767: Randy Wakeman - I've Been Around for a Long, Long Years

Randy Wakeman has been around for many decades and was often seen lecturing and performing at magic conventions. Nonetheless, I have always seen him as an “underground” magician who appeals to the true sleight-of-hand experts. He is one of those guys who has “been there, done that, has the t-shirt” as he was one of the regular performers about the Chicago Bar Magic Scene before the turn of the last century. He has written several books on magic (card magic mostly) and is still relevant in our community as a performer, teacher and author.

While at the recent Senior Tour close-up convention in St. Louis, The Magic Word spoke with Randy as part of the convention report content. He was preparing for a workshop, so we didn’t get a chance to go in-depth as I had wanted. But we agreed to get together at the 4F convention in Buffalo a couple months later. True to his word, we sat down to complete our chat which results in this episode. The content of our chat in both places was a little disjunctive, so the editing required us to put the second conversation first then plug in the chat in St. Louis and finish with our talk while in Buffalo. This sounds more confusing that it actually is, but I know you will understand and enjoy our chat.

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750: Luis De Matos - Learn, Share and Collaborate

We have reached a momentous milestone with The Magic Word Podcast with this episode #750. Who better to feature than the international illusionist, television star, and creator, Luis De Matos. He has won numerous awards for his magic over the decades and been heralded by the Portuguese press at the age of 25 as being the “David Copperfield of Portugal.” He was the youngest magician to receive “The Devant Award” from The Magic Circle when he was 41 years old and the “Magician of the Year” from the Academy of Magical Arts when he was just 29 years old. Luis has since progressed and become an international sensation touring with his own show as well as with “The Illusionists” in 2013-2018.

Luis has a passion for magic and also wants to share it with the world. He has written a magic book for the public, though it is only available in Portuguese. In this episode, Luis goes into detail about why he loves magic and how the community can, and should, help each other so we can grow and evolve.

Only available in Portuguese. But if you can read this language, then you can order your copy through Amazon here and also help The Magic Word Podcast through their Affilliate Program.

741: Steve Aldrich - A Long Strange Trip

This episode is dedicated to those who remember the past and for those who want to learn more about our rich history. This week we travel back in time in our Grateful Dead VW bus and visit with magician and co-founder of the Foan Family Circus, Steve Aldrich. It was a simpler time when magicians were experimenting with new presentations and popular music of the time. It was at the height of Doug Henning’s popularity who was considered by some as a “Hippie Magician”.

Steve Aldrich also performed magic at the famed Tower Bar in Snowmass at a time when Doc Eason was still a waiter Steve and his band of merry men (and a woman) surprised and entertained magicians with their “tongue in cheek” original presentations of their “Foan Family Circus” at many magic conventions during the late 1970’s to early 1980’s. So what happened to the group? That and more will be the topic of discussion in this week’s episode.

If you are more of a visual person, then you will enjoy this video of our conversation recorded via Zoom.

Steve talks this week about the formation of the Foan Family Circus, their original presentations and music, their performances at magic conventions (one of which won them the Senator Crandall Comedy Award at Abbott’s Get Together), plus the origins of magic at the Tower Bar starting with Bob Sheets then passed down to Steve Aldrich and Steve Spill.