Mike Caveney calls in from the world headquarters of Magic Words to join us for a chat on this episode of the Magic Newswire "Spirit of Magic" podcast. Mike began his career working at Owen's Magic Supreme, as a member of the Long Islan Mystics, turning coins for Johnson Products and performing at the Magic Castle. Not too shabby for a guy just turning 21 at the time. Mike talks with us about what made the Mystics different from most magic clubs, the importance of innovation and creativity in an act and shares the evolution of his signature effects. In addition, we learn a bit more about his role in the Left Handed League, the Bubonic Players and Wenii Magazine.

Award-winning magician and world-renowned sleight of hand artist, Eric DeCamps joins us on the Magic Newswire "Spirit of Magic" Podcast before appearing as a featured performer at the SAM's 100th anniversary Salute to Magic!  Eric has been performing for more than 30 years and was voted Magician of the Year by The Society of American Magicians. He is the second person in the 107 year history of the organization to receive the prestigious Gold Medal of Excellence for Close Up Magic. Join Eric and me to discuss his background in the craft and his upcoming appearance at the SAM's anniversary show.

Harry Lorayne has appeared numerous times on every national television talk show in the United States as well as on innumerable programs throughout the world. He has had feature articles written about him and his work in most major publications and newspapers including, but not limited to, Fortune, US News & World Report,  Reader’s Digest, Cosmopolitan, Ladies Home Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Gentleman’s Quarterly, Nations Business. He has even been called "The Yoda of Memory Training" by Time magazine. As if that were not enough, Harry Lorayne was named as one of the 100 most influential magicians of the century in 1999 by Magic Magazine. Join us on this edition of the Magic Newswire for our conversation with magician Harry Lorayne. Lorayne wrote and published the magazine Apocalypse for twenty years (later republished in books). His latest book for magicians is Lorayne: The Classic Collection, an updated collection of his first four magic books of the 1960s, and recently he completed Mathematical Wizardry—magic with numbers.

Harry Lorayne has appeared numerous times on every national television talk show in the United States as well as on innumerable programs throughout the world. He has had feature articles written about him and his work in most major publications and newspapers including, but not limited to, Fortune, US News & World Report,  Reader’s Digest, Cosmopolitan, Ladies Home Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Gentleman’s Quarterly, Nations Business. He has even been called "The Yoda of Memory Training" by Time magazine. As if that were not enough, Harry Lorayne was named as one of the 100 most influential magicians of the century in 1999 by Magic Magazine. Join us on this edition of the Magic Newswire for our conversation with magician Harry Lorayne. Lorayne wrote and published the magazine Apocalypse for twenty years (later republished in books). His latest book for magicians is Lorayne: The Classic Collection, an updated collection of his first four magic books of the 1960s, and recently he completed Mathematical Wizardry—magic with numbers.

If you don't know the name of Jon Racherbaumer, you should either walk away from magic or take  some time to explore his influence on our art form. Jon is one of those guys that managed to connect to some of the greatests names in the modern history of magic including Ed Marlo, Eddie Fields, Orson Welles, and Senator Crandall.  Given the controversies surrounding Blackpool & FISM 2010, it is also interesting to note that he was at one time blackballed by both the IBM & the SAM.  Please join us for Part One of our interview with Jon Racherbaumer and learn more about lesbian bowlers, the "Magic Mafia" and how a good magician becomes controversial.

In Part Two of my interview with the legendary Jon Racherbaumer, we explore the many influenences on Jon and his passion for magic. Marlo, Vernon, Cardini, Slydini, Chan Canasta, Channing Pollock, Tommy Wonder, John Scarne and more all enter into the conversation. In addition, we discuss 75th anniversary edition of the Jinx that he and Harry Anderson have put together for the October issue of Genii Magazine.

The Amazing Randi joins us on this episode of the "Spirit of Magic" podcast before appearing as a featured performer at the upcoming 100th Anniversary Salute to Magic show in New York City. Randi began his career as a mentalist and magician before becoming known as a scientific sceptic challenging those who claim to have paranormal abilities. He gained fame in this field after an ongoing feud between himself and Uri Gellar in the mid to late 1970's.  Randi himself rejects the title of "debunker" preferring instead to be seen as an investigator in the field of pseudo-science and is the author of many books on the subjects of the paranormal, skepticism and the history of conjuring. Randi talks with me about his career in these varied fields and about his motivation as a paranormal skeptic.

Widely credited as the man who was the first magician to mainstream magic on television, Mr. Mark Wilson is our guest on ths edition of the Magic Newswire's "Spirit of Magic" podcast. This is the first of a multi-part interview that we'll be producing with Mark's help exploring his career, thoughts, ideas an philosophies as they relate to magic, both on television and on stage.

If you were to describe the worst audience for a comedy magic show, would it beat the one that Mac King found himself facing?  If you have a line that you put into your act only to get a laugh, what would you do if it came true? Mac King shares his adventures on the comedy magic stage with us on this episode of the Magic Newswire Spirit of Magic podcast and we discuss all of these scenarios and more. We even learn that Teller is a far better heckler than I will ever be.. no surprise there though.

We celebrate our 100th episode of the MagicNewswire.com 's Spirit of Magic podcast with  Master Magician Lance Burton. Lance is one of the top performers in Las Vegas with a $27 Million doallr venue built just for him at the Monte Carlo Resort & Casino. In July of 1980, barely three months after his 20th birthday, he became the first person to win magic's most coveted "Gold Medal Award for Excellence" from the International Brotherhood of Magicians and received magic's highest accolade two years later when he won the Grand Prix at the Federation International Society de Magic (F.I.S.M.) in Lausanne, Switzerland making him a "World Champion Magician." This made Lance both the first American to receive this honor as well as the first American performer to do so. Johnny Carson called Lance's performance on his show the "Best 12 minutes in magic." Who was Fletcher the Flamboyant? How did he inspire Lance? Lance joins us to discuss these and many other questions related to his career and the many influences that have helped to shape his magic.