896: Obie's 4F 2025 Close-Up Convention - Days One and Two Report

Wednesday April 23

1:00pm: Registration
1:00pm: 4F Shop Open
5:00pm: Dealers’ Room Opens (closed during events)
7:30pm: 1st Show: Opening Gala (MC - Jay Scott Berry)
11:00pm: Hospitality Suite Opens
12:00am: Dealers’ Room Closes

Thursday April 24

10:00am: Registration Open (closed during events)
10:00am: Dealers’ Room & 4F Shop Open (closed during events)
10:30am: Lecture #1 - Horrett Wu
1:30pm: 2nd Show: Magical Moments (MC - Will Fern)
3:30pm: ED Talks #1 (MC’s - Christian and Katalina)
7:30pm: 3rd Show: Friends Old & New (MC - Michael Dardant)
9:30pm: Lecture #2 - Eric DeCamps
11:00pm: Hospitality Suite Opens
12:00am: Dealers’ Room Closes

Time Stamps: These will be posted after I have gotten some sleep.

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 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

Happy birthday for our Friend of the Magic Word, “Fancy” Nancy Anderson. Originally from Lima, Peru, she now resides in the Chicago area where she lives and performs. She is a self-proclaimed BIG fan of magic and is often seen enjoying live shows at the Chicago Magic Lounge and the Rhapsody Theatre. Her actual birthday was this past week, April 21st. So, mark your calendar for next year so you don’t forget to wish her a happy birthday.

817: Blackpool Magic Convention 2024 - Day One Report

Friday 16th February 2024

9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Dealers’ Hall Open

10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Paul Romhany Lecture (Spanish Hall) and Richard Griffin Lecture (Arena)

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. International Close-up Show (Foyer Hall)

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. John “Chunkie” Russell Lecture (Derham Lounge)

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Ann DeGuzman Lecture (Arena) and Ben Hart Lecture (Spanish Hall)

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Cameron Francis Lecture (Foyer Hall)

1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Mat O’Neill Parlour Show (Derham Lounge)

2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Christian Grace Lecture (Arena) and Tom Wright Lecture (Spanish Hall)

3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Marvin Berglas Lecture (Foyer Hall) and Dave Allen Lecture (Derham Lounge)

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Adrian Quillien Lecture (Spanish Hall)

6:15 p.m. - 7:45 p.m. Gala Show (Opera House)

6:15 p.m. - 7:15 p.m. Mike Caveney and Friends Show (Circle Hall)

6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Shoot Ogawa Show (Arena)

8:45 p.m. - 10:15 p.m. Gala Show (Opera House)

8:45 p.m. - 9:45 p.m. Mike Caveney and Friends Show (Circle Hall)

9:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Shoot Ogawa Show (Arena)

11:30 p.m. - 12:30 a.m. Harrison Greenbaum Show (Arena and limited to audiences of 18+)

11:30 p.m. - 12:30 a.m. Whose Lie Is It Anyway? (Old Victoria Bar)

Time stamps for this episode:

00:00:18 - we are off from the Dallas Ft. Worth airport to ride our magic carpet “across the pond” to merry old England for the Blackpool Magic Convention 2024. Join us for the trip!!

00:03:32 - Our first stop before Blackpool is a visit to The Magic Circle (TMC) where John Bannon was the featured lecturer on Monday, 12 February. Our first chat is with Ian Rowland, a mentalist and motivational speaker to the corporate market. He is also a master of “kirigami” which is the art of cutting cards and folding. It is beautiful artwork.

00:12:21 - Faye Presto is working on a new close-up cover for the table at TMC. She also tells us about the proper way to put a bottle through the table.

00:20:27 - Marvyn Berglas, President of TMC, tells us what he’s doing as the new President and plans for improvements in the building.

00:28:06 - From Sweden, Johan Stahal, is a FISM competitor winner of Sweden’s Got Talent, and is attending this BMC for his eighth time.

00:30:05 - Pat Fallon, from Ireland, and Scott catch up as long time friends and Pat tells us a little about touring and magic clubs in Ireland.

00:35:35 - David Regal, from the U.S., is an artiste at BMC who doubles with his lecture and close-up performance. He was walking around with R. Paul Wilson, from Scotland, who is a regular attendee at BMC.

00:39:47 - Brendan Rodriquez, from the U.K., has a video blog (vlog) and is shooting video in, at and around the BMC for broadcast.

00:44:00 - Empressario and big event producer, Paul Stone, is from Liverpool and talks a bit about his “Beatles Tour” around town that he privately gave to Mac King, Mike Caveney, Tina Lennart, and a few others before the BMC began.

00:49:17 - Tracy Bradshaw, a worker at the BMC registration booth, tells us what the VIP registrants get that is different from regular registrations.

00:53:15 - David Plant is a member of the Blackpool Magic Club who sponsors BMC. He gives us a “convention by the numbers” and a quick overview/history of BMC.

01:00:33 - Anders Boulanger, from Winnipeg, Canada, is taking a quick break between working trade shows to come here for his first BMC and tells us how overwhelming it is.

01:06:41 - Keith McCabe, from Ireland, has been coming to the BMC for over 20 years and talks about some of the few magic clubs and magicians and types of magic performed in the Republic of Ireland. We are joined by Harrison Greenbaum, who is another of the performers/lecturers at the BMC.

01:11:04 - Mumdo Marsouki, a podcast listener from Saudi Arabia, tells us about the kind of magic performed in his country.

01:15:28 - Sune Narud, from Norway and a podcast listener, tells us why he and his friends attend the BMC each year.

760: Magic Collector Expo - Day 3 Report

Thursday, May 11

9:30am to 11:00am Dealer Room Opens

11:00am to 12:30pm Session #4 with William Winters “Walter Gibson”, John Cox “Houdini in Cleveland”,David Charvet “Conjurors and their Cars”

12:30pm to 2:30pm Dealers Open

2:30pm to 4:00pm Session #5 Jay Hunter “Don’t Throw Away Throw Out Cards”, Gabe Fajuri “A Half Century of Magic on The Block”. Mike Caveney “Otis Lithography Company, Cleveland, Ohio”

6:30pm- 10pm Dinner & Show Cleveland’s Finest Magicians with MC Kerry Pollock, Alan Howard, Tim Hill & Rick Smith Jr

Time stamps for this episode:

00:00:18 - Julie Eng from Magicana and editor of Magicoll chats with us about this convention and specifically the Bruce Averbook collection

00:12:00 - Bruce Averbook talks about his collection and how he designed it. The visit to his museum was the highlight of the convention.

00:32:54 - Lance Burton talks about the presentation given by David Charvet about “Conjurors and their Cars” and in particular the vanishing car performed by Lance for his TV special

00:41:15 - Jim Hagy talks about his presentation he gave on the opening night covering the conjurors who lived and worked in Cleveland.

00:47:45 - Ben Winn is only 19 years old and has an avid interest in our history and collecting and will be one of the young magicians who will carry on with our passion

00:52:13 - Dr. Cato Holler and his wife Susan tell us about their collection in western North Carolina and how they house and display his immense book collection.

00:58:19 - Jon Stetson tells us a bit about his mentalism workshops with Bob Koehler as well as a sneak preview of an upcoming convention in Dubai. Jon also helps recap and give us an overview of the speakers in the final session this afternoon.

01:10:43 - Bill Smith, the organizer of this Expo, finally has time to reflect for a couple minutes as we wrap up the convention. Be sure to check the website at https://magiccollectorexpo.com/ for updates and announcements about the next Expo.