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The Magic Word The Magic Word

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952: The Many Faces of Brian Brushwood

Brian Brushwood has been on my radar for the podcast almost since i first began 15 years ago. Since he lives in the Austin area, I always felt I would have time to chat and feature him on an episode. As we approach 1,000 episodes, I'm beginning to shift some guests from the back burner to the front. My son Nick, interned with Brian when he was in the thick of the college circuit in the early 2000’s. That was the genesis of many of the future endeavors taken on by Brian like Scam School, Modern Rogue, and even the World’s Greatest Con which define Brian’s current trajectory.

Brian has been and continues to be a trailblazer in our magic community having begun his his own magic career in 1993. He has since garnered the support and admiration of some of magic’s biggest names including Jeff McBride, and Teller, one half of the Penn and Teller duo, and even David Copperfield.

Since beginning his career in magic, Brushwood has authored six books, including Cheats, Cons, Swindles & Tricks: 57 Ways to Scam a Free Drink; Pack the House: The Ultimate, Ever-Growing Guide to Increasing Attendance to YOUR Campus Events(co-authored with C.J. Johnson); and the Professionals Guide to Fire Eating.

Brushwood has made several TV and radio appearances, including appearances on NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Roseanne Show, E! Entertainment Television’s Talk Soup, the WB’s Steve Harveys Big Time, Tech TVs Unscrewed with Martin Sargent, CMTs Most Wanted Live, BBCs The Paul Coyte Show, Westwood One’s “Don and Mike Show,” ABC-TV’s “The Debra Duncan Show, “The Shannon Burke Show” on KJFK-FM, Dudley and Bob” on KLBJ-FM, “The Morning Zoo” on KASE-FM, as well as news affiliates for ABC, FOX, CBS and Time-Warner.

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Brian Brushwood is a magician, podcaster, author, lecturer and comedian. Brushwood is known for the series Scam School, a show where he teaches the audience entertaining tricks at bars so they can "scam" a free drink from their friends. In addition to Scam School, Brushwood hosts Hacking the System on National Geographic Channel and also hosts the podcasts Weird Things, Cordkillers, and Night Attack. Brushwood has been a regular guest on This Week in Tech and previously hosted Game On! with Veronica Belmont on TWiT.

Among the many suggestions and links for you to follow, I heartily suggest you follow The World’s Greatest Con by Clicking Here.

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.

Tagged with Brian Brushwood, World's Greatest Con, Modern Rogue, college circuit, Scam School, social media, NACA, Justin Robert Young.

January 29, 2026 by Scott Wells.
  • January 29, 2026
  • Scott Wells
  • Brian Brushwood
  • World's Greatest Con
  • Modern Rogue
  • college circuit
  • Scam School
  • social media
  • NACA
  • Justin Robert Young
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The Magic Word The Magic Word

A Podcast for Magicians, About Magicians, Hosted by a Full Time Professional Magician, Scott Wells

This podcast is totally free for everyone to enjoy. This is provided to you out of love and respect for our art of magic. If you enjoy the podcasts and other material on The Magic Word, then your financial support will be greatly appreciated and help offset the monthly hosting service fee as well as the hardware and software to produce this podcast. Just click on the "Donate " button at the top of this page to make a one time donation through PayPal.

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In May 2024, Scott Wells had the distinguished honor of receiving a “Special Fellowship” from the Academy of Magical Arts (The Magic Castle) for the Magic Word Podcast which promotes “not only personal stories of fascinating individuals, but also fellowship amongst our extended family of artists and entertainers everywhere.”

Do you have a comment or suggestion for The Magic Word Podcast? Click on the SpeakPipe logo and leave a short audio message for Scott. It’s fast, easy and fun. Send a “shout out” today and who knows? Your message may be heard on an upcoming podcast!

