676: Ed Alonzo - In The Library

While I was in Los Angeles to work on “Masters of Illusion” TV series, Ed Alonzo found time to sit in the library of the Magic Castle to chat about his career. As a former member of the Long Beach Mystics and the Magic Castle Junior group, Ed launched successful careers as both a magician and an actor having major roles in many television series including “Saved By The Bell.” He also went on to work with Britney Spears on her worldwide concert tour where he interacted with her on stage in his character as a magician.

In this week’s episode, Ed covers a lot of territory in a short hour podcast. He talks extensively about the Magic Castle and his love and dedication to the clubhouse. He also talks about his time as a youth as he was trying to “find his character” when he was a member of the Long Beach Mystics and the Magic Castle Juniors. He tells how he transitioned into acting but never lost his love for performing magic, which he still does to this day having just completed the taping of Season Nine of “Masters of Illusion.” By the way, he talked about running for office on the Academy of Magical Arts: he won the election and is now on the Board of Directors. Congratulations, Ed.

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Towards the end of the episode, Ed talks about being on “The American Life” podcast with Ira Glass and David Kestenbaum as they talked about “The Lady Vanishes” or, David Copperfield’s vanish of the Statue of Liberty. Ed was part of the team that worked with David on this illusion and this episode goes into detail about the effect. The podcast website for this episode is HERE. “The Lady Vanishes” is the second part of this episode entitled “The Magic Show” and Ed Alonzo’s part comes very near the end at around time stamp 00:53:00.

628: 2021 Abbott's Get Together - Day Four

SATURDAY, AUGUST 7TH 2021
9:00AM VENT-O-RAMA at Abbott's Magic with George Schindler
9:30AM REGISTRATION OPENS at the Abbott Plant
10:00AM LECTURE at Colon High School - Franz Harary
11:00AM REMEMBERING THE GREATEST TALENT CONTEST at High School - Lance Burton - Mac King - Jeff Hobson - Kevin James
(Artwork auction benefitting the Kentucky Humane Society.)
12:00PM STREET PERFORMER (John Sturk) at Dawn's Cafe (sponsored by IBM Ring 386-Percy Abbott / Monk Watson Magic Club)
1:00PM LANCE BURTON & FRIENDS Q&A at Colon High School
1:00PM MAGIC SHOW at Abbott's Magic (with TBA; $5 cash at the door)
2:30PM-6PM ABBOTT'S DEALERS' ROOM at Colon High School
3:00PM DEALER'S SHOW in Dealers' Room
3:00PM STREET PERFORMER (Jon LaChance) at Abbott's Magic (sponsored by IBM Ring 386-Percy Abbott / Monk Watson Magic Club)
3:00PM-5PM COLON HISTORICAL MUSEUM is open
4:30PM MAGIC SHOW at Abbott's Magic (with Joe Bennett; $5 cash at the door)
5:00PM-7:00PM Chuck Wagon BBQ Dinner at Lutheran Church (484 S Burr Oak Road, Colon; $12 cash dinner fee)
5:30PM STREET PERFORMER (Trino) at Curly's (sponsored by IBM Ring 386-Percy Abbott / Monk Watson Magic Club)
6:00PM-7:45PM DINNER on your own
7:45PM PRESHOW LIVE ORGAN MUSIC - by John Sturk
8:00PM ABBOTT'S STAGE SHOW - (view seating chart)
Featuring Lance Burton, Fielding West, Keith West, Michael Goudeau
10:00PM ABBOTT'S DEALERS ROOM OPENS at Colon High School
10:30PM ABBOTT'S PERFORMER AWARDS at Colon High School

SUNDAY, AUGUST 8TH 2021 (Post Get Together Events)
12:00PM MAGICIAN'S TOUR OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF MAGIC
(This tour of the museum and archives is geared towards magicians and will include a special
selection of artifacts never-before-on-display. $10 per person. Reservations not necessary.)

Time stamps for this episode:

00:00:18 - Tim “Skilldini” Wright talks about working in the Abbott’s Magic Company factory and gives us a virtual tour from his memory of the workshop

00:17:31 - Bobbie and Fred Becker talk about this Get Together and how Fred once lived and worked in Colon, Michigan

00:29:40 - Richard Cohn is the ultimate expert on magic in Coney Island, New York. This is Richard’s first time and he gives us his perspective of the event

00:39:39 - Derrick Kennedy, owner of Magic, Etc. in Fort Worth talks about traveling by train to this event each year

00:51:48 - Kevin James was another of the attendees who grew up with the Get Together and was one of the lecturers at this year’s event. He also shared his journey from Michigan to California where he joined the Long Beach Mystics.

01:01:43 - Debbie Bordner, wife of Greg Bordner, wraps up the Get Together with her assessment of this year’s event and encourages people to register for next year’s event on August 3-6, 2022. The sooner you register, the better the rate. Click Here to visit the registration site.

544: Gaetan Bloom - Crazy Creative

Gaetan Bloom is recognized as not only one of the most inventive and creative magic thinkers in our world of magic, but also he is one of the really nice guys in magic. We sat down with Gaetan during a recent magic convention and spent some quality time talking about his work in France, his performances at the Crazy Horse cabaret in Paris, his first meeting with another creative thinker, Kevin James, plus his thoughts and philosophies on magic and working with invisible thread and much more.

Gaetan Bloom talks about his road to work at the Crazy Horse in Paris, his thoughts on creativity using thread, his friendship with another magic creator, Kevin James, and many more topics.

676: Ed Alonzo - In The Library

628: 2021 Abbott's Get Together - Day Four

544: Gaetan Bloom - Crazy Creative

The Magic Word