219: Lee Earle - Clear Vision

Lee Earle has been a leader and pioneer in the field of mentalism for decades. He recently came through Houston on his "Farewell" Lecture Tour where he imparted some of his years of experience in a concise two and a half hour lecture filled with advice and solid, commercial mentalism effects. Unfortunately, Lee has not created nor marketed many new effects over the past several years. Moreover, he has not been seen on the convention or lecture scene either. As a result, he is best known, remembered and respected by those "long of tooth". If fact, he said that perhaps 80% of those attending his 20+ lectures across the U.S. had gray heir. Too bad for this generation who missed out.

Lee has had a remarkable career having started out as a magician then transforming into a mentalist, which is the typical way people get into mentalism. He laments that actors and drama majors don't go immediately into mentalism and skip magic altogether thus not "tainting" them with "bad habits" that are hard to break in the performance of mentalism.

For those who are unfamiliar with Lee Earle's background, he was the secretary and membership chairman of the Psychic Entertainers' Association (P.E.A.) for a number of years. He authored the newsletter "Syzygy", produced and marketed several mentalism tricks along with Larry Becker under their company, "Mentalism Unlimited". He was the medium who developed and produced "Manifestations" in Phoenix, Arizona. And early in his magic career, he started the circuit for performing in large, upscale RV Parks across the southern part of the U.S.

The podcast begins with opening a can of Diet RC Cola then we get down to business. Lee talks about his experience of performing magic at Recreational Vehicle (RV) Parks across the south in the 1970's. He then talks about his transition from magic to mentalism and the stumbles along the way that made him more determined. Lee then tells us about "Manifestations", the seance he conducted from 1986 through 1989, some stories from the performances and its demise.

Lee concludes this podcast talking about his friend and business partner, Larry Becker, and their business "Mentalism Unlimited" which is no longer in business. The items remaining are being sold by Lee during his "Farewell" Lecture Tour which is helping him clean out his inventory following his move from Phoenix, Arizona to Atlanta, Georgia.

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.

Enjoy supplemental material from Lee Earle as he talks about the basic premises upon which mentalism is based. Plus he gives some great advice on use of sound (i.e. microphones, speakers, etc.)

#199 - Charles Gauci - A Lifetime of Magic

Charles Gauci has lived a long time. His 77 years have taught him a lot, much of which he shares in this intimate interview. He began as a hypnotist, then worked for two years with Peter Reveen, then toured with his own magic show. Inventor of 302 commercial magic tricks, his "Eye to Eye" has had over $600,000 in sales. Charles regularly entertains in the south of France on the French Riviera to the rich and famous.

While he was on his "Farewell Lecture Tour" of North America, he took time to share the microphone with me to tell some interesting stories and share some great advice.

Charles tells us about how hypnotism changed his life...literally. Charles gives us a very good tip on including your photo on your business cards. He also talks about how he got started working on the Riviera with loads of stories along the way. He also talks about self hypnosis and why the power of positive thinking fails 95% of the time. It fails, in part, because of the four fundamental laws: the power of positive thinking; the power of negative thinking; when the will power and the imagination are in conflict, the imagination will always win; and the law of reverse effort. You will have to listen to understand these.

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. (please note: this RSS Feed subscription system may not work with Android systems). Remember, you can download it through iTunes. See the preview page by Clicking Here.

Click on the image above to be taken to Stevens Magic Emporium to order a last remaining copy of this book.

Fill your Christmas stockings with books and DVDs from Banachek.

164: Part 4 - My Week at The Castle 2014

Ready to eat? Enjoy your lunch break with Bob Cassidy and me as we have a little take-out from In 'N Out and talk extensively about mentalism and performing. Back at the Magic Castle later that night, I caught up with John Carney outside the Parlour of Prestidigitation before he was seated for Rafael Benatar's show. Much later that night, I sat down with one of the members of the old "Long Beach Mystics", David Deeble. He was one of my favorite performers from the 2013 MAGIC Live!

00:01:26 - Master Mentalist, Bob Cassidy, chats candidly during a take-out lunch from In 'N Out that we took back to the apartment at the Nirvana in his room, The Charlie Miller Suite. We talked about his experience at the "Beyond Brookledge: event that included many other performers like Michael Weber and other eclectic entertainers. He talks about his early experience at The Magic Castle, the importance of scripting mentalism, Derren Brown, Keith Barry, knowing your powers, predictions, consistency in your performance, pre-show work, dual reality, working with drunks, selection of volunteers, Q&A, David Hoy, and more.

00:32:17 - John Carney, chats about his recent video projects, past and present, including Carney 2013 that was a monthly video lesson throughout last year. He also talks about Revizzit, the password protected way of safely downloading magic content. Rafael Benatar also drops in for a moment to say "hi" before he starts the show. John talks about working theatre shows and his learning experience.

00:40:12 - David Deeble, one of the Long Beach Mystics, tells us what he's been up to living abroad in Germany or a few years, what he's been doing recently and where he's going. Among other topics he talked about the hard times on the road at comedy clubs, his serious accident on a unicycle and how it affected his life, grabbing the wrong bag from the airport, and of course he talks about being a part of the legendary Long Beach Mystics..

Magic & Martinis Thursday

Scott Wells with Vigo the Carpathian, I mean, Bob Cassidy. Cheers!

219: Lee Earle - Clear Vision

#199 - Charles Gauci - A Lifetime of Magic

164: Part 4 - My Week at The Castle 2014

Magic & Martinis Thursday

The Magic Word