"the editor of genii who thinks he is god"

[CraigMitchell]

Everyone's favourite convention organiser, Derek Lever, is back at it ...

http://magicianspodcast.podbean.com/e/e ... rek-lever/

Richard receives a special shout at around the 48 minute mark:

"the editor of genii who thinks he is god ... and by the way you are not"

In the parallel universe in which he resides, Derek believes that only 7 people were unhappy with his FISM 2012 event ... and in other news, Paul Daniels is not banned

[Leo Garet]

I'm not one of the seven.
I'm perfectly happy with FISM 2012.
I didn't go.

[performer]

I really enjoyed that interview! First time I have ever heard Derek Lever. I have to say that I quite liked him! Of course I used to live in Blackpool so I understand the mentality! It is not for nothing that I devoted two chapters of my memoirs to the place. I loved Blackpool! One of my best decision was to move there.

[CraigMitchell]

It's so difficult to keep track of your performers nowadays

Guy Hollingworth writes: "I was intrigued to discover from this photograph taken at the Blackpool Magic Convention that (i) I am appearing at the convention this weekend (ii) my name has changed to "Pierric" and (iii) (presumably) I must therefore have won the Grand Prix at FISM last year. How delightful."

[Richard Kaufman]

I just want to assure everyone that I am not a deity.

[Brad Henderson]

you really didn't need too

[Richard Kaufman]

Obnoxious wanker.

[performer]

I am interested to hear that Dynamo wanted 25,000 pounds to appear at Blackpool. That is not birthday party money.

[Rick Ruhl]

oh Please ban me from Blackpool LOL

[Leo Garet]

I am interested to hear that Dynamo wanted 25,000 pounds to appear at Blackpool. That is not birthday party money.

Ever eager to undercut the opposition, I'd do it for £20,000, but I haven't been asked yet.

One clause in my contract would concern accommodation. Can I please stay in Southport? Anywhere but Blackpool is a deal maker/breaker.

[Ted M]

Obnoxious wanker.

Just smite him with thunderbolts.

[AJM]

'He's not the Messiah, he's just a very naughty boy'

[brianarudolph]

It's so difficult to keep track of your performers nowadays

Guy Hollingworth writes: "I was intrigued to discover from this photograph taken at the Blackpool Magic Convention that (i) I am appearing at the convention this weekend (ii) my name has changed to "Pierric" and (iii) (presumably) I must therefore have won the Grand Prix at FISM last year. How delightful."

My sincere congratulations to Guy Hollingworth for his seminal achievements in the emerging field of MetaMagic. I always knew that Guy was first-class and first-rate, but I never knew that the depths of his knowledge and abilities extended into the meta-dimensional until now.

Richard receives a special shout at around the 48 minute mark:
"the editor of genii who thinks he is god ... and by the way you are not"

This is confusing because I always heard that the answer to the question "What is the difference between Derek Lever and God" was "God doesn't think He's Derek Lever."

I just want to assure everyone that I am not a deity.

We know, Richard. But we still adore you.

[Joe Mckay]

Nobody has done more for magic than Richard Kaufman.

I would happily worship him. If it didn't make him feel so uncomfortable.

[Ross Welford]

Isn't it odd that Lever, a magician, cannot pronounce the word "genii"? He says "jean-eye". I don't think it's a deliberate swipe. Perhaps he's just thick?

[observer]

How do people pronounce Genii, anyway?

(I know how it's supposed to be pronounced (because I just now looked it up) but how many people actually do pronounce it that way?)

[Brad Jeffers]

I have always pronounced Genii the same as the pronunciation of Genie and not as the pronunciation of genii, when referring to the plural of genius.

I feel rather certain, that when William Larsen named his magazine, he was thinking of this ...



and not of this ...

[brianarudolph]

And definitely not this:

http://www.lyst.com/clothing/kenzo-lotu ... ans-black/

[performer]

I am interested to hear that Dynamo wanted 25,000 pounds to appear at Blackpool. That is not birthday party money.

Ever eager to undercut the opposition, I'd do it for £20,000, but I haven't been asked yet.

One clause in my contract would concern accommodation. Can I please stay in Southport? Anywhere but Blackpool is a deal maker/breaker.

Southport is terribly posh but it is a bit of a long commute. I used to live in Blackpool but never actually had an apartment or house there. I only used to live in the guest houses that permeate the town. Sometimes I would change from guest house to guest house. I saw no point in living at a permanent abode as I used to travel the country continuously. I never stayed anywhere permanently for years on end. I did store a lot of my possessions in one of the rooms in my office premises in Blackpool.