Enjoy a lively conversation on The Magic Word Podcast with a man who has conquered many venues: college circuit as a bizarre entertainer, TV series host, best selling author, comedian, and social influencer. Hear him on Scam School, Night Attack, and
Joel Bauer combines entertainment with information as he delivers the message to global trade show audiences. This week on The Magic Word Podcast, he shares some secrets from the trade. @joelbauermentor #tradeshow #tradeshowsecrets #joelbauer #magici
Jeff McBride - Grand Master - Creator of the Mystery School, and multi-award winning magician are but a few of the many international accolades for our 950th episode milestone guest: Jeff McBride #lasvegasmagic #magicandmysteryschool #vegasbaby #kabu
Rachel Wax - Magic and the City - Originally a fashion designer in NYC, Rachel Wax found her true calling as a comedy stand-up and close-up magician performing in high society venues in New York City. #fashion #NYC #newyorkcity  #speakeasymagik #come
Derek Hughes - Family Guy - Comedy magician, Derek Hughes, was a finalist in the 10th season of AGT and was also on Penn & Teller Fool Us. He was a consultant on the Carbonaro Effect for several years, too. This is one conversation you will reall
Antony Gerard - Enigma - Tony talks about his many books, lecture tours, magic shop, remote control creations for Hollywood, archeology, martial arts, and...well, lots more, too. #enigma #archeology #martialarts #podcast #magicbooks #magicdealer
Trigg Watson - Staying Ahead of the Tech Curve - Technology is ever changing so Trigg Watson has to stay ahead of that leading edge to mystify and entertain his audiences. #technology #hightech #hightechmagic #triggwatson #mastersofillusion
Three professionals, three paths, one love for magic. Enjoy this week's episode with Bizzaro Cosy Fisher and Joan DuKore @smappdooda @codysfisher @joandukore
Enjoy a lively conversation on The Magic Word Podcast with a man who has conquered many venues: college circuit as a bizarre entertainer, TV series host, best selling author, comedian, and social influencer. Hear him on Scam School, Night Attack, and Joel Bauer combines entertainment with information as he delivers the message to global trade show audiences. This week on The Magic Word Podcast, he shares some secrets from the trade. @joelbauermentor #tradeshow #tradeshowsecrets #joelbauer #magici Jeff McBride - Grand Master - Creator of the Mystery School, and multi-award winning magician are but a few of the many international accolades for our 950th episode milestone guest: Jeff McBride #lasvegasmagic #magicandmysteryschool #vegasbaby #kabu Rachel Wax - Magic and the City - Originally a fashion designer in NYC, Rachel Wax found her true calling as a comedy stand-up and close-up magician performing in high society venues in New York City. #fashion #NYC #newyorkcity  #speakeasymagik #come Derek Hughes - Family Guy - Comedy magician, Derek Hughes, was a finalist in the 10th season of AGT and was also on Penn & Teller Fool Us. He was a consultant on the Carbonaro Effect for several years, too. This is one conversation you will reall Antony Gerard - Enigma - Tony talks about his many books, lecture tours, magic shop, remote control creations for Hollywood, archeology, martial arts, and...well, lots more, too. #enigma #archeology #martialarts #podcast #magicbooks #magicdealer Trigg Watson - Staying Ahead of the Tech Curve - Technology is ever changing so Trigg Watson has to stay ahead of that leading edge to mystify and entertain his audiences. #technology #hightech #hightechmagic #triggwatson #mastersofillusion Three professionals, three paths, one love for magic. Enjoy this week's episode with Bizzaro Cosy Fisher and Joan DuKore @smappdooda @codysfisher @joandukore

The Magic Word Has been recognized by FeedSpot as the # 1 magician podcast in the world. Thank you all for your support and for listening throughout the years.

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The Magic Word Podcast was nominated for TWO categories in the new ONLINE MAGIC competition at the 2025 World Championship of Magic (FISM) in Turin, Italy. One was for the Best Magic Podcaster and the second for the Best Magic Newsletter. You may already listen, but you are missing out on the other half if you haven’t yet subscribed to our weekly podletter!

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