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August 21:
Hi, gang! If you are tuning into the MAGIC Live
Daily Blog for the first time, let me officially
welcome you and thank you for taking time out of your busy day to read all of
this nonsense!
Vegas is a huge place! Just
how huge, you ask? Let’s just say it took me longer to get to the
Orleans Hotel from the Vegas Airport than it did to fly to Vegas from Central California! Once I arrived, I immediately
started to recognize some of the “heavy hitters” of magic like
Ton Onosaka, Dean Dill, Michael Close, R. Paul
Wilson, Gregory Wilson, Jeff Hobson, Bob Kohler, Mike Caveney,
Tina Lennert, Billy McComb,
Hank Moorehouse, Milt Larsen, Ted Lesley, Joe Porper, Losander, Luna Shimada,
Scott Alexander, Big Bad Bob Kimmel, and many others! Since the Convention had yet
to officially begin, it was time to relax over a cup of coffee and dinner with
our pals before the storm began!
August 22:
We were lucky enough to get into the Dealer’s
Room a little early than most as we had brought TONS of merchandise with us!
Since we had only 6 hours to set up shop, we feverishly set up the Hocus
Pocus booth while garnering tons of stares and shaking heads from other
dealers who must have thought we were crazy to bring the amount of inventory
we did. Being the masters of space management that we are, incredibly, we
were able to set up our booth and allow Losander,
Colin & Sharron Rose of the Five of Hearts
company from England, and Ted Lesley room to demonstrate their products as
well. Not only were we successful for the most part, we were done two hours
before the Welcome Gala Celebration began!
The official Hocus Pocus Booth!
We all had a quick bite to eat, cleaned up, and went
to the Welcome Gala with miniature playing cards of MAGIC Magazine covers
trying to collect them all while meeting tons of different people in the
process. A great time was had by all as a live band played some nice jazz and
Stan Allen officially welcomed everyone to the Unconventional Convention that
he swore he would never do again 3 years earlier!
Joe Porper has a good time while Dexter and Robert Baxt laugh it up!
Then, pandemonium hit as the walls were opened to
reveal the massive Dealer’s Room. It was incredible, to say the least,
the amount of people who swarmed the Hocus Pocus booth. Both Losander and Robert Baxt were
able to gather cheers and applause as Robert demonstrated his Better
Newspaper Tear and Losander demonstrated the Sphere
and Floating Table.
Losander slays everyone with his incredible Floating Table!
Joe Porper had people
scratching their heads as he demonstrated his Strong Box, various paddles,
Deck Penetration, Split Rings, and Spinning Rings.
Joe Porper outlasted us all and blew people away demonstrating his
incomparable line of products!
Before we knew it, it was
11 o’clock and the Dealer’s Room was closed. Our feet and backs
gawked at us, but we had a great time.
August 23:
Before we knew it, we were back at work at 11:00 AM in the Dealer's Room while folks enjoyed
lectures by Mac King, Penn & Teller, Gregory Wilson, and others. Then, more
pandemonium as people from all over swamped the booth. The highlight of that
entire day was when Colin Rose demonstrated his Medieval Stocks Illusion for
a huge circle of magicians! It not only had people on the edge of their
toes, but everyone remarked on how it could have possibly been done as Colin
hammered 3 solid steel bolts through the wrists and neck of a poor woman who
emerged just as baffled as the crowd.
Colin Rose amazes & entertains the crowd (including Penn) with the Medieval
Stocks Illusion!
As more and more merchandise kept selling off our shelves, Paul Gross
also had a few tricks up his sleeve as the holes in our booth kept filling
themselves with even more products! We had some surprise guests at our
booth, including the Amazing Johnathan, Luis de Matos, Paul Kozak, Penn &
Teller, and many more!
Dexter performs for Paul Kozak!
That evening's Stage Show was terrific as Anthony Gatto opened the show
and had everyone on their feet at the end of his act. There is no better
juggler on Earth! Rick Thomas also took time to perform some great
illusions, including a levitation that had me speechless. Kevin James
performed a snippet of his act from the World's Greatest Magic Show, and it
was not only funny, but very smart! Eric Buss, Levent, Greg Frewin, Randy
Pryor, Mike Michaels, Tony Chapek, and Ryan Oaks all made appearances and
did some great magic, but it was Norm Nielsen who stole the show and got a
standing ovation that seemed to last forever! The man just gets better with
age as he performed his levitating piano, coin act, and finished with the
incomparable Zombie Violin!
August 24:
Teller visits Bob and Mimi Kohler.
Joe Porper, Bob Kohler, and Steve Brooks check in with Lynetta Welch of
Fabric Manipulation.
Veronin and Losander teach wands how to dance!
That evening's Close-Up Show consisted of five different performers,
Michael Close, Eric Mead, Shoot Ogawa, Armando Lucero, and Tim Conover!
Apparently, there were different venues set up like restaurant, parlor,
corporate settings, etc., and it was the highlight for many performers.
Although I did not make it to the show, I have seen Tim Conover perform, and
if you haven't you are missing out on the best mentalist and close-up artist
I have ever seen! Not many would dispute that.
The highlight for me was being invited to a special evening at Losander &
Luna Shimada's house for a special intimate party. Both Losander and Luna
were so accommodating, it was all we could do to keep from overstaying our
welcome. Talking with Tony Blanco and James Dimmare into the wee hours of
the evening about magic, women, and our respective acts will probably be one
of the things I remember on my deathbed.
Returning to the hotel,
I caught up with Tim Conover, Martin Lewis, Steve Brooks, Tom Cutts, and
others and even did a little "sessioning" with the boys. It was 4:00 AM when
I finally hit the hay.
August 25:
The Hocus Pocus booth was
inundated all day as the last day was upon us. No one was able to get one
minute's rest as hordes of folks decided that the last day to purchase magic
was the best day. Between the 8 people at the booth, there still wasn't
enough of us to go around. But everyone was happy with their purchases, and
we were even able to ship some things overseas for them, making their
airplane trip back home that much easier. Thanks again, everyone!
Losander, Jason London, Ted Lesley, and Robert Baxt!
Billy McComb and his Slow-Motion Vanishing Birdcage!
Colin Rose demonstrates his incredible Smash & Stab!
Yours truly, R. Paul Wilson, and Big Bad Lou!
Kevin James and Paul Gross could be brothers standing alongside Ted Lesley!
Big Bad Lou and Jeff Hobson!
Having one heck of a time at
MAGIC Live!
Big Bad Lou with Jeff and Abby McBride!
Jeff Hobson demonstrates his Great Chain Illusion. Can you spot the gaff? We
can't either 'cause the chain is solid!
As soon as the Dealer's
Room closed, we had to frantically pack up the truck and trailer as the
Orleans was setting up for the next convention. We needed every second of
the allotted 2 hours to get the job done! We made it just in time to enjoy
the last evening's stage show which featured the outstanding talents of
James Dimmare, Kerry Pollock (who was gracious enough to allow Hocus Pocus
to carry his Comedy D'Lite Act), the Passing Zone (who utilized members of
the audience, including Genii Magazine's Richard Kaufman, for some hilarious
Human Juggling), Ronn Lucas (who mixed stand-up comedy, improvisation,
audience interaction, and astonishing voice manipulation to get us all on
our feet for a standing ovation), Tina Lennert (with a new act utilizing
scarves, rings, and music), and Stan Allen bringing things full circle with
highlights from the convention itself. It was a convention to remember!
AUGUST 22 - 25,
2004
THE ORLEANS
HOTEL
LAS VEGAS
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