896: Obie's 4F 2025 Close-Up Convention - Days One and Two Report

Wednesday April 23

1:00pm: Registration
1:00pm: 4F Shop Open
5:00pm: Dealers’ Room Opens (closed during events)
7:30pm: 1st Show: Opening Gala (MC - Jay Scott Berry)
11:00pm: Hospitality Suite Opens
12:00am: Dealers’ Room Closes

Thursday April 24

10:00am: Registration Open (closed during events)
10:00am: Dealers’ Room & 4F Shop Open (closed during events)
10:30am: Lecture #1 - Horrett Wu
1:30pm: 2nd Show: Magical Moments (MC - Will Fern)
3:30pm: ED Talks #1 (MC’s - Christian and Katalina)
7:30pm: 3rd Show: Friends Old & New (MC - Michael Dardant)
9:30pm: Lecture #2 - Eric DeCamps
11:00pm: Hospitality Suite Opens
12:00am: Dealers’ Room Closes

Time Stamps: These will be posted after I have gotten some sleep.

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Happy birthday for our Friend of the Magic Word, “Fancy” Nancy Anderson. Originally from Lima, Peru, she now resides in the Chicago area where she lives and performs. She is a self-proclaimed BIG fan of magic and is often seen enjoying live shows at the Chicago Magic Lounge and the Rhapsody Theatre. Her actual birthday was this past week, April 21st. So, mark your calendar for next year so you don’t forget to wish her a happy birthday.

257: Magic Chat at the Chateau du Magique

As an attachment to a recent podcast, I gave a link to my irregular, half hour podcast, "Meals With Magicians" which was recorded at the riverside home of Trixie Bond in the Texas Hill Country. Also sitting outside on the veranda for breakfast and joining the conversation was Jay Scott Berry, Suzanne the Magician, and Don Wiberg.

After the 30 minutes was over, I felt that we were just getting started with an intensely deep and interesting conversation. So, I turned on the microphone and recorded a second half. I know that "Meals With Magicians" is not widely heard but I felt that what we discussed warranted a larger audience. So, I have included that podcast as the first half of this longer one. If you already heard that podcast on Spreaker.com, then you might want to either hear it again to get the context of the latter half of this podcast, or you might wish to skip forward to about the halfway mark to hear the last half hour of our conversation.

Suzanne is the only woman to win the coveted "Close-Up Magician of the Year" award from the Academy of Magical Arts (The Magic Castle). In this 2-DVD set, you will learn Suzanne's valuable secrets on how to properly structure a magical performance to create a standout show, as well as some fabulous magic.

Take a front row seat at Hollywood's famed Magic Castle. Known as "The Carnegie Hall of Magic", its 3 main theatres showcase the world's finest magicians. At 19, I was the youngest magician to ever perform there. Some years later I joined the very few who have presented 1000 shows in these hallowed halls. From The Close-up Gallery to The Palace of Mystery, my favourite room has always been The Parlour of Prestidigitation. With that thought, I invite you back to January 27, 2013...Enjoy.

“Suspicion and wonder cannot exist simultaneously in the mind of the audience.” – Jay Scott Berry

This is just one of the great ideas discussed in this week’s podcast that includes Preparing your lecture, dealing with hecklers on stage or at a restaurant table, the story about a heckler in Shawn Farquhar’s show many years ago who burned down his home, getting the attention of children for your kid’s show, and Suzanne recommends listening to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi who looks at those who find pleasure and lasting satisfaction in activities that bring about a state of "flow." Trixie also talks about how to mentally prepare for performing whether it is before a birthday party or a stage show and the life-changing results it could bring (the power of the experience).

Jay Scott Berry also shares a key element from his lecture – A.C.E. which stands for Attitude, Charisma and Enthusiasm. He goes into detail about each of these areas that will help you with your show, too.

Don Wiberg talks about the importance of knowing how to give a lecture, what is the first thing you should NOT say when you come on stage, and how to structure an interesting opening line. We also talk about bringing the awe and wonder back to our performances.

MagicPad is a versatile, packs flat, plays big effect (performed at the Magic Castle) AND it's a very useful iPad case for daily use!

253: Day Three - T.A.O.M. Convention 2015

Morning until night (well, really...the next morning. It's nearly dawn on Monday morning as I publish this podcast), Sunday was full of activities again including lectures, contests and shows. And the stage contests were the best I've seen in years...here or anywhere at any magic convention (except FISM, of course).

The Order of Willard (for members with 25 years or more of consecutive membership in the TAOM) featured a wonderful presentation by Margaret Steele on an historic figure in magic, Adelaide Herrmann.. The stage contests then began followed by John Carney's wonderful lecture. Next was an afternoon awards presentation (because of the Esther's Follies evening show off site). This was immediately followed by Joe Vitale's inspirational, motivational lecture.

Contest Winners this year were: Junior Stage - Hannah; Senior Stage - Keith West; Senior Comedy - GSparks; Senior Close-Up - Trigg Watson; Best of Convention - Hannah

The evening had the group broken into two groups, one staying in the hotel to see the "Stars of Tomorrow" hosted by Amanda Eve and featuring James Irwin, Ava Byers and Drake Stanton. And closing the bill was Nick Lewin. The other group went to Esther's Follies for a special presentation that featured my favorite magician, Ray Anderson. There were many who had never seen this show which has cutting edge, topical humor that is PG to R rated.

Back at the hotel, the evening concluded with the President's Purple Palooza Party where everyone was encouraged to wear purple. We were treated to snacks, live music and multiple variety acts including singers, tap dancers, pole dancers, plate spinners and more. It was a real hoot, as we say in Texas.

One of the things that was not discussed in these podcasts but was an integral part of the convention was the music. Throughout the event, there were live musicians who played and sand and juggled between events. It made for a festive convention with never a minute without something going on.

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:00:14 - TAOM 2016 President Judy Hollingsworth talks about next year's convention in corpus Christi, Texas.

00:03:02 - Margaret Steele briefly chats about her book, "Adelaide Herrmann - Queen of Magic" before her presentation.

00:07:16 - Margaret Steele gives a presentation from her book to a brunch meeting of "The Order of Willard" members (those with 25 or more years of consecutive membership in the T.A.O.M.)

00:40:03 - Ali Shelley talks about creating her magic act while at 35,000 feet above the earth

00:48:14 - S.A.M. National President David Bowers tells us about how he is enjoying the convention plus his travel plans to other conventions as the President.

00:51:53 While in the bar at Esther's Follies before Ray Anderson's show, we talk with Peter Samelson and Chip Romero who give us their viewpoint and comments on the convention.

00:54:43 Jade tells us about her Chinese act and how she got on "Penn & Teller Fool Us" show.

01:07:10 Jay Scott Berry talks about the difficulty of selling yourself when you have multiple facets to your performing resume.

Order your copy of Adelaide Herrmann, Queen of Magic, (published by Margaret Steele) from Amazon and support The Magic Word throuigh the affiliate program.