983: MAGIC Live! 2026 - Days One and Two

Schedule

Sunday, August 2nd

24 hours Bicycle Lounge, St. Charles

10:00 a.m. Registration, Bienville G (10:00p)

10:00 a.m. Photo Badges, Dauphine F (10:00p)

Live Tonight!

7:30 – 11:00 p.m. - The Zombie Ball, Esplanade

7:30 – 11:00 p.m. - The MAGIC Shop, Mardi Gras

11:00 – 11:30 p.m. - Grand Prize Giveaway & Costume Awards, Esplanade

Monday, August 3rd

24 hours Bicycle Lounge, St. Charles

9:00 a.m. Information Booth, Kiosk (9:00p)

10:00 a.m. General Sessions, Showroom, (Noon)

10:00 a.m. Focus Sessions (11:00a)

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

11:15 a.m. Focus Sessions (12:15p)

11:30 a.m. Cafe Live!, Esplanade K/L (2:00p)

12:15 p.m. Lunch Break (2:15p)

2:15 p.m. General Session, Showroom (4:15p)

2:15 p.m. Focus Sessions (3:15p)

3:30 p.m. Focus Sessions (4:30p)

Live Tonight!

6:00, 8:00, 10:15 p.m. - Comedy Live!, Showroom

12:30, 5:45, 7:10, 9:00, 10:20 p.m. - The Close-up Experience, Bienville G

6:15, 8:00, 10:00 p.m. - In Concert: Dani Daortiz, French Quarter

7:00 p.m. – Midnight Bicycle Lounge Cash Bar, St. Charles

Time stamps and guest names for this episode:

00:00:26 – At the Austin airport and preparing to depart on the red-eye for Las Vegas. Join us as we have a cup of coffee and get excited about the upcoming convention.

00:05:12 – The first registrants I ran into were Nick and Jason Altieri, brothers from Boston. This was Jason’s first MAGIC Live! convention.

00:09:26 – the opening night party had a zombie theme. Everyone was encouraged to dress as a zombie. To Stan Allen’s surprise, many more dressed appropriately than he expected. The first couple we chatted with was Meadow Perry who was dressed as Glenda the Good Witch from “The Wizard of Oz” and Michael Dardant, who was the Wicked Witch. Okay…maybe not everyone kept the “zombie” theme.

00:15:53 – Harrison Greenbaum has a whole separate agenda when he visits Las Vegas. Many come and see shows. He comes and performs in the shows as a “one off.” Harrison will also be the host of the Tuesday night comedy show for MAGIC Live!

00:21:02 – we get some different convention perspectives over breakfast with Charlie Randall, Bill Flanagan, John McLaughlin, and Bruce Averbook.

00:31:50 – one of the dealers, Jeff Scanlan (Impossible Bottle) tells us how the convention is going from the perspective of a dealer. Spoiler alert: it’s going very well.

00:35:54 – one of the organizers, Rory Johnson, opens the first morning General Session with an overview of what this year’s convention theme. (BTW, this was an authorized recording even though we were not allowed any video nor audio recording of the convention.)

00:40:01 – Jeff Sobell is a regular attendee and tells us why he returns year after year.

00:46:29 – Co-producer of Monday Night Magic in New York City, Michael Chaut is always on the prowl looking for talent to book for his show. We chat about the Focus Session we just attended.

00:54:42 – My friend from St. Louis, Missouri, Karl Grice, has attended every one of the MAGIC Live! conventions and here he shares why he returns year after year plus some of his favorite highlights from previous years.

01:00:28 – From China, Bruce Liu, traveled all the way to the U.S. just to attend this convention then return home immediately afterwards. He tells us what kind of magic he does and what inspires him.

01:05:26 – Paul Gertner was one of the people who appeared on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show and was on the panel in the General Session. Paul has some great personal stories about his time on the Tonight Show plus visiting Johnny in his home and teaching him some coin tricks.

01:09:31 – We caught up with Chris Kenner late at night as he and David Copperfield were leaving the building. Chis tells us a bit about what he’s working on with Theory 11.

MAGIC Live Days 1 and 2 Report

Scott Wells with Altieri, Perry, Dardant, Greenbaum, McLaughlin, Averbook, Randall, Flanagan, Scanlan, Johnson, Sobell, Chaut, Grice, Liu, Gertner, and Kenner

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982: Scott Tokar - Keeping His Head Well Above Water

For many years, Scott Tokar has been helping clients at industrial shows across the country and indeed, across the globe. He structures trade show programs to engage, educate and entertain and sending the corporate message to everyone who passes by his booth. He co-authored Special F-X with Harrison Carroll that teaches magicians how to engage with hospitalized patients using magic. He also dabbles in photography and enjoys taking stills of friends. Scott also owns a booking agency for trade show magicians.

This is a link to Amazon where you can see what equipment that Scott Tokar uses for his trade show work.

This week Scott gives us some tips and advice on booking trade shows and on the importance of networking. If you are a hobbyist photographer, he also give us some tips on the kind of camera he uses. During our discussion, Scott mentioned the compact sound equipment he carries. Here is a link to seeing what he uses: https://tinyurl.com/Trade-Show-Sound-Equipment

981: Tobias Beckwith - Managing Expectations

Tobias Beckwith used to manage Jeff McBride and Marco Tempest, just to name a couple “names” in our magic community. He has worked on Broadway with some of the most iconic plays such as “Oh, Calcutta” and “The Fantastiks” among others. He was one of the early staff teachers at the McBride Mystery School as it was formed and of course, was close friends with Eugene Burger, among others. Tobias has authored several books on production and direction and are well worth you inspection.

This week, Tobias shares some stories about the formation of the Mystery School, plus working behind the scenes of many of the great magic shows over the past few decades. He discusses the differences between being an agent and a manager, and why magicians should consider getting one.

983: MAGIC Live! 2026 - Days One and Two

Schedule

982: Scott Tokar - Keeping His Head Well Above Water

981: Tobias Beckwith - Managing Expectations

The Magic Word