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The Magic Word The Magic Word

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900: Dan Sperry - The Anti-Conjuror

With this episode we celebrate the 900th episode of The Magic Word Podcast. Every 50 episodes we like to present a special guest who is well known throughout our worldwide magic community. And who better for this episode than Dan Sperry. He was a regular member of The Illusionists who toured the major stages of the world from Sydney, Australia, to Broadway in New York City. He has headlined in nightclubs, Las Vegas casinos, and performing arts theaters. For many years he has appeared on Masters of Illusion television show as well as many other TV shows. Now residing in Florida, he continues to travel the globe, but when at home, he enjoys (believe it or not) performing for children’s birthday parties.

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In this week’s episode, Dan shares his story of how he developed his act and his character. He tells us about his early journey as he worked with doves and learned from some of the true masters like Joseph Gabriel that developed into a residency at a casino in Las Vegas. He toured Canada with Murray Hatfield as he honed his dove act and began to settle into his Shock Illusionist persona. He also talks about developing his talking act that led to work with the Illusionists and television appearances.

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.

Tagged with Dan Sperry, The Illusionists, Masters of Illusion, Derek Hughes, Suzanne the Magician, dove magic, World's Greatest Magic, Las Vegas, Hank Moorehouse, Joan Caeser, Gay Blackstone, Paul Kozak, Jeff Hobson, Roy Shank, Brett Daniels, Rudy Coby, Joseph Gabriel, Murray Hatfield.

May 1, 2025 by Scott Wells.
  • May 1, 2025
  • Scott Wells
  • Dan Sperry
  • The Illusionists
  • Masters of Illusion
  • Derek Hughes
  • Suzanne the Magician
  • dove magic
  • World's Greatest Magic
  • Las Vegas
  • Hank Moorehouse
  • Joan Caeser
  • Gay Blackstone
  • Paul Kozak
  • Jeff Hobson
  • Roy Shank
  • Brett Daniels
  • Rudy Coby
  • Joseph Gabriel
  • Murray Hatfield
  • 1 Comment
1 Comment

150: Epilogue - East Coast Mind Jam 2014

Except for the inadequate hotel facilities, the East Coast Mind Jam was a real success. Patrick Redford recaps the weekend from his perspective as talent, a performer, lecturer, dealer and a registrant. Eric Citron, event organizer, has some advice for those who are thinking of organizing their own convention. Plus he reveals a surprise announcement in this podcast.

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.

Posted in Convention Report and tagged with Eric Citron, George Tait, Patrick Redford.

March 31, 2014 by Scott Wells.
  • March 31, 2014
  • Scott Wells
  • Eric Citron
  • George Tait
  • Patrick Redford
  • Convention Report
  • 2 Comments
2 Comments

149: Day 3 - East Coast Mind Jam 2014

Day Three of the East Coast Mind Jam was a little off schedule due to a travel problem for Marc Salem from England. But the day began with an interesting lecture by Joe Atmore on The Amazing Dunninger. that included some fun, old videos from Dunninger's television show  It didn't hurt that Joe bought a few dozen doughnuts from Dunkin' Donuts to entice better attendance at this early hour. After lunch we were visited by Tony Spina. Eric Citron, organizer of the Mind Jam, presented a "Lifetime Achievement in Magic Award" to Tony followed by several people who gave testimonials and recollections of their time with Tony.

This flowed directly into a special edition of "Now You See It with Scott Wells", a talk show that featured magicians from the weekend: George Tait (Patrick Redford), Joe Atmore, Ted Karmilovich, Bill Gladwell and Richard Osterlind. This took us right up to the time when Marc Salem arrived. The stage was struck and Marc began his one man show. That followed with his lecture that included some explanations of tricks from his working repertoire.

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I apologize for the buzzing sound in this podcast but the microphone was near speaker which had an annoying buzz that I could not take out. Time stamps for this podcast:

00:01:24 - Tony Spina, former owner of Tannen's Magic, accepts an award plus several people tell stories of their influence by Tony.

00:17:57 - "Now You See It With Scott Wells" with George Tait up first.

00:30:50 - Joe Atmore tells some great stories about working with Uri Geller

00:4:41 - Ted Karmilovich talks about performing at a casino

00:53:30 - Bill Gladwell chats about how he got his one man show in Gatlinburg, Tennessee

00:58:30 - Richard Osterlind recounts a story about David Copperfield

01:06:03 - everyone on the couch tells their story of a highlight performance from their careers.

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.

Posted in Convention Report and tagged with Mar, Marc Salem, Patrick Redford, Joe Atmore, Ted Karmilovich, Richard Osterlind, Eric Citron, East Coast Mind Jam, Tony Spina, George Tait.

