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October 14, 2006
JOHN CALVERT
I've been a big fan of John's for many years and one of my first thoughts when my son and I created ENIGMA was to do a profile of John Calvert's amazing history.  Unfortunately for us, he and Tami were out of the country every time we had achance to interview him, so it was with great pleasure that we all found the time to sit down and chat on camera.  All I can say is . . . WHAT A LIFE.  For those of you who don't know John Calvert's background, he is to magic what Indiana Jones is to archeology:  a larger than life character whose real life exploits put the comic book adventures of Blackstone and Mandrake to shame.  And we touched on every aspect of his dynamic career.  After the cameras turned off, John invited us back to his motor coach where we sat in awe as he told us even more stories.  If only the cameras had never turned off.

October 21, 2006
AARON RADITZ
The first time I met Aaron was when he was perfoming at Camp JEEP a few years ago.  Since then he has continued touring throughout the world.  I caught up with him in Williamsburg, VA where he was performing at Busch Gardens during the Halloween season.  We talked about life on the road and what it takes to have an ongoing touring show.  He is extremely personable and I never turn down the chance to talk with him and see what he's been up to.  Aaron is definitely someone who is ready for his big television break.

DENNY HANEY
Traveling north from Virginia, Chris and I stopped in at Denny & Lee's in Baltimore.  As always, Denny greeted us with a smile and I was introduced to Babe II, his wandering minstral pig.  Though Denny's shop was never empty, he made the time to sit down for a one on one interview.  We talked about everything from the shop to his time overseas to retiring from magic.  But never fear, retiring to this magician only means not touring constantly.  Denny is definitely one of a kind.

October 23, 2006
HOUDINI'S GRAVESITE
I told George Schindler I was going to be in the New York area and did he know of anything that might be of interest.  He suggested Houdini's gravesite, which is in Brooklyn, and said that not only could he have people there to discuss the graves and the history of the site, they would be able to perform a broken wand ceremony for us.  Once we got there we never turned the camera off, there was so much information.  The broken wand ceremony was very informative and, as usual, George was as helpful as ever.  I seriously don't know where ENIGMA would be if it weren't for people like George.  He's been amazing over the past months.  I think this segment will turn out to be a favorite.

MONDAY NIGHT MAGIC
I used to live two blocks from where they hold Monday Night Magic so it was a litle like going home when we parked the car and began walking to the theater.  Inside we met Michael Chaut, who runs the place, along with the production manager and assistants.  The theater holds 160 people and there was barely an empty seat as the show began.  Last night the magicians on tap
included Peter Samelson and John Lenahan.  During intermission there were three close up magicians performing onstage, in the audience and out in the hall.  Each had his own style and was very entertaining.  We sat down with Michael and the others after the show to ask questions on camera and got some very fun and surprising answers.  Afterwards, we were asked to join them for a late dinner but unfortunately my son and I had a long ride back to my other son's house in Pennsylvania.  Maybe next time.
As a note, Jamy Ian Swiss, another of the owners, was not able to be there last night but we were able to interview him the day before after a lecture he gave in Bethleham, PA.  His interview added insight to the overall picture of Monday Night Magic and we thank him for his time.

October 26, 2006
THE CUCKOO'S NEST
While we were vacationing in Pittsburgh - it happened - we stopped off at The Cuckoo's Nest magic shop.  We were met with a warm welcome by Linda and Tom Peiritsh, who own the shop.  Their shop may look small from the street but don't let that fool you.  Inside, you'll find all sorts of magical odds and ends for all sorts of magical travelers.  Linda gave us a tour of the shop and one of their demonstrators, TJ, showed off one of their best selling products.  I recommend visiting the Cuckoo's Nest . . . even if you aren't vacationing in Pittsburgh.

October 27, 2006
TOM CRAVEN
I have to say a few things first about Tom.  We originally met him at the Battle of Magicians six months ago.  After telling him what our new venture was about, Tom was willing to help in any way possible.  In fact, over the course of the convention, he thought up quite a few of the places we've visited in the past six months.  He's been everywhere and played everywhere and best of all, he loves Chinese buffets as much as my son and I do.  So I thank him for all his contributions.  Now, we had asked if we could do a one on one interview with him and Tom invited us over to his home.  The interview was incredible and my son said he couldn't have hoped for a better interview.  But Tom was just getting started.  He asked if we had a little time and we said we were all his.  Tom proceeded to pull out a deck of cards and show us the difference between card tricks and card magic.  Simply put, nobody likes card tricks.  They're boring and they give magic a bad name.  Card magic, on the other hand, is a marvel to behold.  And Tom marveled my son and I for the next two hours.  If we had kept the cameras on we could have released an official Tom Craven instructional video that would have been a best seller.  I'm not embellishing in any way when I say that if you ever have the chance to see Tom Craven in his element, do yourself a favor…

