867: John Cox - What's New With Houdini?

As we end our “Month of Boo'“ on The Magic Word Podcast, we close it out on the 98th anniversary of the death of Harry Houdini who passed on Halloween (October 31st), 1926. It is fitting that we have a chat with the internationally noted expert on “all things Houdini,” John Cox. John is the blogger of “Wild About Houdini” which is a daily blog about the master of escapes. He always seems to find some interesting nugget about Houdini’s life that has been long overlooked or “escaped” his attention.

If you are more of a visual person, then you might enjoy watching our conversation that was recorded over Zoom.

This week, John Cox talks about the many variations of the “Houdini Seance” since the first one by Bess Houdini first held on the year following Harry’s death. These modern day seances includes the current “Official” one hosted by Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz and the “Original” one hosted by Tom Boldt and Bill Radner. John also tells us some details about Houdini’s trial in Germany, plus he updates us on the books he is writing including the elucidation on Houdini’s diary from his early years before he rose to his legendary status.

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851: MAGIC Live! 2024 Convention - Day Three Report

Tuesday, August 6th

24 hours Mystique Lounge, Jackson Square

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

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)

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

Acting for Magicians, French Quarter with Chris Philpott & Steve Valentine
Share the Awe, St. Charles with Javi Benitez
Magyver of Magic, Bienville G with Christian Engbloom

3:30 p.m. Focus Sessions for red lanyards until 4:30 p.m. (see above)

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
Penguin Magic Podcast, St. Charles 7:00, 8:30, 10:00p

Time stamps for this episode:

00:00:20 – Matt Alexander shaved his beard just for the Sunday night costume party. That was quite a commitment. We then summarized some of events that led up to today.

00:20:59 – Armando Lucero is enjoying this convention by visiting with friends and introducing some of them for their presentations. He shared some of the memories of past events.

00:23:31 – John Kippen is a Knight of the Magic Castle and is one of the regular performers there. He has been buying some a lot of magic here and telling us what memories are being created at this convention. He particularly liked Jon Armstrong. He also gives us a tip on how to handle an audience members who might be playing on their phone during your show. He also talks about his Friday Zoom meetings that was started during COVID and continues to this day.

00:31:27 – John Cox was one of the outstanding presenters at this convention as he talks about the book he is working on about Houdini’s life that was taken from his travel diary from 1897-1899.

00:41:22 – Morris Herzberg talks about our long-time friendship which is what this podcast is all about: renewing old friendships.

00:46:30 – Joey Martinez, Entertainment Director at Nashville’s House of Cards, talks about that venue and how has been doing. We also summarize one of the shows at this convention and how much we enjoyed it.

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.