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!

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389: Alan Howard - Passing the Torch

This episode is entitled "Passing the Torch" because Alan Howard will be the next Editor and Chief of the M.U.M. journal for the Society of American Magicians. The "torch" will be passed from Michael Close and, to continue the analogy, Alan is a juggler so he is used to passing torches...literally.

We had the opportunity to chat with Alan Howard when he was in Houston for the memorial service for long time friend, John Moehring. Alan traveled from Florida just for this special occasion to honor his friend, and former Editor of the M.U.M.

John Moehring died on July 9, 2017, just ten dies shy of his 75th birthday. Tragically, his life was cut short by Parkinson's Disease. A memorial service was planned for August 26th in Houston, Texas. But due to Hurricane Harvey, the service was delayed until October 14, 2017.

John Moehring "Celebration of Life" Slideshow produced by Gary Plants.

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:05:55- Alan Howard reflects on his friendship with John Moehring then talks about his work as a juggler, his work as an editor for "Juggle" magazine, and his upcoming job as the new editor for M.U.M. magazine.

00:35:27 - Charlie Randall, of H&R Magic Books, reflects on his friendship with John Moehring.

00:44:02 - Product Review: "MoneyMorphosis" is a "self-folding bill" effect where the bill morphs into an origami butterfly. Recommended.

00:50:38 - Product Review: "Cool Beans" by Paul Brook - loyalty cards from coffee chops that have stamps and built-in mentalism tricks. Recommended.

00:53:32 - Product Review: "Loyalty" by Paul Brook - key fob tags with bar codes and company names and logos which you can predict. Clever ideas on this one. Recommended.

298: Mike Robinson - Just Venting

Mike Robinson is one of the busiest and most successful acts that you have probably never heard of. More than just a ventriloquist, Mike Robinson prefers to be introduced as "The Unique Comedy of Mike Robinson" so his vent act comes as a surprise. He does magic, stand-up comedy, music, juggling, as well as ventriloquism. But his interests include martial arts, playing music, family, and taking advantage of his spare time.

Mike talks about some of his favorite podcasts he listens to; questions he is often asked by his audience; carrying his dummy through TSA and what people ask to see; filling a full show with one vent character versus having several dummies (if the audience doesn't like one character, then they might like the next one); the importance of having additional strong material in reserve either for cruise ships or for corporate shows; his roots in magic, comedy and ventriloquism; his “old school” way of scripting using pen and paper; the importance of mentorship and finding a mentor to help your act; his influences on his career; how he learned ventriloquism; tips and suggestions to those who are interested in learning to be a vent; and much, much more.

Perhaps his best advice for those wanting to learn ventriloquism is to buy a dummy/puppet later, but first learn to be a ventriloquist. Ventriloquism is the skill, the puppet is the act. He suggests the best book for inspiring him and pointing him in the right direction is "Magic: Stage Illusions and Scientific Diversions" by Albert A, Hopkins. Pages 164-170 is where you will find the info about ventriloquism (thanks, Salvadore Calderon).