Now that was a fun time. Can't wait till next year!

Mike - it was great to meet you. I had a blast. Steve did a wonderful job putting Abra-CORN-Dabra together. The show on Saturday evening was spectacular - what a great line up of talent. I am also going to be signing up for next year.

If you are in the Midwest (or anywhere) - this is one magic convention that you should not miss next year!

Tim

I agree with Tim. It was a great convention. Steve did an excellent job and made everyone feel welcome.

The Saturday night show was (in order of appearance) Keith West, Tom Burgoon, Losander, Chris Capehart, Christian and Katalina, Oscar Munoz, and Jade. It was a great show.

The lectures included Oscar Munoz with a discussion on his Linking Rings, Chris Capehart on how to do street magic and some tips on the Miser's Dream, and Losander on how to use his bubble act. Christian and Katalina did a explanation of some of their routines on Friday night and then did a show on Saturday morning.

The main thing was that Steve put his whole heart into this weekend and did whatever he could to make everyone's experience a good one.

I plan an coming back again next year. It was a fun and worthwhile weekend.

John B.

I wanted to give my impressions of Abracorndabra.

For those that participated in this event, it was non-stop magic. The opening show was the Kernels. (young performers . . . kernels…get it?) There were four acts and all of them were very good and creative. I think that’s what I liked best that they were creative in what they did. None of them did standard fare. It was a really fun way to get the convention going.

Michael Osman came out naked…well almost..and then did a clever quick change with towels.
Brennan Pimpinella had a samurai sword and somehow cut up a piece of fruit without every going next to it.
Nick Diffatte has some of the driest humor that made you spit up your soda laughing.
Rachel, Jarod, & Nathan had an act that . . . well hard to explain but very fun to watch. Rachel had to work with an uncooperative brother on one side and a secret super hero on the other. Very fun.

Steve Daly did an outstanding job to find these gems to start off the convention.

Next were Katalina and I with our lecture and a few stories.

Then the dealer area opened up and it was a mad rush. Steve selected a nice array of dealers, each with a niche. I told my wife on the way to the convention that I have seen it all and wouldn’t be buying anything. It didn’t work out that way. I spent more than I thought…(how does that happen??)

During this time everyone had a chance to see the close up show with Patrick K., Oscar Munoz, and Capehart. Steve kept the room small so it really had the feel of a close up show. The show was repeated over and over to keep the audience small.

There was the secret pizza and soda room… and a wild and wacky auction, this ran until midnight.

The hotel was very nice and there was plenty of room to hang out and jam. Surprisingly, not that many people were jamming after hours. I attributed this to the full seclude and the fact that many people wanted to get their rest for the next day. On Friday night myself, Chris Capehart, Oscar Munoz, and one other guy (whose name escapes me) were the only ones at the late night tables.

Saturday started with Oscar Munoz’s lecture. It is a lecture packed with ideas. Everyone will walk away with something to think about in Oscar’s lecture. Then it was more time at the dealer’s tables.

Lunch time brought about a free meal in the hotel and Katalina and I finished on one piece in our lecture and performed some mentalism pieces before digging into the food. The crowd told us that their favorites from that were our “Pandora’s box” with explanation (from our book) and “John’s Hopkins” a performance piece where Katalina divines a number from an test conditions, multiple person construction. And yes..for all those that asked . . . the post card trick will be released in our next book.

After that was the 4-pack lecture. Katalina and I did not get to see that as we had to go to the theater for tech rehearsal for the night time show.

They had a “Senior’s Magic Tournament” that got rave reviews and was won by Local performer Ray.

Chris Capehart then lectured. His lecture is always entertaining and you will definitely want to perform some of his pieces. You could hear the laughter from outside the door of the banquet room.

Then off to the gala show. The line-up was impressive and the crowd was fun. Kyle was quite impressive on the Banjo and added to the whole Hee-Haw Iowa feel. It was the first time for Katalina and I to see Losander perform is 9 minute act live. It was truly magical. Jade rocked…but what do you expect. We had a blast performing our comedy mind reading and one magician that we pulled up for the show, told us later that up until that minute he thought we were using stooges. Wow.

Katalina and I had to leave early for a previous engagement. However, on Sunday everyone got into Adventure Land Park for free and see Ben and Margaret Ulin’s show and lecture.

Steve Daly did an outstanding job and was the hardest working person at the convention. Sean did a stand up job supporting him. This was a very fun convention and I don’t think anyone can say they did not get their monies worth. I would tell anyone within 500 miles of Altoona, DO NOT MISS THIS NEXT YEAR.

I cannot add anything to the very complete and gracious account Christian has reported to you. Except.........., you had better make plans to be there next year yourself.

It was GREAT. I am so glad that there is a legitimate convention in the MIDWEST. Thank you to all who helped put this together. I enjoyed all of the lectures, dealers, and friendship. I would agree with Chrsitian not a lot of people "jamming" but I think there were a lot of tired folks out there. It was nice to see a variety of acts (mentalism, closeup, standup). I plan on attending next year, and hopefully more will also attend. The gala show, wow!!! awesome!! big stage lots of people and of course great acts. I am still laughing at Tom Burgoon's dyslexic card trick!

Sounds like it was a great convention and kudos (or corncobs) to Steve Daly for pulling off this Midwest Gem.
Looking forward to the next one....