Bob Bengal worked for Hitachi for many years as their “in house” magician. That meant that he had all the benefits like insurance, vacation, 401-K, etc. He was responsible not only for performing at their trade show booths around the world, but also for playing golf with their premiere customers and keeping them happy.

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In this week’s chat with Bob, he talks about how he got the job with Hitachi and why he left it. He also talks about and shares performing tips for “behind the trade show booth” to help attract crowds at the booth. You can find the trick we talked about in this week’s episode, “Fusillade” (multiple card location) on Doc Eason’s website as a DVD at: https://doceason.com/product/fusillade-the-dvd/ The original book is out of print but available for about a hundred bucks on Amazon or eBay.

The Dream Job

Scott Wells with Bob Bengel

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Enter the Drawing for a Chance to Win a Copy of "Know Brainer" by Michael Breggar

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Thank you for entering the drawing. There will be six winners in this drawing. If your name is randomly selected, then you will be notified on how to order your book from Michael Breggar. If you reside outside of the U.S., then you will be notified how much you will owe for foreign shipping. Good luck!

ScheduleThursday, May 14, 2026

9:00 to 11:00 a.m. – Dealer Room Open
11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – Session #4
12:30 to 2:00 p.m. – Dealer Room Open
2:00 to 3:30 p.m. – Session #5
6:00 to 7:00 p.m. – Cocktails & Close Up
7:00 to 9:00 p.m. – Dinner & Show

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Photo Credit - Michael Tallon

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Photo Credit - Michael Tallon

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Time stamps for this episode will be posted after I get some sleep.

Collector Expo 2026 Day Three Report

Scott Wells with van Roessel, Henderson, Blackstone, Dreyer, Levine, Sandy, Boyce, and Smith

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ScheduleTuesday, May 12, 2026

10:00 a.m. – Registration Opens
1:00 to 4:00 p.m. – Dealer Room Open
4:00 to 5:00 p.m. – Session #1
7:00 to 8:30 p.m. – Session #2
8:30 to 11:30 p.m. – Dealer Room Open

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

9:00 a.m. – First Group Bus to NYPL/Lincoln Center
10:15 a.m. – Second Group Bus to NYPL/Lincoln Center
11:30 a.m. – First Group Leaves NYPL/Lincoln Center
12:30 to 5:00 p.m. – Dealer Room Open
12:30 p.m. – Second Group Leaves NYPL/Lincoln Center
7:00 to 8:30 p.m. – Session #3
8:30 to 11:30 p.m. – Dealer Room Open

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I will give you the time stamps of who spoke when after I get some sleep.

Magic Collector Expo 2026 Days One and Two

Scott Wells with Averbook, Beam, Ewing, Holstein, Cohn, Patella, and Charvet

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Everyone’s favorite close-up comedy magician, Bill Malone, joins us this week. He gives us his all including his career, his starring role on a TV show (NCIS Los Angeles) his first magic bar work, learning from a comedian, working trade shows around the world for years, training executives, his relationship with Ed Marlo, opening Malone’s Magic Bar in Boca Raton, Florida, his health scare that nearly ended his life, and he tells us about his forthcoming book that will hopefully be released in 2027.

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Bill doesn’t hold back anything from our candid discussion this week. He talks about his initial reticence in approaching tables as he was getting started, learning how to draw and hold a crowd at a trade show, how he “found” his comedic character, people who influenced his life and career, the development of Malone’s Magic Bar in Boca Raton, Florida, his health scare that nearly cost him his life, and his new book. Lots of stuff packed into this episode.

Bill Malone - Bill Malone

Scott Wells with Bill Malone

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Visit the website for tickets and more information: https://www.pa1magicclub.org/

Doug Scheer has been performing thousands of school assembly shows since 1987. He has a proven formula that he fine tunes every year as he returns to many of the same schools year after year because of his entertaining and educational programs. There is more to school shows than just considering them as an oversized birthday party show. It involves a lot more business acumen in booking the shows and keeping clients happy.

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I am not a children’s entertainer, but I know a lot of listeners specialize in that field, so I think it’s important to bring you experts in this field to help share their experience and perhaps encourage you to pursue such a lucrative career. In this week’s episode, Doug shares a lot of the secrets behind his success, including how he has franchised his magic show to allow others to perform his routines in their school assembly shows. He has been a featured speaker/lecturer at kid show conventions where he has opened his books to anyone willing to make the effort.

Scheer Sharing

Scott Wells with Doug Scheer

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This week’s sponsor is the S.A.M. Parent Assembly #1 Salute to Magic. Please click on the graphic above for more information.

Dan Stapleton is one of those magicians who has seen it all and now in his 60’s could easily set his remaining days on “cruise control” for the rest of his life; however, that is not who he is. He was a cruise magician for 23 years and served as a cruise director, too. Early in his career, he performed in Circus World where he got his chops at performing illusions. But his passion and goal was always to work on Main Street in Disney World as a demonstrator in the magic shop. That opportunity came to him and he loved his days doing it. He also appeared on America’s Got Talent [sic] where he was summarily dismissed, but he has a good story about that. In his semi-retirement he has managed a resort hotel in Orlando and now coordinates the Florida State Magic Collectors conferences.

