849: MAGIC Live! 2024 Convention - Days One and Two Report

Sunday, August 4th

(Pre Convention Activities)
24 hours Mystque Lounge, Jackson Square
10:00 a.m. Registration, Bienville G (10:00 p.m.)

10:00 a.m. Photo Badges Dauphine F (10:00 p.m.)

LIVE Tonight!

7:30 - 11:30 p.m. Welcome Party, Esplanade

7:30 - 11:00 p.m. The Magic Shop, Mardi Gras

11:00 - 11:30 p.m. Grand Prize Giveaway, Esplanade

Monday, August 5th

24 hours Mystique Lounge, Jackson Square

9:00 a.m. Information Booth, Kiosk 11:00p

10:00 a.m. General Session for red lanyards, Showroom (Noon)

11:00 a.m. The MAGIC Shop, Mardi Gras (6:00p)

11:30 a.m. Out to Lunch, Esplanade (1:30p)

12:30 p.m. Close-up Experience, Bienville H (1:40p) (with show ticket or standby ticket)

2:15 p.m. Focus Sessions for red lanyards (3:15)

Carbone’s Creativity Class, French Quarter Angelo Carbone
Children Do Not Exist, St. Charles Maga Gaia
The Art of Shaping Perceptions, Bienville G Gabriel Werlen

3:30 p.m. Focus Sessions for red lanyards (4:30p) (see above) NOTE: no Children Do Not Exist session

Live Tonight!

Documentary Live: The Juniors, Dauphine 5:15, 7:50, 10:15 p.m.
The Little Big Show, Esplanade 5:35, 8:10, 10:35 p.m.
Close-up Experience, Bienville H 6:00, 7:30, 9:00, 10:30 p.m.
In Concert: Tanto, Dauphine 6:30, 9:05, 11:30p

Time stamps for this episode:

00:00:18 – Scott Wells just finished attending Abbott’s Get Together and returned to nearby Chicago where he is catching his “Magic Carpet” to Las Vegas for the Sunday night party.

00:02:59 – Nancy Anderson, Nancy Gibson, and Ron Saylor are the first people I met up with at the costume party. They tell us why they attend this event each year; catching up with old friends and making new friends. We then run into Gene Anderson who tells us about why he didn’t attend Abbott’s but why he came to this convention.

00:09:53 – Chad Long, Karl Hein, and Dick Olson talk about how much they like they like this convention and MagiCuba Convention that Chad and I attended.

00:12:44 – Jason Michaels talks about the I.B.M. convention they just had in Tacoma, Washington.

00:15:13 – Michael Chaut, producer of Monday Night Magic, introduced me to James Harrison and Marina from Dubai who are scheduled to perform at Magic Texas with their two person mind reading act.

00:21:07 – Chris and Ryan Zubrick, illusionists from St. Petersburg, Florida, just left their home that luckily survived the current hurricane.

00:23:00 – Joel “Batman” Zaritsky, was here to fight crime and buy magic.

00:24:26 – Paul Gertner will be an emcee for one of the sessions but will not be lecturing nor performing here. He will be the Guest of Honor at TRICS in November.

00:28:07 – Bruce Averbook and Ron Anderson are both magic collectors and frequent attendees to MAGIC Live! Bruce talks about his expanding collection in his magic museum in Cleveland, Ohio, which rivals the David Copperfield collection.

00:33:15 – John Bannon talks about his regular magic meetings online that started in Chicago and his new book that is debuting here.

00:37:15 – Richard Trembly and Richard LeBlanc, both from Canada, have already visited the dealer room and purchased John Bannon’s book.

00:43:17 – Diamond Jim Tyler has been attending MAGIC Live! at least six times just hang out with friends and see new magic. He will be lecturing at Magic Texas.

00:47:21 – Bill Flanagan, from Houston, has enjoyed the activities and tells us some of what he has enjoyed the most so far, even though the convention has just started.

00:49:47 – Bob Gould talks about a great new printing system to individually print on cards rather than having to place a large order for multiple decks.

00:54:41 – Greg Wilson and Starr talk about this convention. Starr is a designer of many of the graphics that are used at MAGIC Live! as well as many illusions. They both come to hang out with friends. They discuss some of the things they have seen here this year.

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365: Day One - IBM/SAM Combined Convention 2017

This is the first of a five day series of podcasts from Louisville featuring conversations with convention talent, organizers, dealers and registrants. The intent is to bring you the sounds (and sights through the embedded videos and attached photos) of what's happening almost in "real time" so you have the next best experience of actually being there. .

This is not the "official" first day of the convention, but nonetheless, there were several "pre-convention" activities that happened and are worth recording for this episode which I will call "Day One".

