Daytona Festival of Magic

We are in Daytona Beach for the 47th edition of the Florida magic convention. Although this is only the fifth (or sixth) year of combining the conventions between the Florida Magicians' Associaton (FMA) and Daytona Magic Shop's annual conflab. It ranks right up there with any other large regional convention for fun, surprises, cammaraderie and, oh yes...did I say fun? This is a really great way to see out the end of the magic convention season.
The stars came out to shine at the Daytona Festival of Magic (DFM) over the weekend of November 4-6, 2011 including John Calvert, John Ekin, Banachek, Eric Buss, Sylvester the Jester, Johnny Ace Palmer, Geoff Williams, Losander and many, many more. (Thanks to Peter Gould for the great photos above).
The beautiful view from our balcony window overlooking the crashing waves on the shoreline of the Daytona Beach Resort.
Johnny Ace Palmer holds his doves following his close-up perfomance (yes, he uses doves in a close-up show) while the original bird man, Jack Kodell, looks on.
Still performing and getting standing ovations at 100 years of age, John Calvert opened the Saturday night gala with his cigarette production routine.
Registrants bid on new and used magic at the annual auction. I'm sure that some of these items willl be seen on the auction block again next year.

033: Daytona Festival of Magic Day Three

The third and final day of the Daytona Festival of Magic (DFM) finally gave us a breather with only a half day of activities scheduled. Banachek's silverware bending workshop started early in the morning at 8:00 with Jeff Allen's comedy lecture starting at 9:00. The dealers were all open and making last minute sales as some of the registrants spent the last of their magic money on precious treasures. But some held back some cash to bid on auction items. The annual auction was the last scheduled activity of the convention.

The Daytona Fesitval of Magic is one of the best values for registrants on the convention scene today. Where else can your registration include learning from and watching performances by some of the top magical talent in the country plus a buffet dinner on Friday night at the low rate of only $135. And as if that's not enough, they also give you an additional full hour of magic for no additional charge...compliments of the change in Daylight Savings Time.

I finally got the chance to have podcast chats with the Legends of Magic: Celeste Evans, John Calvert and Jack Kodell. I also spoke again with FMA President, Dan Stapleton, and DFM Organizer, Harry Allen for a wrap of the convention. Still performing and getting standing ovations at 100 years of age, John Calvert opened the Saturday night gala with his cigarette production routine.

It's official...the 47th edition of the combined convention of the Daytona Festival of Magic and the Florida Magicians' Association (FMA) will continue again next year...same time, same place. It will not split into two conventions (Memorial Day and early November) but instead will continue as a combined event in Daytona Beach. More information on the 2012 convention at: http://bit.ly/ttyhOV

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032: Daytona Festival of Magic Day Two

The second day was more full than the first if that is even possible. More back to back lectures plus the stage competition, close-up contests and the professional close-up shows. The close-up featured Arthur Trace, Geoff Williams, Johnny Ace Palmer and John Ekin; a tremendous, well-rounded quartet of great magicians. Scott Wells also hosted the Legends of Magic show featuring John Calvert, Celeste Evans and Jack Kodell. The evening gala show was sold out with standing room only with Arthur Trace, Sylvester the Jester, Banachek and Eric Buss with Scott Wells as the emcee. Johnny Ace Palmer presented a late night workshop opposite Arthur Trace's lecture.

There was a great piece that ran in the local press about Banachek appearing at the Festival. It was a full, front page in November 1st edition of the Daytona Beach News Journal. To read the article, visit http://bit.ly/w1Qzwu

Enjoy this episode that features chats with John Hromada who gave us a rundown of yesterday's activities from his perspective. Later Banachek and Zeke Powerz talk about this convention plus the Winter Carnival of Magic and Banachek's first (failed) attempt at competing at a convention. Harry Allen, the other partner of Daytona Magic, tells us his side of the story from the organizer's point of view. And Bev Bergeron regales us with stories from the the early beginnings of the Florida Magicians Association convention while Kim Olson talks about the new Wizardz nightclub in Kissimmee, FL.

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