368: Day Four IBM/SAM Combined Convention 2017

FRIDAY JULY 14 SCHEDULE
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM - Registration Opens - Registration Area
8:00 AM - 9:30 AM - Order of Merlin Breakfast- Cochran
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM - Dealers Open - Exhibit Hall
9:30 AM - NOON - Close-Up Contest - Grand Ballroom
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM - Max Maven Lecture - Grand Ballroom
3:00 PM - 4:45 PM - Juliana Chen Lecture - Grand Ballroom
5:00 PM - 7:30 PM - Grand Banquet - Archibald-Cochran, Rivue Tower
8:00 PM - 9:30 PM - Internat’l Magic Competition - Whitney Hall (Ticketed Event)
10:00 PM - 10:45 PM - Murray Hatfield Lecture - Grand Ballroom
11:00 PM - 11:45 PM - Luis Carreon Lecture - Grand Ballroom
11:00 PM - Midnight - Invisible Lodge - Collins

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:00:18 - Steven Bargatze and Lance Burton talk about going to high school together in Louisville, Tennessee

00:08:56 - Mac King, co-honoree at this convention, chats about his record breaking run at Harrah's Casino in Las Vegas plus what might be coming up next for him.

00:15:01 - George Schindler, Dean of the S.A.M. Parent Assembly #1 talks about his predecessors whom he knew.

00:21:30 - Eliot Cohen represents the "Every Man" who is the typical convention registrant. We get a perspective from his point of view on the convention and why he attends magic conventions. Also included with this chat with Eliot is his friend, John McLaughlin, former Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

00:35:13 - Murray Hatfield will close the Saturday night show with his illusion show he brought down from Canada. He will also be a lecturer after the Friday night show.

00:47:41 - Ted and Marion Outerbridge, Canadian Illusionists, closed last night's show (Thursday night) after having rebuilt some of their illusions which were left in China awaiting their return in August.

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366: Day Two - IBM/SAM Combined Convention 2017

WEDNESDAY, JULY 12 SCHEDULE
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM - Registration Opens - Registration Area
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM - S.A.M Annual Meeting - Carroll Ford
Spouses Orientation - Combs Chandler
10:30 - NOON - I.B.M. Board Meeting - Nunn
11 AM - Noon - Bruce Kalver | Tech Tricks Lecture - Grand Ballroom
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM - Stage Contest 1 - Grand Ballroom
3:30 PM - 5:00 PM - Fielding West Lecture - Grand Ballroom
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM - Magic Circle Reception - Presidential Suite
5:15 PM - 6:00 PM - Dealers Show - Grand Ballroom
8:00 PM - 9:30 PM - Stars of Magic Gala (Gene Anderson, MC, Jonathan Neal & Leann, David Deeble, Jason Andrews, and the Outerbridges)- Whitney Hall (Ticketed Event)
10:00 PM - 10:45 PM - Kent Cummins Lecture - Grand Ballroom
11:00 PM - 11:45 PM - Jeki Lecture - Grand Ballroom

Time Stamps for this podcast::

00:03:40 - John Sturk talks about the new things going on with the Chicago Magic Lounge and their "new digs" that are being built

00:14:51 - Steve Bryant talks about seances in Southern Illinois and Indiana

00:24:28 - Steven Bargatze talks about his son, Nate Bargatze, who is a successful comedian.

00:38:50 - Rick Heath, artist from Le Grand David Magic Show, talks about working with Marko the Magnificent (Cesareo Peleaz)

November 9-11, 2017 - Click for more information

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.