985: MAGIC Live! 2026 - Day Four

Schedule

Wednesday, August 6th

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, (2:00p)

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, 9:00 p.m. - Live Onstage!, Showroom

10:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. - Farewell Party, Mardi Gras

10:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. - Souvenir Program Handout, Mardi Gras

Time stamps and guest names for this episode:

00:00:15 – Jamie Salinas and Scott give a recap of the previous day’s activities, plus a review of some Vegas shows.

00:09:53 – host of the Wednesday night General Session, Ben Barnes, talks about his experience at MAGIC Live! 2026 plus the Chicago magic scene (since he is the Entertainment Director of the Chicago Magic Lounge) plus his recent recording for Masters of Illusion television show.

00:17:03 – Griffen Barry basically grew up in Dean Dill’s barber shop. The close-up magic experience at MAGIC Live! featured a look back in history at Dean’s shop and what it was like. Griffen gives us a bit more context.

00:30:34 – Mark Doetsch, from Chicago, is a regular attendee at MAGIC Live! and we chat about the morning’s General Session.

00:40:58 – Lance Rich was the Director for the General Sessions. He tells about some of the acts and what he did to make everyone look good.

00:54:03 – We do a wrap-up of MAGIC Live! with the organizer, Stan Allen, who can finally sit down to relax and reflect.

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 Pandora and SiriusXM (formerly 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.

984: MAGIC Live! 2026 - Day Three

Schedule

Tuesday, August 4th

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!

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

6:00 – 11:00 p.m. Curiosities Exhibit, Dauphine

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

Time stamps and guest names for this episode:

00:00:14 – Matthew Alexander joins me for breakfast as we break down yesterday’s first full day of activities.

00:16:31 – A Magic Castle favorite, Howard Hamburg, joins us to tell us stories about the Castle and his dear friend, Dai Vernon.

00:29:22 – Stephen Bargatze talks about the morning’s General Session that was hosted by Pat Hazell that concluded with a panel discussion of several performers who had appeared on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show.

00:41:29 – Alex Boyce was one of the presenters in the General Session. Twenty years ago, Lance Burton interviewed Channing Pollock on stage. This year, the young dove worker, Alex, interviewed Lance Burton.

00:47:22 – Kyle Purnell is one of the young “up and coming” magicians who recently quit his job to become a full-time magician and creator. He has several clever items on the market and loves creating.

00:53:53 – Local close-up magician, Mickey Silver, chatted about the local scene.

00:59:35 – Trade show performer, Scott Tokar, and Fair performer (State and County fairs), Frank Thurston, talk about how they enjoy meeting up each year and reconnecting at MAGIC Live!

01:07:22 – Genii Editor, Will Houston, talks about his new role as the editor of Genii after having been the editor for the Magic Circular for so many years.

01:11:21 – Adam Blumenthal, proprietor of Tannen’s tells us about his shop, the magic shows that are run from there, plus Tannen’s Magic Camp.

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

Download

985: MAGIC Live! 2026 - Day Four

Schedule

984: MAGIC Live! 2026 - Day Three

Schedule

983: MAGIC Live! 2026 - Days One and Two

Schedule

The Magic Word