Well, the Magifest has come and gone. I
blinked and it was over. Fortunately, I was there & have a bunch
of GREAT memories... I'd like to share some of those with you for now
(and myself for later; short term memory loss has it's advantages ;)
Let's start with the drive up: 14
hours was a bit hard on my 40 y/o hiney. Ouch. We left New Orleans at midnight
the day before and arrived in Columbus approx 4pm. Getting pulled
over in KY for 'careless driving' was a hoot. Note to self and
others: watching EMC DVD's while shuffling cards and driving (a
stick) may lead to big ass KY copper pulling you over. Thankfully, I
just got a “courtesy notice”. *I road tripped with fellow busker
Tommee Pickles: a worthy road trip companion: THANKS T!
Day 1: Thursday
After a much needed siesta, I awoke
just in time to head down and catch Scott Robinson's workshop /
lecture. This was a big hit and a huge highlight for me. Scott
included some hands on props that allowed us to rehearse the routines
he was teaching. He went over some easy workers and also taught some
bad-ass slight of hand. His version of, uh, I guess you call it a
'Mystery Card' is a mystery to me and the 3 for one purse transpo was
a thing of beauty. That said, my personal fave was his gaffed
version of the Willy Wonka Card Trick. I'd tried out the non-gaffed
handling before and was a bit worried over the angles (which he
proved are really not so bad) My purist mindset mistakenly glossed
over the gaffed version … whoops. It's killer. Really great. In
a hall/session, I also got the opportunity to see a few 'sub rosa'
things & they will remain subrosa until Scott's book is released
(by Vanishing Inc.) I for one, will be first in line to purchase this
tome: sure to be a must-have.
Immediately following Scott, it was
time for Simon Lovell's one man show. I
almost skipped this (as my most awesome roomie: Zack Lambert had just
arrived as this was starting.) Missing this event would have been a
big mistake. Not only was I completely entertained, I learned a lot
'between the lines'. A Great, great show. Thank you Simon. For me,
this event was a top 3 highlight. Post Lovell, I got in some party/jam/session time in, but my drive/lag only alllowed me to stay up until 3 a.m....
Day
2: Friday
Friday
was JAM PACKED with events and opened with John Gustaferro's lecture.
(another top tier event... yeah, I'll put it in the top 3) I've been
a big John G fan for years, but this was the first time I've had the
pleasure to see him perform / lecture live. He debuted a few new
items from his “Discoveries and Deceptions” as well as teaching
some time proven chestnuts from his other 'Storms'. One of the
highlights for me was is 'in the specs hands assembly' I think he
said this was in “Ready Set Go” (time to go dig through the
efiles to re-read that one.) Great / commercial handling for a
congregation of quads. Another hit was his Bending Straw IMO:
destined to go down in history as one of the great impromptu 'bits'.
Last, but certainly not least was his tips on the multiple selection.
I'm not giving it away here; Buy his notes (well worth the $20.)
John's presentation was smooth as silk, he was very likable and
continued that presence into the to session areas. He was always
around / accessible & I was happy to see some of his other stuff
in the bar/ the hallways / the round tables (where I got to see some
of the most excellent 'passport act'.) Very cool stuff. Good Guy. WTG
John G.
The
next event of the day was a panel discussion that included a
potpourri of Magi teaching a lot of different things. John Archer
spoke on comedy magic. Andi popped a few balloons and the Ohio football fans.
Mahdi Gilbert proved ANYTHING is possible.
<Wow. Justin Flom showed and spoke on how to make YouTube work
for you. Watching Tony Chang do his thang was another hit of this
session. Both he and Eric Jones had some great tips and touches on
how to handle “angles”. Highlight : Chang another guy who was
highly visible throughout the event: IMHO, the presenters of the
events should be visible / accessible to the convention attendees...
most were. Chang was for sure.
I
shamefully missed the first ½ of Troy Hooser's new lecture. Doh! That
was an error. (Got caught up in the dealer room.) I arrived to see him
wrapping up a ribbbon routine (shades of Paul Curry) and then he
taught his “Charming Chinese Challenge”. Charming indeed. Troy
has been an inspiration for years and continued that tradition
through this event.. Troy should be the poster boy for how a magician
should conduct himself.
Speaking
of the dealers room (above) if there was any prob with this
convention, that was it. Way (way) too small for the fantastic array
of dealers. It took twice as long to get to what you wanted and often
had to squeeze your way through an arseload of magi to get there. I'm
sure that whoopsie will be fixed next time (there will be a next time
right guys?)
