370: My Week At The Magic Castle - 2017: Part Four

This episode wraps up my week of short conversations with "Knights of the Castle" who were either performing with me that week or passing through and agreed to chat for a few moments. There will be additional, longer episodes devoted to longer conversations with some people in and around the Los Angeles area in upcoming podcasts.

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:02:12 - Carl Christman, local California mentalist talks about his craft.

00:17:03 - Simon Coronel and Armado Lucero back stage of the close-up Gallery share some laughs.

00:26:20 - Paul Green chats with Scott in the lobby of the Magic Castle

00:30:28 - Martin Cox, from the U.K., was the Master of Ceremonies in the Palace of the Castle all this week and talks about his experience.

00:44:40 - chats with Jack Goldfinger, Bruce Gold and Jon Armstrong

00:59:45 - a wrap of the whole week by Scott Wells from the airport

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365: Day One - IBM/SAM Combined Convention 2017

This is the first of a five day series of podcasts from Louisville featuring conversations with convention talent, organizers, dealers and registrants. The intent is to bring you the sounds (and sights through the embedded videos and attached photos) of what's happening almost in "real time" so you have the next best experience of actually being there. .

This is not the "official" first day of the convention, but nonetheless, there were several "pre-convention" activities that happened and are worth recording for this episode which I will call "Day One".

IBM-SAM 2017 COMBINED CONVENTION SCHEDULE

TUESDAY, JULY 11
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Lance Burton Teen Magic Seminar - Jones
Ed Thomas Memorial Jr Magic Workshop - Beckham
2:00 PM - S.A.M. Endowment Fund Meeting - Willis
3:00 PM - S.A.M. Magic Center Meeting - Willis
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM - Registration Opens - Registration Area
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM - S.A.M. Caucus Meeting - Willis
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM - Registration Opens - Registration Area
6:00 PM - Red Carpet Event - Whitney Hall, Kentucky Center
7:00 PM - Louisville Premere: Billy Topit - Whitney Hall, Kentucky Center
9:30 PM - Midnight - Dealers Grand Opening / Autograph Session - Exhibit Hall

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:04:20 - David Salwak and Fielding West talk about the talent at this convention, both on the shows and the competition.

00:12:09 - Michael Perovich, from Los Angeles and a member of the Magic Castle, tells why he comes to the combined convention which allows him to see acts that aren't seen at the Magic Castle.

00:25:46 - Oscar Munoz, International President of the I.B.M. tells us about what he has accomplished over the past year as President and some of his highlights of what he has seen and done.

00:28:19 - Dal Sanders, past National President of the S.A.M., tells us what's going on with the S.A.M. Council.

00:33:08 - Richard Turner calls in to remind us of his debut on Penn & Teller Fool Us on July 13, 2017

00:34:57 - Q&A Panel discussion following the debut showing of "Billy Topit"

00:52:03 - Jeff Sikola, National President of the S.A.M., talks about what he feels were the highlights of the past year.

00:57:55 - Jason Andrews talks about the competitions that brought him to where he is today as well as his cruise ship work.

00:02:31 - Tommy Ellison (a Friend of The Magic Word) shares a story as an update from the podcast posted Feb. 27, 2014 and available by Clicking Here.

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

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345: Marcie Hume Documents Magicians - Life in the Impossible

Marcie Hume, co-director and co-producer of the recently released documentary, "Magicians - Life in the Impossible" visits us this week to talk about her new film. It follows the lives of four magicians over four years: Jon Armstrong, Brian Gillis, Jan Rouven, and David Minkin. After 18 months of editing, it was finally ready. As they say on the website:

MAGICIANS follows four very different professional magicians on stage and off, exploring how and why these characters so passionately dedicate their lives to the artistry and craft of illusion: from the most humbling of road gigs to the grandest performances on the biggest of stages; to finding love to terrible personal loss; and, most dramatically, to the prospect of losing everything for the one constant in their lives: magic.

As we come to understand why each is pursuing his own dream, we’ll discover the greatest secret that has been hidden right before our eyes all along: far more fascinating than the magic are the magicians themselves.

This was just released on Netflix on February 13, 20161 and available in many digital formats for viewing.

Equal parts awe-inspiring and heartbreaking, MAGICIANS captures the world of professional magic and the challenges that come with seeking illusory fame in a business where being sawed in half is the norm. The film follows four magicians on and off stage, exploring why they so passionately dedicate their lives to the craft of illusion.

In the first half of our chat, Marcie Hume talks about being a female mentalist, performances, developing her character, overcoming obstacles in a predominantly male performing art, and growing up and deciding to pursue mentalism rather than magic. In the second half of our chat, she discusses the selection process of who was going to be in the film, the way they decided to film the pieces, and a little about what wasn't said in the final cut. One of the things that we touched on but did not go into any detail was the fate of Jan Rouven which you can find here.

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