884: Blackpool 2025 - Day Two Report

Time stamps for this episode:

00:00:17 – David Kaye, aka Silly Billy, was staying at the same hotel where I was, so we were able to chat about his experience of this event versus others. This is the only magic convention where he is a dealer, so he has a unique perspective. You can learn more about David from our conversation in Episode #567.

00:11:06 - Darryl Rose, from London, often attends this conventions and tells us what he most enjoys this year, like the Jonathan Goodwin lecture. You can hear more about Darryl in our conversation in Episode #558.

00:25:40 - From Charleston, South Caroline, Howard Blackwell, talks about his company that produced silicone manipulation balls. He has a business for sale if someone is willing to put some effort into an already successful product.

00:34:58 - Peter Nardi, with Alakazam, has been coming to Blackpool for about 24 years and gives us his perspective of the changes over the years.

00:45:12 - Jonathan Goodwin was one of the outstanding lectures of this convention. He was inspiring and gave us all a lot to consider for our own shows. We chat in this short chat about some of his philosophy of whether audiences believe the artist is in jeopardy. To hear more about Jonathan (prior to his tragic accident and just before the COVID lockdown), I think you will enjoy listening to our in-depth conversation in Episode #553

00:52:42 - Hannah Ammar is helping her husband, Michael, and tells us why she enjoy magic conventions in general and Blackpool in particular. Michael also joins us towards the end of this chat. You can hear more from Michael in our conversation in Episode #259.

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793: Magic on the Beach - Day One Report

Thursday, October 5th

2:00 pm - Registration Opens, Wonders Theatre Box Office

3:00 pm - 4:00 pm - Dealers Sneak Preview Show (ten minutes per dealer)

4:30 pm - 5:30 pm - Lecture: Amazing Adamz - Children’s Show Business

5:30 pm - 7:00 pm - DINNER Served By Magic At The Beach Wonders Theatre

7:00 pm - Wonders Theatre House Opens

7:30 pm - 8:30 pm - Masters of Sleight of Hand show - Dan Harlan, Steve Beam, John Shryock, Gogo Cuerva

9:00 pm - 10:00 pm - Lecture: Christian Miró - Comedy Magic Lecture

10:00 pm - 11:30 pm - After Hours in Houdini Lounge

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#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