537: Late Bloomers - Finding Magic Later in Life

A listener who became interested in magic later in life suggested that I consider chatting with others who may have a similar story. I thought that would be an interesting topic and perhaps even inspirational to others who might feel that it's too late to "teach an old dog new tricks." Well, this week we feature chats with a dozen listeners who responded and have interesting stories to tell.

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:01:43 - Nick Creature

00:12:20 - Angelo Fiorentino

00:17:40 - Bill Wisch

00:28:00 - Charles Cisneros

00:33:26 - Clint Smith

00:37:55 - Daniel Will

00:43:28 - Ian Scheller

00:49:25 - Ridgely Hunt

00:57:07 - Ryan Johnson

01:05:05 - Sean Doolan

01:09:42 - Shawn Mulliins

01:13:02 - Tom Yates

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Magicians' Valhalla

Although the list below is not exhaustive, it does reflect the names of many well-known (and some lesser known) magicians, spouses and assistants who passed on in 2019. Some may not be as well-known to you, but they were my personal friends (hey, it is my blog!). If you are unfamiliar with any of these names, then it would behoove you to do a little online search of what these people have contributed to our craft. If you have someone you think was overlooked, then please post the name in the comments below on this blog.

Those whose names are highlighted were featured or interviewed here on The Magic Word Podcast. You can click on their name to revisit and listen to their voices again.

Denny Haney

Gary Darwin

Sonny Fontana

Don Billings

Marshall Brodien

Steve Dusheck

Anthony Brahams

Johnny “The Great Tomsoni” Thompson

Anthony Owen

John Cornelius

Tom Blacke

Piet Forton

Tony Spina

Chen-Kai

Don Wayne

Gen Grant

Eddy Taytelbaum

Bob Schulien

Dick Oslund

Simon Aronson

Mike Maxwell

Aloha, my friends.

536: Mahdi Gilbert - Finding Inspiration

This week we feature a conversation that has been in queue for a few months but is a wonderful, inspirational episode to end the year and prepare for a new year. Mahdi Gilbert is a Canadian magician and inspirational speaker who has been slowly gaining attention on the international scene. His manipulation skills are amazing when you consider that he has no hands or feet, much like the 17th century German magician, Matthias (Matthew) Buchinger. Mahdi hosts his own podcast called “The Caged Canary” on the BeforeMagic.com website that is well worth hearing.

In this conversation, we talk about what “being on television” does for your career (or not) such as “Penn & Teller Fool Us” and “America’s Got Talent”. He also talks about working in China, working with tech companies in developing aids for those without hands, and a little history lesson about Matthias Buchinger. He also talks about how he has overcome his challenges and learned to type, play the piano, and more. He also talks and inspires corporate executives and youth groups in his talks. He discusses how he was bullied as a child and taken advantage of and beaten up and what he did to adapt and react.

535: Michael Godard - An Artist's Perspective

As creative magicians, we should always look to other creative types outside our art to see what “makes them tick.” I recently traveled to Las Vegas and sat down in the home of the number one leading artist in worldwide sales, Michael Godard. As stated on his website, the decision to become a full-time painter came later in his life, after stints as a mechanical engineer, commercial illustrator, caricature artist and successful entrepreneur. Nothing came easy…he fought his way into an art career, inventing his own one-of-a-kind style. His martini art features olives, grapes and other frisky characters busily expressing Godard's slightly off-kilter point of view. With plenty of talent to challenge the 'serious' artists, Michael Godard took his own path instead, and chose to "learn all the rules, and then break them".

During our conversation on The Magic Word Podcast, Michael Godard was a wonderful guest and he gave us a tour of his mansion.

“G” as he likes to be called by his friends, has earned this reputation through hard work and an original brand and an incredible eye for marketing. I thought it would be interesting to see what makes an artist “tick” and what spurs his creative juices and see what similarities we as magicians have with our performing art to what he as an illustrative artist does. We had a fun and enlightening conversation that will surely inspire you to be more creative, too.