October 28, 2006
ED ELLIS
Have I told you lately that Ed Ellis can blow your mind with a deck of cards in his hands?  While my son set up the room to shoot Ed's instructional section of the DVD, Ed was going over a few moves that he wanted to show me.  I MADE HIM DO THEM OVER AND OVER AGAIN THEY WERE SO AMAZING!  Not only is Ed a master at card manipulation, he brings a real sense of the impossible to his moves.  There were sleights he did that I told him we couldn't put on the DVD for fear that people would think we used camera tricks.  As a matter of fact, the segments we shot for issues three and four are more basic moves.  The kinds of things that every magician should know; the kind that will allow magicians to build whole routines around.  Of course, Ed also gives us his take on the tried and true methods, and also informs us on the psychology of how little moves like these can have a big impact on an audience.  We'll be seeing Ed Ellis again in February as he lectures and performs at MagiFest 2007 in Columbus, Ohio.  Hopefully we'll see some of you there, too.

October 30, 2006
MARSHALL BRODIEN
My son had said when we started ENIGMA that he didn't know many magicians, but even he knew that Marshall Brodien had a big impact on the world of magic.  And while we attended the Abbott's Get Together we had the honor of meeting Marshall for the first time.  He instantly invited us to Chicago to do a profile, but our schedule was tight at the time and we swore that the next time we were in the area we would do a profile on him.  Well, a couple of months have passed and we just got back from doing our profile with Marshall.  What an incredibly nice man he is.  And the stories . . . we got him to tell us a few from his new book he just released and we were spellbound.  The interview was held in his basement, which is actually a museum of tricks and box sets and photos that Marshall has acquired over his years in the business.  And for each piece of personal memorabilia he owns, he has a fascinating story to go along with it.  He allowed us to take the camera around as he gave us a tour, so you can look forward to seeing this hidden Chicago showplace in the future.

TOMAS MEDINA
My son and I like to think of Tomas as a diamond in the rough.  Not that he's rough around the edges by any means.  He performs like a fifty year old seasoned professional.  It's just that not as many people know about him as I would like.  Hopefully the next couple of issues of ENIGMA will help to change that.  Tomas accepted our offer to be a guest instructor and brought with him his usual crazy assortment of tricks that make people scratch their heads and say, "Wow, how'd he think of that?"  One of these days Tomas is going to explode on the magic scene and you're all going to wonder where this overnight sensation came from.

October 31, 2006
FUN, INC.
I've known about Fun, Inc. for a long time and so it was with great anticipation that I walked into the Chicago plant where so many good things come from.  I had talked with many of the people in the office before and it was nice to see that they are as happy and "fun" in person as they are on the phone.  Fun, Inc. is both a manufacturing plant and a distribution warehouse.  Graham took us on the big tour of the whole place and gave us a real insight into how Fun, Inc. has evolved over the years and what it takes to be in the magic business today.  We ended up on the second floor in a back room where Graham showed me stacks of Crackerjack prizes from years gone by.  Some of them took me back to my youth in a way that only good memories can do.  Not a lot of people get the full tour of the plant, and I'm extremely glad we got to bring the cameras along for the rest of you.

November 3-5, 2006
DAYTONA BEACH FESTIVAL OF MAGIC
Every year Harry Allen and Irv Cook find amazing talent to create an tremendous convention, and every year I go to it.  This time, however, I got to bring the cameras.  When Harry's main act, Tomsini, had an accident he was helped out by Fielding West, who was flocked by fans wherever he went.  FISM winner Boris Wild brought an elegance to magic that I've rarely seen before.  Terry Seabrook lectured and MC'd the Saturday Night gala, and I got a chance to sit down with him and find out what a truly wonderful fellow he really is.  As usual, Harry and Irv put together a great convention and even commissioned my son and I to create a special souvenir DVD of the event, which is now available on their website.  As one dealer said when asked what makes the Festival great to come to, "It's November and I'm from Pennsylvania and here in Daytona it's 80 degrees.  What more incentive do you need to get away from the cold than the Festival of Magic?"