917: FISM 2025 in Turin, Italy- Day Five Report

Friday 18 July, 2025

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

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.

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 Pandora and SiriusXM (formerly 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.

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