250: At Home With Lupe & Norm Nielsen

After the 2015 MAGIC Live! convention, I stayed over for an extra day so as to visit with one of magic's legends: Norm Nielsen. I spoke with Lupe about coming over to their home to chat and see the poster collection. She told me that the bulk of their collection is now in Chicago preparing to be auctioned off by Potter & Potter over the next two years. But I was still welcome to come by for coffee and a visit. So I did.

Fortunately, I had visited their home and collection in 2007 when I also snapped some lovely photos which are on this blog. I also posted some pictures from this year's visit. Perhaps you can tell what a difference eight years makes.

Lupe talked about Norm's poster collection at the Order of Merlin breakfast at the combined IBM/SAM convention in St. Louis. You can Click Here to hear that interesting, historical presentation. Unfortunately, you cannot view the beautiful posters that she showed in her presentation, but the stories are interesting.

00:01:56 - Norm Nielsen and Lupe talk about their magic poster collection, how he came to start collecting and what is happening to it now. He also talks about his long career as a performer and builder and creator. He has many stories about other magic legends he has met along the way, not the least of which was his good friend, Tobias "Theo" Leendert Bamberg "Okito" (1875-1963) . During this chat in Norm's living room, his lovely wife, Lupe, fills in some details and gives us some additional background information. David Sandy and Lance Rich are also in attendance "in the studio audience" who ask some relevant questions, too.

00:59:07 - After our chat, we go out to the workshop where David shares a funny story about Faucett Ross. This is a legendary story that is Mac King's favorite story and has to be heard by this larger, podcast audience in order to preserve it for posterity.

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.

Check back with Potter & Potter from time to time to see when the Nielsen Poster collection will be put "on the auction block".

080: Part 3 - The End of the World/Year Podcast

Part Three of this “Ginormous” podcast features more great conversations with three more influential magicians. You can hear our chats beginning at the following times:

00:00:00 – Gabe Fajuri, President of Potter & Potter Auctions talks about what people are buying and selling for or from their magic collections and what brings the top dollars. He also gives us a sneak preview of a couple upcoming auctions for 2013 including the Cardini auction which promises to be historic. http://www.potterauctions.com/

00:14:07 Stan Allen, Editor and Publisher (and Custodian) of MAGIC Magazine, Stan Allen talks about digitizing his magazine and the multi-media content that is offered each month online and via digital devices. He also gives his look into the future of the magic magazine industry possibly joining forces??? http://www.magicmagazine.com/

00:32:54 – Kozmo chats about his ongoing, six-year-old digital magazine, Reel Magic. We talk about stealing intellectual material and how easy (and wrong) it is to rip off others’ material that they work hard to produce and then post it on the internet or distribute it among friends. Kozmo has an interesting way of how he hopes to combat this crime. He will soon offer some online content and streaming that will only be available to subscribers. http://reelmagicmagazine.com/

Download an MP3 of this podcast by Clicking Here then right click to save the file. You can also download the MP3 media file directly from the RSS feed by Clicking Here.

Trixie Bond at Chateau du Magique

Trxie Bond was described by Elizabeth Warlock as the "best children's show entertainer in the world." She wsa on the cover of MAGIC Magazine and the subject of a feature article in the June 2002 issue. She has won countless awards and performed and lectured around the world on children's entertainment. Her passion and expertisse has afforded her the chance to not only meet but also to be one of the celebrities in our craft. She has achieved excellence in every aspect of performing, lecturing, creating and much more.

Trixie is now in semi-retirement in Burnet, Texas where she lives with her husband, Mark, and their Schnauzer dog, Dante, along the banks of the Colorado river.There she contemplates the next phase of her life and where magic will take her. I recorded an interview with Trixie which you can listen to here on The Magic Word. In the meantime, I thought you would enjoy taking a peek into just part of her lovely home which I call "Chateau du Magique".

This eight bedroom, two story home on the river is filled with magic memorabilia, but there is still a warehouse filled with more that has not yet been displayed.

Each bedroom has its own character and design. My wife and I stayed in the oriental room (I call the "Chung Ling Soo Suite") but the one pictured below is the "Sheik of Araby" bedroom.

Her downstairs dining table remains festively decorated with magic and Texas flag themed settings.

Every magician has his or her "bric-a-brac" of magic collectibles and framed photos, but Trixie has everything perfectly displayed. This table of magical artifacts (pictured below) sits at the landing at the top of the 20 granite steps to the upper level.

This is the second story magic lounge. Notice the bar to the left and the ample seating area to the back of the room and the dining table to the right. Of particular importance, notice the stained glass windows to the left and right of the magic fireplace chimney with Kellar on the left and Dante on the right. Also, if you look closely, you will see a permanent patron firmly affixed to a chair at the bar.