767: Randy Wakeman - I've Been Around for a Long, Long Years

Randy Wakeman has been around for many decades and was often seen lecturing and performing at magic conventions. Nonetheless, I have always seen him as an “underground” magician who appeals to the true sleight-of-hand experts. He is one of those guys who has “been there, done that, has the t-shirt” as he was one of the regular performers about the Chicago Bar Magic Scene before the turn of the last century. He has written several books on magic (card magic mostly) and is still relevant in our community as a performer, teacher and author.

While at the recent Senior Tour close-up convention in St. Louis, The Magic Word spoke with Randy as part of the convention report content. He was preparing for a workshop, so we didn’t get a chance to go in-depth as I had wanted. But we agreed to get together at the 4F convention in Buffalo a couple months later. True to his word, we sat down to complete our chat which results in this episode. The content of our chat in both places was a little disjunctive, so the editing required us to put the second conversation first then plug in the chat in St. Louis and finish with our talk while in Buffalo. This sounds more confusing that it actually is, but I know you will understand and enjoy our chat.

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748: Alex Ramon - Part Two - Cold Shock

Cold Shock is an actual physical response that often results in death. It is a series of neurogenic cardio-respiratory responses caused by sudden immersion in cold water. In cold water immersions, such as by falling through thin ice, people will often quickly inhale which results in drowning by inhaling water.

We pick up this week with the second and final episode of our series with Alex Ramon where he talks about his “brush with death” by performing a live, online underwater escape from Lake Tahoe. He goes through his entire mindset from start to end and discusses all the many, many hurdles he had to overcome to do this extreme stunt.

Alex talks about not only his preparation for this stunt, but the many stories leading up to why he did this stunt and his daily training to drop in under freezing water. Imagine your fingers going numb so fast that you can hardly feel the lock pick in your hand to unlock the lock. Alex also gives additional advice on how to work with your fan base to increase your bottom line then talks about his future plans.

747: Alex Ramon - Part One - Mr. Tahoe

Alex Ramon has been performing in Lake Tahoe, California for over a decade with a residency where he has headlined in every local casino showroom. There is no one better who fits the title of “Mr. Tahoe” having been seen by hundreds of thousands of people who visit this vacation destination all year long. He also found success performing virtual shows during COVID which he still performs today. But he has developed a unique model of “touring” by performing consecutive nights in different locations across the U.S. in venues from theaters to people’s driveways and garages. All of this promotes his brand and results in big financial success.

In this first of a two part series featuring Alex Ramon, he talks about building a fan base, why not to offer “free” shows, plus how he successfully pivoted during COVID to earn six figures in one year by performing Zoom shows. He goes into some detail, too, about how he developed a touring structure that he can make serious income by having his shows sponsored by the fan base he developed.

One of the books recommended by Alex Ramon in this week's episode.

How to build your fanbase. This was another book discussed in this week's episode.