Improv and Magic LD Madera

Today’s guest is a true superstar of magic. My guest today is Colin Cloud!



He’s the only magician in history to perform on London’s West End, Broadway and the Las Vegas Strip.  Colin specializes in mentalism, and he’s so good that he’s been described as a real life Sherlock Holmes.  Colin performed as “The Deductionist” in the touring magic show The Illusionists.  He was also a contestant on Penn & Teller: Fool Us, and completed on Britain’s Got Talent in 2012.  You may also remember Colin as a semi-finalist on Season 12 of America’s Got Talent, and also participated in the very first season of America’s Got Talent: The Champions.  Colin Cloud has continued to be one of magic’s top performers, and is currently preparing to open his brand new show this Summer at Harrah’s in Las Vegas.

Colin and I had a great time talking about his beginnings as a performer, what drew him to mentalism, and his process in creating a great show.  This was an amazing interview you are sure to enjoy!



Visit Colin's website, colincloud.com, and follow Colin on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X and TikTok.



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Today is the return of LD's Tips! Today's tip is about how not every scene we do in improv needs to be funny. We often feel that funny scenes are a "requirement" in order to do good improv. Making the audience laugh is great, but it's even more special to make the audience feel. This tip talks about my feelings on exactly that. You'll either agree with me or disagree with me, but either way these are my feelings on what makes an improv scene special.



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My guest today is someone who I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know, he’s an excellent improv actor who hails from the great state of Nebraska.  Today’s guest is Dylan Oakes Rhode.



Dylan is a graduate of Wayne State, and has trained and performed at UCB and iO.  He now travels the country and the world teaching improv at various theaters and festivals.  In 2011, Dylan founded Backline Comedy, which originally began teaching improv classes in the basement of a small art gallery.  They recently opened their new theater, and have since become Omaha’s destination for live comedy shows. Dylan is also the founder of the Omaha Comedy Fest, which began in 2013 and has since been offering fans access to intimate shows and hilarious experiences with established and emerging comedians from across the country.



I had the opportunity to talk to Dylan just before one of his classes at Backline Comedy Theater.  In this conversation, he shares about his early beginnings in improv and the process of getting his theater started.  There’s a lot to learn in this conversation, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.



Learn more about the Backline Comedy Theater by visiting backlinecomedy.com where you can find out about shows and classes.  And learn all about the Omaha Comedy Fest by visiting omahacomedyfest.com.



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Today is the 1 year anniversary of the Improv and Magic podcast, and we are celebrating with a very special episode.

Today we look back at everyone's answer to the final question: What's the one piece of advice that has served you well that you'd want everyone else to hear?

A very special thank you to all of our guests who've come on the show and shared their stories, and an even bigger thank you to all of you listeners out there for tuning in!

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Today I got to talk to one of the most respected and celebrated names in magic.  He’s the most versatile magician in the world.  He is Dan Harlan.

Dan has invented, performed, and taught more magic than any other magician... ever!  In fact, he even updated the entire Tarbell Course in Magic, which is an eight-volume encyclopedia containing over 1200 tricks!  Dan is one of the most innovative modern magicians, and his cutting-edge miracles have delighted audiences in over 20 countries around the world. He has been featured at Caesar's Magical Empire in Las Vegas, headlined at the world-famous Magic Castle in Hollywood, and guest-starred at Masters of Magic in Saint-Vincent, Italy.  Dan has also consulted for top professional magicians, including Kevin James, Jeff McBride, Keith Barry, and David Copperfield.  He is also co-founder of The Mystic Tower, which produces brand-new, mind blowing magic.

If you love magic you’re definitely going to love what Dan Harlan has to say.  Whether you’re a magician or not, you’re going to be amazed by all of the incredible wisdom shared in this interview.

Visit Dan’s website, danharlanmagic.com to learn more about him and his shows.  Be sure to also visit themystictower.com for unique, mind-blowing magic, as well as Dan’s Masterworks book project.

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the podcast and share it around!

My guest today is Patti Stiles.

Patti is an actor, director, playwright and teacher who specializes in improvisational theatre. She is a former Artistic Director of Rapid Fire Theatre in California, and a founding member of the award winning show Die Nasty – the live improvised soap opera.  She is known as the “Queen of Improvisation” by the Canadian press.  Patti has been featured on the cover of the Spanish improv magazine Status; she is a contributor to the book The Art of Making Mistakes and has been interviewed for the books Something Like A Drug and The Improv Handbook. She’s also been interviewed for numerous podcasts and University papers, and her blog has been translated into French, Italian, German and Portuguese.

Patti Stiles released her first book in 2021 titled Improvise Freely, which has received an enthusiastic response from improvisors, teachers and impro companies around the globe, and was even translated into Italian in 2022.  In Improvise Freely, Patti talks about throwing away the typical improv rulebooks, and encourages performers to be free to unleash their creativity.

I highly encourage you to learn more about this fantastic person by visiting her website, pattistiles.com.  And be sure to also pick up a copy of her book Improvise Freely, which is available at Barnes & Nobel, Good Reads, Book Depository, Bokus, and Amazon.

Don't forget to rate and review, and share the podcast around!