390: Larry Becker - A Piece Of My Mind

Larry Becker is a legend in his own time. He is a master mentalist who blazed the trail for many who followed. As mentioned in the podcast, Larry was cool long before mentalism was cool. He and his business partner, Lee Earle, created one of the most successful partnerships in mentalism with their company "Mentalism Unlimited". Between them they created some of the most original material that is still used by top mentalists today.

Larry would like to be remembered for his "Russian Roulette: routine which had a real element of danger. This "possibility of death" at every show kept Larry on his toes and his audience on the edge of their seats.

Larry Becker's Mental Masterpieces DVD trailer performing his "Casino Royale".

In this podcast, Larry talks about his partnership at an advertising agency in New Jersey, meeting people like Cardini and Milbourne Christopher, his performance in the military, his move to Arizona, and the rise and fall of his partnership with Lee Earle.

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389: Alan Howard - Passing the Torch

This episode is entitled "Passing the Torch" because Alan Howard will be the next Editor and Chief of the M.U.M. journal for the Society of American Magicians. The "torch" will be passed from Michael Close and, to continue the analogy, Alan is a juggler so he is used to passing torches...literally.

We had the opportunity to chat with Alan Howard when he was in Houston for the memorial service for long time friend, John Moehring. Alan traveled from Florida just for this special occasion to honor his friend, and former Editor of the M.U.M.

John Moehring died on July 9, 2017, just ten dies shy of his 75th birthday. Tragically, his life was cut short by Parkinson's Disease. A memorial service was planned for August 26th in Houston, Texas. But due to Hurricane Harvey, the service was delayed until October 14, 2017.

John Moehring "Celebration of Life" Slideshow produced by Gary Plants.

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:05:55- Alan Howard reflects on his friendship with John Moehring then talks about his work as a juggler, his work as an editor for "Juggle" magazine, and his upcoming job as the new editor for M.U.M. magazine.

00:35:27 - Charlie Randall, of H&R Magic Books, reflects on his friendship with John Moehring.

00:44:02 - Product Review: "MoneyMorphosis" is a "self-folding bill" effect where the bill morphs into an origami butterfly. Recommended.

00:50:38 - Product Review: "Cool Beans" by Paul Brook - loyalty cards from coffee chops that have stamps and built-in mentalism tricks. Recommended.

00:53:32 - Product Review: "Loyalty" by Paul Brook - key fob tags with bar codes and company names and logos which you can predict. Clever ideas on this one. Recommended.

388: David Garrard - The Ace of All Trades

During his travels across the country on a lecture tour, David Garrard stopped by the microphone of The Magic Word to talk about his life in magic and his diverse background that has kept his life fulfilled. Moving to Louisville, Kentucky, in 1975, David became fast friends with local magicians including Lance Burton and Mac King. During his 50+ years of magic, David has found success in performing in churches, trade shows, children's parties, stage shows, television, close-up and more. His book, "Out Of My Hat" contains material from his lecture which is one of the best set of "lecture notes" I have seen lots of great material that I guarantee will play well for youth and/or adults.

Time Stamps for the podcast:

00:06:07 - In this podcast, David talks about marketing, handing out his business cards, booking trade shows, working in state/county fairs, the importance of hiring others to help make you successful, performing for children, his experience of performing on "Penn & Teller Fool Us", his relationship with Mac King and Lance Burton, the relationship between David Ginn and Doug Henning, views on keeping your act "clean", and his view on embedding messages in gospel magic.

01:05:37 - Product Review: "Bare" by the Other Brothers - allows you to stamp a spectator for the "Ashes on Hand" effect. Clean, easy, non-sticky nor toxic. Highly recommended.

01:11:27 - Product Review: "Telekinetic" by Diamond Jim Tyler - Diamond Jim teaches you how to animate a card box, matchbox, matchbook, business cards, and cigarette case. Comes complete with DVD and gimmick. Recommended.

01:15:00 - Product Review: "Double Take" by Jason Knowles is a selected card instantly changes to a bank note or bill. Recommended.

The contest has ended. Stay tuned to see who won! Congratulations