746: Mark James - Pro Tips

Mark James visits with The Magic Word Podcast from England where he is a very busy professional magician. He constantly works “holiday camps”, restaurants (three different restaurants a week), cruise ships, weddings and more. His stage show consists of magic, comedy, juggling and vaudeville-style performances. Mark follows a specific formula in developing his shows which is discussed in some detail in this week’s podcast.

This episode was recorded in Columbus, Ohio, where Mark James was a featured performer/lecturer. Here Mark talks about his tattoos, performing magic and pantomime at “holiday camps” in the U.K. as well as working in restaurants. He also talks about how to build an act and how to make each effect “strong.” While everything was fresh on his mind, Mark shared an in-depth analysis of some major points in his lecture. In particular, the elements of building his professional show include (in order):

Attention Getter
Legitimacy Prover
Teach the Audience How a Thing Works
Get Everybody in the Audience Involved
Palette Cleanser
Pathos
Best Trick in the Show
Pitch your Social Media
Closer

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

715: Paul Stone - No Stone Unturned

Paul Stone has been a mainstay in the world of magic without gaining the true notoriety he deserves because of his work behind the scenes. Paul is the driving force behind his company, SHOWSTEALERS LLC. Paul is an experienced Producer of hundreds of Corporate Events and Shows, amongst them in the UK include shows at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Her Majesty’s Theatre and 18 shows at the world famous London Palladium Theatre, including the widely acclaimed ‘Tribute to Siegfried & Roy at the London Palladium’ in 2008. Paul has produced Shows in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace, Mirage, Harrahs, Orleans and the Suncoast Hotel & Casino.

The working pros know him and go to him when they need help producing a gala event. Not only a producer, Paul is also a trade show performer and creator of magic tricks such as “Overboard” which is a quality prop with endless possibilities and is in my personal trade show.

In this episode, Paul tells one story after another about Ken Brooke, Paul Daniels, Fred Kaps, Hans Moretti, John Fisher, Wayne Dobson, and so many others. As a producer who works behind the scenes on big events, he has all the great stories. From a young man in Liverpool to a grown man in Las Vegas, Paul has met and worked with all of the top magic names from one side of the pond to the other.

696: FISM Quebec 2022 - Day One Report

Monday July 25th 2022

19:30 - 20:45: Opening ceremony

21:30 - 22:30: Max Maven presents Dr Will Houstoun “What we learned from Professor Hoffmann”

0:00 - 1:00: Luis De Matos Intimate Conversation with Arturo Brachett

21:00 - 22:00: Yann Frisch

23:00 - 0:00: Lee Asher

21:30 - 22:30: Mario Lopez

23:30 - 0:30: Bernardo Sedlacek

Time stamps for this episode:

00:00:16 - Scott Wells is at the airport awaiting his “magic carpet” to wing him to Quebec

00:03:06 - Alexandria Duvivier is one of the performers/lecturers at this event and is the first person we met. Lisa Menna is also there with us and chats a bit about her appearance at FISM Quebec.

00:05:44 - At the S.A.M. black tie banquet, we chat with the incoming President Elect John Sturk

00:14:50 - Gay Blackstone talks about her and Harry Blackstone, Jr. performances at previous FISMs

00:18:30 - Editor of the Magic Circular, Will Houstoun talks about his upcoming talk on Professor Hoffman later tonight.

00:21:10 - Before the evening opening gala, Mike Caveney talks about his recent episode #700 then Ice McDonald talks about attending this convention. From South Africa, Craig Mitchell talks about his job for Genii reporting on all of the competition for the magazine.

00:27:47 - From Scotland, Peter McLanachan talks about the reasons that he attends FISM

00:33:37 - Dal Sanders is a delegate representing the S.A.M. and talks about the opening gala show.

00:39:27 - From Spain, Luis DeMatos will be presenting his “in Conversation With…” during this FISM and talks about how he prepares for the conversations.

00:47:40 - David “Silly Billy” Kaye talks about life after COVID work and how his work has picked up and has returned to pre-COVID level of activity.