I loved Blackpool. Best place I ever lived. I learned all my wicked ways there. It really is terrific living in such a crooked town. That is why I burst out laughing when I heard that Derek Lever would offer work to acts from America and tell them the fee in pounds but try and get away with giving it to them in dollars! I thought that was hilarious! I thought it was even more hilarious when he would deduct 15% commission from the fee as an "agency fee" as the gig would have to go through his theatrical agency! And best of all he would make sure that the performer had booked his plane ticket before he tried those shenanigans!
He is a man after my own heart! You have to have lived in Blackpool to appreciate the humour of it and the mentality thereof.

The two chapters of my memoirs about Blackpool were titled "The University of Evil" and "More Evil at the University". That university was the town of Blackpool. I laughed my head off when I heard that FISM would he held in Blackpool. I couldn't believe such a sleazy, tacky wonderful place like Blackpool would be selected for such an up market gathering of respectable magicians who have led sheltered lives.

I have been to Vegas and it doesn't even compare to wonderful old Blackpool. I was bored out of my mind there and found it terribly plastic and bland with not much to do except walk for hours as the transportation system is dreadful and look at daft people gambling their money away. And see a few magic shows.

Nope. Blackpool is the best. And Lever must have done something right. It has the biggest and busiest convention in the world.

[performer]

Nobody has done more for magic than Richard Kaufman.

I would happily worship him. If it didn't make him feel so uncomfortable.

You should worship me instead. After all I started you on a life in magic.

[Q. Kumber]

The Blackpool Magic Festival is now in the Guinness Book of Records as holding the world's largest magic get-together. The 2015 event, which the Guinness people monitored had 3,614 registrants, including day registrants.

[Leo Garet]

The Blackpool Magic Festival is now in the Guinness Book of Records as holding the world's largest magic get-together. The 2015 event, which the Guinness people monitored had 3,614 registrants, including day registrants.

And full marks for that. But the big mystery remains. How does it manage it year in and year out?
It's not Derek, it's not the venue, it's not the accommodation, it's not the town, it's not the night life, it's not...fill in as appropriate.

It's a mixture of all sorts, but the Real Secret (if I can use that phrase without breaching copyright) remains beyond reach.

[Ted M]

My understanding from afar is that Blackpool provides a lot of magic for cheap.

And a lot of magicians are notoriously cheap.

Presto!

[Brad Henderson]

but they do apparently have deep pockets for the dealer's room.

could part of the winning formula be that blackpool provides affordable access to so many dealers?

[brianarudolph]

I think that's probably a big part of it, Brad.

I don't know of any magician who would complain about a bigger dealers room at any magic convention (except perhaps for the magicians who have to deal with organizing it.)

The dealers room is a magic carnival while it's open and we (especially magicians) generally love carnivals. So much magic to see and so many people to see including old friends, new friends, those friends and otherwise familiar faces that you only see at magic conventions, magic authors, magic collectors, magic legends, new and upcoming magic celebrities ... and sometimes even non-magic celebrities. And at some point they all appear in the dealers room, usually multiple times.

In the few times that I've happened to be in the same town at the same time as a major magic convention but on other business and only literally had a couple of hours when I could drop by on just one day, I've often wished that there was something like a "dealers room only day pass" since that's where I'd likely spend those few hours (such a pass might have to be restricted to people who could prove affiliation with a recognized magic organization in order to prevent a host of non-buying curious lookyloos from the general public from swarming the place.) But as it stands I have to be content with paying a full one-day registration (when available) even if I've just seen all the acts within the last year who are on the schedule for the exact day that I am able to attend.

[Brad Henderson]

I agree with you that conventions should offer dealer room only registrations - as a dealer, one would think you would want as many customers as possible and as the convention organizer a paid dealers room pass is money you wouldnt have made anyway, and may open a door to a full registration either that year or next if the person sees there is value to be had. And I think charging for the dealers pass automatically eliminates the lookiloos - proving affiliation discourages people who might have an interest in magic but are too afraid of plunking down real money for a full convention registration or fear the convention may be too advanced for them as people with sincere curiosity.

