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.

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816: Protecting Secrets with David Sandy, Bill Smith and Mark Holstein

Over the last two weeks, we have presented two individuals who support and encourage magic exposure. This episode features three magicians who have vested interests in keeping magic secrets secret. David Sandy is a performer, producer and collector. Bill Smith is a builder, performer and collector. Mark Holstein is an attorney, performer and collector. What they all have in common is their passion for the keeping magic secrets from the prying public in order to keep our audiences amazed and mystified.

Each of our guests this week has a little different perspective on why we should protect the secrets of our craft. While agreeing that anything can be found online in an instant, it still takes time for someone to go to the effort of looking it up. They believe that magic secrets shouldn’t come across social feeds indiscriminately without the viewer requesting it. They believe that secrets are being shared with some people who would rather not know. The adage, “it’s fun to be fooled, but more fun to know,” is not what they believe. This week, they tell us why.

815: Justin Flom - Justified?

Forbes magazine proclaimed Justin Flom as the “most viewed magician on the planet.” He has racked up 20 billion views since the pandemic started and was named the “No. 1 influencer” across all social platforms for Jan. 2022 according to Tubular Leaderboard, which tracks views and interactions. He launched his viral visibility with the exposure of the “deceptive base” used (mainly) by illusionists. He went on to expose more and more methods and tricks in magic before moving into other areas to increase and broaden his market and assure longer “watch time” for his videos that ultimately turn into big profits. He hasn’t performed magic professionally for the last four years and today known more as a spray paint artist.

This week Justin “preaches his gospel” of why magic exposure is good for our art.

“I love magic exposure. I think it’s good, right, moral and the future of magic.” - Justin Flom

This quote is the essence of this week’s episode as Justin Flom justifies his actions and has no moral nor ethical compunction about his actions. Moreover, he encourages others to do the same. You may leave your thoughts on this whether you agree or disagree in the comment section below this blog. Please be civil and devoid of vitriol on either side of this issue or your comment will be deleted.