903: AbraCORNdabra 2025 - Day One Report

Friday May 16, 2025

11:00 AM CHECK-IN TO PICK UP REGISTRATION PACKETS
Registration Opens

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Flea Market

12:45 PM Grand Opening / Welcome Greeting/ FREE MAGICAL GIFT

1:00 PM – 2:30 PM Show & Lecture #1 - PETER SAMELSON

2:30 PM – 3:00 PM Break

2:30 PM – 7:30 PM magiK-MART Opens (dealers)

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM

4:30 PM – 6:00 PM Dinner on your own

6:00 PM – 7:30 PM LECTURE (Lecture #2) - ERIC TAIT

7:30 PM – 8:00 PM Break

8:00 PM magiK-MART closes (dealers)

8:00 PM – 9:30 PM Show & Lecture #3 - THE COSMIC ROMANTICS

9:30 PM – ???? JOLLY TIME JAM – NEW FOR 2025
Super Special Late Night Jam Session featuring some very popular “name” magicians!
If you are a “nite-owl” – you will enjoy “hanging out” with fellow magi trading magical secrets & such. This special room for late-night jamming of magic is set up JUST for you & your magical friends!
Enjoy free flavored popcorns and soda sponsored by JOLLY TIME POPCORN!

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

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829: Obie's 4F 2024 Close-Up Convention - Day Three Report

Friday April 26, 2024

10:30 a.m. Tricks from Books Everyone Has Forgotten (MC: Mike Powers)

1:30 p.m. 4th Show Magical Moments (MC: Meir Yedid)

3:30 p.m. Lecture #5 Jovi Benitez

7:45 p.m. Tribute to GOH Charming Choi (host: Jeki Yoo)

8:00 p.m. Korean Gala (MC: Charming Choi)

Time Stamps:

(00:00) Theyagic Word Podcast welcomes Glenn Brown to talk about the 51st convention

(02:21) About 130 people are from the US; the rest are spread amongst 17 countries

(06:14) Next year's convention is still planned for the same hotel as this year

(06:39) We ask people to provide two sponsors, people who have attended four f

(09:23) Glenn Brown: One of our guests lost his passport on a plane

(12:51) This is the 51st year of the four F convention

(16:19) A magician is a director to the actors, to the spectators

(20:23) The best story wins. Rather than saying, you want to see a trick

(22:25) Darryl: There is no other convention in the world like this one

(26:36) There are perks to giving back to magicians, right? Yeah. Well, there are perks, certainly,

(28:33) The magic circle now streams live on Monday night during COVID

(32:01) Daryl: The beauty of this convention is everyone's limited to five minutes

(34:31) Darryl Rose: This is the best close up convention in the magic world

(36:19) Every convention is worth it if you come away with something that you can use

(40:19) Rick Wilcox will be attending the TRICS convention in Charlotte in November

(44:16) You're receiving the Melbourne Christopher award for illusionist, best

(45:35) Obviously we want to talk about now before our season starts, so. So we had a 25th season

(46:50) You've been coming to 4F since 2002

(50:28) Rick says Bernardo always thinks of four numbers when doing magic

(53:41) Roger Nicot, and Eva Mae got married here nine years ago

(55:47) So have you seen much of the convention from the standpoint, you've been a dealer

(57:58) You're going to be a dealer at MAGIC Live this year, right

(59:17) Scott: They're getting ready for the main show right now

(59:28) Scott: We had a wonderful show by Korean magicians tonight

(01:01:04) Jekiyoo: I'm glad that all of you guys came over

(01:03:48) The Magic Word podcast is over. You scotty out

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