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The Magic Word The Magic Word

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940: John Cox - Houdini Master

It’s National Magic Week, as designated by the Society of American Magicians. It also means it’s that time of the year to chat with the Houdini expert, John Cox. He has been blogging daily for years about all things Houdini. So, on the eve of the 99th anniversary of Houdini’s death, it seems appropriate to check in with John to see what’s new with Houdini. During our chat, he surprises us with several revelations that I didn’t know, and perhaps might be new to you, too.

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John’s biggest and his proudest accomplishment over this past year has been the publication of his book, “Escaping Obscurity” available from Mike Caveney’s “Magic Words” website. He talks about this book in our chat this week, plus he also reveals that the ending to the Tony Curtis movie of “Houdini” did not end with him dying in the water torture cell! This and other revelations are discussed in this week’s episode.

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 Pandora and SiriusXM (formerly Stitcher) by Clicking Here or through FeedPress by Clicking Here or through Tunein.com by Clicking Here or through iHeart Radio by Clicking Here. If you have a Spotify account, then you can also hear us through that app, too. You can also listen through your Amazon Alexa and Google Home devices. Remember, you can download it through the iTunes store, too. See the preview page by Clicking Here.

Thank everyone who entered the contest. We could only have one winner each week, but anyone who is genuinely interested in procuring a deck, you should visit their website at https://houdinicards.com while supplies are available.

Although this book is long out of print, I do have a source who can probably hook you up with a copy. Please contact Kent Cummiins at Kent@kentcummins.com and ask if he has an extra, shrink-wrapped copy to sell you.

Tagged with John Cox, Houdini, Wild About Houdini, blog, Escaping Obscurity.

October 30, 2025 by Scott Wells.
  • October 30, 2025
  • Scott Wells
  • John Cox
  • Houdini
  • Wild About Houdini
  • blog
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423: Neil McNally - The Doug Henning Project

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Neil McNally is a passionate man. He is most passionate about Doug Henning and he hosts a weekday blog called "The Doug Henning Project". Who could imagine that there would be that much to reveal about this iconic figure. We recently "hit a nerve" with the podcast #415 with Chip Romero as that episode was one of our most downloaded podcast. So, it was a natural thing to chat with the webmaster of "The Doug Henning Project" so those who are interested in Doug Henning could learn even more. Neil is not a performing magician though he is taking lessons at The Magic Castle. But his passion is history and collecting of Doug Henning. He is also producing a documentary on Doug Henning and will soon be crowd funding his project.

If you have any photos or stories you would like to share on the website/blog or in the documentary, then please contact Neil McNally at doughenningproject@gmail.com

Neil has an Indigogo.com campaign going on from October 1-23, 2018 to raise money for a documentary film on Doug Henning. You can find out more at: https://bit.ly/2zqM9eY

Doug Henning's Magic on Broadway. 1982. From The MagicWeek Video Archive http://www.magicweek.co.uk
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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 or through iHeart Radio by Clicking Here.. Remember, you can download it through the iTunes store, too. See the preview page by Clicking Here

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Tagged with Neil McNally, Doug Henning, blog, Kathy Wells, Johnny Lonn.

May 10, 2018 by Scott Wells.
  • May 10, 2018
  • Scott Wells
  • Neil McNally
  • Doug Henning
  • blog
  • Kathy Wells
  • Johnny Lonn
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373: John Cox is Wild About Houdini

John Cox is passionate about one prestidigitator...Harry Houdini. You could say he is "Wild About Harry". At least he says that. For nearly seven years, John has maintained a daily blog about Houdini. Who would have thought there is that much information to be found on a daily basis about Houdini? Well, there is new stuff being revealed more regularly than you could ever imagine.

I first met John Cox when I was the "Medium" for the "Official Houdini Seance" in 2012 when we enjoyed the hospitality of our host, Arthur Moses, noted Houdini collector. You can hear Part One of our chat by Clicking Here and Part Two Here. We became fast friends because of not only our mutual interest in Houdini, but also Sherlock Holmes and James Bond plus an avid film fanatic in general.

While in Hollywood performing at The Magic Castle in 2017, I stopped by the apartment of John Cox, noted Houdini collector and blogger. Be sure to visit his blog at http://WildAboutHoudini.com for daily updates on all things Houdini.
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Time stamps for this podcast:

00:04:26 - John Cox talks about his obsession and his blog and some of the more interesting things he has posted over the years.

01:07:58 - Product Review of "Conjuror At The Table - A Master Course in Restaurant Magic" by Al James and available through Magic, Inc.

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

Don't let the title of this graphic fool you. The correct URL is WildAboutHoudini.com

Don't let the title of this graphic fool you. The correct URL is WildAboutHoudini.com

More information and to order your copy from Magic, Inc., click the image above.

