The Magic Word Podcast Scott Wells

While at the Winter Carnival of Magic earlier this year, we were treated to a personalized tour of Terry Evanswood’s Magic Mansion in Sevierville, TN (approximately 10 miles from Pigeon Forge). Terry takes us on a curated tour of his “eccentric” collection of oddities and unique artifacts, both real and imagined.
The “Magic Mansion” was completed in 1840 and lovingly restored to the Victorian Era of times gone by.
Use your imagination as you envision the many sights that you will hear in this week’s episode. Breath taking décor, antiques and art will transport you back to a simpler time. Our tour includes a visit to themed rooms and priceless collections like The Titanic Suite and the P.T. Barnum Room complete with sights and sounds relevant to the rooms.
We will then be led through a secret passage where you will “see with your ears” some circus side show oddities. We will also visit the Disney relic collection that features an amazing miniature amusement park exhibition.
Terry’s tour and description of his Magic Mansion is so broad that we are splitting up this tour into two episodes, the second of which you will hear next week.































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Friday, May 261:00 p.m. Welcome and Housekeeping Announcements
1:20 p.m. Gary Plants
7:00 p.m. Doug Conn
Saturday, May 2710:30 a.m. - The Do-It-Yourself, All-Star Debutantes Jamboree Soiree Hootenanny
1:00 p.m. - Jared Kopf
7:00 p.m. - Erik Tait
10:30 p.m. - Gary Plants’ Ultra Secret Video Historical Showcase Exhibit of long-gone time past and magical curiosities































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While at the Magic Castle during the week of March 13-19, 2023, I spoke with Dale Salwak who most of you know as the teacher for the Chavez Studio of Magic. He is a professor at Citrus College but has been a well-known figure in our community for many decades having produced many magic shows other than his own, too.































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Dale tells us this week where he got his moniker of the “Gentleman of Magic” plus he reminisces about Houston’s Magic Island, what people need to do if you are interested in getting booked at the Magic Castle, meeting and learning the Chavez way of magic through Ben and Marian Chavez then going on to become and instructor himself, plus performing at the Magic Castle, producing the AMA shows, and tour

Thursday, May 119:30am to 11:00am Dealer Room Opens
11:00am to 12:30pm Session #4 with William Winters “Walter Gibson”, John Cox “Houdini in Cleveland”,David Charvet “Conjurors and their Cars”
12:30pm to 2:30pm Dealers Open
2:30pm to 4:00pm Session #5 Jay Hunter “Don’t Throw Away Throw Out Cards”, Gabe Fajuri “A Half Century of Magic on The Block”. Mike Caveney “Otis Lithography Company, Cleveland, Ohio”
6:30pm- 10pm Dinner & Show Cleveland’s Finest Magicians with MC Kerry Pollock, Alan Howard, Tim Hill & Rick Smith Jr































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Tuesday, May 910:00am Registration Opens
1:00pm to 4:00pm Dealers Open
4:00pm to 5:00pm Session #1 “Welcome To Cleveland” with Lance Rich, Dr. Bruce Averbook & Tim LaGanke
5:00pm to 7:00pm Dinner
7:00pm to 8:30pm Session #2 with Jim Hagy “The Instant Illusionist and The Cleveland Bunch: Dreams of a Vaudeville Life”, Sandy Daily “The Adventures & Challenges of a Magic Collectors Wife, Gene Anderson “Not Just a One Trick Pony” with Stan Allen
8:30pm to 11:30pm Dealer Room Open
Wednesday, May 1010:00am First Buses Load for Tours of Dr. Bruce Averbook & Tim LaGangke Collections
2:00pm to 5:00pm Dealer Room Open
7:00pm to 8:30pm Session #3 with Richard Cohn “Roltaire”, Phil Schwartz “Steals, Lifts & Body Loads-The Funny Business of Magic Collecting, Al Belmont “Memories of the Blackstone Sr. Show”
8:30pm to 11:30pm Dealer Room Open































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The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. Since then and with the advent of the internet and the digital age, Russia has had more and more access to learning magic from the rest of the world. But this week we take a peek behind the curtain, so to speak, to see how Russians learn magic when there are few brick and mortar magic shops, few opportunities for restaurant workers, learning from (mostly) English magic books, and the market for birthday party and wedding magicians, restaurant workers and trade show performers. FISM Champion, Artem Shchukin candidly shares his journey from the circus to the FISM competition.































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Artem speaks frankly about how he learned magic from his traveling circus family in Russia then later during lock-down in South Korea and how he developed an award winning, creative magic act. He also answers my probing questions about some of the mysteries in Russia and how people find work as a magician there. For the most part, magic, like many other things, is still kept secret in Russia with little sharing nor congregating at clubs and conventions. Magic is still considered a hobby and not a contributing art to the communal (or Communist) way of life.