866: Albert Lucio - Do The Spirits Return?

Keep Austin Weird. That is the city’s slogan, and there is much that proves they are indeed, keeping it weird. One such business entity that does just that is “The Austin Seance” run by Albert Lucio and Jake Cordero. They conduct these seances throughout the year in and around the Austin area, but they are kept particularly busy, as you would imagine, during the “Month of Boo,” October. This week we chat with Albert about not only the seances, but also he provides us with a scholarly look at the rise of Spiritualism and more than just a brief history of this religion.

This week, Albert talks about Spiritualism in America, how it traveled abroad and why it captured the hearts and minds of the public. He also talks about The Austin Seance that is different from most seances you might attend. He tries to “keep it real” and not use any trickery or magic props or electronics. It is an “organic” seance that creates a new experience for guests each time they visit. One never knows what they will see, hear, or feel from one seance to the next.

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767: Randy Wakeman - I've Been Around for a Long, Long Years

Randy Wakeman has been around for many decades and was often seen lecturing and performing at magic conventions. Nonetheless, I have always seen him as an “underground” magician who appeals to the true sleight-of-hand experts. He is one of those guys who has “been there, done that, has the t-shirt” as he was one of the regular performers about the Chicago Bar Magic Scene before the turn of the last century. He has written several books on magic (card magic mostly) and is still relevant in our community as a performer, teacher and author.

While at the recent Senior Tour close-up convention in St. Louis, The Magic Word spoke with Randy as part of the convention report content. He was preparing for a workshop, so we didn’t get a chance to go in-depth as I had wanted. But we agreed to get together at the 4F convention in Buffalo a couple months later. True to his word, we sat down to complete our chat which results in this episode. The content of our chat in both places was a little disjunctive, so the editing required us to put the second conversation first then plug in the chat in St. Louis and finish with our talk while in Buffalo. This sounds more confusing that it actually is, but I know you will understand and enjoy our chat.

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 or through iHeart Radio by Clicking Here..If you have a Spotify account, then you can also hear us through that app, too. You can also listen through your Amazon Alexa and Google Home devices. Remember, you can download it through the iTunes store, too. See the preview page by Clicking Here

680: Kent Cummins - 70+ Years of Experience

After 70 years as a professional magician, there isn’t much that Kent Cummiins hasn’t seen or done. Not just a magician, Kent is also a noted national keynote speaker, a corporate trainer, author, a magic collector, a teacher and a juggler. Starting young with his first Mr. Mysto magic set, he took the moniker from the box for a short time as he forged his career early in life.He performed magic while serving his country in the armed forces, too. Kent is a co-founder of the Fantastic Magic Camp that has successfully trained hundreds of youth in the art of magic for decades.

In this week’s episode, we try to “take a drink from a fire hydrant” as Kent Cummins shares over seven decades of stories and background from his vast experience as a professional magician living in the capitol of Texas, Austin.

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 or through iHeart Radio by Clicking Here..If you have a Spotify account, then you can also hear us through that app, too. You can also listen through your Amazon Alexa and Google Home devices. Remember, you can download it through the iTunes store, too. See the preview page by Clicking Here