972: Ice McDonald - Ice on Fire

Kenrick “Ice” McDonald is a man who stands on many well deserved accolades. Aside from the many performance awards, he was the first African American to become the National President of the S.A.M. and he has been recognized for his work in the community by being inducted into the S.A.M. Hall of Fame. He served on the Board of Directors of the Academy of Magical Arts (The Magic Castle) and appeared on multiple television shows across the U.S. and abroad. He has done much to advance the black magicians in our culture today.

This week, Ice is open and honest about his time on the Board of Directors of the Academy of Magical Arts and some of the challenges he faced. He also talks about the way he has handled personal issues like dyslexia. He discusses his work with livestock and touring, plus he chats about his many talks and speeches on the way to ultimately presenting a TED Talk.

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971: Judge Gary Brown - Wand in a Million

Gary Brown is a U.S. District Judge from New York, but he knows a con man when he discovers one. His recent revelations about Claude Alexander Conlin who had several aliases, but is most well know among magicians as “Alexander, the Man Who Knows.” Judge Brown has written several scholarly books about the history of magic including an innovative book, “Wandcraft” as well as “The Inventive Magicians Handbook.” His monograph on Alexander was published in Bill Kalush’s “Gibecière".

This week, Gary tells us why wands are important to magicians and why we should use them. He also tells us some delightful stories about Al Flosso, the Coney Island Fakir. He then tells us a bit about what he uncovered about Alexander’s very shady and polygamy ridden career as he narrowly escaped the law by traveling from one State to another. He also talks about the non-existent silver mines that he sold over and over again.

970: Doug Gorman - Let Me Tell You A Story

Doug Gorman specializes in story telling. And he has lived a full life with stories to tell. He weaves storytelling into his magic that makes it relevant and interesting to his audience. He is an award winning magician and also a creator of some unique, rather bizarre “artifacts” that he sells at conventions and online. But one thing that makes him stand out, is his relationship with Richard Turner. For many years, Doug has been the “driver” for Richard taking him not only around town, but also across the country to lectures and corporate gigs.

This week, Doug tells us stories from his experience working as a restaurant magician and lots of great, behind the scenes stories while traveling with Richard Turner, including the genesis of the Gold Seal card deck.