827: Raymond Crowe - What a Wonderful Life

From Adelaide, Australia, Raymond Crowe bills himself as the “Unusualist.” An apt title, indeed, as his act is hard to describe and one of a kind. More than a magician and mime, he is a shadow artist as well. His on-stage character can be seen and “felt” by audiences regardless of the size of the theater. He can emote feelings and emotions with a mere gesture, tilt of his head, or movement of his eyes, plus his magic is original and amazing. He has performed around the world including a command performance for the Queen of England! He toured with The Illusionists as they traveled around the world from the Sydney Opera House to Broadway in New York City. He has had appearances on David Letterman’s Late Show, Australia’s Got Talent and even on America’s Got Talent. He has competed at FISM and lectured/performed at MAGIC Live! and Blackpool.

If you are more of a visual person, then you might like watching our interaction via Zoom as we recorded this week’s episode.

This week, Raymond Crowe talks about his beginnings as he learned mime/theater from Madame Zora. He also talks about his humble beginnings as a manipulator and how he learned the art of shadowography.

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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.

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

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.