[observer]

People who paid the full convention fee would be furious when they found out the amazing new bra & panties* effect, which garnered 17 pages of discussion on the Magic Cafe before it was even released (and which preferably involves a smartphone) was sold out to people who paid a much lower "dealers room only" fee. And they'd be even furiouser when the people who paid "dealers room only" fees started selling it on ebay at inflated prices.


*For example.

[Brad Henderson]

well, then the dealers room pass is not available for the opening evening/session.

ta da

[brianarudolph]

People who paid the full convention fee would be furious when they found out the amazing new bra & panties* effect, which garnered 17 pages of discussion on the Magic Cafe before it was even released (and which preferably involves a smartphone) was sold out to people who paid a much lower "dealers room only" fee. And they'd be even furiouser when the people who paid "dealers room only" fees started selling it on ebay at inflated prices. *For example.

Sounds like even more confirmation of the importance of the dealers room to a magic convention.

But I see no reason why such should preclude a dealers room only day pass on the opening evening - especially if it really is an opening evening. Charge the same price (or even a few bucks more) to get in on opening night since you're getting "first look privileges" in exchange for getting a much shorter "day" to go to the dealers room. If the only "day" I can attend is the opening night, why shouldn't I be able to go to the dealers room if such a pass exists? You'd think that the folks who paid for a full registration would want to be certain to go to the dealers room on opening night for the same reason ... to give themselves a chance to get those highly-touted Magic Cafe goodies (and perhaps a few other important items on their lists) before their fellow attendees buy them up anyway.

[Tom Moore]

The reason Blackpool is a huge attendance success is because it's great value for money (if you wanted to go to three gala shows of similar standard the tickets alone would cost you more than the convention fee) and because it is so well attended the social side of the convention is unbeaten by any other event. I'd argue that second to this is the dealers hall (though speak to dealers and they'll tell you whilst the money is good it's not as good as pre-internet days when this would be the only opportunity buyers had to see new releases performed) whilst lectures are actually a very minor part of the experience. In reality the majority of the lectures are played to an audience of just a couple of hundred people - even the biggest star name lecture will still only be presented to around 1/4 of the attendees. Obviously that's financially very lucrative for performers but it does also show that attending the lectures isn't a significant part of the reason people attend Blackpool.

[AJM]

And there's a tower!
3 piers!
Fish and chips 24/7!

[Leo Garet]

The reason Blackpool is a huge attendance success is because it's great value for money.....

No it's not.

No disagreement with the sentiment of your post Mister Moore, I think the convention is value for money, even if Derek does try to squeeze every last copper from every crook and nanny.
But it's not THE reason.

If it were that simple, there would be more massively successful "Festivals". But there aren't.

And as well as The Tower, there's BINGO, SLOTS, hot dogs, candy floss, cowboy hats and burgers. even in the depths of the bleak midwinter.

There's also a couple of decent remaindered bookshops. A few years ago I saw someone buy up a dozen copies of the Mark Wilson course (the Big Book) for a fiver each. A bit greedy, I thought, I settled for two.

[Master Payne]

I just want to assure everyone that I am not a deity.

But it is something you should consider. At least for tax purposes.

[Richard Kaufman]

Master Payne, I hope your eye is healing.

To address the larger issue, when thinking about doing a Genii convention, I analyzed the two most consistently successful conventions (Blackpool and Magic Live) and looked for commonalities. This is simple stuff: both take place in vacation destinations that have cheap hotels and are inexpensive to get to. In England, lots of people take the train or drive to Blackpool; all the folks who live on the west coast and go to MAGIC Live drive there.

In both cases the hotels are dirt cheap (and about the same price): $50 a night.

What does this mean? Lots of people attend, which gives the organizers money to hire good talent.

End of analysis.

I found that little of that could be applied to the Genii convention, other than the fact that Orlando is the largest vacation destination in the United States; I found a great hotel with excellent room rates for excellent quality rooms (better than what you get at either Blackpool or the Orleans at Magic Live), but the room rates are more than either those at Blackpool or Magic Live.

However the nature of my hotel is that the venue can accept less than half of the people who attend MAGIC Live. So, making a lot of money was never an option, but putting on a great convention in a city with a lot of fun things to do was possible.

We've done it twice and had a great time, and we'll do it again in 2017. I take it one convention at a time. I'm not a youngster and I'm just as happy to sit at home and write a good book as I am putting on a convention. Each has its own pleasures, but I must say that I have more fun at the Genii convention than almost any other.

[Evan Shuster]

I must say that I have more fun at the Genii convention than almost any other.

Yeah... us, too!!