Swap Meet Success!

What can I say? The Swap Meet was an incredible success and exceeded even my wildest expectations! We had over 250 people in attendance and everyone had a great time! I want to thank all of you who attended and for the nice emails, phone calls, and cards since. We'll definitely be doing this again this year, and we'll keep you posted on the upcoming dates, so stay VERY tuned!

For those of you who attended and could not attend, check out the photos and captions below for a full report:

The night before, I took everyone to dinner at the Joy Luck Club Restaurant, where we were treated to great company and a ridiculous amount of food!


Shoot Ogawa , Suds, Tony Blanco, Mark & Nani Wilson, Gerald Kirchner, and Dick Barry all enjoy themselves before the big day.


Food as far as the eye could see, and boy, was it good!


Chuck Kirchner, owner of Magic City, was bright-eyed and bushy tailed the morning of the Swap Meet!


My son, Max (right), and his cousin Joey manning the video booth.


Sell those videos, Max & Joey!


The Swap Meet officially begins and the space is flooded with people and dealers!




















Wolfgang Wollet of Wonder Warehouse


Suds is always a crowd favorite at every gathering.


Dick Barry demonstrating his latest effect to a captivated crowd.


Shoot Ogawa performs the Ninja Rings for all to see and disbelieve!


Shoot Ogawa and his teacher, Masahiro Yanagida.


Paul and Tony talk and demonstrate at the Hocus Pocus table.




Nani Wilson signs autographs and DVDs.


Nani & Mark Wilson talk about their rich history and sign autographs for the fans.


Mark had a fantastic time!


Everyone takes a break for an outside lunch.


Patrick Snowden, my cousin, Karen, and Chuck Kirchner.


Mark and Nani autographing the Doll to Life Illusion, which I purchased from them.


"The Original Doll to Life, debuted on The Magic Land of Allakazam, 1961. This is the 2nd version from the Magic Circus TV Special."


Mark seals the deal with his signature.




With Mark & Nani, a great moment for me! This illusion is one that will be in my private collection and has special meaning for me as well as many others. If it weren't for Mark & Nani, I would never have been introduced to the wonderful world of magic.


Suds lectures to standing room only!


Next up was Robert Baxt, who had 'em all in stitches!


Dick Barry, our 3rd lecturer, proved he was a master of both close-up and stage magic!


Shoot Ogawa performs his lecture on our stage to 135 people.






Shoot killed that night and displayed his parlor and close-up skills to all!


After Mark & Nani Wilson lectured, they signed autographs until no one was left empty-handed. Truly first-class people!


Tony and I with Shoot, Masahiro, and Shoot's girlfriend, Ai.


Dick Barry, Karen, and Dick's wife, Gwen.


Is it over already? Gerald Kirchner buys a video to end a fantastic day!

So there you have it: quite the day. I don't think anyone went to sleep until the next morning... Oh, before I forget, Mark Wilson has invited Hocus Pocus to be one of the featured dealers at Dealer's Day at the Magic Castle on Sunday, February 25th, so if you're in the area, we'd love to see you there!

Hope you enjoyed all the photos and once again, thanks to all for participating and making the first Hocus Pocus Swap Meet & Get-Together a huge success!

Until next time,

Paul

Ready, Set, Swap Meet!

After several months of planning and preparing, tomorrow is the big day! We're all excited for the First Annual Hocus Pocus Swap Meet & Get-Together. All the tables are set up and the vendors have already begun to arrive. I can tell you that by looking around at the stuff on display, there's some great items at real rock-bottom prices. I mentioned Tony constructing the stage in last week's blog, showing the skeleton of it, and now it's complete. Thanks, Tony, for all your hard work; it really paid off:



The stage is now a permanent fixture that we'll be using for future lectures and events. I hope that if you are in the Central California area, you'll make the short trip to Fresno tomorrow and participate. I look forward to seeing you all here. You'll be able to meet the entire Hocus Pocus staff, take a tour of our new facility, and if Mike is really good, I promised to let him out of his straight jacket. Stay tuned to next week's blog for photos and a complete report.

Until then,

Paul

Let The Magic Begin!

What a week. So much is happening and happening FAST, that we are now finding ourselves one week away from the 1st Annual Hocus Pocus Swap Meet & Get-Together and everything is shaping up, including the new stage Tony has been working on diligently since last week! This weekend, he'll hang the curtains, install the lighting, and hook up the sound system. Remember, the Swap Meet itself is absolutely free to attend and to buy, but in order to sell your magic, tables are only $15.00 for the entire morning and afternoon. Five lecturers are now scheduled, including Robert Baxt, Suds, Dick Barry, Shoot Ogawa, and Mark & Nani Wilson! You can see all five lectures for only $30.00. Individual lecture tickets can also be purchased. If interested, please inquire to: tony@hocus-pocus.com or call toll-free at 800-407-4040. There will be a barbeque lunch, free gifts, and gift certificates to be given away in a drawing. Don't wait; call us now to reserve your table and spot!


The stage in progress. Great job, Tony!


Bruno Copin

A little over a year ago, I was told about a certain underground French performer taking the magic world by storm! His name is Bruno Copin, and he is one of the greatest performers magicians have ever seen! His magic is so different and unique from everyone else, that magicians have been clammering for his released items for quite some time. The problem was that these items were extremely hard to come by...until now! Hocus Pocus, through special arrangements, has purchased every single released effect available by Mr. Copin and is now in stock and available for immediate delivery. Simply click on the special category devoted exclusively to Bruno Copin and check out all the cool items for the taking. Remember, Hocus Pocus is the only place you can purchase these items at this time, so order today!


