901: Magic Collectors Expo 2025 - Day Two Report

Tuesday May 6, 2025

9:00 am Tour #1 Leaves for DC Museum Tour

11:15 am to 4:00 pm Dealer Room Opens & Vintage Vegas Video

3:35 pm Last DC Tour Returns

7:00 pm to 8:30 pm Session #3

8:30 pm to 11:30 pm Dealer Room Open

Time Stamps: These will be posted after I have gotten some sleep.

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833: Magic Collector Expo 2024 - Day Three

Thursday, May 10, 2024

9:30am-11:00am Dealer Room Open

11:00am-12:30 Session #5

12:30am-2:30pm Dealer Room Open

2:30pm-4:00pm Session #6

6:30pm-10:00pm Dinner & Show

Timestamps for this episode:

00:00:17 – We begin the third and final day of the Expo and just finished taking a ghost tour of the Queen Mary. Brad Henderson was the curator for the Richard Garriott magic collection and tells us what Richard has been doing since he moved from Austin to New York. He also gives us his viewpoint of the Expo.

00:14:35 – Organizer, Bill Smith, welcomes us to the Queen Mary and tells us why he selected this venue for the convention.

00:21:59 – Ed Alonzo, was a Long Beach Mystic and he tells us how that changed his life.

00:28:40 – as they are setting up for the final night banquet, we chat with Lance Burton, and John Cox. John had talked about Houdini on ship voyages and how Harry was the “King of Sea Sickness.”

00:36:30 – Dianna Zimmerman has been working with the Magic Castle Juniors for decades and she tells us how it got started in 1975 and how rewarding it has been for her.

00:48:51 – Mike Michaels is a performer/creator/builder/creator who tells us how his life was influenced by Lance Burton and how he developed his robotic act.

00:53:30 – Greg Wilson talks about this convention plus his years as part of the Wilson family magic legacy.

400: David Berglas - International Man of Mystery, Part One

David Berglas has an affect on me.

Okay, that is corny. But it is true that he has influenced and inspired more magicians and mentalists in the world than can be counted. Not only has he changed how we look at magic, David Berglas has significantly changed magic on television.

The BBC called him the “Godfather of TV Magic”. Born in 1926, Berglas escaped to Britain from Nazi Germany at age 11. He first became interested in Magic in his 20’s and studied psychotherapy at university before becoming a professional magician in 1952. His groundbreaking TV show in 1986, “The Mind of David Berglas” paved the way for all others to follow up to this very day. He is the author of several books including, "The Berglas Effects" and "The Mind & Magic of David Berglas", among others. And he is an multiple award winner of several prestigious organizations and is the Past President of The Magic Circle.

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I was part of a momentous meeting organized by Spyros Melaris in 2002 when he arranged a dinner meeting with David Berglas and his wife, Ruth, with Banachek and his wife, Heidi, and me and my wife, Kathy. It was a wonderful, memorable dinner with Banachek sharing his spoon bending to David and magic talk late into the evening. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, no photos of that evening exist except those in our minds.

It was at that first meeting that we all became good friends and I am glad that we could get together again for this podcast where David talks about his beginnings in magic, work both in front of and behind the cameras on television and film, plus lots of stories about celebrated names of magicians, most of whom are long since passed.

Magicians' Valhalla

Although the list below is not exhaustive nor in any particular order, it does reflect the names of many well-known (and some lesser known) magicians, spouses and assistants who passed on in 2017. Some may not be as well-known to you, but they were my personal friends (hey, it is my blog!). If you are unfamiliar with any of these names, then it would behoove you to do a little online search of what these people have contributed to our craft. If you have someone you think was overlooked, then please post the name in the comments below on this blog.

Those whose names are highlighted were featured or interviewed here on The Magic Word Podcast. You can click on their name to revisit and listen to their voices again. David Oliver put together a video of some names and dates of passing of these (and others) in a YouTube video. Click Here to see that video.

Phil Messina

Daryl Easton (Martinez)

Bob Cassidy

Jim Zachary

Ed Thomas

Jessica “Shedini” Moore

George Kovari, Jr.

"Chuck" Kirchner

John Moehring

Eugene Burger

Tom Jones

Eddie Gibson