Today began the first full day of the TAOM Convention chock full of lectures and competition. A pass through the dealers' room proved an experience. With only a dozen dealers in attendance, no one should complain about being too much competition; however, since the dealers were put in a large room, it engulfed the tiny town and made the place seem empty most of the time. Let me just say that there was plenty of standing room in front of any one dealer at any one time.

The morning saw the stage contestants competing with the afternoon having the professional close-up show featuring Steve Bedwell, Master Payne, Dave Chandler and some others who were not listed on the program. The lectures were outstanding and given by Max Howard, Sonny Fontana, Kevin James and Steve Bedwell Throughout the convention at irregular times, miniature illusions were on display that was apparently thrown in at the last minute as there is no recognition in the schedule of who owned or presented the collection.

The evening show featured other acts that were not in the program. Apparently the show order and talent was also thrown together after the program went to bed. Having said that, the show was enjoyable with lots of variety. I wish I could remember, but this recap is being typed in long after the convention was over and my hand had time to heal enough to allow me to be back at the keyboard.

Time stamps for this podcast;:

00:02:03 - Master Payne gives a PowerPoint presentation to the Order of Willard breakfast group

00:20:38 - Master Payne chats with Scott

00:30:42 - Arthur Moses, world renown Houdini collector, talks about the recent Houdini auction by Potter & Potter in Chicago

00:46:56 - Max Howard talks about what's mos important in our art...theatre. He also discusses the creation of Gus Rich, the War Magician.

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. (please note: this RSS Feed subscription system may not work with Android systems). Remember, you can download it through iTunes. See the preview page by Clicking Here.