767: Randy Wakeman - I've Been Around for a Long, Long Years

Randy Wakeman has been around for many decades and was often seen lecturing and performing at magic conventions. Nonetheless, I have always seen him as an “underground” magician who appeals to the true sleight-of-hand experts. He is one of those guys who has “been there, done that, has the t-shirt” as he was one of the regular performers about the Chicago Bar Magic Scene before the turn of the last century. He has written several books on magic (card magic mostly) and is still relevant in our community as a performer, teacher and author.

While at the recent Senior Tour close-up convention in St. Louis, The Magic Word spoke with Randy as part of the convention report content. He was preparing for a workshop, so we didn’t get a chance to go in-depth as I had wanted. But we agreed to get together at the 4F convention in Buffalo a couple months later. True to his word, we sat down to complete our chat which results in this episode. The content of our chat in both places was a little disjunctive, so the editing required us to put the second conversation first then plug in the chat in St. Louis and finish with our talk while in Buffalo. This sounds more confusing that it actually is, but I know you will understand and enjoy our chat.

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737: Terry Ward - 10,000 Hours

You’ve probably heard of the 10,000 hour rule, which was popularized by Malcolm Gladwell’s blockbuster book “Outliers.” As Gladwell tells it, the rule goes like this: it takes 10,000 hours of intensive practice to achieve mastery of complex skills and materials. Our guest this week is Terry Ward who has exceeded that minimum by a factor of many. He has performed over 40,000 shows over a period of more than 30 years. He was the resident magician in Disney World for many years where he developed more than one character who delighted the millions of annual visitors.

Terry started out in theme parks and for the most part, never left that type of venue. Certainly he does more than his share of corporate dates, but his “bread and butter” has been theme parks.

Terry talks this week about working in theme parks, finding the job, developing his performing character, and the importance of “being a good guy” and getting along with management to assure longevity at a venue.

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest but there could only be two winners in this contest. Please watch for another giveaway in a future episode of The Magic Word Podcast.

If you would like to know more about the "10,00 Hours Rule" and help The Magic Word Podcast with your purchase. Brilliant and entertaining, Outliers is a landmark work that will simultaneously delight and illuminate.

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722: TRICS 2022- Days One & Two

Thursday - November 3, 2022
7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Michel Huot
9:00 - 10:00 p.m. Saint and Hinton

Friday, November 4, 2022
11:00 - 12:00 Newcomer Lecture
1:00 - 2:00 David Regal
2:00 - 3:30 Lunch
3:30 - 4:30 Terry Ward
5:30 - 7:00 Insights with Boris Wild (Standing Ovations), Terry Ward (The Theme Park Life), Bernie Chickering (Gaff Cards), David Regal (Producing The Carbonaro Effect), Max Nelsoon (What’s in Max’s Drawers?), and Steve Beam (Guest of Honor Interview)
7:00 - 8:30 Dinner
8:30 - 9:30 Boris Wild
9:30 Pizza Party

This was the video talked about during the podcast.

Time stamps for this episode:

00:00:18 - We start off the trip at the airport with coffee and Dunkin’ Donuts

00:03:54 -Charlie Randall talks about attending the TRICS convention and his excitement about attending again this year.

00:08:29 - Scott Robinson, the organizer of TRICS, tells us what to expect and who is will be performing and some of the challenges he’s faced with last minute changes to booking the talent.

00:16:32 - Chris Hage, WonderCraftcards.com is one of the dealers who designs and sells playing cards.

00:23:03 - Gregory Wilson is a last minute fill-in and talks about moving to Las Vegas, lecture items, places he’s been performing, and much more.

00:42:35 - Marv Leventhal was a co-editor of the old Minotaur Magazine (along with Dan Harlan) talks about this and other magic conventions and how TRICS compares.

00:51:22 - Kyle Purnell talks about how TRICS has helped him find attention such that he is working at other conventions like MagiFest plus some of his new creative ideas.

00:56:37 - We wrap up the day with one of the performers and presenters, Terry Ward.