549: Mercer Helms - Trust Me

Mercer Helms is a retired dove magician, though he shouldn’t be “pigeon-holed” like that (pun intended). He has retired to Houston, Texas after a long and illustrative career in Los Angeles California and Las Vegas, Nevada. Many years ago he continues to work in and around Houston due to his wife’s failing health. We frequently worked together at Houston’s Magic Island where he was the opening dove act and much loved by the audiences.

You can view a video of him performing his dove routine on the Magicana.com website by Clicking Here

In this week’s episode, Mercer talks about his relationship with Phyllis Diller, how they came to know each other, a few “tales from the road”, plus what it was like working in the old circuit that included the Catskills and old Las Vegas. Mercer was also the subject of a 2015 newspaper article which you can read by Clicking Here.

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The Magic Book Shop: This week our sponsor is offering listeners the chance to win a copy of Daryl’s “Ambitious Card Omnibus” on their website. A winner will be drawn on March 15, 2020. Also, you will receive a 15% discount on ALL purchases just for listening to The Magic Word Podcast. Just put in the promo code: magicword

#200 - How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Last year we brought you "The Night Before Christmas" read by a handful of popular magicians. It was so well received that I asked a few more guys (and gals) to read "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas". See if you can pick out the voices of: Boris Wild, Bob Cassidy, Docc Hilford, Tim Ellis, Tim Trono, George Tait, Rocco Silano, Eric DeCamps, Mandy Farrell, Ice McDonald, Steven Bargatze, Marc Salem, Rick Merrill, Richard Osterlind and, as the Grinch, Eugene Burger.

As I attended several magic conventions over this past year, I took aside a few guys and gals to chat on the podcast. But many of the people graciously agreed to record something special just for this very special podcast. I hope you enjoy hearing their reading of this Doctor Seuss classic. This was one of the most difficult podcasts to edit and took the longest time to gather all the voices to do this one which ended up being one of the shortest ones, too.

This special podcast is my Christmas gift to you for listening for these past few years to the previous 199 podcasts. I wish all the best to you and yours for this holiday season.

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.

Click on the banner above to buy Lotto Fever 2.0 through my PayPal Shop for $29.95 plus shipping ($5.00 below current price and before the retail price goes to $39.95) Be sure to click on the correct shipping (Domestic or Foreign). Also available th… — Click on the banner above to buy Lotto Fever 2.0 through my PayPal Shop for $29.95 plus shipping ($5.00 below current price and before the retail price goes to $39.95) Be sure to click on the correct shipping (Domestic or Foreign). Also available through the "Shop By Credit Card" storefront, too, if you prefer not to use PayPal. Offer ends on October 18, 2014.

Fill your Christmas Stockings with all things Banachek! Click on the banner above to visit the website and start your year off bright!

Magic & Martinis Thursday...with the Grinch!

163: Part 3 - My Week at The Castle 2014

Ah, the old barber shop. Sitting around the cracker barrel, playing dominoes, whittlin', spittin' and tellin' tales. Well, those days are mostly long gone in the real world, but not in the world of magic. Every Wednesday, many local magicians congregate at Dean's Shoppe (haircutting and magic) in Glendale to talk magic and shuffle cards.

In this Part Three of my multi-part podcast from my week at the Magic Castle, I turn on the recorder and let it roll as I had my hair cut and let the conversation and hair fall where it may. Alan Burskey and Pete Biro were the two guys who were in Dean's Shoppe on this particular Wednesday.

Back at the Castle, I chatted with Castle Librarian, Bill Goodwin then finished off the evening at the bar with the Builder of the Magic Castle, Milt Larsen.

00:01:50 - Alan Bursky talks about his involvement with the Magic Island in Newport Beach and Houston. To confirm one of our points, Alan even called Michael Caliie on his cell phone during our conversation. Pete Biro and Dean Dill add a few comments from time to time while Dean was cutting Scott's hair. Pete Biro talks about his latest project with a documentary on Spook Shows. We briefly talked about Triple Espresso, the "highly caffeinated comedy" but forgot the name of the magician who originally worked at Houston's Magic Island. It was Bill Arnold.

00:25:18 - Bill Goodwin, Close-Up Magician of the Year and The Magic Castle's librarian. Bill was performing with me in the Close-Up Gallery as the late show performer. Bill talks about the Castle's library and how to care for your own.

00:37:37- Milt Larsen, Creator of the Magic Castle, talks at length about his various business ventures including an exciting new movie project that will be based around and filmed in The Magic Castle.

Magic and Martinis' Thursday

There can't be good living where there's not good drinking.