611 - Jack Brutus Penny and Shaun Rivera - In The Cards

Why are magicians fascinated by playing cards? This week week have two separate conversations with two diverse people (one a creator and the other a collector) from two sides of the planet. Jack Brutus Penny is from England but lives in Japan where he is a teacher by day and a writer and playing card designer by night. Back in the U.S., Shaun Rivera is a magician in America’s heartland (Kansas City) who has a passion for collecting playing cards. This week the creator collides with the collector in an episode where we explore how cards are developed all the way to the retail buyer/collector.

For more information on Jack Penny’s Kickstarter campaign, please visit: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jackbrutuspenny/sensu

This week’s podcast episode on YouTube.

Jack Brutus Penny starts off our episode this week talking about the development, design and thought that goes into creating a new playing card. He talks about the card stock, printing, design, and marketing of his playing card creations that gives us some real insight into what goes into bringing these beautiful cards to collectors. Next we hear from Shaun Rivera who has amassed a collection of over 5,000 decks of playing cards. Find out this week how he started and why he continues his “obsession.”

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341: Houdini-Opoly with Dick Brookz and Dorothy Dietrich

Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz own and operate the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. They have both led extraordinary lives and worthy of talking more about their Houdini museum, the Houdini seance, and the former Magic Townhouse in New York City. They talk about all these things but the purpose of this particular podcast is to help the magic world learn more about their newest project, "Houdini-Opoly"

They have been working on this board game for over two years and with the Kickstarter campaign now being fully funded just before this podcast was released. So not it's on to meet their "stretch" goals to pay for the "enhancements". Thanks to your support, it appears that it will be in production soon this year. The Magic Word Podcast is selective in providing a platform for promoting individuals or pet projects. But this is one I support and think is of particular interest to our community. But even if you choose not to support the cause and buy a game, the rest of our chat is interesting as we talk about the old Magic Townhouse in New York City and why it closed and the museum moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania. We also discuss the Houdini seance and the museum.

Help the Kickstarter Campaign and get your "one of a kind" collectible Houdini board game. You can't escape the fun!

Click on the graphic above to visit the site for more information on Houdini-Opoly

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The contest is over and we congratulate Pat Darienzo who won a copy of Danny Archer's eBook. — The contest is over and we congratulate **Pat Darienzo** who won a copy of Danny Archer's eBook.

235: FISM Italy - Day Four

It may have been a little overcast outside, but the weather and the magic was perfect in the convention center. After viewing the stage competition from 8:30 to 12:30, I got to walk around the dealers a bit more, chat with friends, and attend a couple lectures. And of course, it was Thursday which meant magic and Martinis in the evening with friends at the bar.

After watching Luke Jermay's one man show, was the evening gala featuring: Cyril Takayama and Eun Gyeol Lee as co-MC's with Mike Chao, Topas, David Kaplan, Tony Frebourg, Alberto Giorgi, Rob Zabrecky, Sos & Victoria and Samuel.