908: Christian & Katalina - Mind Trippers

Military veterans, Katalina and Christian Painter have made a successful career of entertaining with their two-person mind reading routine coupled with their comedy mentalism act. For many years they traveled across the U.S. together entertaining on college campuses. After a few years, they decided to “settle down” in one location and limit their travel .They found a niche market in their hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana, where today they present a weekly show entitled the “Mind Tripping Show” in the Hilton Indianapolis Hotel & Suites.

This episode is a bit different from most our episodes. Typically we chat about a variety of topics with our guests. But this week we got off on a tangent from the very beginning and stayed focused on that throughout the episode. Specifically, Christian and Katalina talked about how they developed their show, how they found the venue, how they market the show, how it has evolved, and why it is still successful as they are reaching 20 years with this show. There is invaluable information in this episode, particularly if you are considering finding a venue for your show and what you need to do to prepare for it.

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907: Carl Mercurio & Jim Vines - Better Together

There seems to be an explosion of magic theatres, one-man shows, magic bars, and magic variety venues popping up across the country and indeed, around the world. I need to use two hands to count the number that have popped up since the first of the year! This week we chat with two magicians who have ventured into the high stakes world of filling seats in New York City where there is already a LOT of magic shows. Carl Mercurio and Jim Vines together have started “The Broadway Magic Hour” (really, off-Broadway to be precise) where they present weekly, family friendly magic shows. Their journey may not be unique, but it serves as an inspiration to others who might be considering finding their own venue (and perhaps partner) where you can entertain the masses with your magical skills.

Both based in New York City, Carl and Jim have similar yet dissimilar backgrounds. One is a multiple award winning magician, the other is not. One was a restaurant and bar magician, the other one was not. But their styles, personalities, and characters meld perfectly on stage. This week they talk about the “mojo” that put and keeps them together. Moreover, they talk about how they found the venue and how they market themselves in this very competitive environment. There is a lot to learn from the pro tips that they offer. But even if you don’t plan to ever pursue having your own theatre or your own show, I think you will enjoy our chat as we hear some of the trials and tribulations of a couple guys trying to make it in the Big Apple.

906: Eric Leclerc - From My Perspective

Eric Leclerc (pronounced le clair) is a very funny guy. To me, his style is much like that of Las Vegas magician, Mike Hammer, with a quick wit and clever retorts while maintaining mystery at the core of each trick. He has appeared or starred in over a half dozen television shows such as Brain Games, Tricked!, Big Trick Energy, among others. He has also appeared on Penn & Teller Fool Us where he took home the Fooler trophy. Earlier this year, Eric hosted the Saturday evening galas at the Blackpool magic convention and received mixed reviews.

Eric Leclerc has been “on the road” with his school shows across Canada presenting his magic in French to French speaking schools. He joins us this week between shows as he chats about booking the tour, his philosophy on magic competitions, and of course, his thoughts on his recent performance as the compere (emcee) of the Saturday evening galas at Blackpool 2025.

908: Christian & Katalina - Mind Trippers

907: Carl Mercurio & Jim Vines - Better Together

906: Eric Leclerc - From My Perspective

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