867: John Cox - What's New With Houdini?

As we end our “Month of Boo'“ on The Magic Word Podcast, we close it out on the 98th anniversary of the death of Harry Houdini who passed on Halloween (October 31st), 1926. It is fitting that we have a chat with the internationally noted expert on “all things Houdini,” John Cox. John is the blogger of “Wild About Houdini” which is a daily blog about the master of escapes. He always seems to find some interesting nugget about Houdini’s life that has been long overlooked or “escaped” his attention.

If you are more of a visual person, then you might enjoy watching our conversation that was recorded over Zoom.

This week, John Cox talks about the many variations of the “Houdini Seance” since the first one by Bess Houdini first held on the year following Harry’s death. These modern day seances includes the current “Official” one hosted by Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz and the “Original” one hosted by Tom Boldt and Bill Radner. John also tells us some details about Houdini’s trial in Germany, plus he updates us on the books he is writing including the elucidation on Houdini’s diary from his early years before he rose to his legendary status.

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851: MAGIC Live! 2024 Convention - Day Three Report

Tuesday, August 6th

24 hours Mystique Lounge, Jackson Square

9:00 a.m. Information Booth, Kiosk 11:00 p.m.

10:00 a.m. General Session for red lanyards, Showroom (Noon)

11:00 a.m. The MAGIC Shop, Mardi Gras (6:00p)

11:30 a.m. Out to Lunch, Esplanade (1:30p)

2:15 p.m. Focus Sessions for red lanyards (3:15p)

Acting for Magicians, French Quarter with Chris Philpott & Steve Valentine
Share the Awe, St. Charles with Javi Benitez
Magyver of Magic, Bienville G with Christian Engbloom

3:30 p.m. Focus Sessions for red lanyards until 4:30 p.m. (see above)

Live Tonight!

Documentary Live: The Juniors, Dauphine 5:15, 7:50, 10:15 p.m.
The Little Big Show, Esplanade 5:35, 8:10, 10:35 p.m.
Close-up Experience, Bienville H 6:00, 7:30, 9:00, 10:30 p.m.
In Concert: Tanto, Dauphine 6:30, 9:05, 11:30p
Penguin Magic Podcast, St. Charles 7:00, 8:30, 10:00p

Time stamps for this episode:

00:00:20 – Matt Alexander shaved his beard just for the Sunday night costume party. That was quite a commitment. We then summarized some of events that led up to today.

00:20:59 – Armando Lucero is enjoying this convention by visiting with friends and introducing some of them for their presentations. He shared some of the memories of past events.

00:23:31 – John Kippen is a Knight of the Magic Castle and is one of the regular performers there. He has been buying some a lot of magic here and telling us what memories are being created at this convention. He particularly liked Jon Armstrong. He also gives us a tip on how to handle an audience members who might be playing on their phone during your show. He also talks about his Friday Zoom meetings that was started during COVID and continues to this day.

00:31:27 – John Cox was one of the outstanding presenters at this convention as he talks about the book he is working on about Houdini’s life that was taken from his travel diary from 1897-1899.

00:41:22 – Morris Herzberg talks about our long-time friendship which is what this podcast is all about: renewing old friendships.

00:46:30 – Joey Martinez, Entertainment Director at Nashville’s House of Cards, talks about that venue and how has been doing. We also summarize one of the shows at this convention and how much we enjoyed it.

833: Magic Collector Expo 2024 - Day Three

Thursday, May 10, 2024

9:30am-11:00am Dealer Room Open

11:00am-12:30 Session #5

12:30am-2:30pm Dealer Room Open

2:30pm-4:00pm Session #6

6:30pm-10:00pm Dinner & Show

Timestamps for this episode:

00:00:17 – We begin the third and final day of the Expo and just finished taking a ghost tour of the Queen Mary. Brad Henderson was the curator for the Richard Garriott magic collection and tells us what Richard has been doing since he moved from Austin to New York. He also gives us his viewpoint of the Expo.

00:14:35 – Organizer, Bill Smith, welcomes us to the Queen Mary and tells us why he selected this venue for the convention.

00:21:59 – Ed Alonzo, was a Long Beach Mystic and he tells us how that changed his life.

00:28:40 – as they are setting up for the final night banquet, we chat with Lance Burton, and John Cox. John had talked about Houdini on ship voyages and how Harry was the “King of Sea Sickness.”

00:36:30 – Dianna Zimmerman has been working with the Magic Castle Juniors for decades and she tells us how it got started in 1975 and how rewarding it has been for her.

00:48:51 – Mike Michaels is a performer/creator/builder/creator who tells us how his life was influenced by Lance Burton and how he developed his robotic act.

00:53:30 – Greg Wilson talks about this convention plus his years as part of the Wilson family magic legacy.

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. You can also listen through your Amazon Alexa and Google Home devices. Remember, you can download it through the iTunes store, too. See the preview page by Clicking Here