867: John Cox - What's New With Houdini?

As we end our “Month of Boo'“ on The Magic Word Podcast, we close it out on the 98th anniversary of the death of Harry Houdini who passed on Halloween (October 31st), 1926. It is fitting that we have a chat with the internationally noted expert on “all things Houdini,” John Cox. John is the blogger of “Wild About Houdini” which is a daily blog about the master of escapes. He always seems to find some interesting nugget about Houdini’s life that has been long overlooked or “escaped” his attention.

If you are more of a visual person, then you might enjoy watching our conversation that was recorded over Zoom.

This week, John Cox talks about the many variations of the “Houdini Seance” since the first one by Bess Houdini first held on the year following Harry’s death. These modern day seances includes the current “Official” one hosted by Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz and the “Original” one hosted by Tom Boldt and Bill Radner. John also tells us some details about Houdini’s trial in Germany, plus he updates us on the books he is writing including the elucidation on Houdini’s diary from his early years before he rose to his legendary status.

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.

847: Abbott's Get Together 2024 - Day Three Report

FRIDAY, AUGUST 2ND 2024
9:30AM REGISTRATION OPENS at the Abbott Plant
9:30AM ABBOTT'S TALENT CONTEST at High School (Requires Registration)
10:00AM ABBOTT'S DEALERS ROOM OPENS (Requires Registration)
11:00AM - 5:00PM COLON ARTS AND CRAFTS FAIR
11:30AM LECTURE TERRI COOK - Tannens Camp - (Requires Registration)
12:00PM FREE STREET PERFORMANCE - John Sturk @ Granny's Place
1:00PM MAGIC SHOW at Abbott's Magic Showroom Theatre $5
2:00PM JAY BLACKWELL JUGGLING/FIRE EATING & MORE at Sterlini Magic & Theater $10
2:30PM ABBOTT'S CLOSEUP SHOW (Requires Registration)
     Featuring Clemens Ilgner, Axel Hecklau, Danny Archer, Chris Capehart
3:00PM FACE PAINTING till 6PM outside 5 Star Pizza by Award Winning Artist Carol Hendrix (Standard Fees)
3:00PM-5PM COLON HISTORICAL MUSEUM is open
4:00PM FREE STREET PERFORMANCE - Gordon Russ @ Colon Library
4:30PM MAGIC SHOW at Abbott's Magic Showroom Theatre $5
5:00PM LIVE AT 5 WITH THE STERLINI'S at Sterlini Magic & Theater $10
5:30PM FREE STREET PERFORMANCE - Just Joe Chasney @ Curly's
6:00PM-7:45PM DINNER (on your own)
7:45PM PRESHOW LIVE ORGAN MUSIC - by John Sturk
8:00PM GET-TOGETHER STAGE SHOW - Friday Night Gala (Tannens Magic Camp Alumni)
     Requires Registration or Tickets (Floor / Bleachers)
     Featuring Ian Rich, The Evasons, John Reid, Alex Boyce
10:00PM ABBOTT'S DEALERS ROOM RE-OPENS (Requires Registration)
10:30PM ABBOTT'S TALENT CONTEST AWARDS (Requires Registration)

Time stamps for this episode:

00:00:18 – Alex Boyce and his father, Alexander Boyce, join us to talk about the importance of family in supporting magic. Alex will be the emcee of tonight’s show and he is also involved with the Tannen’s Magic Camp presentation.

00:08:55 – Matt Schick, another of the presenters for the Tannen’s Magic Camp show. Matt travels with Michael Carbonaro and he talks about how he became associated with him.

00:19:17 – Robert Baxt is not involved at all with this year, but he is here to conduct a funeral service for Charles Windly. He tells us about Windley’s background and why we should remember him.

00:28:16 – we take a stroll through the dealers’ room where we stop to chat with Kurt Richy and John Shango who are working behind the Abbott’s counter and some of what’s new.

00:32:49 – Joel Hobson and Mac King and David Williamson and Mike Caveney talk about this convention and some of the good times they have shared together when they were all booked or attended previous Get Togethers.

00:38:10 – Another one of the dealers/lecturers/performers at this convention is Danny Archer who tells us about his onstage character, Geno Mozzarella, Smoke and Mirrors Theater and the MINDvention.

00:49:39 – in the dealers’ room, they talk about the flooded floor that was cleaned up before the awards were presented. Senior Stage second place went to Carl and Bill Raynes. Senior Stage first place Buddy August. We chat briefly with Buddy to see how excited he is and what he plans to do with his winnings. We also chat with Carl and Bill about their win.

00:56:17 – Jania Taylor at the Legion talk about her long association with the Get Together and some of her memories. She also talks about the American Museum of Magic in which she is very involved.

832: Magic Collector Expo 2024 - Days One and Two

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

10:00am-4:00pm Registration Open

1:00pm to 4:00pm Dealers Open

4:00pm to 5:00pm Session #1 “Welcome To Long Beach”

5:00pm to 7:00pm Dinner

7:00pm to 8:30pm Session #2

8:30pm to 11:30pm Dealer Room Open

Wednesday, May 8th, 2024

9:00 am to 11:00am Dealer Room Open

11:00am to 12:30pm Session #3

12:30pm-5:00pm Dealer Room Open

1:30pm-5:00pm Mike Caveney’s Egyptian Hall

Museum (In The Queen Mary Boardroom) & Queen Mary Guided Tours

5:00pm-7:00pm Dinner

7:00pm-8:30pm Session#4

8:30pm-11:30pm Dealer Room Open

Timestamps for this episode:

00:00:17 – We take off from Austin for Burbank, California, where we’ll head to Long Beach and the Queen Mary for the convention then come back to Hollywood to the Magic Castle later and the awards presentation of the Academy of Magical Arts where I will be receiving a Special Fellowship for this podcast.

00:03:36 – Dana Daniels, one of the presenters who told some stories about working in Disneyland.

00:15:48 – Lance Rich, another of the presenters, told us a bit about his book “Neon Dreams” that was the focus of his talk last year. This year he spoke about “Neptune’s Sorcerers” which was about cruise ship magicians prior to the 1970’s.

00:22:42 – Les Arnold, one of the Long Beach Mystics, talked about his association with the club as a builder and performer

00:28:00 – Mike Caveney, one of the presenters gave us a quick recap of what was in his talk that I missed. It was about several of the artifacts in his Egyptian Hall and how he came about being the heir to the David Price collection.

00:32:22 – We kick off Day Two at breakfast with Peter Rogers, from Australia, and Dick Olson, from Texas, who are registrants at this event. They tell us what they have been doing and their reflections on this convention. It was Peter’s first Expo.

00:41:27 – Arthur Moses, Houdini expert/collector/historian/author, is a dealer at this Expo who talks about some of the things he has available. He talks about his new book that would interest those who are researching Houdini.

00:49:50 – David Charvet was another speaker at the convention who spoke about the Golden Age of Magic in Southern California 1893-1963.

00:57:00 – Chuck Jones was interviewed by Stan Allen on stage for the Expo. In this chat, Chuck recapped his life in this short chat. He tells some stories about his early television work.

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