TAOM Dallas - Aug 30 - Sept 2 News

[Mark Jensen]

Hi,

If you haven't seen our ads in Genii, here is a bit more info about TAOM this year.

I'm the President of the Texas Association of Magicians (TAOM) and I'd like to tell you about a few of the things that will be happening in Dallas this Labor Day weekend. One of our themes for the convention is First Time Ever - Never to be Repeated Events.

Here are just a few of the people who will be appearing at TAOM:

• Tom Mullica, our Guest of Honor will be performing Duke for the first time in over 25 years and the last time ever. He will also be hosting our Comedy Magic Showdown.
• Harry Anderson, the Magic Castle Lecturer of the Year will be bringing his lecture to Dallas. This is one of the must see events of the convention.
• Burton Gilliam, star of over 51 major motion pictures will be the host of our All Texas Show. He will also be part of a First Time Ever - Never to be Repeated panel discussion on Magic, Movies and a Cast of Characters.
• One of the Baldwin Brothers will also be appearing as part of the Magic, Movies and a Cast of Characters event. - Can you guess which one?
• Johnny and Pam Thompson will be performing their new act.
• Rob Zabrecky, The Magic Castle Stage Perfomer of the Year the last 2 years will be performing and lecturing.
• Allen Okawa, will be making his first US Convention appearance. If you haven't heard of Allen, I'm sure RK can fill you in on this incredible opportunity.
• Fielding West will be making his first ever TAOM appearance.
• David Stone will be performing and presenting 2 lectures. 1 Brand New for TAOM and his current lecture for those of you who haven't had a chance to see it (it is great!)
• Shin Lim will be performing and lecturing, including on parts of his FISM act.
• Jared Kopf, one of the best slight of hand artists around will be performing. If you don't know Jared, ask the Buck twins about him ;>)
• David Magee is setting records at WinStar Casino. TAOM will be David's first and most likely his last convention appearance (he is taking time from his busy schedule as a personal favor). His performance is one that you do not want to miss.
• John Shryock will be gracing us with his winning smile and amazing close-up skills. Be prepared to be amazed!
• Larry Hass will be presenting "McBride's Magic and Mystery School is Now in Session - A Special Lecture" - You don't want to miss this first time ever event.
• Chip Romero will be presenting a First Time Ever, Never to be Repeated event: Doug Henning - the Man and his Magic. Many of Doug's original illusions will be presented and discussed.
• Lonnie Chevrie will be hosting our special Charity Auction and Entertainment event. Tom Mullica, Johnny & Pam Thompson and Fielding West will be presenting some rarely seen entertainment. We will also be auctioning off several cool items to support the Ronald McDonald House and the Alzheimers Association. We will be telling you about some of the auction items later this month, but we have items from Mac King, Jeff McBride, Eugene Burger, Larry Hass, Carl Weathers (think Rocky), Terry Bradshaw and Roger Dreyer at Fantasma Magic just to mention a few.
• Friday night is Magic at the Midway and Bruce Walstad will be presenting a rarely seen lecture on Carnival Cons and Games.

Now you might think this is enough, but not in Texas. We've got at least 4 more performers that we will be announcing this month. Plus more first time ever or never to be repeated events.

I'd like to invite you to join us this Labor Day weekend. We are in a fantastic hotel (same as TAOM 2006 for those of you who attended). The hotel rate is only $99 + tax per night (reserve your room by Aug 6th).

Registration rates range from $195 for magicians to $90 for young magicians 12 and under.

For more information please visit http://taom2013.com/

Hope to see you there,

Mark Jensen
President
Texas Association of Magicians

[Richard Kaufman]

The Genii will be there!

Sounds like a great line-up and I'm looking forward to seeing lots of my friends from Texas (and Allen Okawa, too).

[Dan Magyari]

"Allen Okawa, will be making his first US Convention appearance."

Mr. Okawa gave a wonderful lecture at the Golden Gate Gathering (near San Francisco, CA, USA) several years ago. I'm sure everyone will enjoy his "second" US Convention appearance (if his San Francisco Bay Area appearance was indeed his first - hard to believe given the quality/longevity of his work).

[Mark Jensen]

What Allen told me is that this is his first appearance performing. Either way, it promises to be great!

[Doug Conn]

Outstanding!

[Mark Jensen]

Convention Hotel Info

Just a quick reminder that the convention room rate at the Intercontinental Hotel is $99. This includes free parking (over 350 spaces) and free Guest Room internet. The rate increases to $119 on Aug 7th. So you will want to make your hotel reservation before then.

Please mention TAOM on the phone or type in TAM online to get into our convention block.]

Here is info to help you make your room reservation

3 nights: Aug 30 – Sept 1, 2013

Hotel: Intercontinental Dallas

Website for reservations (click on brown View rooms & Rates button to right): Type TAM in group code when making your reservation.
http://www.ihg.com/intercontinental/hotels/gb/en/dallas/dfwha/hoteldetail

Phone: 1-888-242-6835 - Mention Texas Association of Magicians when making your reservation.

The convention starts at noon on Friday, but if your schedule permits you may want to consider arriving on Thursday. Several people including some of our performers are coming in on Thursday, so you may find some fun stuff going on around the hotel. Plus it would be a great opportunity to tour some of Dallas's sites such as The Grassy Knoll

I look forward to seeing you at TAOM.