The
Justin Flom lecture followed. It was chock full with great stuff. He
had some awesome touches on his “Card Artistry” as well as a new
version where a signed card appears in a painting' frame. His high
energy and expertise working close-up from the stage made this event
flow like silk from a vernet tip. I don't think I got any usable material, but I do know, I was interested & attentive during the
entire lecture. Look for Flom (helluva good looking guy) on a TV near
you. He's destined to have a TV special... it's inevitable.
The
night time events were:
Dani
Da'Ortiz in Concert
and
Simon
Aronson & Ginny “The Thought That Counts”
Both
were GREAT and If you didn't get fooled at some point: you're lying.
Love,
love loved the one man shows. Simon, Dani and Simon/Ginny were all
superb.
Note to convention organizers: I personally would love to see more of this.
Note to convention organizers: I personally would love to see more of this.
After
the shows, the jamming flowed into the halls, the lobby and the bar.
The bar... to quote Dani: wow. Wow! There was some serious mojo going
on in there; I'd list names but I don't wanna leave anyone out. You
shoulda been there.
One
sidenote: Josh and Andi really, REALLY did a GREAT job of bringing
the youth to the Con and promoting the youth into the future. 3
scholarships to 'magic camp' were given out & I know many
youngsters at the convention were there thanks to the Magi-fest
Scholarships given out. Well done gents. Well done. (thanks)
Day
3: Saturday
I
slept through the John Archer lecture. <something I really wanted
to see. I can only hope that mistake will be corrected sometime
through the future. I won't say I regret it... Hopefully the time I
spent staying up and jamming gave me as much / more brain food than I
would have received from this event. Jamming indeed. This convention
was session heavy and that is simply awesome.
Speaking
of awesome: The afternoon panel discussion was great. I will note:
both Panel discussions were completely disjointed... I kind of
expected a 'theme' of sorts for these formats to follow. Yet, there
was no rhyme or reason to the gathering of these magi. That said I
enjoyed both and I'm not really complaining.
I
walked into the 2nd
panel event on Sat afternoon as Peter Pitchford was wrapping up his
talk. Kainoa Harbottle completely floored me with one of the best
'misters dream' routines I've ever seen, and Simon Arronson followed
with a couple of high standard card routines. Speaking of cards;
Andi Gladwin did his “Five
Moves in Five Minutes” and I'm sure everyone walked away from this with
something to add to their repertoire; I know I did. Steven Kline
followed and taught me things a close-up guy should never know. This
session ended with an inspiring talk by Ben Train and Chris Mayhew.
Their focus was the development of an upcoming release “A Series of
Unfortunate Effects” They showed several clips as well as a full
trailer and filled the interim time by discussing the ins and outs of
pursuing such a project. Lemme tell ya: this thing looks great; the
ante has just been upped. “Well Done” fellas (Lee Asher reference
;)
Dani
Da'Ortiz lecture was the last teaching session of the convention. His
high energy and unique material is not to be missed. Really. His work
with an 'imaginary deck' is off the chain. If you haven't seen this
guy work... correct that mistake ASAP. Option: You could do worse
things than buy his UTOPIA DVD set: it's not cheap and it's well
worth every penny.
The
Evening closed with a 'Gala Comedy Show' featuring: Simon Lovell (MC)
John Archer, Peter Pitchford, Justin Flom and Justin Kredible. The
whole show was great (though IMHO, Archer was a bit out of place in
this group.) The young guns ruled the roost and tore the house down.
Kredible was Credible. I woulda put Flom in the Closing spot.
Really... this guy is going places. Watch.
After
the gala show, the conference continued with a pizza party and
further sessioning.... and sessioning and sessioning. I think I went
to bed around 3 a.m. (again)
There
was an optional workshop Sunday a.m. Harbottle Jones & Thomas
teaching the 'real work'. As much as I'd like to have attended, a 14
hour drive home awaited me and I had to miss it.
Considering
the full house and the inaugural re-generation of the event, I'm
surprised how smooth the event flowed. The only real gripe was the
tight dealer space and the only reason that was a problem was because
so many magi attended; the more the merrier IMO!
Without
having one ounce of info about next years plans (assuming they'll do
it again) I'll be making free space on the calendar to attend... only
difference is: I won't be driving!
Josh,
Andi, you should be proud. Job well done!
Thanks for the great weekend.
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