725: David Ginn - King of the Kid Shows

With over 100 books on kid show magic, David Ginn stands as the King of the Kid Shows, in my opinion. He has single-handedly influenced more magicians over the decades by providing commercial, scripted routines for the children’s show entertainer than anyone can count. And when you add his DVD’s, lectures, and magazine columns, he is a rock star in our community. His routines and tricks were instrumental in the core of many of my children’s shows from birthday parties, to family shows, Scout banquets, libraries and schools and many of his routines and ideas applied to and influenced some routines in my adult shows. I would go further to say that any magician with a magic library and who has ever performed for kids probably has one or more of David’s books in their libraries.

This week David Ginn talks about some of his experiences over the years plus his relationships with J.B. Bobo and with Doug Henning. He also encourages everyone who is interested in learning free magic routines and watching him in action on video, to surf over to his website at https://ginnmagicshop.com where you can view and learn and get lots of tips for FREE.

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532: Greg Wilson - The Legacy of Allakazam

Greg Wilson builds on the dynasty of the Wilson name in the magic community. He has created his own way since his early appearances on his mom and dad’s TV series, “The Magic Land of Allakazam” by performing large illusion shows of his own. But today he is focused on preserving the legacy of the TV show through his efforts in preserving film, stories, props and ephemera from the long running series. You can visit the website at AllakazamArchives.com to see videos and a lot more, plus help support this preservation venture. If you have any stories you would like to share with Greg, then you can write him at Wilson@AllakazamArchives.com

Greg Wilson performs his version of Mark Wilson's "World's Largest Card Trick", also called "The Divided in Four". This show is from the Magic Castle in Hollywood. Greg was celebrating his parents "Magic Circus" tv specials 40th Anniversary.

Greg Wilson presents his version of Sawing in Half or The Divided, at Disney's El Capitan Theatre, in his show, The Golden Age of Magic, during the screening of the film “Maleficent”

This week’s podcast was recorded in the summer of 2019 at the I.B.M. convention in Scottsdale, Arizona when Greg was there with his parents, Mark Wilson and Nani Darnell. Hear his talk this week about the myriad stories behind the scenes of “The Magic Land of Allakazam” and much, much more.

305: Lance Burton - Second Act

Lance Burton has retired and he's almost ready to return to his old Kentucky home back on the farm. But first, he has some "fish to fry". Lance completed a lifelong dream of producing, directing and starring in an independent film which he titled, "Billy Topit". He no longer performs magic nor travels far from his Las Vegas home but prefers his time with "more important needs" of abandoned pets.

While this podcast was being recorded, we tried a new Facebook feature of LIVE broadcasting. This allows viewers to ask questions in real time and be part of the podcast. This was the first time Lance had used this function and you can sense his childlike wonder and fun of trying something new. This was a really fun chat. Part way through the podcast/recording, my iPad battery died so we switched to Lance's iPhone and broadcast through his Facebook page. Needless to say, he has tons more fans of his Facebook page than we do. As a result, within a few minutes we had about 150 people online and quickly saying "hi" and asking questions. Over then next week, there were over 5,000 views of that video. If you would like to watch the video, it is included here in the blog, but the entirety of the audio portion is in this podcast.

A Las Vegas magician who performs at children's birthday parties convinces the woman of his dreams to be his assistant, while the local Mob guys try to make him disappear permanently! -BILLY TOPIT MASTER MAGICIAN billytopit.com

Here is a short video of Lance Burton's adventure in late May 2016 at The Wild Rose Independent Film Festival. Congratulations to the cast and crew of Billy Topit Master Magician!

Lance edited this travelogue and posted it on his Facebook page and discussed it on The Magic Word Podcast

On July 3, 2016, while attending the 88th I.B.M. convention in San Antonio, Texas, Lance Burton joined Scott Wells on the microphone to record a podcast for The Magic Word. This video was recorded on Facebook using their Live Streaming feature.

Lance talks about working with youth who want to learn magic, the development of his own Gold Medal winning act for the I.B.M. competition in 1980, working in Las Vegas, his work with pet adoptions, and his retirement from magic. But he talks mostly about his newest project, "Billy Topit" and trying to get this independent film into wide distribution.

Click on the graphic above for more information on Lance Burton's movie, "Billy Topit"

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