Mark

[Mark Jensen]

Added to our Convention Roster

We've added a couple more great acts to our roster:




Fred & Bobbie Becker
- We are excited to announce that Fred & Bobbie Becker will be performing at TAOM. You've seen them on the cover of M.U.M., now you can see them at TAOM!




Ian Richards
- We've all seen magicians where things start to go wrong, but nobody gets in trouble more than Ian. Ian performs regularly at the Improv Comedy Club and we are thrilled to have him as part of TAOM.

When you look at our list of performers above, you might think what more could we do. Don't worry, we'll be announcing a couple more great performers before the end of the month.

Mark

[Mark Jensen]

We've just announced our Dealers and we've got 14 great ones for you.

You can find a complete list here: http://taom2013.com/taom-dealers/

Plus don't forget - the Room Rate increases from $99 to $119 on Aug 7th, so please make your reservation by Aug 6th to save.

Plus you get free internet and free parking (350 self serve spaces).

Hope to see you in Dallas this Labor Day weekend.

Mark

[Richard Kaufman]

Why isn't Genii listed among the dealers?

Are you sure that Shin Lim is coming? He's in China right now.

[Mark Jensen]

Sorry Richard, that's what I get for working on the webpage at 2 am. I've updated the webpage.

Shin Lim will be at TAOM. He arrives back in the states on the 26th.

Mark

[Mark Jensen]

We've added even more great entertainers


Gene Anderson will be presenting his lecture: Gene Anderson - Unpublished


David Ginn will be premiering KIDBIZ MAGIC: the lecture




David Hira will be hosting our Charity Entertainment & Auction Event

• Entertainment will be provided by Tom Mullica, Johnny & Pam Thompson and Fielding West.
  
• Here are some of the great items we will be auctioning off for Charity: http://taom2013.com/charity-auction/

Plus our Chief Genii is bringing a donation with him to TAOM. I can't wait to see what he has for us

I hope to see some of you there,

Mark

[Mark Jensen]

Well, TAOM starts 2 weeks from today. There is still time to register and if you mention TAOM when you make your hotel reservation you will get the best rate of $119 per night. This includes free internet and parking.

Charity Auction News

I talked to Harry Anderson on the phone today and he is excited about being part of TAOM. He's even bringing something very special for our charity entertainment and auction event. Of course, this is a live auction, so you must be present to bid.

I also have another cool event to tell you about:

The President's Surprise

Over 2 years in the making, this event is something that I am thrilled is going to happen. I don't want to say much about it, as that might give away the surprise, but I will say that when I kick off the event, every one of you will be saying "Me Too". The event is free, but you might want to bring $25 cash with you "just in case".

I hope to see many of you there.

Mark

[Mark Jensen]

If you haven't registered for TAOM in Dallas this coming Labor Day weekend there is still time.

We are starting off with a bang Friday afternoon with:

• Lectures by Allen Okawa and Shin Lim.
• Then we've got our Magic at the Midway event that will be electrifying.
• There will even be some carnival games that you can't win, but that's ok. Bruce Walstad will be lecturing on why you can't win those games later in the evening.
• Of course, McBride's Magic and Mystery School will also be in session with a special lecture from the Dean himself, Larry Hass.

This is just the first day. Check out the schedule for the entire weekend here: http://taom2013.com/schedule/

I look forward to seeing you there.

Mark

PS: I understand that Allen Okawa may be a name that is unfamiliar to many of you. His appearance is one of those rare events that will be described many times by those lucky enough to see him work. If you don't know Allen's work, ask around. There was a time that the real secrets were shared by letters and audio tapes between a small select group. Allen was part of this inner circle. This is a rare opportunity to learn many of those secrets that only a previliged few know AND to see them performed by Allen himself.

[Richard Kaufman]

Regarding Allan Okawa: he is the only person living who handles cards and coins with the same style as Larry Jennings and Mike Skinner, two of his close friends. He's amazingly good. I want to see him!

[Curtis Kam]

Seeing Allen perform is the reason I'm coming to Dallas, and I live in Hawaii.

I once had the pleasure of seeing Allen lecture for a roomful of talented young magicians, all of whom, despite being up on the latest stuff, and good performers in their own right, had never had the experience of seeing magic performed in the Skinner/Jennings/Vernon style. I mean, the way it should be done, for laymen. Allen started to do just that, and gradually, all the shuffling, the back-of-the-room chatter, all movement stopped. The magic that had transfixed the room was just what Richard has described, and what Tommy Wonder described in one of his essays, in the Books of Wonder and in Genii. In that essay, Tommy talks about his first tour of the U.S. and how, of all the excellent magic he witnessed, the one performance that grabbed him and wouldn't let go was Allen's. One of the tricks that Allen will be performing in Dallas is the same one that so enchanted Tommy Wonder.

Oh--rumor has it that this might be your last chance to see Allen do this trick he does with a rock. The same trick with a rock that fooled Slydini, and that's a great story.

[erdnasephile]

Man! Wish I could be there--Allen Okawa has been one of the underground guys I've wanted to see ever since I read his Genii issue back in the 70's. He was also very kind to me when I purchased his Eelskin wallet and purses (which are terrific).

RK, is there any hope of someone interviewing Allen at TAOM for a future Genii issue? It would be great to know more about him given his tremendous skill and links to magic history that you alluded to.

[Steve Bryant]

And with a video clip as long as we are wishing!