The Magic Collector Expo had many great sessions! These ranged from peoples experiences in shows, talks about magicians they knew or worked with and even a talk about collecting!
All of the presentations were well thought out and highlight with pictures and video on the projection screen.
If you’re into magic history, you should check out one of these events!
-Louie
The last night of the Magic Collector Expo was their dinner and show. For hotel banquet food, the dinner was good!
The show was three acts, and opened with James Dimmare doing his solo act. This was his solo act, not the dove act he does with an assistant. Having seen the dove act several times over the years and it’s fantastic, the solo is just OK compared to the dove act.
There was a big challenge for Dimmare was that he couldn’t use fire and does candles in the act. When it came time for him to light the first candle, he took out the lighter, struck it and verbally said “fire”. He then did the portion of his act that uses candles without fire. The fire on the candles really makes the multiplying candle trick amazing, when they appear lit. Unfortunately it really fell flat without them lit. That said, it was probably a condition that was dropped on him at the last minute and sometimes you just have to do it as best you can.
Next up was John Carney. When I was a teenager in the mid 1990’s it was very difficult to see a magicians show. You had to catch them performing in your area. When I was a teenager I found a VHS tape of John Carney doing his show. I must have watched it hundreds of times.
He did a few routines that were on that VHS tape, they’re his work horse routines!
I got pulled up onstage to help him with a trick.
It was super fun, but also stressful. I knew the trick/routine really well from watching that VHS tape. I’m not a good actor, but I tried to act surprised at all the right spots!
Closing the show was Mac King.
Mac has been consistently working his show in Vegas for years and really shows. He comes out with a big smile and does great, even in a room full of people who have probably seen his show a dozen times!
It was a fun show and a nice slice of three very different styles of performing.
-Louie
During a break in the Magic Collector Expo, Brian, Brett, Terry, Chris and I headed over to Trick Supply in Las Vegas. Wolfgang the owner who was running the booth at the expo said it was “10 mins away”, so we hopped in a 20 minute $40 Uber to his shop’s location.
It was worth the trip! The show was run by Doug Conn and it’s a super well stocked magic shop, we all picked up a few things.
Personally I love production items, I’m not sure why, but I do. I was looking at this skull, light bulb and corn.
I ended up buying the light bulb and the corn. I’m not sure how I’m going to use the corn, but I have an idea for the light bulb.
If you’re in the Las Vegas area, it’s a great shop and totally worth a stop!
-Louie
Here’s a little peek at the dealer’s room at the Magic Collector Expo:
There’s more, I just took those pics as the doors opened and not all the dealers were set up yet. Lots of books and posters, as for props there was a lot of smaller things. I didn’t see a lot of bigger props, it could be that many of the dealers and attendees flew in, so it’s harder to move those larger props around.
I picked up a few things (so far):
Nothing super crazy. The main things are the blue 28 foot streamer, which will be in my summer show. I was planning on producing a 36 inch silk, but the streamer will have a bigger impact as a lot of the volume of a square silk is lost.
The other thing I will use is the Ali-Baba box in half dollar size. I have a quarter size and it’s just too small, so the half dollar size is a nice upgrade for the routine that I do.
The other things are for me to mess around with.
-Louie
The only magic convention I’m going to this year is the Magic Collector Expo. My wife says I’m officially an old man that I’m going to this instead of one that’s got the “latest and greatest” stuff. I do like those conventions, but this one worked with my schedule as most other magic conventions are in the summer that is my busy season.
This convention started yesterday as in at The Orleans casino in Las Vegas. I got into town yesterday just in time for the first session. The sessions here are mostly historical talks or things relevant to collectors.
Personally I really like these types of talks. The speakers were telling personal stories of their relationship with the people and collections. I like that style of presentation more than a totally historical talk about someone that’s been dead for 150 years. I will still watch and enjoy the purely historical talk, I just prefer when the person is telling personal stories.
I really liked Bill Schmeelk’s talk about how he got into working as a machinest and doing that for Owen Magic, John Gaughan, and starting Wellington Enterprises! I really like the stories about the different personalities and what they quirks were and the “conflicts” that different builders had with each other.
I use Rich Marotta’s Rat Trap trick, which is one that Wellington used to make. Unfortunately as far as I know that prop is currently unavailable.
After the sessions I made it to the dealer room. I’ll write about that another time. If you’re into vintage props and the stories behind them, you should check out one of these expos!!
-Louie
Today I’m travelling from New Orleans, Louisiana to The Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas for the Magic Collector Expo!
I’ve realized that I’m officially an old magician because I’m going to this. It’s also a sign that I’m into the history of the magic tricks and props. I’ve always been into the history, but the props is a more recent thing in the last decade or so. I’ve always been into the old magic props, but having the money and space to collect and display them has only been about the last 10 years.
This should be a fun few days and if you’re at the expo, be sure to say HI!
-Louie
For my show this summer that I’ll be doing at libraries and summer camps, I wanted to dedicated prop box for it. I found this old RC Cola box at a junk shop. The guy wanted way too much for it, but I talked him down to where it made sense as I didn’t want it as an advertising collectible, I just wanted it as a box.
Once I got the box home I covered it with black fabric, added metal corners and changed the hinges. Here’s what it looks like now:
This was a quick, easy way to make a prop box for the summer magic show. It doesn’t need to last for years, just 3 months!
-Louie
**The daily blog will continue to be updated below this pinned post**
This is a quick heads up that I’m out of town today (5/2/25) through May 9th, 2025.
No orders will ship during that period or work on products will happen while I’m away. In stock items will ship on Monday 5/12/25.
**The daily blog will continue to be updated below this pinned post**
Last night I was the guest on Jeff McBride’s Mystery School Monday. I think that Jeff said they’ve been doing these Monday meetings for something like 15 years!
It was great to be talk to magicians about who I am and what I do. We talked about performing at fairs, vintage magic tricks and why to perform shows at retirement communities.
I also got to talk about my “That Way More” presentation for the ambitious card. I always love sharing this trick and explaining WHY it is the way it is. If you’re a Mystery School member last night’s meeting should be in the archive.
-Louie
A few weeks ago when Meadow Perry was in town, we met up with some Seattle magicians and had a little magic jam.
One of the things that surprised me was that Meadow mentioned that she’s never been to a magic jam were people shared as much as we did. The group in Seattle that I meet up with, we’re good about sharing or teaching magic tricks with each other.
While I totally understand not teaching everything, the magic jams I prefer are where we help each other, not where we just try to one up each other.
-Louie
