The Magic Collectors Expo 2022
Bill Smith is a successful and highly respected member of the magic community and has been for the past five decades. I fondly remember working with him in the old “Wine Cellar” Magic Cabaret showroom at the Magic Castle in Hollywood. Bill was a fresh and funny performer who had the audience in stitches working with his bowtie-wearing live duck Gaylord. Smith spent his formative years as a member of the iconic Long Beach Mystics. The more you know about the Long Beach Mystics, the more impressive is their legacy. I sometimes jokingly refer to them as “The Illuminati of Magic” because their members seem to be everywhere, hidden in plain sight, constantly quietly influencing the course and shape of magic. After a decade on the road as assistant to Harry Blackstone Jr., Smith set his sights on creating, designing, and building magic props. Bill became one of the busiest and most revered illusion builders in the magic world in no time at all. Somewhere along the line, Smith was bitten by the collectors and magic history bug, which leads us to this post’s focus.
Bill Smith attended the LA magical collectors events for many years and in 2005, in conjunction with Paul 
Stone and Bob Rossi, he produced his first Magic Collectors Expo in Las Vegas. The Expo was a resounding success and included such standout events as a panel featuring magical giants Channing Pollack, Marvyn Roy, Jay Marshall, and Johnny Thompson. The forum was hosted by Max Maven and even featured a “surprise” finale with Siegfried Fischbacher chiming in on the proceedings. So successful was the event that Smith went on to produce several more standout collectors’ events. Rather than focus solely on Las Vegas, Bill decided to take his event on the road and explore the magical heritage of other American cities, including a 2019 Expo in Minneapolis that he organized with David Sandy and Lance Rich. A solid core of magicians became big fans of Smith’s Expos and they have quietly developed into a “must attend” event for serious magic lovers.
The Covid pandemic scuttled plans for a 2020 Expo, but Bill came storming back with this year’s Magic Collectors Expo 2021 at the Orleans Hotel back in his hometown of Las Vegas. The Expo was a sold-out event with a hefty waiting list for any last-minute cancellation reservations. One of the 2021 events highlights was a chance to visit David Copperfield’s legendary magic museum in its “secret” Las Vegas location. The Expo was a commercial and critical success and became the talk of the magic world. It included speakers such as David Charvet, Charles Greene, Mike Caveney, David Sandy, Paul Stone, Lance Rich, Richard Hughes, Gabe Fajuri, Les Arnold, Phil Schwartz, and Retonio Breitenmoser. One of the keys to the success of Smith’s events is the quality of speakers that they inevitably attract.
I am excited to say that Bill Smith brings his Magic Collectors Expo 2022 to my beloved hometown of Austin, Texas. Texas has a special place in the history of magic, and without a doubt, the upcoming Expo will be another sold-out event. The Expo will take place from the 13th through 16th of April 2022, and Bill has organized a unique schedule of events that will delight all the magicians in attendance. The Expo’s opening day features a guided visit to the superb Harry Houdini collection housed in the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas in Austin. The Ransom Collection is one of the largest and finest collections of Houdini items in the world. The collection encompasses unique props, publicity material, private and professional correspondence, photos, posters, and
much more. The Ransom Collection is guaranteed to intrigue and delight any serious student of magic. This is the first time that this unprecedented level of access to the collection has been offered within the magic community.
The opening day’s activities continue on a high note with a visit to a special 90-minute performance by master magician Ray Anderson and the entire cast of Esther’s Follies. Esther’s is an Austin tradition and the longest-running revue in America. For the last 30 years Anderson, a 2018 winner of the Academy of Magical Arts Performing Fellowship, has added some spectacular magic to the show. Once a Texan prized secret, Ray now has a steady stream of discriminating magicians flying into Austin to see what many people describe as the finest magical revue in the world. If you have never caught the Follies, buckle up your seatbelt, you are in for one glorious ride! Later in the week, Anderson will participate in a Q & A session about this iconic show. With a special nod to Texas, these opening events are wrapped around a delicious barbecue dinner, and we take our barbecue very seriously in Austin. Food for the eye, mind, funnybone, and stomach is the order of the opening day’s activities.
The Magical Collectors Expo will be centered in the beautiful DoubleTree by Hilton just outside the downtown area. The hotel will be the center of activities for the remainder of the event and house the lectures, shows, and dealers’ room. As an Austinite, I hope that attendees will find time to sneak out and enjoy some of the incredible music and food truck cuisine that has made Austin such a popular destination. However, I suspect that most attendees will be enjoying the magic and camaraderie too much to venture too far from the home base. There will be two evening magic shows at the Doubletree with a stellar cast of magicians plus six-a-day lectures to entertain and inform the group. With each lecture limited to 20-30 minutes, a fantastic amount of information is shared without the risk of any topic straining the attendee’s attention span.
The 2022 lecture roster includes several Texas based magicians who will share some magical wisdom from the
Lone Star State. Magician and speaker Trixie Bond will be discussing some of the Texan magicians who have risen to the very top of the magic hierarchy. Without wishing to second guess her choices, I think it would be tough not to include Mark Wilson, Willard the Wizard, Tom Palmer, Walter Blaney, Johnny Gaughn, and Bev Bergeron. Pat Hazell is another Expo speaker who calls Austin home. Pat’s roots are as a magician, but he went on to conquer the comedy world, including writing for the Seinfeld television show and creating the hit theatrical show The Wonderbread Years. Hazell has also achieved great success with his podcast Creativity in Captivity. As funny as he is wise, I know Pat will be a major hit with the Expo audience.
As part of the speaker lineup, Mike Caveney will interview Cathy Daniels, who will share stories and insights about her late husband and master illusionist John Daniels. Mark and Sue Holstein will be lecturing about Chicago’s distinguished ambassador of magic, Werner “Dorny” Dornfeld, and discuss his significant contributions to the magic world. The Holsteins will be bringing along some of their fascinating collection of Dorny’s original magic props. Talking about props, I am sure that Chip Romero will be share some items from his extensive collection of props and stage items once owned by the late Doug Henning. Romero will be discussing all the details of Doug’s early years, including the life-changing grant he received from the Canadian government to study and learn the magic that went on to make him world famous.
Another speaker at the Expo will be Lance Rich, who, along with David Sandy, created the Magic Collectors Corner Zoom meetings that have kept magicians entertained and on a learning curve throughout the Covid pandemic. Lance and David were recently announced as recipients of the prestigious Allan Slaight Sharing Secrets Award for their contribution to the magic community. Another speaker I am eagerly anticipating is Diego Domingo, author of The Magic 
Detective Blog. Diego has been fascinating the magic community through his blog with his deep dive into fascinating magical mysteries. I am also thrilled and proud to announce I will be lecturing at the Expo about my magical mentor Ken Brooke. Ken was one of the most influential magicians in the last 60 years and highly instrumental in the careers, and success, of Paul Daniels and Wayne Dobson. There will be other speakers and some exciting announcements at the Expo, but as a master magician in his own right, Bill Smith knows how to keep a secret or two up his sleeve.
The Magic Collectors Expo 2022 is bound to be another sold-out event. The registration is $285 per person, but a $100 deposit will secure your spot, and the balance won’t be due until January 15, 2022. I look forward to some of our readers joining us on this exciting and uniquely magical experience. You can register and find more details at https://magiccollectorexpo.com/register/
REMARKABLE MAGIC 