759: Magic Collector Expo - Days 1 & 2 Report

Tuesday, May 9

10:00am Registration Opens

1:00pm to 4:00pm Dealers Open

4:00pm to 5:00pm Session #1 “Welcome To Cleveland” with Lance Rich, Dr. Bruce Averbook & Tim LaGanke

5:00pm to 7:00pm Dinner

7:00pm to 8:30pm Session #2 with Jim Hagy “The Instant Illusionist and The Cleveland Bunch: Dreams of a Vaudeville Life”, Sandy Daily “The Adventures & Challenges of a Magic Collectors Wife, Gene Anderson “Not Just a One Trick Pony” with Stan Allen

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

Wednesday, May 10

10:00am First Buses Load for Tours of Dr. Bruce Averbook & Tim LaGangke Collections

2:00pm to 5:00pm Dealer Room Open

7:00pm to 8:30pm Session #3 with Richard Cohn “Roltaire”, Phil Schwartz “Steals, Lifts & Body Loads-The Funny Business of Magic Collecting, Al Belmont “Memories of the Blackstone Sr. Show”

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

Time stamps for this episode will be provided after I’ve had some sleep

00:00:18 - Scott Wells prepares to take off to Cleveland, Ohio, along with Charlie Randall and Dick Olson for the Magic Collectors Expo

00:03:13 - Larry Dunbar is behind the registration desk. He is traveling with Lance Burton and Friends and he tells us a little about their upcoming tour and places they will be going.

00:05:35 - Lupe Nielsen is one of the attendees but not a presenter or dealer. She tells us what she’s working on for the magic community including Dean’s Box.

00:09:53 - Charles Greene, III talks about his book, “Ionia” and what he’s been doing and where he’s been traveling to talk about this book.

00:14:52 - Arthur Moses is a dealer who is selling some Houdini memorabilia. He talks about his recent appearance on Collector’s Call on ME-TV as he showed some of his collection on TV and how that all came about.

00:19:07 - Houdini expert, John Cox, is the blogger on WildAboutHoudini.com John will be a presenter at this convention as he talks about Houdini’s appearances in Cleveland. He also talks about some recent projects that are very exciting.

00:22:07 - Adele Friel Rhindress was one of the assistants for Harry Blackstone, Sr. and she talks about what she’s been doing recently

00:28:07 - Bill Kallush is the curator of the Conjurer’s Arts Research Center who also talks about Ask Alexander which is a repository of about 3MM pages of books in the museum.

00:33:36 - we begin day two, the first full day as we chat with Joe Hanosek. We talk about some of the activities from the previous evening’s talks.

00:36:24 - Lance Rich talks a bit about helping to put together this convention. He also explains the logistics of getting around to see two magnificent collections, Bruce Averbook and Tim LaGanke. On the bus, we just finished seeing Bruce’s collection which we discuss.

00:47:16 - Neil Rozum tells us a “twilight zone” type story related to his personal experience while working in a local theme park

00:49:24 - Les Arnold is the grand-son of The Great Leon and he chats a bit about that connection

00:55:12 - we finished the events for the day and now we chat with Richard Cohn who gave a presentation about a relatively unknown magician, Roltaire as well as some magicians who appeared at Coney Island in New York

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286: I'm Just Sayin' - Norman Beck

Norman Beck is one of the most interesting guys you probably haven't heard of...unless you are into underground card magic...or an international bridge player. And add to that, he is a survivor of a brain tumor.

Norman Beck should be familiar to those who are regular readers of M.U.M. (the monthly journal of the S.A.M.). Or if you are a world class bridge player and rub shoulders with the likes of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, then you might have seen Norm. You might have met Norm if you have looked for some company to underwrite some high stakes game/event like a billion dollar hole-in-one contest. Or maybe you are a follower of "underground" magicians in the U.S. and recognize the name. But more than likely, you have never met nor even know the name and the sharp mind of the person behind it. A few short years ago, Norman had a brain tumor removed that was the size of a baseball, but he is still sharp and his speech is steadily improving.

For the most part, Norman keeps a pretty low profile and doesn't attend many magic conventions nor associate very much with magicians and he rarely lectures. It was on one of those rare occasions that Norman traveled through Houston to lecture and stay as a guest in my home.

How a gambler saw the world, sought information from odd places and was able to win when everything was at stake. Norman Beck is a man who wears many hats. He is a speaker, writer, and magician when not working full time at SCA promotions in Dallas, where he is Vice President of claims and security.

Before the lecture we visited John Moehring who is in advanced stages of Parkinson's Disease. Although we didn't audio record our visit, I can say that it was delightful with lots of ideas shared as Norm showed John a couple new twists on some old classic card tricks (like Fred Kapps' "Homing Card") and I discussed posters and books. Although John's speech is greatly impaired, his mind is still sharp and we wish him the best.

