337: Danny Archer - Smoke and Mirrors

Danny Archer is making a big leap in the magic business. He is developing a new theater (called "Smoke and Mirrors") under the auspices of Magical Arts Center with a magic shop component, plus he will be offering magic lessons and eventually host seances. Essentially he has a four "S" strategy: Stage, Shop, School and Seance. In this podcast, Danny talks about the development of this new venue plus his previous work in the Colorado ski resort and his dissolution of his business partnership with Gregory Wilson.

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Magicians' Valhalla

Although the list below is not exhaustive, it does reflect the names of many well-known (and some lesser-known) magicians, spouses and assistants who passed on 2016. Every year is hard when our friends' names appear here, but for some reason, it seems that this year was particularly difficult with many legendary names disappearing into the sands of time and annals of our rich history.

Some of these names may not be as well-known to you, but they were my personal friends (hey, it is my blog!). If you are unfamiliar with any of these names, then it would behoove you to do a little online search of what these people have contributed to our art. If you have someone you think was overlooked, then please post the name in the comments below on this blog.

Those whose names are highlighted were featured or interviewed here on The Magic Word Podcast. You can click on their name to revisit and listen to their voices again.

Robert George Allen

Paul R. Fried

Harry Riser

Earle J. Christenberry, Jr.

Laura J. Eisele

Kenneth (Ken) Edward Fletcher

Paul F. Osborne

Stanley (Stan) B. Adair

Carl Raymond (Ray) Eyler

Robert (Bob) W. Follmer

Abner (Abb) Pope Dickson, Jr.

Majestik Magnificent

James “JC” Doty

Franz “Tihany” Czeisler

Paul Daniels

Irene Larsen

Thomas “Tom” B. Mullica

Abel Pabόn

Barrie Richardson

James (Jim) M. Patton

Jerry Mentzer

Joanie Lehr

Ed Harris

Billy Godfrey

Peter P.T. Marucci

Douglas (Doug) J. Nieland

Muhammad Ali

Richard A. Amon

Robert “Bob” F. Brown (click on his name for a video lecture by Bob from the 1983 I.B.M. convention in Hawaii)

Carl R. Macan

Congratulations to Jon Barr who won the contest from last week's blog (December 22, 2016)

336: Murray Sawchuck - A Very Murray Christmas

In our annual visit holiday with Murray Sawchuck, "Celebrity Magician" from Las Vegas, this year he talks about achieving one of his dreams: appearing in the Hollywood Christmas Parade. It shows how determination and dedication to a goal can be accomplished. Murray also gives us a health update on Michael Giles, another Las Vegas magician who is undergoing treatment for stage four pancreatic cancer. There is a link on the blog below for you to visit the Go Fund Me website where you can get more information and donate to his fund.

Murray also tells us more about branding and marketing yourself, but there is a very interesting story about a failure before a live audience while recording an episode of "The Masters of Illusion" television show. It just goes to show how problems can come to us all.

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:00:17 - Murray talks about visiting the Hollywood Christmas Parade as a child and how he achieved his dream to actually be in the parade. He also talks about living the dream of getting to perform for his childhood heroes.

00:32:29 - Eric Citron, the Great American Magic Company, talks about his new online shop and announces this week's surprise magic contest.

00:36:20 - Murray continues our discussion as he talks about a "disaster" he had during a live taping of "Masters of Illusion" television show

01:02:04 - "Haunted Revolution" by Mariano Goni is reviewed. Recommended with reservations.

01:06:12 - GPS Pack Nav" by Oliver Meech is reviewed. Recommended with reservations

Our wonderful, beautiful friends Michael and Melanie Giles need our help. Michael has just been diagnosed with Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer, and it has spread to his liver and possibly his spine. You can learn more and assist by going to the Go Fund Me… — Our wonderful, beautiful friends Michael and Melanie Giles need our help. Michael has just been diagnosed with Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer, and it has spread to his liver and possibly his spine. You can learn more and assist by going to the Go Fund Me account by clicking on the graphic above.

If you plan to purchase anything from Amazon.com, then please click through this link. If you have an Amazon Prime account, you will still be able to use that account after clicking through this link. Each purchase will help support The Magic Word Podcast. Thank you, and Happy Holidays!.

335: Howard Hamburg - Voices from the Past

Howard Hamburg has been around a long time...a very long time. And he has conferred with and confided in the some of the legends of our magical art. You name them, and Howard has a true, first hand story about them. Howard brings history alive with his marvelous stories of personal relationships with legendary magicians. There are some great stories in here and some performance tips along the way, too. At the beginning of this podcast, Howard talks about his attendance at "Escorial" in El Escorial, Spain which is an invitation-only card magic convention hosted by Juan Tamariz.

A spectator places ANY 2 face-up spot cards on the table the magician removes a joker from his deck and places it face up onto the table as well. The performer mentions that the number 7 is considered a lucky number among Americans, the number 8 is considered a lucky number by the Chinese, but 13 is the performer's lucky number for certain cards in the deck.