year.

01:01:21: Brian Brushwood is the podcaster for Scam School and host of Life Hackers on the discovery Channel. He is also more than just a close friend. Brian is like one of my own children. Find out why in this chat..

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A Daily News Blog for Magicians capturing the magic news from around the world and putting it at your fingertips.

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.