If you want to drop John Moehring a message or note of encouragement, then please email him at: John@JohnMoehring.com or you can send traditional cards and letters to him at: Brookdale Shadowlake, 2835 Shadowlake Road, #2208, Houston, TX 77077

Thanks to Gary Plants, this video was made for John Moehring when he was the Guest of Honor at The 2014 Secret Session in Dallas, TX. By the way, TESS stands for "The Ed Sullivan Show".

In this podcast, Norm tells us lots of stories and he talks about some of the bizarre events that his company has underwritten; working in restaurants as a table-hopping magician and how he approached tables as well as his philosophy on taking tips; playing bridge with some of the most influential people in the world and what kind of card tricks fools bridge players...and which ones don't; his upcoming article in the June 2016 issue of MAGIC Magazine that has nothing to do with magic except how to be a successful performer as tipped to him by "Whispering" Bill Anderson, a country western singer; and along the way he delights us with lots of entertaining stories.

You can support The Magic Word with your purchase from our Magic Store. Please visit our Magic Store to order and/or download magic tricks.

Time stamps for trick reviews:

00:59:00 - "Canic" by Nicholas Lawrence - A soda can is one of the most commonly seen objects around the world. Imagine grabbing any unprepared soda can off any one and then ripping the tab off. You place the tab on your spectator's open palm, take the can, and tap it to the sitting tab in your spectator's hand. The tab instantly seals back on the can.

01:01:48 - "Blaze" by Tony and Jordan, Les French Twins - Create an amazing souvenir with the spectator's signed card.that is burned and singed.

01:06:49 - "The Magic of Suzanne" - The Castle Act , 2 DVD Set - Volume 1: Filmed live at The Magic Castle, you'll be captivated by the same show that consistently earns Suzanne standing ovations, and ultimately won her the prestigious award. Volume 2: Go behind the scenes with Suzanne and guest host, Matt Marcy, as they explain step-by-step how to perform some of the tricks from her award winning act.

Click on the image above to help support "Jump Start Becky's Heart! by Becky Blaney"

Get $50 off the registration price now through April 30, 2016. Send an email to 2016MindJam@gmail.com with the subject line The Magic Word Podcast to receive the discount. You will then receive an invoice to pay the reduced registration price. This … — Get $50 off the registration price now through April 30, 2016. Send an email to 2016MindJam@gmail.com with the subject line The Magic Word Podcast to receive the discount. You will then receive an invoice to pay the reduced registration price. This is an exclusive offer for Magic Word listeners.

#204: 2014 Year of Magic in Review

It's that time of the year when we try to "put the band back together" and chat with members of the hosts from the MagicNewswire.com podcast, "This Week in Magic". Trying to get a time to arrange everyone's schedule is like "herding cats". So, due to work and health conflicts, this year we have David "Silly Billy" Kaye and Cameron Ramsay join Scott Wells to discuss what went on in the magic world this past year.

To supplement our chat about Magic on TV, here is a little up-to-the-minute information that I read on IndieWire.com after our chat:

"Magic is in the air, or at least on the airwaves. "Masters of Illusion" did well enough for CW last year to make an order for 13 more episodes materialize – and that's after being canceled by MyNetworkTV in 2009. It joins the network's other magic show, the British ITV production "Penn & Teller: Fool Us," as well as magic programs gaining traction on basic cable. TruTV's "The Carbonaro Effect" will be back for a second season, while "Wizard Wars" returns to Syfy in January for six additional episodes. Even shows that don't have magic as a focus are shuffling it into the deck: "American Masters" is kicking off a new season January 23 with an episode about master magician Ricky Jay, and Nat Geo's "Brain Games," regularly tosses a sleight-of-hand artist into the mix."

Of course this is from a personal perspective of the guest on this podcast and does not include a lot of things you perhaps found to be more relevant. But we hope you enjoy our chat.

Instead of bouncing all over the globe, we try to stay on topic with an agenda that includes: magic on television; live touring magic shows; magic conventions; notable passings, and; predictions for 2015.

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. (please note: this RSS Feed subscription system may not work with Android systems). Remember, you can download it through iTunes. See the preview page by Clicking Here.

Magicians' Valhalla

Although the list below is not exhaustive, it does reflect the names of many well-known (and some lesser known) magicians, spouses and assistants who passed on in 2014. If you are unfamiliar with any of these names, then it would behoove you to do a little online search of what these people have contributed to our craft. If you have someone you think was overlooked, then please post the name in the comments below on this blog.

Aldo Colombini

Scott Lewis

Dave Madden

Montecore (S&R’s tiger)

Jeff Busby

Judge Arnold Drennen

Robert “Bob” Knigge

Robert L. “Bob” Bluemle

Stella P. Coward (wife of Noel Coward)

John T. Fedko

Robert “Bob” W. Klamm

Alan Alan