691: Rocco - A D'Lite-ful Magician

Conceived in Italy and named after a Saint, Rocco is a winner of several awards including the Golden Lion Award from Siegfried and Roy, among others that launched his international career. Performing from China to Guam and Paris to Monaco, his silent act has kept him in constant demand at all of the top nightclubs and casinos in the world. He was also the creator of the D’Lite which has sold six million across the globe. Rocco is also the “master of the sleeve” who has made a career of shooting items up and down in and out of his sleeve making for “enlightenment in the mind.”

In this week’s episode, Rocco shares stories about how he started in magic and the story of how D’Lites were created and stolen. He also chats about some of his highlights so far in his life from his many experiences of performing from the Crazy Horse in Paris to winning the Golden Lion from Siegfried and Roy. He also talks about his inspiration from Bill Wisch and Slydini that made him the magician he is today.

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537: Late Bloomers - Finding Magic Later in Life

A listener who became interested in magic later in life suggested that I consider chatting with others who may have a similar story. I thought that would be an interesting topic and perhaps even inspirational to others who might feel that it's too late to "teach an old dog new tricks." Well, this week we feature chats with a dozen listeners who responded and have interesting stories to tell.

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:01:43 - Nick Creature

00:12:20 - Angelo Fiorentino

00:17:40 - Bill Wisch

00:28:00 - Charles Cisneros

00:33:26 - Clint Smith

00:37:55 - Daniel Will

00:43:28 - Ian Scheller

00:49:25 - Ridgely Hunt

00:57:07 - Ryan Johnson

01:05:05 - Sean Doolan

01:09:42 - Shawn Mulliins

01:13:02 - Tom Yates

Magicians' Valhalla

Although the list below is not exhaustive, it does reflect the names of many well-known (and some lesser known) magicians, spouses and assistants who passed on in 2019. Some may not be as well-known to you, but they were my personal friends (hey, it is my blog!). If you are unfamiliar with any of these names, then it would behoove you to do a little online search of what these people have contributed to our craft. If you have someone you think was overlooked, then please post the name in the comments below on this blog.

Those whose names are highlighted were featured or interviewed here on The Magic Word Podcast. You can click on their name to revisit and listen to their voices again.

Denny Haney

Gary Darwin

Sonny Fontana

Don Billings

Marshall Brodien

Steve Dusheck

Anthony Brahams

Johnny “The Great Tomsoni” Thompson

Anthony Owen

John Cornelius

Tom Blacke

Piet Forton

Tony Spina

Chen-Kai

Don Wayne

Gen Grant

Eddy Taytelbaum

Bob Schulien

Dick Oslund

Simon Aronson

Mike Maxwell

Aloha, my friends.

108: MAGIC Live! 2013 - Day 3

Day three was another fun and exciting day that began with the Opening Session hosted by Justin Flom A highlight of the show was Xavier Mortimer's incredibly innovative routines. He is currently featured in the Cirque du Soliel show here in Vegas, "Michael Jackson One".. But it was Wayne Dobson being interviewed by Jeff McBride which received a standing ovation.

00:00:07 – Tom Vorjahan, Daniel Herron and Eddie Wade give a recap of the Documentary Live 1 show from last night that featured the Long Beach Mystics hosted by Stan Allen and Mike Caveney. It featured David Deeble, Victor and Diamond, Michael Weber, Dana Daniels, Mark Kalin and Jinger, Armando Lucera, Kevin James, and James Hamilton (as Alexander Hamilton).

00:08:33 – I give a short review of the General Session that was hosted by Justin Flom and featured Master Payne, Bill Abbott, Xavier Mortimer, and Wayne Dobson being interviewed by Jeff McBride.

00:13:00 – I chatted with random people dining at the In ‘N Out and how much they enjoy this place. It is one of my regular, mandatory places to dine while in Las Vegas.

00:15:02 – Simon Coronel talks about creativity and how he developed his routine.

00:26:00 – Photo time with Criss Angel

00:26:50 – David Hira talks about this convention and conventions in general and their appeal to different age groups.

00:34:45 – Scott Hunstler was one of the winners on the Sunday night Welcome Party. He talks about what he won. Mark Weidhaas, S.A.M. Past President, and Errol Lipschitz, from Vancouver, talks about their experience of this convention.

00:39:56 – We viewed the documentary about Ricky Jay’s life, Deceptive Practices. Here I get to talk with a few people who know Ricky and have a perspective and opinion on the movie. It isn’t anything like Siskell & Ebert, but I think you will enjoy this discussion by Peter Samelson, Tim Felix and Jon Stetson.

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