919: Abbott's Get Together 2025 - Day One Report

WEDNESDAY, JULY 30TH 2025

9:30AM REGISTRATION OPENS at the Abbott Plant
10:00AM ABBOTT'S DEALERS ROOM OPENS (Requires Registration)
10:30AM ABBOTT'S SUPER SHOWROOM SPECIALS BEGINS (Requires Registration)
12:00PM FREE STREET PERFORMANCE - Jania Taylor @ Magic Capital Grill
1:00PM LECTURE Craig Diamond (Requires Registration)
1:00PM MAGIC SHOW at Abbott's Magic Showroom Theatre $5
2:00PM JAY BLACKWELL JUGGLING/FIRE EATING & MORE at Sterlini Magic & Theater $10
2:30PM FREE STREET PERFORMANCE - John Sturk @ Grannys Place
3:00PM LECTURE David Charvet (Requires Registration)
3:00PM-5PM COLON HISTORICAL MUSEUM is open
3:00PM FACE PAINTING till 6PM outside 5 Star Pizza by Award Winning Artist Carol Hendrix (Standard Fees)
3:30PM MAGIC SHOW at Abbott's Magic Showroom Theatre $5
5:00PM LIVE AT 5 WITH THE STERLINI'S at Sterlini Magic & Theater $10
5:30PM FREE STREET PERFORMANCE - Cap'n Sean & Mirf @ Magic Capital Grill
6:00PM-7:45PM DINNER on your own
7:45PM PRESHOW LIVE ORGAN MUSIC - by John Sturk
8:00PM GET-TOGETHER STAGE SHOW - Wednesday Night Gala Show
Featuring Lance Burton, BJ Mallen, Keith West, Fielding West, Michael Goodeau
Requires Registration or Tickets
10:00PM ABBOTT'S DEALERS ROOM RE-OPENS (Requires Registration)

Time Stamps for this episode:

00:00:17 - driving in the rental car from Chicago to Colon, Michigan, as we talk a bit about my trip to Italy attending FISM. Now it’s about time for the first event: The Open Colon Golf Tournament

00:06:20 - Al the Only is one of the staples of the Get Together who has attended now 53 of these Get Together. He is also the host of the Open Colon. This is the 36th tournament. Al also conducts the graveyard tour.

00:19:34 - Jeff Hobson is here for the golf and the convention. He tells us why this is his favorite convention.

00:29:20 - David Seebach and Julie Subanski always hosts an opening night party. We talk a bit about the upcoming convention and what he’s been doing lately.

00:42:11 - Mikayla Oz is attending her first Get Together, but she’s not new to magic conventions. She has been working with Steve Daly since the first AbraCornDabra. She hopes to bring some of the ideas from this convention to Iowa.

00:49:46 - Greg Bordner, proprietor of Abbott’s Magic Company and co-organizer of the Get Together with his wife, Debbie. He welcomes everyone to this year’s convention. He also promises to keep this going again at least next year.

00:59:16 - Michael Mode has coordinated some parties for the local Amish families featuring some of the magician attendees. We talk here about the great opening night show which was Lance Burton and Friends that included Fielding West, Michael Goudeau, and Keith West.

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900: Dan Sperry - The Anti-Conjuror

With this episode we celebrate the 900th episode of The Magic Word Podcast. Every 50 episodes we like to present a special guest who is well known throughout our worldwide magic community. And who better for this episode than Dan Sperry. He was a regular member of The Illusionists who toured the major stages of the world from Sydney, Australia, to Broadway in New York City. He has headlined in nightclubs, Las Vegas casinos, and performing arts theaters. For many years he has appeared on Masters of Illusion television show as well as many other TV shows. Now residing in Florida, he continues to travel the globe, but when at home, he enjoys (believe it or not) performing for children’s birthday parties.

In this week’s episode, Dan shares his story of how he developed his act and his character. He tells us about his early journey as he worked with doves and learned from some of the true masters like Joseph Gabriel that developed into a residency at a casino in Las Vegas. He toured Canada with Murray Hatfield as he honed his dove act and began to settle into his Shock Illusionist persona. He also talks about developing his talking act that led to work with the Illusionists and television appearances.

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 Pandora and SiriusXM (formerly Stitcher) by Clicking Here or through FeedPress by Clicking Here or through Tunein.com by Clicking Here or through iHeart Radio by Clicking Here. If you have a Spotify account, then you can also hear us through that app, too. You can also listen through your Amazon Alexa and Google Home devices. Remember, you can download it through the iTunes store, too. See the preview page by Clicking Here.