IBM-SAM 2017 COMBINED CONVENTION SCHEDULE

TUESDAY, JULY 11
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Lance Burton Teen Magic Seminar - Jones
Ed Thomas Memorial Jr Magic Workshop - Beckham
2:00 PM - S.A.M. Endowment Fund Meeting - Willis
3:00 PM - S.A.M. Magic Center Meeting - Willis
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM - Registration Opens - Registration Area
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM - S.A.M. Caucus Meeting - Willis
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM - Registration Opens - Registration Area
6:00 PM - Red Carpet Event - Whitney Hall, Kentucky Center
7:00 PM - Louisville Premere: Billy Topit - Whitney Hall, Kentucky Center
9:30 PM - Midnight - Dealers Grand Opening / Autograph Session - Exhibit Hall

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:04:20 - David Salwak and Fielding West talk about the talent at this convention, both on the shows and the competition.

00:12:09 - Michael Perovich, from Los Angeles and a member of the Magic Castle, tells why he comes to the combined convention which allows him to see acts that aren't seen at the Magic Castle.

00:25:46 - Oscar Munoz, International President of the I.B.M. tells us about what he has accomplished over the past year as President and some of his highlights of what he has seen and done.

00:28:19 - Dal Sanders, past National President of the S.A.M., tells us what's going on with the S.A.M. Council.

00:33:08 - Richard Turner calls in to remind us of his debut on Penn & Teller Fool Us on July 13, 2017

00:34:57 - Q&A Panel discussion following the debut showing of "Billy Topit"

00:52:03 - Jeff Sikola, National President of the S.A.M., talks about what he feels were the highlights of the past year.

00:57:55 - Jason Andrews talks about the competitions that brought him to where he is today as well as his cruise ship work.

00:02:31 - Tommy Ellison (a Friend of The Magic Word) shares a story as an update from the podcast posted Feb. 27, 2014 and available by Clicking Here.

Click on the banner above to visit the website where you can now purchase the DVD.

312: Day 1 - MAGIC Live! 2016

Day One - Sunday, August 14th

24 hours - The Back Room (hang out cdenter)

10:00 a.m. - Registration and Name Badge photos

7:30 p.m. - Anniversary Party

7:30 - 11:30 - The MAGIC Shop (dealer faire)

7:45 p.m. - Grand Prize Giveaway

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:00:13 - we depart Houston Hobby airport via Southwest Airlines and start off the journey with a couple Dunkin' Donuts and get excited about the upcoming adventure.

00:03:44 - we finally arrived at the Orleans Hotel & Casino and get in line to pick up our registration packet and chat with a variety of people in line: Michael Perovich, Michael Trixx, Kirk DeWeese, Steve Trout, Bob Festa, R. Paul Wilson, Billy Hsueh

00:11:24 - Rory Johnston, one of Stan Allen's "right-hand-men" and co-organizer, chats about some of the organizational challenges, attendance, and the "back room" where registrants are expected to hang out. He talks about the "Art Deco" theme of this year's convention.

00:18:48 - MAGIC Live "custodian", Stan Allen, talks a little about what things he can talk about now without giving away too many "secrets".

00:24:05 - Rick Merrill and Steve Bargatze tell us about their experiences with attending past MAGIC Live! conventions,, plus Rick talks about the first MAGIC Live! inspiring his award winning magic act.

00:32:08 - Ian Rowland presented on the Focus sessions for the past three conventions and this year he will be on the general sessions on stage. He also talks a bit about his "origami cards". He also "confesses" to being the inventor of all of the effects that were in question during the recent Gregory Wilson controversy. LOL

00:42:34 - Chip Romero and Mark Jensen talk about their respective magic collections plus some tips on planning on the disposition of property after one's demise.

00:48:26 - Mark Jensen tells a story of the origination of the Marshall Brodein TV Magic Cards and how Johnny Thompson wrote the instructions.

0051:13 - Nathan Burton talks about his 4:00 p.m. daily show at Planet Hollywood.

00:53:16 - Vinny Grosso is finally able to talk about his recent win on Penn & Teller Fool Us, how he developed the act, all about his experience, when he will appear in the Penn & Teller show at the Rio. He also chats about an update to his book "Exposed and Fearless" which you can hear about in much more detail in our podcast HERE which is also available on Amazon.

00:59:18 - Shawn McMaster celebrates his birthday at MAGIC Live! and talks about his experience of working at some of the past conventions plus working on the magazine.

01:02:48 - Paul Draper has been stage manager of all of the past MAGIC Live! events, but this year he is experiencing this year just as a registrant. During our conversation, we are joined by Chad Long who talks about some of the conventions he has been working.

01:05:40 - Terry Ward talks about the many MAGIC Live! conventions he has attended and some of the memories he enjoyed from previous years.

01:09:14 - Steve Sabo (a Friend of The Magic Word) and his father, Dick Sabo, talks about getting interested in magic thanks to this convention.

01:12:05 - Erik Dobell and Chris Collins talk about how their show "Impossibilites" has been going since we did a podcast with them. HERE. This is Erik's first magic convention ever of any kind and finding it overwhelming.

Click on the banner above to visit the Workshop's Facebook page for more information.

Click on the image above to learn more about Mark's fabulous magic collection.