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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746: Mark James - Pro Tips

Mark James visits with The Magic Word Podcast from England where he is a very busy professional magician. He constantly works “holiday camps”, restaurants (three different restaurants a week), cruise ships, weddings and more. His stage show consists of magic, comedy, juggling and vaudeville-style performances. Mark follows a specific formula in developing his shows which is discussed in some detail in this week’s podcast.

This episode was recorded in Columbus, Ohio, where Mark James was a featured performer/lecturer. Here Mark talks about his tattoos, performing magic and pantomime at “holiday camps” in the U.K. as well as working in restaurants. He also talks about how to build an act and how to make each effect “strong.” While everything was fresh on his mind, Mark shared an in-depth analysis of some major points in his lecture. In particular, the elements of building his professional show include (in order):

Attention Getter
Legitimacy Prover
Teach the Audience How a Thing Works
Get Everybody in the Audience Involved
Palette Cleanser
Pathos
Best Trick in the Show
Pitch your Social Media
Closer

715: Paul Stone - No Stone Unturned

Paul Stone has been a mainstay in the world of magic without gaining the true notoriety he deserves because of his work behind the scenes. Paul is the driving force behind his company, SHOWSTEALERS LLC. Paul is an experienced Producer of hundreds of Corporate Events and Shows, amongst them in the UK include shows at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Her Majesty’s Theatre and 18 shows at the world famous London Palladium Theatre, including the widely acclaimed ‘Tribute to Siegfried & Roy at the London Palladium’ in 2008. Paul has produced Shows in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace, Mirage, Harrahs, Orleans and the Suncoast Hotel & Casino.

The working pros know him and go to him when they need help producing a gala event. Not only a producer, Paul is also a trade show performer and creator of magic tricks such as “Overboard” which is a quality prop with endless possibilities and is in my personal trade show.

In this episode, Paul tells one story after another about Ken Brooke, Paul Daniels, Fred Kaps, Hans Moretti, John Fisher, Wayne Dobson, and so many others. As a producer who works behind the scenes on big events, he has all the great stories. From a young man in Liverpool to a grown man in Las Vegas, Paul has met and worked with all of the top magic names from one side of the pond to the other.