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.

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699: FISM Quebec 2022 - Day Four Report

Thursday July 28th 2022

8:15-11:00 - Stage Contest
12:30 - 14:30: Close-up Contest

8:30 - 9:30: Lisa Menna

10:30 - 11:30.: Marc De Souza

8:00 - 9:00: Michael Ammar

10:00 - 11:00: Jared Kopf

12:00 - 13:00: Miguel Muñoz

14:30 - 15:30: Brian South

16:30 - 17:30: Shawn Farquhar

19:00 - 20:15: Spectacle - One Man Show: Dani DaOrtiz - Group B

19:00 - 21:00: Banquet Group A

21:30 - 23:00: Mysterious Gala

23:30 - 0:30: Max Maven presents Connie Boyd on “Women in Magic”

23:00 - 0:00: Larry Hass

23:30 - 0:30: Stéphane Bourgoin

22:00 - 1:00: Workshop / Sos & Victoria

Time stamps for this episode:

00:00:16 - As we walk from the hotel to the convention center, Connie Boyd, talks about her upcoming presentation at FISM. She will be talking about the influence of women in magic.

00:03:22 - Marc DeSouza and Scott give a rundown of the previous night’s show complete with who did what and their opinions of how the show was received by the aucience.

00:08:50 - Chip Romero and Peter Samelson give their perceptions on this FISM. Chip will be presenting a lecture on Doug Henning here at FISM. The two talk about Doug’s influence on magic.

00:15:34 - Edward Hilsum and Scott Wells finally meet in person as they chat about the Magic Circle contests and Edward’s perception of what it’s like as a competitor at the FISM international level.

00:21:08 - After completing the morning stage contest, Peter Samelson and Scott Wells give a rundown on all of the competitors and their acts.

00:41:50 - After the close-up competition ended, Marc DeSouza and Scott discuss all of the competitors, who they were and what they did.

00:58:30 - The evening banquet was in full swing as we chat with Roger Nicot from Card Shark who tells us about why the dealer room was so light.

Click on the graphic above to visit the FISM Italy 2025 website. Register NOW and save!

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.

Subscribe To My Channel and Get More "How Magic Changed TV" Videos. If you can not find some of our episodes, please switch to another country. Some videos blocked by the country. The most are the US.

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