819: Blackpool Magic Convention 2024 - Day Three Report

Sunday 18th February 2024

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

9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. John Bannon Lecture (Arena) and Luca Volpe Lecture (Foyer Hall)

10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Ikeda Yosuke Lecture (Spanish Hall) and Maga Gaia Lecture (Derham Lounge)

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Danny Goldsmith Lecture (Arena) and International Close-Up Show (Foyer Hall)

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Montreal Trio Lecture 2 (Spanish Hall) and Lawrence Turner Lecture (Derham Lounge)

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Mac King Mega Talk (Opera House)

1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Harrison Greenbaum Lecture (Arena) and Mat O’Neill Parlour Show (Derham Lounge)

2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Steve Spill Lecture (Spanish Hall) and Fergus Roy Lecture (Foyer Hall) and Mat O’Neill Parlour Show (Derham Lounge)

3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. The Clairvoyants Interview (Arena)

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Mat O’Neill Interview (Spanish Hall) and Bernardo Sedlacek Lecture (Foyer Hall) and Jimmy C Lecture (Derham Lounge)

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

6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Suhani Shah Show (Circle Hall)

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

8:45 p.m. - 9:45 p.m. Suhani Shah Show (Circle Hall)

11:30 p.m. - 12:30 a.m. Harrison Greenbaum Show (Arena and limited to audiences of 18+) and “Not The Gala Show” (Old Victoria Bar and limited to audiences of 18+)

Time stamps for this episode:

00:00:18 - Paul Romhany talks about his experience as a lecturer here and this being his first Blackpool Magic Convention (BMC).

00:11:50 - Bill Herz, President of MagiCorp Productions, tells us about his representation of some of the top magic acts in the world for corporate shows.

00:20:34 - Jeff Burns, one of the Fifth Dimension magicians (maybe not the music group you’re thinking of) is from Aberdeen, Scotland, and chats about his tradition of attending BMC.

00:26:10 - Foxy, from Liverpool, is a regular listener of The Magic Word Podcast and his favorite place to listen is when he walks beside the Mersey River in Liverpool.

00:34:43 - Winner of multiple awards from The Magic Circle (TMC), Edward Hilsum, talks about working with the youth program at TMC.

00:40:33 - Jimmy C. was a lecturer from America who tells us about his experience plus a short recap of what was in his lecture (in case you missed it)

00:45:44 - Raymond Crowe, from Australia, was a lecturer and performer at this year’s BMC. Here he gives some important advice to all magicians.

00:59:23 - Uwe Sperlich, from Munich, Germany, is a regular at the BMC and here he tells us why plus recaps some of his highlights from this convention.

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699: FISM Quebec 2022 - Day Four Report

Thursday July 28th 2022

8:15-11:00 - Stage Contest
12:30 - 14:30: Close-up Contest

8:30 - 9:30: Lisa Menna

10:30 - 11:30.: Marc De Souza

8:00 - 9:00: Michael Ammar

10:00 - 11:00: Jared Kopf

12:00 - 13:00: Miguel Muñoz

14:30 - 15:30: Brian South

16:30 - 17:30: Shawn Farquhar

19:00 - 20:15: Spectacle - One Man Show: Dani DaOrtiz - Group B

19:00 - 21:00: Banquet Group A

21:30 - 23:00: Mysterious Gala

23:30 - 0:30: Max Maven presents Connie Boyd on “Women in Magic”

23:00 - 0:00: Larry Hass

23:30 - 0:30: Stéphane Bourgoin

22:00 - 1:00: Workshop / Sos & Victoria

Time stamps for this episode:

00:00:16 - As we walk from the hotel to the convention center, Connie Boyd, talks about her upcoming presentation at FISM. She will be talking about the influence of women in magic.

00:03:22 - Marc DeSouza and Scott give a rundown of the previous night’s show complete with who did what and their opinions of how the show was received by the aucience.

00:08:50 - Chip Romero and Peter Samelson give their perceptions on this FISM. Chip will be presenting a lecture on Doug Henning here at FISM. The two talk about Doug’s influence on magic.

00:15:34 - Edward Hilsum and Scott Wells finally meet in person as they chat about the Magic Circle contests and Edward’s perception of what it’s like as a competitor at the FISM international level.

00:21:08 - After completing the morning stage contest, Peter Samelson and Scott Wells give a rundown on all of the competitors and their acts.

00:41:50 - After the close-up competition ended, Marc DeSouza and Scott discuss all of the competitors, who they were and what they did.

00:58:30 - The evening banquet was in full swing as we chat with Roger Nicot from Card Shark who tells us about why the dealer room was so light.

Click on the graphic above to visit the FISM Italy 2025 website. Register NOW and save!

350: Hammer Time with Mike Hammer

For the past five years, Mike Hammer has been packing them in while headlining in his own theater in the Four Queens Casino and Hotel on Fremont Street, downtown Las Vegas. Mike has his own style, and it works for him. He is the "Don Rickles" of magic with a rather abrasive approach where he actually insults his audience...and they love him! The night I visited his show, the room was packed and afterwards I overheard some saying this was a repeat visit to enjoy his show. Two people had paid for return visits to watch his show over 30 times!

Some of you might remember seeing Mike on "Penn and Teller Fool Us" with his outrageously memorable performance using a blow up doll. If not, then you can view the video here on this blog.

In this podcast, we cover a lot of territory from how he developed his act, working in Las Vegas, routining, trick selection, getting out of bad situations when things go wrong, and keeping his performances fresh. This was a fun and funny podcast that includes a lot of sound advice with some great behind-the-scenes stories.