848: Abbott's Get Together 2024 - Day Four Report

SATURDAY, AUGUST 3RD 2024
9:30AM REGISTRATION OPENS at the Abbott Plant
10:00AM ABBOTT'S DEALERS ROOM OPENS (Requires Registration)
11:00AM LECTURE DANNY ARCHER - from Philadelphia - (Requires Registration)
11:00AM - 5:00PM COLON ARTS AND CRAFTS FAIR
12:00PM FREE STREET PERFORMANCE - Jania Taylor @ Granny's Place
1:00PM LECTURE JOHN REID from New York - (Requires Registration)
1:00PM MAGIC SHOW at Abbott's Magic Showroom Theatre $5
2:00PM JAY BLACKWELL JUGGLING/FIRE EATING & MORE at Sterlini Magic & Theater $10
3:00PM FREE STREET PERFORMANCE - Cap'n Sean @ Mirf @ Colon Library
3:00PM LECTURE LANCE BURTON from Las Vegas - (Requires Registration)
3:00PM FACE PAINTING till 6PM outside 5 Star Pizza by Award Winning Artist Carol Hendrix (Standard Fees)
3:00PM-5PM COLON HISTORICAL MUSEUM is open
4:00PM BOOK SIGNING - ILLUSIONQUESTS With David Seebach (Dealers Room)
4:30PM MAGIC SHOW at Abbott's Magic Showroom Theatre $5
5:00PM LIVE AT 5 WITH THE STERLINI'S at Sterlini Magic & Theater $10
5:30PM FREE STREET PERFORMANCE - Just Joe Chasney @ Magic Capital Grill
6:00PM-7:45PM DINNER (on your own)
7:45PM PRESHOW LIVE ORGAN MUSIC - by John Sturk
8:00PM GET-TOGETHER STAGE SHOW - Saturday Night Gala (The Magic of Germany)
Requires Registration or Tickets (Floor / Bleachers)
Featuring Clemens Ilgner (MC), Axel Hecklau, Yann Yuro, Martin Sierp
10:00PM ABBOTT'S DEALERS ROOM RE-OPENS (Requires Registration)
10:30PM ABBOTT'S PERFORMER AWARDS (Requires Registration)

Time stamps for this episode:

00:00:18 – Trixie Bond and Ted Danger give a recap of last night’s show.

00:12:30 – Mark Holstein has been the Stage Manager for Abbott’s Get Togethers over several decades. He give credit to his back stage crew who make this show work. Mark was also one of the performers on the last Bozo show and he talks about that experience.

00:26:24 – One of the food trucks is unique to Abbott’s that sells “Rabbit Ears” (essentially funnel cakes) and run by Kay Decker. She tells us how it all got started.

00:35:42 – Gerry Costello relocated from Florida to Colon after he retired and hosts an annual party at his home on the lake. Mike Powers also joins us on this chat who talks about his many publications and his new projects.

00:43:56 – John Hebert, from Chicago, and a member of the Chicago Magic Roundtable. He talks a bit about the Chicago Magic Lounge.

00:48:47 – Michael Trixx is a Friend of the Magic Word and talks about the episode we recorded many years ago. He tells us about his memories of attending and performing at Abbott’s.

00:57:33 – Peter Thompson is directing a documentary about this convention. He talks about what he’s doing, how the idea came to be, and perhaps when it will be broadcast.

00:03:05 – in the Dealers’ Room BJ Mallen presented the Jack Gwynn Excellence in Presentation Award that went to the Evasons; the Senator Crandall Comedy Award that went to Martin Diert from Germany; the Jerry Conklin Family Award went to David Seebach; and, the Niel Foster/Bill Baird Manipulation award went to Alex Boyce. We then get to chat with some of the award winners.

01:07:17 – at the Conklin Family “after glow” party we chat with Devin who is a regular performer at the Chicago Magic Lounge and talks about some of its history.

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 Pandora and SiriusXM (formerly Stitcher) by Clicking Here or through FeedPress by Clicking Here or through Tunein.com by Clicking Here or through iHeart Radio by Clicking Here. If you have a Spotify account, then you can also hear us through that app, too. You can also listen through your Amazon Alexa and Google Home devices. Remember, you can download it through the iTunes store, too. See the preview page by Clicking Here.