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Dan has so many stories that they would fill a book. He has recounted many of them in VANISH Magazine over the years in his column. But this week he shares some of those stories, and more, as he opens up about his experience being voted off of AGT yet how even today, it still helps him book shows. He chats about the status of magic on cruise ships, magic conventions, and more.

On Cruise Control

Scott Wells with Dan Stapleton

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This week’s sponsor is the S.A.M. Parent Assembly #1 Salute to Magic. Please click on the graphic above for more information.

For many decades, Joe Eddie and Betty Fairchild were “road warriors” traversing the country to perform at state and country fairs. They toured with assistants and even a big cat that kept them on the road over 40 weeks out of the year. At one point, they had a residency in Las Vegas at the Riviera with their big show. Now retired from trouping and performing, Joe Eddie has retired to Florida where he builds quality hand-made props and cases for professional magicians.

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In this week’s episode, Joe Eddie gives us a walking tour of his workshop during the first half hour of our chat. Then Betty joins us during the last half to enliven the mood and share stories from the road from her perspective. I think one of the best stories they shared is the one about the inspector who “inspected” their big cat during a break at one of their shows.

Playing Fairs

Scott Wells with Joe Eddie and Betty Fairchild

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Magic dealer, creator, consultant, lecturer, and performer, Paul Richards joins us this week as we talk about a treasure chest full of topics. Paul has been at the epicenter of innovation first as a brick and mortar magic shop owner, then online dealer, coordinator of one day magic events, as well as a well-known and highly respected magic dealer. He is often seen at all of the large magic conventions like Blackpool, MAGIC Live!, Magifest, and others.

As a result of being in the forefront of magic innovation, keep that in perspective as you listen to this week’s episode. You will see some trends that have started and perhaps get some idea of where we’re going…at least from Paul’s perspective. But you can use your own precognitive powers to prognosticate what the future of magic will bring us. This is just your “leaping off” place.

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Paul has recently returned from the Blackpool magic convention in England and has a lot to say about that event But he also attends many other conventions throughout the year as a dealer and he gives us his perspective on their differences. He was the creator of the “Real Magic Roadshow” that featured a handful of magic creators in a sort of one day mini-convention. He also talks this week about his Elmwood Magic Shop which was a brick and mortar shop in Buffalo, New York, and the future of these storefront shops versus online sellers.

Magic Trends

Scott Wells with Paul Richards

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Michael Breggar is a columnist for The Linking Ring journal (the house organ for the I.B.M.) and has written dozens of articles about putting new scripting ideas to old close-up tricks. He has also authored several books that fit his style and are quite cleverly written. For example, “The Expert at the Cod Table” by S.W. Ordfish and “Raiders of the Lost Card” by “Jerseyana” Michael Breggar. These tongue-in-cheek titles give a glimpse into his comical and satirical thinking and writing.

Michael has also invented and marketed several magic tricks (mostly with a comedic mental twist) that are part of some professional magician’s repertoires.

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The reason I wanted to talk with my friend on the podcast this week was to let the rest of the magic community into his creative mind with the hopes that listeners will be inspired to think of some of the old tricks that they (we) have been performing for years and consider updating them with clever new scripting. But our conversation quickly becomes quite deep as we talk about the importance of building a strong routine and act using the three legs of building a show. In a world of short attention span, we should consider the importance of how every little thing matters that influences our audience's perception of our magic.

Everything Matters

Scott Wells with Michael Breggar

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John Guastaferro has his priorities straight. He thinks of others before himself. From his magic career to his professional life as a director on the board of Hundai’s “Hope on Wheels” philanthropic organization. John has just released the third book in his close-up card magic trilogy “The Final Degree.” In these books, John emphasizes how small degrees of change can make a big difference in the effect on your audience. You can see how he puts his work into action when he performs in the Close-Up Gallery of the Magic Castle.

As to his philanthropic activities, John works with this group several months out of the year in helping raise money for cancer research in children. And as if that doesn’t keep him busy enough, he is also an accomplished flamenco-style guitar player.

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John Guastaferro as the executive director for Hyundai Hope On Wheels and Genesis Inspiration Foundation, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. Guastaferro is responsible for advancing the missions of both foundations while maintaining current successes, driving program growth, developing diversified revenue streams, and building greater community awareness. As you can imagine, that takes a lot of his time throughout the year and we discuss all that in this week’s episode.

John is a regular performer at the Magic Castle and we chat during the first few minutes about what it was like for his first time at working there and how others may overcome their hesitancy of auditioning to perform there. When we recorded this episode, his new book “The Final Degree” was about to be released. It is now available through the publisher, Vanishing, Inc. and other fine magic shops. We also talk a little bit about his passion with the guitar. This flamenco-styiings feature original compositions that can be heard on iTunes and Spotify, among other platforms and I highly recommend listening to it. It is very soothing and relaxing music.

Leading With His Heart

Scott Wells with John Guastaferro

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