634: 2021 Austin T.A.O.M. - Day One Report

Friday September 3, 2021

9.30am-11.30am - Collectors Meeting: Bill Winters presents “Walter Gibson, the Man Who Knew the Titans of Magic” and A virtual presentation of the Houdini collection by the Curator Eric Colleary.
Free for all!

12pm-5pm - Registration Desk Open

12pm-5pm - Dealers Room Open

1pm-2pm - Lecture: JD Stewart

2pm - Dealer Show 1

2.30pm-3.30pm - Lecture: Kent Cummins

3.30pm - Dealer Show 2

4pm-5pm - Lecture: Cody Fisher

4pm-5pm - TAOM Board Meeting

5pm-6pm - Dinner Break

6pm-8pm - Dealers Room Open

6pm-8pm - Cocktail Party

6.30pm - Dealer Show 3

7pm - Dealer Show 4

7.30pm - Dealer Show 5

8pm-9pm - Cocktail Gala Show: Brian Brushwood and Justin Robert Young

9.30pm-11pm - Lecture: Michael Ammar

11.30pm-12.30am - S. Ravencraft’s “TAOM after Dark” – Cabaret: Bizzaro & Carisa Hendrix

Time stamps for this episode:

00:00:17 - a chat with the Secretary/Treasurer of the T.A.O.M. Mary Cay Gold. She is also the Guest of Honor at this year’s convention

00:12:28 - T.A.O.M. 2021 President, Bertil Fredstrom, chats with us before the convention begins. A rare moment of early contemplation.

00:23:09 - Kent Cummins talks about his monthly magic column and his lecture he delivered this afternoon

00:29:38 - Saul Ravencraft talks about the Bizzarre Midnight Magic Shows coming up for the next three nights

00:37:24 - Ken Dickensheets talks about why sound and light are all so important at magic conventions

00:41:32 - Justin Robert Young tells us about this evening’s show along with Brian Brushwood that replaced Nick Diffatte in the evening’s gala show

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633: 2021 Austin T.A.O.M. - Prelude Report

Thursday September 2, 2021

11:30 - Unveiling of Houdini Way in Kingsland, Texas, the first and only street in Texas named after the famed magician.

12:30 - champagne reception at home of Trixie Bond and Mark Axford following the street sign unveiling

8:00 - Esther’s Follies featuring Ray Anderson

On Friday morning September 3rd we had a LIVE virtual tour of Houdini artifacts from the University of Texas, Ransom Center, Austin, Texas presented by Dr. Eric Colleary. This very special “kick-off” for the Texas Association Of Magicians (T.A.O.M.) was open to all at NO COST and a unique opportunity to see some of the collection that few ever get to see in their lifetime. The Ransom Center houses an amazing collection of Houdini ephemera including papers, documents, correspondence, and artifacts associated with the magician, escape artist, business man, aviator, author, and actor popularly known as Harry Houdini. Dr. Colleary took us through an assortment of memorabilia with stops along the way as responded to your questions.

Time stamps for this episode:

00:00:17 - Scott Wells explains what’s going on today prior to the official start of the TAOM

00:05:56 - Trixie Bond talks about the ceremony we are about to see

00:08:24 - official unveiling ceremony for the first street in Texas named for Houdini with Mark Axford, Scott Wells, Kent Cummins, Bertil Fredstrom and Trixie Bond

00:29:16 - Bill Winters gives us a preview of his talk about Walter Gibson that he will deliver at the Collectors Meeting tomorrow morning

00:32:31 - Ray Anderson answers some questions after Esther’s Follies

00:39:36 - Michael Ammar joins us in the back seat of a car with road noise and other conversations but he talks about “Discover Magic” and what he has been doing in recent years and currently.

617: U.K. Kid Show Magicians

Kids are kids the world over and they all love magic. But there are some subtle differences in how and where magic is presented to children in the U.S. versus how it's done in the U.K. This week we chat with family and children show entertainers from the U.K. about these differences and some of their challenges (i.e. taking the tube and/or train in London between shows) and how they brand themselves by using memorable names for their characters.

Listen this week to our chat with Martin "Mr. Biscuit" Cox, Dave "Magic Dave" Allen and Paul "Colonel Custard" Megram as we hear how it's done "across the pond."

This week’s podcast episode on YouTube.

This week, Paul Megram, Dave Allen and Martin Cox represent a small sample of the complex and multi-levels of children’s show magicians in England. Someone could easily make a podcast devoted to just the kid show industry in the U.K. by featuring a different entertainer each week, but that’s not what The Magic Word Podcast is about. So please enjoy this 35,000 foot (or 10,668 meters) overview of this lucrative industry and accept our apologies if we have left out you as a guest or topics that you think we should have discussed.