928: T.A.O.M. 2025 Convention Report from Dallas, Texas

Friday, August 29, 2025

4:00 PM TAOM Board Meeting

6:00 PM Dinner Buffet

8:00 PM Dealer Exhibition

12:00 AM Midnight Madness

Saturday, August 30,2025

8:00 AM Breakfast

9:30 AM Lecture

11:00 AM Lecture

12:30 PM Lunch

2:00 PM Lecture

4:00 PM lecture

6:30 PM TAOM General Meeting and Memoriam

7:00 PM Picnic BBQ Dinner Buffet

8:00 PM A Night of Prestidigitation

9:30 PM TAOM 2026 Convention and Swearing in of New TAOM Officers

10:00 PM Midnight Madness

Time Stamps for this episode:

00:00:17 – announcement of winners from recent contest for the book “Practicing the Art of Magic” who were: Gary Weimer, Gary Freidrich, George Reis, Nicholas Nardi, Alison Homburger, and Greg Youngs.

00:02:46 – Kent Cummins joins me in the car drive to Dallas for the convention as we talk about our expectations and Kent’s experiences of past conventions.

00:16:37 – Eric Hogue is the President of this year’s event and he tells us what to expect and some of the challenges he has had over the past year in planning this.

00:25:54 – Clark May, owner of the Rabbit in Hat magic shop in Locust Grove, Oklahoma. This is his first T.A.O.M. convention and he tells us why it’s taken so long to get here.

00:37:11 – From South Africa, Trevor Duffy joins us to talk about his nationwide lecture tour. He is a dealer at this convention.

00:47:02 – a brief overview of what happened so far, then we talk with John Carter who is an avid magic collector and was one of the people to helped Chip Romero put together the Doug Henning exhibit at MAGIC Live! He tells us about that experience.

00:54:38 – more updates on what the morning brought us. Scott Hollingsworth, Entertainment Director of Houston’s Magic Island, who brings us up to date on the October 1st opening of the Magic Island.

01:03:14 – Gene Protas will be the T.A.O.M. President for 2026 who already has the talent planned and everything else you need to know like hotel, registration, and more.

01:08:37 – Now Past President, Eric Hogue and Scott wraps up the convention as Eric tells us how he felt the day went for him.

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862: Alex Boyce - Making it There in Old New York

There are many rising, young stars in our magic community. Some are gifted close-up workers while others are confident stage performers, all with bright futures ahead of them. One such young performer (now 28 years old) who excels in both and whom I have kept my eye on is Alex Boyce. His life has been consumed with magic and was a student at Tannen’s Magic Camp. Since his graduation from the camp, he is now an instructor. He has competed in stage contests at magic conventions and worked his act in and around his home in New York including Scott’s Resort in the Catskills where they filmed “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” He now regularly performs at SpeakEasy Magick in New York City and is a client of Bill Herz, who represents many of the top names in magic today.

This week, Alex talks about his early days of performing in the Catskills, entering magic competitions, learning and teaching at Tannen’s Magic Camp, performing for celebrities and corporate parties, and some of the friends he works with at SpeakEasy Magick in New York City.

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848: Abbott's Get Together 2024 - Day Four Report

SATURDAY, AUGUST 3RD 2024
9:30AM REGISTRATION OPENS at the Abbott Plant
10:00AM ABBOTT'S DEALERS ROOM OPENS (Requires Registration)
11:00AM LECTURE DANNY ARCHER - from Philadelphia - (Requires Registration)
11:00AM - 5:00PM COLON ARTS AND CRAFTS FAIR
12:00PM FREE STREET PERFORMANCE - Jania Taylor @ Granny's Place
1:00PM LECTURE JOHN REID from New York - (Requires Registration)
1:00PM MAGIC SHOW at Abbott's Magic Showroom Theatre $5
2:00PM JAY BLACKWELL JUGGLING/FIRE EATING & MORE at Sterlini Magic & Theater $10
3:00PM FREE STREET PERFORMANCE - Cap'n Sean @ Mirf @ Colon Library
3:00PM LECTURE LANCE BURTON from Las Vegas - (Requires Registration)
3:00PM FACE PAINTING till 6PM outside 5 Star Pizza by Award Winning Artist Carol Hendrix (Standard Fees)
3:00PM-5PM COLON HISTORICAL MUSEUM is open
4:00PM BOOK SIGNING - ILLUSIONQUESTS With David Seebach (Dealers Room)
4:30PM MAGIC SHOW at Abbott's Magic Showroom Theatre $5
5:00PM LIVE AT 5 WITH THE STERLINI'S at Sterlini Magic & Theater $10
5:30PM FREE STREET PERFORMANCE - Just Joe Chasney @ Magic Capital Grill
6:00PM-7:45PM DINNER (on your own)
7:45PM PRESHOW LIVE ORGAN MUSIC - by John Sturk
8:00PM GET-TOGETHER STAGE SHOW - Saturday Night Gala (The Magic of Germany)
Requires Registration or Tickets (Floor / Bleachers)
Featuring Clemens Ilgner (MC), Axel Hecklau, Yann Yuro, Martin Sierp
10:00PM ABBOTT'S DEALERS ROOM RE-OPENS (Requires Registration)
10:30PM ABBOTT'S PERFORMER AWARDS (Requires Registration)

Time stamps for this episode:

00:00:18 – Trixie Bond and Ted Danger give a recap of last night’s show.

00:12:30 – Mark Holstein has been the Stage Manager for Abbott’s Get Togethers over several decades. He give credit to his back stage crew who make this show work. Mark was also one of the performers on the last Bozo show and he talks about that experience.

00:26:24 – One of the food trucks is unique to Abbott’s that sells “Rabbit Ears” (essentially funnel cakes) and run by Kay Decker. She tells us how it all got started.

00:35:42 – Gerry Costello relocated from Florida to Colon after he retired and hosts an annual party at his home on the lake. Mike Powers also joins us on this chat who talks about his many publications and his new projects.

00:43:56 – John Hebert, from Chicago, and a member of the Chicago Magic Roundtable. He talks a bit about the Chicago Magic Lounge.

00:48:47 – Michael Trixx is a Friend of the Magic Word and talks about the episode we recorded many years ago. He tells us about his memories of attending and performing at Abbott’s.

00:57:33 – Peter Thompson is directing a documentary about this convention. He talks about what he’s doing, how the idea came to be, and perhaps when it will be broadcast.

00:03:05 – in the Dealers’ Room BJ Mallen presented the Jack Gwynn Excellence in Presentation Award that went to the Evasons; the Senator Crandall Comedy Award that went to Martin Diert from Germany; the Jerry Conklin Family Award went to David Seebach; and, the Niel Foster/Bill Baird Manipulation award went to Alex Boyce. We then get to chat with some of the award winners.

01:07:17 – at the Conklin Family “after glow” party we chat with Devin who is a regular performer at the Chicago Magic Lounge and talks about some of its history.

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.