468: Joe Curcillo - The Mind Shark

Half lawyer, half mind reader, Joseph Curcillo is the “Mind Shark”. In this chat while we were in Havana for MagiCuba, we talked about many things including how he moved from a successful law practice to the world of corporate entertainment, the many books he has authored, tips on how to plan your career/life, appearing before the supreme Court, and many other interesting stories and pieces of advice.

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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 2018. 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.

Edwin “Ed” E. Eckl

Johnny R. Fox

Walter B. Graham

Frederick W. Kuethe, Jr.

James “Jim” E. Hoy

James “Jim” L. Nagel

Harry Anderson

Kathy Wells

Frank Price

Auke van Dokkum

Arthur Emerson

Kenneth Dodd

Loch David Crane

Leeman J. Parker

Brian Gillis

June O. Horowitz

Daniel S. Butler “Dan Strange”

Jim Sommers

David E. Linsell

Paul Potassy

Moi-Yo Miller

Rachel Colombini

Ricky Jay

Richard Robinson

Johnny Hart

Pete Biro

295: Richard Osterlind - Mysteries Revealed

Richard Osterlind has been at the forefront of mentalism publications and DVD's as afull-time, professional mentalist for over 40 years. In this podcast, Richard purports to have more DVDs on mentalism than any other mentalist in the world. We have been longtime friends and our chat is long overdue. Richard will be one of the featured performers at the East Coast Mind Jam in Somerset, New Jersey this June 24-26, 2016.

Learn more about Richard Osterlind's new two-DVD set, "Eerie" by watching this promo trailer.

Richard reminisces about his early touring days to comedy clubs and, among other topics, he talks about his philosophy on use of electronics in mentalism and his thoughts on pure mentalism (i.e. Q&A)

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

Congratulations to Noel Berkofsky who won the contest for a free copy of Richard Osterlind's newest DVD, "Eerie" along with an autographed photograph of Richard. Click on the graphic above to learn more about "Eerie" and how you can order a copy for… — Congratulations to Noel Berkofsky who won the contest for a free copy of Richard Osterlind's newest DVD, "Eerie" along with an autographed photograph of Richard. Click on the graphic above to learn more about "Eerie" and how you can order a copy for yourself.

219: Lee Earle - Clear Vision

Lee Earle has been a leader and pioneer in the field of mentalism for decades. He recently came through Houston on his "Farewell" Lecture Tour where he imparted some of his years of experience in a concise two and a half hour lecture filled with advice and solid, commercial mentalism effects. Unfortunately, Lee has not created nor marketed many new effects over the past several years. Moreover, he has not been seen on the convention or lecture scene either. As a result, he is best known, remembered and respected by those "long of tooth". If fact, he said that perhaps 80% of those attending his 20+ lectures across the U.S. had gray heir. Too bad for this generation who missed out.

Lee has had a remarkable career having started out as a magician then transforming into a mentalist, which is the typical way people get into mentalism. He laments that actors and drama majors don't go immediately into mentalism and skip magic altogether thus not "tainting" them with "bad habits" that are hard to break in the performance of mentalism.

For those who are unfamiliar with Lee Earle's background, he was the secretary and membership chairman of the Psychic Entertainers' Association (P.E.A.) for a number of years. He authored the newsletter "Syzygy", produced and marketed several mentalism tricks along with Larry Becker under their company, "Mentalism Unlimited". He was the medium who developed and produced "Manifestations" in Phoenix, Arizona. And early in his magic career, he started the circuit for performing in large, upscale RV Parks across the southern part of the U.S.

The podcast begins with opening a can of Diet RC Cola then we get down to business. Lee talks about his experience of performing magic at Recreational Vehicle (RV) Parks across the south in the 1970's. He then talks about his transition from magic to mentalism and the stumbles along the way that made him more determined. Lee then tells us about "Manifestations", the seance he conducted from 1986 through 1989, some stories from the performances and its demise.

Lee concludes this podcast talking about his friend and business partner, Larry Becker, and their business "Mentalism Unlimited" which is no longer in business. The items remaining are being sold by Lee during his "Farewell" Lecture Tour which is helping him clean out his inventory following his move from Phoenix, Arizona to Atlanta, Georgia.

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.

Enjoy supplemental material from Lee Earle as he talks about the basic premises upon which mentalism is based. Plus he gives some great advice on use of sound (i.e. microphones, speakers, etc.)