Bruno Copin's Friends DVDs


Wedding DVD by Bruno Copin


Crazy Ball by Bruno Copin

Today, I'm going to do something a little different. As today is my wedding anniversary, I'm going to spend the rest of the day with my lovely wife, Betty, and hand over the rest of the blog to Mike, who has also had a very busy week, depite his absence here for a couple of days. For now, I hope to see a lot of you next weekend as it promises to be one great, memorable, magical experience.

Until next time,

Paul

Hi, everyone. Mike here.

Wow. It's been one heck of a week for me and my girlfriend, Julie, and it all started with a wonderful wedding and reception of my good friend, magic creator, and illusion builder, Ray Lum and his brand new wife, Marjorie. Ray invited us to his house where only his closest friends and family were invited to partake in good food, great company, and some good times. It meant a lot to me that Ray asked us both to join his family before heading over to the only authentic Chinese restaurant in the Morgan Hill, California area able to accommodate all the people who were invited to attend the reception. I was asked to perform along with Ray and Marshall Magoon for the crowd of 150 people, and it was a good thing I packed light because space rapidly became a valuable commodity. The show went well, and before long, we had to drive the 3 hours back to Fresno to begin another packed week! Congratulations, Ray and Marjorie!


Ray and Marjorie (center) with her parents (left) and Ray's father (right)


Cutting the cake together


Jules and I with Ray and Marjorie

Wednesday, Julie had to have eye surgery to correct her glaucoma problem in her left eye, and I needed to leave my post at Hocus Pocus to help her mend the last couple of days. This will make it her fourth surgery on her left eye, where she's encountered cataract problems, macular degeneration, and now glaucoma! No doctor can explain where these problems came from or how they were caused, so I was worried enough for the both of us when her day of surgery drew near. Her surgery went well, and she is home now recuperating and relaxing. Hopefully, in the long run, this particular procedure will take so that she will no longer have to take four medications every single day and it will control the pressure in her eye. On that note, I want to thank everyone for sending us well-wishes, thoughts, and prayers. It was so overwhelming the number of emails, phone calls, and cards we received, that we were both shocked. Thank you again to all of you. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Paul Gross for his understanding during this more-difficult-than-I-thought-it-would-be situation, and I wish both him and Betty a Happy Anniversary.

Now it's time to start thinking about the upcoming Get Together & Swap Meet, and I can definitely say that I am excited to meet all of you who plan on attending. Make sure you stop by and say hello and remember to have a great time. I know I will.

Best,

Mike

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone, or as they're saying, "Happy 007." As this new year begins, we're very excited about upcoming happenings here at Hocus Pocus. Coming up very shortly on January 20th is our first annual Hocus Pocus Swap Meet and Get-Together. Everything is coming together and so many of you have already called to reserve your tables and spaces for the lecturers. It's turning out to be a miniature convention. Who knows -- maybe it'll turn into something much, MUCH bigger in the future... If you live in California, we are centrally located, so getting here is a snap! We've even reserved special rates at a hotel located very close to Hocus Pocus! For more information, click the banner below:



On the home front, we had a very quiet New Year. Betty and I stayed at home and relaxed the night away and watched the Producers with Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane. Of course, I watched the Twilight Zone Marathon, my yearly habit and close to midnight, we switched over to Dick Clark and watched the Ball drop. I hope all of you celebrated in your own way and had a great time.

Mike's evening was a little more eventful, having been hired at one of Fresno's more posh restaurants, "The Chef's Table," where he rang in the New Year bending their silverware and having cards appear in all sorts of impossible places (some of which we can't divulge here; you fill in the blanks). He was a huge hit and was asked back again for next year. Some of his family then arrived later to surprise him and they all ended the evening together with a great meal, a few drinks, and even a limo ride home!


Mike has a spectator sign a fork!


Mike and his girlfriend, Julie.

It's a family affair! We've been so busy this week, that we enlisted the help of my youngest son, Max, who as you can tell from the picture below, is exasperated with excitement. He's been helping out by filing, packing, unpacking, shredding, and doing what he does best: destroying! Cardboard boxes, that is... He's hoping to earn enough money to add to his bank account for a car. In just a few short months, Max will be 15 years old, and then driver's training begins. I don't know how I truly feel about that yet...


Max hard at work.

We've just received a huge shipment from another private collector who has decided to part with some of his treasures. This is always very exciting for me as it's a trip down memory lane. I'll now be spending the rest of today and the weekend and most of the first part of next week setting everything up and going through it all. You might have noticed that Mike has already started listing some of it on the web site and already, they've begun to disappear almost as quickly as they go up. So keep tabs on the web site to get first dibs on some of these goodies.

Tony has been hard at work constructing and putting the finishing touches on the beautiful stage for Hocus Pocus. This will be christened on January 20th, when Robert Baxt, our first lecturer, sets foot on stage to begin the lecture portion of the day! Also, I just got off the phone with Carl Ballantine to finalize the details of his visit, and he couldn't be more excited to meet and greet all of you planning on attending.

So there you have it, just a smidgen of things going on here at Hocus Pocus. Don't forget to mark your calendars for January 20th as we'd love to see you here for the First Annual Hocus Pocus Get-Together and Swap Meet!

Until next time,

Paul