784: Jamy Ian Swiss - The Conjuror's Conjuror

Jamy Ian Swiss is the author of five books and co-author of two other books and consultant or contributor to at least eight other books and magazines, frequent performer at the Magic Castle, co-producer of Monday Night Magic, historian, lecturer, teacher, consultant, Senior Fellow of the James Randi Educational Foundation, skeptic, and an expert on the intersection of science, magic, and skepticism. He has frequently appeared on television talk and news shows including all the networks with occasional appearances in movies and documentaries.

This discussion was recorded in the Magic Castle when we worked together there in March 2023. In our conversation, Jamy covers the gamut of magic from those who have influenced his life to an esoteric discussion of equivoque and the power of magic has on our audience and a deep dive into a theoretical talk about magic. Nearly everyone who is anyone in magic had their name dropped in this week’s chat by someone who intimately knew them all quite well. Jamy truly is the conjuror’s conjuror.

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644: Joseph Gabriel - A Bird In Hand

Multi-Award winning Broadway illusionist, Joseph Gabriel, single-handedly changed the face of magic with his iconic sleight-of-hand performance when he appeared on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” for the first time. Joseph is known for his signature style of producing various exotic birds and is equally adept at large-scale illusions, mentalism, and comedy audience participation. Soon after his appearance on “The Tonight Show”, Joseph began headlining in lavish Las Vegas review shows, such as the “Lido de Paris” at the Stardust Hotel and “City Lites” at the Flamingo where he headlined for nine years.

In this week’s episode, Joseph talks about the importance of “being so good, they can’t ignore you,” to quote Steve Martin. He has developed his own style of performing and talks about his journey where good things in his career kept happening, including his two year association with the Peruvian legend, Richiardi. In addition to his work with birds, he is also an accomplished artist and maker/performer of marionettes.

This week in magic, one of the highlights in our community was the “Las Vegas wedding of year” of Murray Sawchuck and Dani Elizabeth.

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300: Day Two - 2016 I.B.M. Convention

Today began the first day of the the "Triple Treat" so named because each day the registrants are broken into three groups (by color) and attend an hour and a half of performances and lectures by three different magicians, one in each of three rooms each day: Richard Turner, Paul Vigil, and Brian Gillis. After the General Board Meeting, the second day of stage contests were held (which yielded a few finalists for Monday night's show). The afternoon lecture by Michael Ammar was another outstanding (and packed) event. The evening's "Magic Foolers Show" left something to be desired in that there were audio and visual problems. Plus the show would have been better received in a smaller venue probably back at the hotel ballroom. The final night's activity was a discussion with Jeff McBride and Eugene Burger talking about the 25 years of the Mystery School.

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:00:13 - Dealer Chairman, Terry Richison, talks about some of the cool things in the dealers' room.

00:08:34 - Past International President, Jep Hostetler, talks about attending the Richard Turner experience as part of the "Triple Treat"

00:10:28 - Attendee Greg Lancaster gives us his take on the Paul Vigil performance/lecture in the "Triple Treat".

00:12:08 - Jeff McBride and Eugene Burger talk about the many years they have taught the youth as part of the I.B.M. youth group activities each year.

00:16:55 - Harriet Jacobson and Gay Blackstone chat about their specialized magic jewelry sold through BJW Magical Jewelers which is one of the many dealers in the dealers' room this year.

00:22:24 - Past President of the British Ring, Brian Miller, talks about the upcoming British Ring convention.

00:26:45 - S.A.M. National President, David Bowers, talks about his year as President of that organization and some stories from the road. He is later joined by The Linking Ring Editor, Sammy Patrick Smith, and together they talk about the two organizations' journals, The Linking Ring and M.U.M. and the possible future of the magazines, joint conventions, and organizations.

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784: Jamy Ian Swiss - The Conjuror's Conjuror

644: Joseph Gabriel - A Bird In Hand

300: Day Two - 2016 I.B.M. Convention

The Magic Word