More information and to order your copy from Magic, Inc., click the image above.

Tagged with John Cox, Wild About Houdini, Houdini, blog.

August 10, 2017 by Scott Wells.
  • August 10, 2017
  • Scott Wells
  • John Cox
  • Wild About Houdini
  • Houdini
  • blog
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The Magic Word The Magic Word

A Podcast for Magicians, About Magicians, Hosted by a Full Time Professional Magician, Scott Wells

This podcast is totally free for everyone to enjoy. This is provided to you out of love and respect for our art of magic. If you enjoy the podcasts and other material on The Magic Word, then your financial support will be greatly appreciated and help offset the monthly hosting service fee as well as the hardware and software to produce this podcast. Just click on the "Donate " button at the top of this page to make a one time donation through PayPal.

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In May 2024, Scott Wells had the distinguished honor of receiving a “Special Fellowship” from the Academy of Magical Arts (The Magic Castle) for the Magic Word Podcast which promotes “not only personal stories of fascinating individuals, but also fellowship amongst our extended family of artists and entertainers everywhere.”

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Craig Diamond - Around the World in 50 Years - Craig Diamond is a name that may not be familiar to you...yet. That's because has been performing magic on cruise ships since the 1970's. But he is slowing down his cruise ship shows and starting to perf
John Cox - Houdini Master Since 2010, John Cox has found enough material about the legendary magician, Harry Houdini, to fill a daily blog. This week we chat about some of the more important things that John has uncovered over the past year. #houdini
Susan Gerbic - Busting Grief Vampires - Susan Gerbic is a skeptic who debunks those who are self-proclaimed psychics and "feed" on the grief of others like vampires feed on blood. She is a scientific skepticism activist, a columnist for Ske
Enjoy an audible tour through the newest venue for magicians to perform. Also, Marc’s incredible magic props, ephemera costumes, and more from a lifetime of collecting are on display here. This “walk through” is a feast for the ears
Jim Cunningham - The Spirit of Eugene - Jim Cunningham is the voice on the Audible books reading the Eli Marks Mystery series. But is also interested in things that go bump in the night. So naturally, his mentor for producing scary seances was the la
Tony Hassini - Merlin Maker - Creator of the Marvelous Magical Burger King, Tony Hassini is better known as the creator of the International Magicians Society (IMS) and the Merlin Award. #tonyhassini #merlinaward #ims #magicawards #merlin #burgerking
Wayne Alan - The Most Famous Magician You've Never Heard Of: Spanning a career as a FISM winner to a successful trade show magician and now in his 70's owning his own theatre, Wayne Alan has led an interesting life and is someone you should know. #hi
Craig Diamond - Around the World in 50 Years - Craig Diamond is a name that may not be familiar to you...yet. That's because has been performing magic on cruise ships since the 1970's. But he is slowing down his cruise ship shows and starting to perf
John Cox - Houdini Master Since 2010, John Cox has found enough material about the legendary magician, Harry Houdini, to fill a daily blog. This week we chat about some of the more important things that John has uncovered over the past year. #houdini Susan Gerbic - Busting Grief Vampires - Susan Gerbic is a skeptic who debunks those who are self-proclaimed psychics and "feed" on the grief of others like vampires feed on blood. She is a scientific skepticism activist, a columnist for Ske Enjoy an audible tour through the newest venue for magicians to perform. Also, Marc’s incredible magic props, ephemera costumes, and more from a lifetime of collecting are on display here. This “walk through” is a feast for the ears Jim Cunningham - The Spirit of Eugene - Jim Cunningham is the voice on the Audible books reading the Eli Marks Mystery series. But is also interested in things that go bump in the night. So naturally, his mentor for producing scary seances was the la Tony Hassini - Merlin Maker - Creator of the Marvelous Magical Burger King, Tony Hassini is better known as the creator of the International Magicians Society (IMS) and the Merlin Award. #tonyhassini #merlinaward #ims #magicawards #merlin #burgerking Wayne Alan - The Most Famous Magician You've Never Heard Of: Spanning a career as a FISM winner to a successful trade show magician and now in his 70's owning his own theatre, Wayne Alan has led an interesting life and is someone you should know. #hi

The Magic Word Has been recognized by FeedSpot as the # 1 magician podcast in the world. Thank you all for your support and for listening throughout the years.

The Magic Word Podcast was selected by MillionPodcasts as one of the Top 25 Magician Podcasts on the web. In fact, it is currently listed as the Number 2 magician podcast!

The Magic Word Podcast was nominated for TWO categories in the new ONLINE MAGIC competition at the 2025 World Championship of Magic (FISM) in Turin, Italy. One was for the Best Magic Podcaster and the second for the Best Magic Newsletter. You may already listen, but you are missing out on the other half if you haven’t yet subscribed to our weekly podletter!

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