Backstage S.A.M. Podcast

We continue with another unusual story on how someone became a magician. Ryan Loyle hit rock bottom and saw no hope of getting out of it. The a bit of magical fate entered his life. Listen to this ta…

All magicians have a story on how they became a magician. We found someone who has an unusual story that will show you that the art of magic is truly magical. Vee Sovann tells how magic turned his li…

This episode discusses the new magic trivia book Magic Babylon with it's author Joe Hernandez. You can find the book on Amazon.com

Be sure to also check out the new S.A.M. history book at magicsam.co…

They thought they had a sure thing with a Halloween show that would bring in hundreds of people. They soon found out that luck was not on their side. Listen to a funny tale of a time when things didn…

Editor David Charvet discusses the new book Magic in America: The Story of the Society of American Magicians written by David Goodsell. Get the behind the scenes story of the making of this monumenta…

Children's book author Amy Kimlat discusses her new book Hocus Pocus Practice Focus - The Making of a Magician.

The book is available on www.amykimlat.com

To learn about The Society of American Mag…

The Expert at the Card Table is defined by many as the definitive book on sleight of hand card magic.

On this episode, Director Hans Joachim Brucherseifer discuses his film The Expert at the Card Tab…

Ian Keable loves to do research. His latest book details 10 great hoaxes of the 18th century including a woman who gave birth to rabbits, ghosts who threw things around the house, and a man who procl…

Henry Brown was a slave in the 1850’s who thought of a very novel and magical way to disappear. Magician Rory Rennick has done extensive research on this amazing piece of history.

Backstage S.A.M. is…

Illusionist Lyn Dillies has done some large scale illusions but nothing as big as this. Lyn talks about the times she got to work with Elephants. There’s a donkey thrown in for good luck.  Watch the …

Michael Close is an accomplished magician, a coach and mentor to many, and the sole judge on Penn & Teller Fool Us. With him,  we go behind the scenes of the show and see that presenting magic on tv …

Although Chung Ling Soo is known by many as the original Chinese Conjurer, that is not true. First came Ching Ling Foo who was a hugely popular magician at the beginning of the 20th Century. Samuel P…

Dorothy Dietrich is a premiere magician who has performed some very dangerous illusions. Her most dangerous was Catching as Bullet. In an interview from 2016, Dorothy tells us all the “behind the sce…

John Cox is not a Houdini collector of props. Rather, he is a collector of Houdini information. His blog, WildAboutHoudini.com is chock full of everything Houdini. Learn about the man behind the blog…

Magicians perform magic shows all the time but are sometimes called for other jobs. Christopher Hart auditioned for a performance that would change his life forever. You may not remember him, but you…

John Gaspard is not a magician. He is a magic groupie who writes The Eli Marks Mysteries. What is amazing is that he gets all the magic correct. He discusses how he wrote these stories and his take o…

The Houdini Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls Canada was a treasure trove of all things Houdini. Where did all of that stuff come from? Who was behind the creation of this attraction? What happened to al…

A boxjumper is a magician’s assistant that willingly goes into boxes to get cut up, transformed, or levitated. How does one become a box jumper? What training does it take? Are there any accidents th…

The art of magic often influences other arts and sciences in unpredictable ways. Associate Producer John Sturk speaks with Anthony Barnhart, Professor of Psychological Science from Carthage College, …

Margaret Steele talks about the first woman magician in the United States, Adelaide Herrmann. Learn about her determination to keep the show running. Hear how Margaret discovered the long lost memoir…