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ianmcrawford

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Posted Reply with quote  #1 
Just doing some year ahead magic planning and trying to determine which convention to go to. I am leaning to Magi-fest. Would be interested in FFFF ( I have one sponsor but need another). I’ve been to a Genii Bash and it was great. Not interested in Vegas All thoughts and ideas welcome. My criteria, great lectures, great performances, youngish ( I am not particularly young but am inspired by youthful energy), friendly.

All ideas welcome.
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Mike Powers

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Posted Reply with quote  #2 
The Magi Fest is a good choice. I have gone to quite a number of these. Josh and Andy have really rejuvenated what was a fading convention. Highly recommended.

Of course MAGIC Live! is fantastic but very expensive and takes place in Vegas.

Scott Robinson's Trics convention in North Carolina is excellent too. It's a close-up convention which I prefer and is super well run with great viewing conditions. It's fairly intimate with about 100+ attendees. There's lots of sessioning and hanging out. The lectures are great. Last year they had Michael Vincent and Woody Aragon and a couple of lesser known but excellent lectures.

Everyone is very friendly too. I went for the first time last year and am already registered for the upcoming one in November.

Mike
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Anthony Vinson

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Posted Reply with quote  #3 
Man, that Trics convention looks great: http://tricsconvention.com/
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Harrisgagnon

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Posted Reply with quote  #4 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Powers
The Magi Fest is a good choice. I have gone to quite a number of these. Josh and Andy have really rejuvenated what was a fading convention. Highly recommended.

Of course MAGIC Live! is fantastic but very expensive and takes place in Vegas.

Scott Robinson's Trics convention in North Carolina is excellent too. It's a close-up convention which I prefer and is super well run with great viewing conditions. It's fairly intimate with about 100+ attendees. There's lots of sessioning and hanging out. The lectures are great. Last year they had Michael Vincent and Woody Aragon and a couple of lesser known but excellent lectures.

Everyone is very friendly too. I went for the first time last year and am already registered for the upcoming one in November.

Mike


I live in CHarlotte and am interested in going to this. The website doesn't have a schedule up so I have a couple of questions. Is it during the weekend? How many hours a day is it? Can you leave any time?

This would be my first convention. 
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Anthony Vinson

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Posted Reply with quote  #5 
Harris, the site says the schedule will be up soon, which could mean several months yet. That's not unusual. The dates listed are 1- 3 November, so Thursday through Saturday. Once you are registered you may come and go as you please, but you will most likely want to be there as much as possible. It looks like a great convention; intimate; a stellar line up of talent listed with more to come... Charlotte's not that far a drive, only about five hours, and I am seriously considering getting myself registered. If it's to be your first convention, I'd say you've picked a real winner - I base that both on the site and Mike's recommendation. Hope to see you there!

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Gareth

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Posted Reply with quote  #6 
Hi Ian, have just logged on this minute to write a Magic Convention based question/thread and saw this. I don't want to hijack yours so will start a separate one. If you or a moderator think it's better suited as part of this discussion I'm happy for it to be moved here.

Gareth
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ianmcrawford

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Posted Reply with quote  #7 
No worries Gareth. Happy to merge threads. Thanks for the polite heads up.
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arthur stead

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Posted Reply with quote  #8 

A few years ago I lectured at Magifest and also performed in the close-up show.  It was a great convention with a lot of big-name headliners.  Had my dealer booth right next to Eric Jones, so that was a lot fo fun!  The year after I attended, I think Magifest changed to a more close-up magic format.  So I don’t know what it’s like nowadays.

But I think my favorite convention was Magic In The Rockies, which sadly doesn’t happen anymore.  Despite some technical problems, they featured many great talents, had a very friendly atmosphere, and the magic and lectures were superb.

 
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Harrisgagnon

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Posted Reply with quote  #9 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony Vinson
Harris, the site says the schedule will be up soon, which could mean several months yet. That's not unusual. The dates listed are 1- 3 November, so Thursday through Saturday. Once you are registered you may come and go as you please, but you will most likely want to be there as much as possible. It looks like a great convention; intimate; a stellar line up of talent listed with more to come... Charlotte's not that far a drive, only about five hours, and I am seriously considering getting myself registered. If it's to be your first convention, I'd say you've picked a real winner - I base that both on the site and Mike's recommendation. Hope to see you there!

Av


Thanks for the response. I would love to attend all 3 days but I will have school thursday and friday. I will probably sign up to go on saturday.
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Mike Powers

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Posted Reply with quote  #10 
Trics is excellent. If you're nearby, it's a no brainer. You will have a great time.

