842: Richard Wiseman - Tea Time with the Professor

Dr. Richard Wiseman is a professor of public understanding in Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire in the U.K. He is the author of several books, many of which magicians might (or should) be familiar with including “The Luck Factor” and”Quirkology” or “Paranormality: Why We See What Isn’t There” among many others. Perhaps you have seen one of his many YouTube videos that have over 800MM views! He also hosts a podcast, “Richard Wiseman: On Your Mind” (which I highly recommend). You may have seen him at MAGIC Live! in Las Vegas as he has presented there twice.

In this week’s episode, Richard talks about many of his studies and how he became a YouTube phenomenon. We also discuss seances, his consulting with Andy Nyman on seances, his “failure” at busking at Covent Gardens in London, his new show on Paul Curry that will debut at this year’s Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. He also talks about his new book “Magic Your Mind Happy” which is being offered this week as a prize in our contest.

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442: 2018 MAGIC Live! - Day Four Update

Day Four Schedule - Wednesday, August 8, 2018

9:00 a.m. Registration until 5:30 p.m.

10:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. - General Session for WHITE Lanyards

10:00 a.m. Focus Session for BLUE lanyards until 11:00 a.m.

Code of the (Morgan) and West

Magic & Mentalism of Tim Conover

Close-Up Clinic

11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. - What's New (Dealers' Faire)

11:15 a.m - 12:15 p.m. - Focus Sessions for BLUE Lanyards.

2:15 - 4:30 p.m. - General Session for BLUE Lanyards

2:15 - 3:15 p.m. Focus Sessions for WHITE Lanyards

3:30 - 4:30 p.m.- Focus Sessions for WHITE lanyards

Live Tonight!

6:00 - 101:00 p.m. - "Who Am I?" Art Exhibit

6:30 pm. and 9:00 p.m. - Live Onstage Two! 90 minutes

10:00 p.m. Farewell Party

11:15 p.m. The Big One

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:00:14 - Charlie Randall, Richard Hatch and Alan Howard talk about their favorite moments from MAGIC Live!

00:09:42 - Scott Robinson gives us some of his impressions from MAGIC Live! plus gives us a preview of the upcoming TRICS convention.

00:18:36 - Richard Wiseman was one of the presenters again this year and talks about seances

00:26:20 - Dennis Watkins has been performing his magic show in Chicago's Palmer House for the past seven years and tells us about his one man show in the hotel

00:31:46 - Pete McCabe talks about the importance of scripting magic

00:43:47 - Noel Britten expands on his talk he gave in the General Session

00:59:56 - Sebastian Konapix talks about his unique art

01:08:52 - Morgan and West tell us about their two person Victorian act

01:19:00 - Carisa Hendrix was behind the scenes of the General Sessions and is also the co-host of her own podcast with Kaylas Drescher, Shezampod.com

01:27:19 - Hakan Berg from Sweden opened the final night gala with a very funny bird act.

01:35:20 - Stan Allen gives us a wrap of things that went well and some that didn't plus a sneak peek at next year's MAGIC Live!

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 Stitcher by Clicking Here or through FeedPress by Clicking Here or through Tunein.com by Clicking Here or through iHeart Radio by Clicking Here.. Remember, you can download it through the iTunes store, too. See the preview page by Clicking Here

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