784: Jamy Ian Swiss - The Conjuror's Conjuror

Jamy Ian Swiss is the author of five books and co-author of two other books and consultant or contributor to at least eight other books and magazines, frequent performer at the Magic Castle, co-producer of Monday Night Magic, historian, lecturer, teacher, consultant, Senior Fellow of the James Randi Educational Foundation, skeptic, and an expert on the intersection of science, magic, and skepticism. He has frequently appeared on television talk and news shows including all the networks with occasional appearances in movies and documentaries.

This discussion was recorded in the Magic Castle when we worked together there in March 2023. In our conversation, Jamy covers the gamut of magic from those who have influenced his life to an esoteric discussion of equivoque and the power of magic has on our audience and a deep dive into a theoretical talk about magic. Nearly everyone who is anyone in magic had their name dropped in this week’s chat by someone who intimately knew them all quite well. Jamy truly is the conjuror’s conjuror.

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644: Joseph Gabriel - A Bird In Hand

Multi-Award winning Broadway illusionist, Joseph Gabriel, single-handedly changed the face of magic with his iconic sleight-of-hand performance when he appeared on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” for the first time. Joseph is known for his signature style of producing various exotic birds and is equally adept at large-scale illusions, mentalism, and comedy audience participation. Soon after his appearance on “The Tonight Show”, Joseph began headlining in lavish Las Vegas review shows, such as the “Lido de Paris” at the Stardust Hotel and “City Lites” at the Flamingo where he headlined for nine years.

In this week’s episode, Joseph talks about the importance of “being so good, they can’t ignore you,” to quote Steve Martin. He has developed his own style of performing and talks about his journey where good things in his career kept happening, including his two year association with the Peruvian legend, Richiardi. In addition to his work with birds, he is also an accomplished artist and maker/performer of marionettes.

This week in magic, one of the highlights in our community was the “Las Vegas wedding of year” of Murray Sawchuck and Dani Elizabeth.

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.

784: Jamy Ian Swiss - The Conjuror's Conjuror

644: Joseph Gabriel - A Bird In Hand

350: Hammer Time with Mike Hammer

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