March 31, 2014 by Scott Wells.
  • March 31, 2014
  • Scott Wells
  • Mar
  • Marc Salem
  • Patrick Redford
  • Joe Atmore
  • Ted Karmilovich
  • Richard Osterlind
  • Eric Citron
  • East Coast Mind Jam
  • Tony Spina
  • George Tait
  • Convention Report
  • Post a comment
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The Magic Word The Magic Word

A Podcast for Magicians, About Magicians, Hosted by a Full Time Professional Magician, Scott Wells

This podcast is totally free for everyone to enjoy. This is provided to you out of love and respect for our art of magic. If you enjoy the podcasts and other material on The Magic Word, then your financial support will be greatly appreciated and help offset the monthly hosting service fee as well as the hardware and software to produce this podcast. Just click on the "Donate " button at the top of this page to make a one time donation through PayPal.

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In May 2024, Scott Wells had the distinguished honor of receiving a “Special Fellowship” from the Academy of Magical Arts (The Magic Castle) for the Magic Word Podcast which promotes “not only personal stories of fascinating individuals, but also fellowship amongst our extended family of artists and entertainers everywhere.”

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Tales From The Road 3 One of the popular features each year at Magic At The Beach in Myrtle Beach, is when the talent tells us some of their horror stories from the road. #talesfromtheroad #danadaniels #johnnythompson #bizzaro #codyfisher #charlesbac
Craig Diamond - Around the World in 50 Years - Craig Diamond is a name that may not be familiar to you...yet. That's because has been performing magic on cruise ships since the 1970's. But he is slowing down his cruise ship shows and starting to perf
John Cox - Houdini Master Since 2010, John Cox has found enough material about the legendary magician, Harry Houdini, to fill a daily blog. This week we chat about some of the more important things that John has uncovered over the past year. #houdini
Susan Gerbic - Busting Grief Vampires - Susan Gerbic is a skeptic who debunks those who are self-proclaimed psychics and "feed" on the grief of others like vampires feed on blood. She is a scientific skepticism activist, a columnist for Ske
Enjoy an audible tour through the newest venue for magicians to perform. Also, Marc’s incredible magic props, ephemera costumes, and more from a lifetime of collecting are on display here. This “walk through” is a feast for the ears
Jim Cunningham - The Spirit of Eugene - Jim Cunningham is the voice on the Audible books reading the Eli Marks Mystery series. But is also interested in things that go bump in the night. So naturally, his mentor for producing scary seances was the la
Tony Hassini - Merlin Maker - Creator of the Marvelous Magical Burger King, Tony Hassini is better known as the creator of the International Magicians Society (IMS) and the Merlin Award. #tonyhassini #merlinaward #ims #magicawards #merlin #burgerking
Tales From The Road 3 One of the popular features each year at Magic At The Beach in Myrtle Beach, is when the talent tells us some of their horror stories from the road. #talesfromtheroad #danadaniels #johnnythompson #bizzaro #codyfisher #charlesbac Craig Diamond - Around the World in 50 Years - Craig Diamond is a name that may not be familiar to you...yet. That's because has been performing magic on cruise ships since the 1970's. But he is slowing down his cruise ship shows and starting to perf
John Cox - Houdini Master Since 2010, John Cox has found enough material about the legendary magician, Harry Houdini, to fill a daily blog. This week we chat about some of the more important things that John has uncovered over the past year. #houdini Susan Gerbic - Busting Grief Vampires - Susan Gerbic is a skeptic who debunks those who are self-proclaimed psychics and "feed" on the grief of others like vampires feed on blood. She is a scientific skepticism activist, a columnist for Ske Enjoy an audible tour through the newest venue for magicians to perform. Also, Marc’s incredible magic props, ephemera costumes, and more from a lifetime of collecting are on display here. This “walk through” is a feast for the ears Jim Cunningham - The Spirit of Eugene - Jim Cunningham is the voice on the Audible books reading the Eli Marks Mystery series. But is also interested in things that go bump in the night. So naturally, his mentor for producing scary seances was the la Tony Hassini - Merlin Maker - Creator of the Marvelous Magical Burger King, Tony Hassini is better known as the creator of the International Magicians Society (IMS) and the Merlin Award. #tonyhassini #merlinaward #ims #magicawards #merlin #burgerking

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The Magic Word Podcast was nominated for TWO categories in the new ONLINE MAGIC competition at the 2025 World Championship of Magic (FISM) in Turin, Italy. One was for the Best Magic Podcaster and the second for the Best Magic Newsletter. You may already listen, but you are missing out on the other half if you haven’t yet subscribed to our weekly podletter!

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