This special podcast features one of the "wizards behind the curtain", John Gaughan. Johnny has been building illusions for some of the top magicians as well as lesser known entertainers in the world for probably 50 years. I spent a delightful afternoon in his workshop and his private salon where he keeps his prized magic collection including his automata like Antonio Diavolo, "Psycho" the whist playing automaton, "Houdini" an automaton who signs his autograph, and of course, my favorite, "The Turk" the chess playing automaton.

John talks on this week's podcast about his life in magic, how he evolved from painting the sets on "The Magic Land of Allakazam" with Mark Wilson to creating "Flying" for David Copperfield. He has enjoyed a wonderful life and associated with all the greats of stage performers. You can read the blog, watch some videos I recorded in his workshop where he gives us a guided tour of his collection, see some photos, listen online to the podcast and download the MP3 file at: http://themagicwordpodcast.com/scottwellsmagic/john-gaughan And of course, if you prefer, then you can download and listen through iTunes, Stitcher, Tunein and FeedPress.

Thanks for listening!