894: David DaVinci - Vitruvian Magician

Completing our last of three conversations recorded at the recent 50th and final Winter Carnival of Magic in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, we sat down with “Thrillusionist” David DaVinci. He closed the last night gala show with his breathtaking illusion and bird act. David traveled with the Ringling Bros. Circus and participated in the Zing Zang Zoom show plus he has worked cruise ships and casinos across the globe. His schedule is much reduced today as he concentrates on his passions of training birds, skydiving, and enjoying the great outdoors of Idaho.

In our chat today, David talks about working with big animals from tigers to elephants while employed by the Ringling Bros. Circus. He also tells us about “wing suits” he often wears while skydiving. I guess he just likes to get as close to birds as possible without actually being one! But life on the road as an illusionist is hard, and David tells us why as he uses his current situation to explain.

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467: Michael Goudeau - Everything Falls

Michael Goudeau is a very clever fellow. Not only is he a juggler and a former Ringling Bros. clown, but he is also a comedy writer and co-host on “Penn’s Sunday School” podcast. He was one of the featured performers/lecturers at the recent MagiCuba convention in Havana. In his lecture, Michael taught the basics of comedy writing and the easy formula for writing your own script. He recaps the highlights of that lecture in this week’s podcast.

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136: Alex Ramon - Man in Motion Part One

Even though he is only in his twenties, Alex Ramon has accomplished much more than many magicians who are three times his age. How does he do it? He is true to himself, honest, hard working and original. He lives by the Steve Martin quote, "Be so good they can't ignore you."

Alex Ramon continues to find new opportunities, or is it that opportunities continue to find him? Whatever it is, he can't seem to stay in one place for too long before he moves on to something even more amazing in his magical career. For the past two years he has held forth at the Horizon Casino in South Lake Tahoe. But the road to success didn't happen overnight, nor is the journey over.

At age 18 Alex Ramon received the coveted Lance Burton Award and was named "National Stage Magic Champion" by the World Magic Seminar in Las Vegas. In 2005, he auditioned for Disney LIVE!® presents “Mickey’s Magic Show”, and won a spot as a professional illusionist alongside Master Magician Mickey Mouse. Alex traveled the globe with the world’s most famous mouse for two and a half years, seeing 14 countries, four continents, 658 shows and entertained more than a million people.

Alex’s talent and dedication put him top of mind when producers Kenneth Feld and Nicole Feld imagined a magical circus.With over a decade of magic experience, Alex brought an unexpected twist to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® presents Zing Zang Zoom. At age 23 Alex became the first magician and the second youngest Ringmaster in the 139-year history of The Greatest Show on Earth®. Starring as the Magical “Zingmaster” (Ringmaster), During his two-yea with the circus tour Alex Ramon crisscrossed America performing in the largest arenas in the world, such as Madison Square Garden and The Staples Center, and brought smiles and wonder to people 10,000 at a time.

He’s been seen on national and international television, has made elephants disappear, magically transformed men into tigers, as well as made Whoopi Goldberg levitate.

In this podcast, Alex talks about his life and how he came to where he is today. He has a rather amazing story that should serve as an inspiration to many of us. He relates a story from the road (well...literally, the circus train) that he has never shared before now. He also has some rather unorthodox viewpoints towards magic and magicians. He uses the social media to promote himself and doesn't use paid advertising but basically uses word-of-mouth to get the word out about his shows. He has always stayed true to himself which has paid off.

This is one of the most amazing podcasts I have produced. It is fun, full of interesting stories and chock full of great advice. I was torn whether or not to break up this two hour chat and finally decided that there is too much information to digest in one sitting. So this is Part One of a two part interview. This first part tells you about the man and his early life and how he found success or rather, it found him. The next podcast will include his philosophy on magic, some advice and more great stories.

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. (please note: this RSS Feed subscription system may not work with Android systems). Remember, you can download it through iTunes. See the preview page by Clicking Here.

Magic & Martini's Thursday

894: David DaVinci - Vitruvian Magician

467: Michael Goudeau - Everything Falls

136: Alex Ramon - Man in Motion Part One

Magic & Martini's Thursday

The Magic Word