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.

Tom Craven - Magic's "Mr. Nice Guy" plus a nice offer, too!

Tom Craven goes out on a lecture tour from time to time and occasionally appears at magic conventions. Tom sat down with me recently for a podcast when he lectured in Houston, That podcast appears here on The Magic Word on November 16, 2011. But for those of you who may not know Tom, here are a few highlights from his (almost) 50 years in magic.

First person to receive the "Spirit Of Magi-Fest" Award, Columbus Ohio
One of only two people to have attended all 41 of the Fechter’s Finger Flicking Frolic (F.F.F.F.) Conventions
Guest Of Honor F.F.F.F. in 1987
10 time winner of the IBM Ring #2 “Magician Of The Year”
Trade Show Worker Full Time, 1977-1984
Worked the Close-Up Gallery at the Magic Castle 1981, 1985, 1989, 2009, 2010
Worked the Parlor at the Magic Castle 2011

Tom has been a magician for nearly 50 years. Hence the title of his new book. He has performed a number of times at the famous Hollywood Magic Castle. He has taught magic at Akron University, Polk Community College and Maplewood Joint Vocational School. He has written numerous articles for magic magazines and even has his own monthly column in The Linking Ring (the International Brotherhood of Magicians monthly magazine). Tom also lectures all over the United States and Canada to the magic fraternity and is one of four people who have attended every one of the 41 Fechter’s Finger Flicking Frolic close-up conventions where he was once the Guest of Honor. Tom is a very good close-up performer and works well in any corporate event.

And here is a little gift for you listeners of The Magic Word. Tom is offering his new book for teh incredibly low price of only $50.00 which is $25.00 off the $75.00 retail price! To take advantage of this offer to The Magic Word listeners, please drop him a line at vipmagic@aol.com and tell him you heard him on The Magic Word podcast.

037: Magi-Fest 2011 - Day Three from the file of "Lost Episodes"

In this longer and final podcast from the Magi-Fest, we start with a walk through many of the prized items from the Thurston museum displayed at the convention. We were thrilled to have Rory Feldman, the owner and curator give us a private tour telling us about some of the special pieces.

Before the evening show we chat with Ohio resident, Marv Leventhal about his involvement with The Minotaur magazine and the last issue now available on DVD. Another Ohio boy, Kerry Pollock also tells us about his recent projects around the world including maybe something with David Copperfield. After the show we talk with the "Man on the Street" while everyone was waiting in line for the bus to take everyone back to the hotel.

Back in the hotel bar we chat with one of the evening show performers, Boris Wild about the show and FISM. Asi Wind talks about his "insane" schedule of performances for the registrants at the convention plus other types of clients he works for and places he works, plus mentalists in Israel. Gregory Wilson and Asi both talk about many theoretical aspects of our craft. This should be required listening for aspiring and seasoned magicians.Then as the night goes on I ran into David Kaplan who chats about the Magi-Fest. He lives in the local area so he just happened to drop in for a little while.

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