546: Christian Engblom - Welcome to My Table

Christian Engblom joined me along with Chip Romero, Caesar Trujillo and Rob Greenlee late one night in my backyard sipping martinis and smoking cigars. The ambiance was perfect and the conversation was epic. Christian shared some of his philosophy on magic and Chip talked about his cruise experiences and shared philosophy. Christian talked about Juan Tamaiz and Dani DaOrtiz and Chip talked about Doug Henning. It was a fun conversation where you feel you are right in the conversation with us. So pull up a chair and enjoy this episode. I know you’ll learn something, too!

Christian talks about developing his “Anti-Faro” shuffle, performing on “Penn & Teller Fool Us”, and Chip Romero talks about Doug Henning and cruise ships.

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456: Makin' It With Mario the Magician

Mario the Magician or Mario the Maker is a most fascinating, inspirational creator. Although he has been “makin’ it” for a number of years, it wasn’t until I saw him perform at the 2018 MagiFest that I immediately became a fan. He has the “it” factor that endears him to an entire audience spanning age and audience size. He is just as engaging at a small birthday party as he is in an auditorium. And more than just a magician, he creates magic using electronics and encourages youth to get involved in science and math and learn to create their own magic.

He suggests that everyone (but youth in particular) attend Maker Faires (the worlds largest “show and tell” forum) to see what others are doing and to create things themselves. These Faires are held all over the world and somewhere near you. Other websites he suggests include tinkercat.com which allows children to design their own 3D designs. Thngerverse.com is like Google for creating 3D projects.

This is a short documentary by KAL (http://www.seekal.com) about Mario Marchese, aka Mario the Magician (http://www.mariothemagician.com) a hitchhiking wanderer turned full-time maker magician. This short film debuted at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center on December 1st, 2012 to a packed house after a live performance by Mario. Enjoy!

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:05:48 - Mario Marchese talks about Maker Faires, encouraging youth to create, travel problems with TSA with all of the electronics he carries onboard, arduino kits and how you can create a server motor, inspirational magicians like Del Ray, scripting, creating and more.

00:59:54 - Product Review: “Runaway Joker” by Peter Nardi and produced by Alakazam.co.uk. A clever card trick where the Joker and his bicycle (disappears” from the car and ends up on the back of the selected card. Recommended.

01:02:31 - Product Review: “Four King Miracle” by Henri White and produced by WorldMagicShop.co.uk. Two single Jokers turn into the four Kings. Clever idea that seems like this should have been invented many years ago. I like it and recommend it.

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 or through iHeart Radio by Clicking Here..If you have a Spotify account, then you can also hear us through that app, too. Remember, you can download it through the iTunes store, too. See the preview page by Clicking Here

Eric Citron is the “man behind the curtain” and dependable dealer who owns and operates ThePerfectTrick.com.

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355: Bill Smith - The Man Behind the Illusions

Former Long Beach Mystic, Bill Smith, has been a long time resident on Las Vegas and doesn't consider himself as a creator so much as he is a builder. He has seen a lot of magicians come and go. For ten years, he was a stage hand for Harry Blackstone, Jr. and traveled across the U.S. including his Broadway show. He also has some strong beliefs on building from original plans rather than building rip-offs.

As part of the Las Vegas Chronicles, one of the visits was to the illusion fabrication warehouse of Bill Smith's Magic Ventures where his crew was busy building props for upcoming shows. For more info on Magic Ventures, visit his website at: http://www.magicventures.com/

To hear our chat with Bill Smith, visit: https://www.themagicwordpodcast.com/scottwellsmagic/bill-smith

Bill Smith talks about his migration to "Sin City" as magic began to flourish. He talks about magic he has been involved with from Caesar's Magic Kingdom to the current big shows on the Strip. He also talks about working with Stan Allen in the magic shop in Los Angeles and his early attempts at building. Bill started out as a performer and gradually moved into building. He also chats about how he met Harry Blackstone, Jr. and how he starting working for him including a lot of behind-the-scene stories with Harry. Some of Bill's best memories are from his attendance at Abbott's Get Together.

We then have a good discussion about rip-offs of illusions, ethics, rights, YouTube, China, lack of creativity, and more. He now laments the lack of new, original illusions coming on the market today.