364: My Week At The Magic Castle - 2017: Part Three

This podcast runs a little shorter than normal but provides a little local "color" surrounding the Castle. We first travel to Santa Monica to visit with Steve Spill and his "Magicopolis" (video tour below) then back to downtown Hollywood to Musso & Frank Grill which is known for their famous martinis. While there, we uncovered a lot of interesting stories about old (and new) Hollywood celebrities who frequent the bar/restaurant.

Since the conversations are shorter than normal, we have time to review John Bannon's "Move Zero" three DVD set which is for beginners and highly recommended.

Steve Spill, owner and performer at Magicopolis in Santa Monica, CA takes us on a guided tour of the building. For more information on his book, "I Lie for Money", be sure to listen to The Magic Word Podcast episode 218 at https://www.themagicwordpodcast.com/scottwellsmagic/steve-spill To hear the latest chat with Steve, live from Magicopolis, then visit: https://www.themagicwordpodcast.com/scottwellsmagic/364-my-week-at-the-magic-castle-2017-part-three available after 9:00 a.m. July 6, 2017

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:03:36 - Steve Spill drives us to lunch so we chat with him while he is driving from his theater, Magicopolis, in Santa Monica.

00:13:46 - Ruben Rueda has been a bartender at Musso & Frank Grill for 50 years and has quite a reputation.

00:23:10 - Sonny Bones, one of the servers at Musso and Frank Grill tells us some stories about the iconic restaurant.

00:28:33 - Bobby Caravella, AGM of Musso and Frank Grill expounds on several classic stories about Old Hollywood and those celebrities who have frequented and are frequenting the restaurant.

00:42:27 - Move Zero Vol. One DVD by John Bannon. Click Here for details.

00:50:34 - Move Zero Vol. Two DVD by John Bannon. Click Here for details.

00: 54:05 - Move Zeto Vol. Three DVD by John Bannon - Click Here for details

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354: Robin Leach - Lifestyles of Magicians

Robin Leach has long been associated with his catch phrase "Champagne Dreams and Caviar Wishes" as he hosted the long running television show, "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" which focused on profiling well-known celebrities and their lavish homes, cars and other materialistic details. But Robin is also a "magic fan" who clearly loves and has a deep respect for magic and he is friends with many of the local magicians. Believe it or not, he is an honorary member of The Magic Circle. He also has a rather impressive collection of magic books in his library.

I saw Robin Leach at last year's MAGIC Live! who was trying to be inconspicuous as he chatted with Stan Allen. I later asked Stan about Robin's association with magic which led to this podcast. As a long time resident of Las Vegas and immersed in the lifestyles of local celebrities, Robin has a unique perspective on the history and evolution of the magic scene. I felt that he would make a perfect guest for the podcast to hear an "outsiders" perspective of magic, magicians, and the role they have played in making Las Vegas what it is today. I was not disappointed.

Today at age 75 his life hasn't slowed down. I was lucky to get an hour and a half of his time during the week I was in Las Vegas because of his tremendously busy schedule including his weekly vlog (video log) on You Tube, LuxeVegas.

Our discussion opens with Robin talking about making and enjoying a "proper" cup of tea. He then talks about his passion for magic and how he believes it needs to have a much higher ranking among the performing arts. He then chats about having been a guest of Bob Harbin and becoming an honorary member of The Magic Circle. He then goes on to talk about his favorite magician, Bill Malone. He also enjoyed watching Ricky Jay live in his Broadway performance, "Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants".

He then talks about the evolution of magic on the Las Vegas "Strip" including from Norm Neilsen, Channing Pollock, Siegfried and Roy, Lance Burton, David Copperfield to Penn & Teller, Criss Angel and Amazing Jonathan to the newest show on the Strip, Jarrett & Raja. Although he sings the praises of many magicians, he is not a fan of hypnotists, and he also has advice for Mac King and Xavier Mortimer. Ultimately, he believes there are too many magicians in Las Vegas today though the art of magic still survives. He then shifts to talking about how hard it is to work in New York City but Monday Night Magic has proved to be the exception.

He concludes by giving us his three "D's" of show business: Dedication, Discipline and Diligence.

For more information on this and the other Nick Trost books in this series, please visit Steve Bryant's Little Egypt Magic, March 2017 edition.

250: At Home With Lupe & Norm Nielsen

After the 2015 MAGIC Live! convention, I stayed over for an extra day so as to visit with one of magic's legends: Norm Nielsen. I spoke with Lupe about coming over to their home to chat and see the poster collection. She told me that the bulk of their collection is now in Chicago preparing to be auctioned off by Potter & Potter over the next two years. But I was still welcome to come by for coffee and a visit. So I did.

Fortunately, I had visited their home and collection in 2007 when I also snapped some lovely photos which are on this blog. I also posted some pictures from this year's visit. Perhaps you can tell what a difference eight years makes.

Lupe talked about Norm's poster collection at the Order of Merlin breakfast at the combined IBM/SAM convention in St. Louis. You can Click Here to hear that interesting, historical presentation. Unfortunately, you cannot view the beautiful posters that she showed in her presentation, but the stories are interesting.

00:01:56 - Norm Nielsen and Lupe talk about their magic poster collection, how he came to start collecting and what is happening to it now. He also talks about his long career as a performer and builder and creator. He has many stories about other magic legends he has met along the way, not the least of which was his good friend, Tobias "Theo" Leendert Bamberg "Okito" (1875-1963) . During this chat in Norm's living room, his lovely wife, Lupe, fills in some details and gives us some additional background information. David Sandy and Lance Rich are also in attendance "in the studio audience" who ask some relevant questions, too.

00:59:07 - After our chat, we go out to the workshop where David shares a funny story about Faucett Ross. This is a legendary story that is Mac King's favorite story and has to be heard by this larger, podcast audience in order to preserve it for posterity.

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.

Check back with Potter & Potter from time to time to see when the Nielsen Poster collection will be put "on the auction block".