495: Rick Lax is Making Magic

Rick Lax was one of the creators of the 2014 TV series Wizard Wars that was a successful reality show which teamed magicians who created and performed original magic routines before a live studio audience. Their acts were judged on creativity, deception, and showmanship, but unfortunately died a slow death despite its high viewership. Rick (or Ricky) has created many creative magic tricks that have been sold by Penguin Magic. Currently he is producing an excellent, free video series on Facebook called “Making Magic”. This is an interesting discussion with one of our craft’s creators and we have a few disagreements on certain philosophies which makes this discussion very interesting.

See whether Rick Lax can fool Penn & Teller on CW's breakout hit show.

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393: Justin Flom - Social Media Sensation

Justin Flom started his career with a seven year stint in Branson, Missouri and losing hundreds of thousands of dollars. But not discouraged, and thanks to the prompting of Shawn Farqhuar to go from large to small (that is, illusions to close-up), Justin posted a video of the "Soldiers Deck of Cards" that went viral (with over 5MM views and counting) and led to his many appearances on "The Ellen Show" and a variety of other chat shows then to his association on "Wizard Wars" to his current work for large corporations.

A Veterans tribute with just a pack of cards and a beautiful ending. This video has over 5MM views!

Magician Justin Flom performed some magic right in front of Ellen and her audience that was unreal! You simply won't believe your eyes.

In this podcast, Justin Flom talks about his early work in Branson, MO; the development of his "Soldiers Deck of Cards"; being "discovered" by the Ellen Show producers; performing on other talk chows; working on Wizard Wars and how he and Rick Lax pitched the show to the TV executives; some great stories about the trials and tribulations behind the scenes of what happened to "Wizard Wars" and other television shows; and, his take and recommendations on how to become a social media superstar that leads to bookings.

We have Brain Scan in stock but it will be months before Mona Lisa will be availalbe again. Please watch our Magic Store for when it becomes available again.

266: Wizard Wars Woman - Billy Kidd

Billy Kidd is a force to be reckoned with. She is a street magician (with a straight jacket escape as her signature trick), but she is best known to the general magic community as one of the Wizards on the SyFy television series "Wizard Wars" (produced by Rick Lax) in the second season. Born in Canada, she now resides in Bath Spa, England with Gazzo. So now you see her connection with street magic.

She actually came into magic later in life than most male magicians who generally get interested in their adolescent years. Billy was 21 when she first saw and was influenced by a stage magician. As a drama major in college, she was already involved with and had a passion for theatre. But she saw the potential of being her own person as a street performer and creating her own stage wherever she was. She met Gazzo who took her under his wing and mentored her in the ways of the street and, well...the dominoes fell.

Street Magician, NIck Nickolas, was the inspiration for Billy Kidd. You can get a sense of his style in this video. You can learn more about Nick at www.nicknickolas.com

Billy traveled with Gazzo on his recent lecture tour of the U.S. and stopped by as my house guest. I talked with Gazzo on a podcast with the intent of bringing over Billy to chat, too; however, Gazzo had so much to talk about that it filled the hour. I felt that Billy would have enough to fill another hour talking about her experiences as a female magician in our male dominated art and the challenges for a woman magician on the street.

I was not wrong.

Mail out magic holiday cards this year from the beautiful Taschen MAGIC Book. 100 postcards for less than $20.00. Order through the link below and help support The Magic Word through the Amazon affiliate program.

Not just a good read for the holidays, but a great read anytime with wonderful stories about magicians and Steve Spill's magical life.