820: Ken Weber - the ANSWER man

Ken Weber is the President of Weber Asset Management and also a mentalist, magician, consultant and author. This week we chat with Ken about these latter job descriptions. Ken has performed aboard cruise ships and as a young man in the Catskills of New York. He was an early member of the Psychic Entertainers Association (P.E.A.) and frequent attendee at MINDvention and other mentalism conventions. He authored “Maximum Entertainment” that was updated and re-published as “Maximum Entertainment 2.0.” More than just a reprint of the original, there is much more material added to the new book.

We have had Ken on this podcast from time to time as part of the content from a few magic convention reports in the past. But in this episode, we finally get to sit down and have a proper conversation about his book, “Maximum Entertainment 2.0” as well as some tips that he suggests when he is consulting with some of the top pros in the business. He has some good advice that will benefit you whether you are a close-up or stage magician or mentalist.

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.

Click on the banner above to visit the website for more information on this convention. You don’t want to miss it. The talent line-up is incredible. Why travel thousands of miles to attend a “national” convention when you can see some of the same stars (and more) in the heart of the country?

819: Blackpool Magic Convention 2024 - Day Three Report

Sunday 18th February 2024

9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Dealers’ Hall Open

9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. John Bannon Lecture (Arena) and Luca Volpe Lecture (Foyer Hall)

10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Ikeda Yosuke Lecture (Spanish Hall) and Maga Gaia Lecture (Derham Lounge)

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Danny Goldsmith Lecture (Arena) and International Close-Up Show (Foyer Hall)

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Montreal Trio Lecture 2 (Spanish Hall) and Lawrence Turner Lecture (Derham Lounge)

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Mac King Mega Talk (Opera House)

1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Harrison Greenbaum Lecture (Arena) and Mat O’Neill Parlour Show (Derham Lounge)

2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Steve Spill Lecture (Spanish Hall) and Fergus Roy Lecture (Foyer Hall) and Mat O’Neill Parlour Show (Derham Lounge)

3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. The Clairvoyants Interview (Arena)

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Mat O’Neill Interview (Spanish Hall) and Bernardo Sedlacek Lecture (Foyer Hall) and Jimmy C Lecture (Derham Lounge)

6:15 p.m. - 7:45 p.m. Gala Show (Opera House)

6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Suhani Shah Show (Circle Hall)

8:45 p.m. - 10:15 p.m. Gala Show (Opera House)

8:45 p.m. - 9:45 p.m. Suhani Shah Show (Circle Hall)

11:30 p.m. - 12:30 a.m. Harrison Greenbaum Show (Arena and limited to audiences of 18+) and “Not The Gala Show” (Old Victoria Bar and limited to audiences of 18+)

Time stamps for this episode:

00:00:18 - Paul Romhany talks about his experience as a lecturer here and this being his first Blackpool Magic Convention (BMC).

00:11:50 - Bill Herz, President of MagiCorp Productions, tells us about his representation of some of the top magic acts in the world for corporate shows.

00:20:34 - Jeff Burns, one of the Fifth Dimension magicians (maybe not the music group you’re thinking of) is from Aberdeen, Scotland, and chats about his tradition of attending BMC.

00:26:10 - Foxy, from Liverpool, is a regular listener of The Magic Word Podcast and his favorite place to listen is when he walks beside the Mersey River in Liverpool.

00:34:43 - Winner of multiple awards from The Magic Circle (TMC), Edward Hilsum, talks about working with the youth program at TMC.

00:40:33 - Jimmy C. was a lecturer from America who tells us about his experience plus a short recap of what was in his lecture (in case you missed it)

00:45:44 - Raymond Crowe, from Australia, was a lecturer and performer at this year’s BMC. Here he gives some important advice to all magicians.

00:59:23 - Uwe Sperlich, from Munich, Germany, is a regular at the BMC and here he tells us why plus recaps some of his highlights from this convention.

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 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

818: Blackpool Magic Convention 2024 - Day Two Report

Saturday 17th February 2024

9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Dealers’ Hall Open

9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Michael O’Brien Lecture (Arena)

10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Paul Richards Lecture (Spanish Hall) and Kyle Purnell Lecture (Foyer Hall)

10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Family Entertainment Competition (Opera House)

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. David Regal Lecture (Arena) and David Kaye Lecture (Derham Lounge)

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Montreal Trio Lecture (Spanish Hall) and Bear Pit Close-Up (Foyer Hall)

1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Axel Adler Lecture (Arena) and Mat O’Neill Parlour Show (Derham Lounge)

2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Remy Lasvenes Lecture (Spanish Hall) and Tom Wright Show (Foyer Hall)

3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Shoot Ogawa Lecture (Arena) and Jozo Bozo Lecture (Derham Lounge)

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Raymond Crowe Lecture (Spanish Hall) and Steve Faulkner Lecture (Foyer Hall)

6:15 p.m. - 7:45 p.m. Gala Show featuring Mac King (Opera House)

6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Magical Bones Black Magic (Arena) and Ben Hart Jadoo (Circle Hall)

6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Shoot Ogawa Show (Arena)

8:45 p.m. - 10:15 p.m. Gala Show with Mac King (Opera House)

8:45 p.m. - 9:45 p.m. Mike Caveney and Friends Show (Circle Hall)

9:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Magical Bones Black Magic (Arena) and Ben Hart Jadoo (Circle Hall)

11:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. Jack Gleadow Mr. Saturday Night (Foyer Hall)

11:30 p.m. - 12:30 a.m. Harrison Greenbaum Late Night Roast (Arena and limited to audiences of 18+) and Battle Magic Cabaret (Old Victoria Bar and limited to audiences of 18+)

Time stamps for this episode:

00:00:18 - Alain Iannone, from Roma, Italy, tells us why he loves to attend the Blackpool Magic Convention (BMC) plus what he has seen or bought here on the first day of activities.

00:08:52 - Richard Steele, from the U.S., is a dealer for ProMystic, and tells us what it’s like to be a dealer in the huge exhibit hall.

00:14:19 - Before the International Close-Up Show began, we spoke with the father/son team of Lennard and Andy Charlton, from the U.K. who tell us why they come together to BMC year after year.

00:19:35 - Craig Mitchell often reviews big conventions like FISM and BMC. He is known for his “no holds barred” style of journalism and he talks a bit about what he’s seen so far.

00:31:11 - Ian Kendall, from Scotland, took the train over to Blackpool for attending just a couple of days using day passes which means not seeing the evening shows.

00:44:08 - Mandy Davis was manning (womanning?) the Magic Circle stall as she is soliciting membership into the prestigious organization.

00:51:58 - Creator, author, performer and producer, Nick Einhorn, from the U.K., tells us what he’s been up to in the past several years since we last met.

00:59:03 - Richard Young, from the U.K., is half of the Strange & Young team that performs on their own plus with the Champions of Magic. Richard also co-hosts “The Magicians Podcast Network” Here we have a lively discussion about us both hosting a podcast with Murray Sawchuck about exposure in magic.

01:09:54 - Mike Caveney hosted “Mike Caveney and Friends” as one of the alternate shows to the Day One gala. We catch up with him who tells us how he selected this year’s line-up of “friends.”

01:15:00 - Kyle Purnell, from the U.S., is a first time attendee at BMC and was also a performer/lecturer. He tells us about his experience.

01:23:03 - No report from BMC would be complete without a chat with John Archer, one of the funniest guys in Great Britain.

01:29:13 - Rebecca and Allan Taylor, from the U.K., tell us about their escapology club in England and the conventions they sponsor.

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 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