745: Kyle Purnell - On the Couch

While attending the 2023 Magifest in Columbus, Ohio, I sat down with one of the performers/lecturers, Kyle Purnell. He impressed me when we first met at the TRICS convention with his charming personality and crazy good creativity. He has since been on “Penn & Teller Fool Us” and he continues to make a name for himself with his innovative and eclectic creations, and not just card tricks. He has a Penguin Lecture that captured some of his creative ideas, but I’m certain that with his brain full of information, there will be more to come. Kyle Purnell is definitely one magician to keep on your radar.

This week Kyle talks about his creative process, performing on “Penn & Teller Fool Us”, breaking into the wedding market as a magician, plus he opens up about his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and how he deals with it.

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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.

643: Jody Baran - Stories from the O.G.

This week’s guest is affectionately called an “O.G.” because the commonly held definition for the “Old Guy” term means, “a slang term for someone who's incredibly exceptional, authentic, or “old-school.” Jody Baran certainly personifies that definition because of his decades of performances including years aboard cruise ships and 17 years performing in a hotel in Maui, Hawaii. His associations with some of the legends in our community have taught him a lot which he shares with us this week.

Jody shares lots of stories in this episode from his life that were taught to him by his friends like John Moehring, Lance Burton, Johnny Thompson, Channing Pollock, Jay Marshall and so many more. This episode contains more advice and wisdom than you can get from anywhere else. I think you’ll agree that this is a good one!

745: Kyle Purnell - On the Couch

741: Steve Aldrich - A Long Strange Trip

643: Jody Baran - Stories from the O.G.

The Magic Word