Mike
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Tom G

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Posted Reply with quote  #11 
I've been to a couple of the Genii Conventions, good assortment of talent.  This last year Richard Kaufman broke the close up shows into multiple rooms over 2 days.  You actually got to watch real close up from a few feet away, NOT on a large screen. Genii tops off at 650 or so and Magic Live (from what I hear) is 1600.  For me, that's just tooooo many people of course, your mileage may vary.
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arthur stead

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Posted Reply with quote  #12 

Just out of interest, I thought I’d list all the acts that participated in the above-mentioned Magic In The Rockies.  This was in 2013:

Walter “Zaney” Blaney

Becky Blaney

Paul Brewer

Doc Eason

Jason England

Leland Faulkner

Paul Gertner

Duane Laflin

Losander

Eric Mead

John Mendoza

Laren Miller

Tony Miller

Jan Rose & Danny Orleans

Autumn Morning Star

Peter Samelson

Bob Sheets

John T. Sheets

Steve Spangler

Suzanne

Christopher Taylor

Gene Turner

Michael Weber

R. Paul Wilson

Asi Wind 

… and yours truly!

 
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Mike Powers

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Posted Reply with quote  #13 
That's an incredible array of talent!

M
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arthur stead

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Posted Reply with quote  #14 

Yes, I had the honor of lecturing to the attendees, as well as performing in the close up show, which featured R. Paul Wilson, Jason England, John Mendoza, Suzanne, and me!  As we close-up guys (and gal) got together just before our appearance, it became clear that Paul Wilson was in charge of sequencing our acts.  Since I considered myself to be the weakest of the five, I explained that to Paul, and suggested that I should probably be up first.  But he insisted on going first, and having me follow him in second place, with Jason England in the third slot!  Imagine that pressure!  But I’m happy to report that I was extremely well-rehearsed, quite confident and calm, and things went very well.

During the rest of the convention, I got to hang out with Danny Archer (who had a dealer booth next to mine), spent a LOT of time with Doc Eason and Leland Faulkner, watched Losander perform floating table miracles right in the dealer room, and saw fantastic lectures by Asi Wind, Autumn Morning Star, and Michael Weber.  It was a fabulous convention where the attendees had total access to all the stars, and I met and shared stories & traded ideas with some amazing people.
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EVILDAN

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Posted Reply with quote  #15 
For me, it's The Inner Circle of Bizarre Magick's "Gathering of the Magi." Held in CT the second weekend in November it's evolved from a gathering of bizarrists to one that combines bizarre and mainstream magic into one of the friendliest and creative conventions ever.

Past attendees include: Eugene Burger, Max Maven, Jeff McBride, Docc Hilford, Geoff Williams, Shawn Farquhar, David London, etc.

I just forward to going this year as well.
http://www.icbmmagick.com for more info.
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arthur stead

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Posted Reply with quote  #16 

Now that’s a convention I wish I had been able to attend!  Although I’m not a bizarrist, I really enjoy and appreciate the storytelling aspect and “edginess” of bizarre magic plots.
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EVILDAN

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Posted Reply with quote  #17 
It's still happening.
If you've never heard of David London, you are missing out on some of the most surreal, original magic ever.

Here's this year's schedule and David London will be there.
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Robin Dawes

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Posted Reply with quote  #18 
Plus Bruce Barnett is giving a lecture, I see - Bruce is an old friend and the founder of The Electronic Grymoire, an early and excellent online digest for magicians.  I imagine his lecture will be very very strong.
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EVILDAN

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Posted Reply with quote  #19 
Bruce will be lecturing on electronics for beginners. With all the devices hitting the market it would be nice if you can create your own. Bruce lays down the foundation. I am really looking forward to this as I have ideas but do not know anything about electronics.
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trinimontes

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Posted Reply with quote  #20 
The TSD, TFD, and Pebblepalooza conventions are some of the best I've been to. TAOM this year in Houston looks to be very good. Another fave of mine, that I've been to once, is the Winter Carnival of Magic in Gatlinburg, TN. It has since moved to Pidgeon Forge.

Other conventions that I've been to:
World Magic Seminar in Vegas - way to big. No longer around
Atlanta Harvest - good convention, just not my cup of tea.
A1 Magicalmedia in Sacramento- good convention but to clickie. No longer around.
Louisiana Magic Weekend - good convention but kind of small. Was bigger in the early days. Now its a Louisiana Magic Day.
IBM National - too big and very clickie.
SAM National - my first one was in 1998 in Nola. That was a memorable on a personal level because that's where I met Steve Reynolds.
Super Saturday in Dallas - great concept of a convention. Everyone has to perform a trick in front of the group.


Hope that helps,
Trini
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trinimontes

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Posted Reply with quote  #21 
Quick story about the 3rd TSD convention...
So I had booked Allan Ackerman and he was the final lecture of the convention. So he did the first half of his lecture and then we took a break. After about 20 minutes, I looked for Allan but could not find him. I asked Jason Alford if he had seen Allan, and he said yes. Low and behold, he was on the floor on his knees in the middle of a session with about 5 other magicians. Needless to say, Allan never gave the second hald of his lecture. We spent the rest of the convention in session groups all over the meeting room floor. It was great.

At another TSD convention, I think in Houston, Allan once again gave a lecture. A big group of us went to eat breakast at a waffle house like restaurant. (I don't remember the name of it) but someone had the bright idea of asking me to go cook Allan his breakfast. So I asked the cook if it was ok, and sure enough, I put on an apron, cooked his breakfast and brought it out to him. I'll have to dig up the picture and share it here.

Fun Times.

Trini
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