341: Houdini-Opoly with Dick Brookz and Dorothy Dietrich

Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz own and operate the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. They have both led extraordinary lives and worthy of talking more about their Houdini museum, the Houdini seance, and the former Magic Townhouse in New York City. They talk about all these things but the purpose of this particular podcast is to help the magic world learn more about their newest project, "Houdini-Opoly"

They have been working on this board game for over two years and with the Kickstarter campaign now being fully funded just before this podcast was released. So not it's on to meet their "stretch" goals to pay for the "enhancements". Thanks to your support, it appears that it will be in production soon this year. The Magic Word Podcast is selective in providing a platform for promoting individuals or pet projects. But this is one I support and think is of particular interest to our community. But even if you choose not to support the cause and buy a game, the rest of our chat is interesting as we talk about the old Magic Townhouse in New York City and why it closed and the museum moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania. We also discuss the Houdini seance and the museum.

Help the Kickstarter Campaign and get your "one of a kind" collectible Houdini board game. You can't escape the fun!

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Click on the graphic above to visit the site for more information on Houdini-Opoly

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The contest is over and we congratulate Pat Darienzo who won a copy of Danny Archer's eBook. — The contest is over and we congratulate **Pat Darienzo** who won a copy of Danny Archer's eBook.

237: FISM Italy - Day Six

We finally made it through all the competitions and the final night gala show. Max Maven competed the evening contest show. These are the first place winners who competed tonight for the Gran Prix:
Kim Young-Min from Korea - general magic
Shin Lim from Canada - cards
Horret Wu from Taiwan - cards
Thommy Ten & Amélie van Tass from Germany - mentalism
Pierric from Switzerland - parlor
Hector Mancha from Spain - manipulation

Gran Prix winner close-up - Pierric
Gran Prix winner stage - Hector Mancha

Special winners
Creativity and artistic achievement - Derren Brown
History, research and scholarship - Magic Christian
Theory and Philosophy - Roberto Giobi

And the 2018 FISM will be held in South Korea.

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:02:12 - Guy Hollingworth, one of the lecturers and performers.

00:10:49 - Rob Zabrecky, another one of the lecturers who also presented his one man show.

00:19:10 - William Watt, from Paris, France, was one of the "pre-selected volunteers" used by many of the competitors

00:26:48 - Christian & Katalina, contestants from the U.S. who competed in the Mentalism category

Download this podcast in an MP3 file by Clicking Here and then right click to save the file. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed by Clicking Here. You can download or listen to the podcast through Stitcher by Clicking Here or through FeedPress by Clicking Here or through Tunein.com by Clicking Here. Remember, you can download it through the iTunes store, too. See the preview page by Clicking Here.

One of the unique booths at FISM 2015 was selling these puzzles which you can use to engage your audience during walk around magic, particularly in restaurants. Click on the image above to visit their website and view a video.

#192 - David Sousa - Red Hot Passion for Magic

In 2006, David Sousa took home to Portugal a FISM prize for Manipulation. It was the first time two FISM trophies were awarded to Portuguese magicians (the other was Helder Guimaraes, who won for Close-Up Cards). It helped David secure his position and dream of becoming a full time professional magician. It didn't happen overnight, but was the result of long years and hard work. In this podcast, David talks about his road to success. You can hear the passion in his voice and how committed he was (and is) to be the best.

In our world today with mostly close-up magic ruling the YouTube channels and the lecture circuit, it is refreshing to see a lecture on the art of manipulation and stage deportment, particularly from one who has won top international awards. During October 2014, David traveled around the U.S. for an abbreviated lecture tour of ten cities in early October. While he was in Houston, we sat down to discuss the development of his award winning act.. Though you may not have the opportunity to hear his lecture this time around, you can still learn and enjoy his advice in this week's podcast.

David Sousa returns to the Le Plus Grand Cabaret du Monde with the Red Envelopes.

Lecture Testimonials:

"A lot of people might think that since David is a manipulator - world class, but still a manipulator that his lecture won't have anything of interest to them because they don't "Do that". Well they couldn't be more wrong. David just lectured in Dallas and it was excellent. He clearly explained the thinking behind and how to perform his Red Envelope Act. Not only will you enjoy seeing his creative process, but I heard several of our attendees commenting on how they were going to adapt many of David's techniques to what they do ( and these were not manipulators).

David also taught a few things that are great for close-up artists and kid show performers. One of his items was so well received that I saw one of our areas full time family entertainers buying 3 of the props so that he would be sure not to lose it or wear it out. I'm not going to tell you what it was, but I got one too and if you want to find out about it do yourself a favor and attend David's lecture." - Mark Jensen, Past President Texas Association of Magicians, Past President Dallas Magic Clubs (October 5, 2014)

"There are lecturers and there are lecturers; David Sousa definitely gave us his all; a great lecture. His material is original, his explanations clear and concise and best of all, a really nice guy. I think what was most refreshing was his willingness to share in-depth knowledge about how he created his act, etc. Nothing was held back. He opened our eyes to thinking out-side-the-box. An idea that many performers just don't get is that you need to HIDE the technique; many like to show this off....WRONG!..... We had a very large and enthusiastic crowd; David was happy and we were happy. We highly recommend his lecture and his Magic. We can't wait for his next lecture to roll around." - George Robinson, Owner/Operator Viking Magic, Collectors Workshop

David talks in this podcast about competitions and how he started competing that led to FISM. He discusses performance venues along the way, how he "brainstorms" ideas, his creative process, the patience it takes to refine ideas and find what resonates with the audience, the importance of having a silent act that can play around the world to all international audiences, and more.

Download this podcast in an MP3 file by Clicking Here and then right click to save the file. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed by Clicking Here. (please note: this RSS Feed subscription system may not work with Android systems). Remember, you can download it through iTunes. See the preview page by Clicking Here.