Anybody within driving distance to Fresno might want to attend this hot Swap-Meet. It is the 2nd one they've thrown, and the first was stellar...magic bargains like the old Castle Swapmeet days!!!

Paul has the announcements of the lectures and 2-day schedule on the Hocus-Pocus website. I was lucky enough to get to the first one, and will be at this one drawing your hands in pen and ink, matted and framed, for gratis to attendees. As many as I can fit in. See ya there, stop and say Howdy.

The three of us are planning on going.

Dan

Looking forward to it!

I'll be there bright & early with a wad o' cash!!!

=Frank=

I got to hit the first day, did a few drawings for folks, as prizes, etc. What a nice blowout. So many dealers, he put in an extra tent to house them! I couldn't believe the prices on great stuff, and Paul's Used and Vintage area was also included with fantastic prices on rare and vintage goodies.

Books and manuscripts at $1 and up, old stuff, new stuff...got a python pull, brand new, for $5, as an example. Bought some vintage wood work that I will need to research to know what I've gotten, and even found a mint copy of an old trick George Murray and I did up for Norm Nielsen a decade ago. I'd never saved a copy of the finished product, and now have a copy for myself. Hot stuff!

Lots of great folk there, bedsides the Wilsons, Losander demo'ed that new table of his over and over. Magical even at nose-distance, it was amazing. He had huge silks that fit into a TT. Bought 3. Bobby Reynolds stayed the day, raconteuring to belly-laughs, as usual. Paul and Betty were amazingly calm and were having a great time. What a great, old-tyme swap-meet this one was.

Anyone who caught the constant lectures or the 2nd day...fill us in, please.

Hey, Frank, whadja buy? whatja buy?

Tom,

This is Kristen and it was a pleasure getting to meet you on Saturday! Danielle loves her hand art drawing and we have it framed and ready to go. Thank you so very much for your time and talent! You might enjoy checking out our daughter's website as we have pictures posted from the day's event, including one of you and her posing with your artwork. http://www.magicbydanielle.com/index_files/hocuspocus.htm

I can't back you up enough about what a wonderful event it was. We truly enjoyed the day from start to finish. It was my first opportunity to meet Paul and his family, although I have been in contact with him <numerous> times via email. It was truly a pleasure meeting them all as they are just nicest people!

We are already talking about next year's event and how we can't wait to go back. We made several trips out to our car because of the great deals we found. We haven't even had time to go through it all yet. I especially liked one of the old books we got and an old illusion set of plans. Not sure of the names of them offhand, but look forward to going through all our purchases in depth.

We saw Losander lecture last night. We actually had picked up some of his DVD material early in the morning for a great price from one of the vendors selling used merchandise. We couldn't pass up the price, but felt a little guilty not buying directly from Losander since he was there. We loved his table and Danielle has a really bad case of the "I want", so we have added it to her future purchase list. Loved seeing his bubble work in the lecture. It was very graceful and something that Danielle has expressed extreme interest in.

Again, it was a pleasure meeting you. I look forward to seeing you again next year!

It was a pleasure meeting you as well. Danielle is lucky to have an interest in magic, I feel lady magicians (Magiciennes?) are a step ahead in the game, as they are so rare. Audiences will love to see her work. All the best, and hope to see you again next year.

PS Very nice website!

Tom, thank you for your nice comments. Danielle loves magic and she loves being on stage. She has been very fortunate to have been surrounded by people who encourage and help her every step of the way. Everyone has been so extremely kind to her!

I'm glad you liked her site. I have spent hours designing it and putting it together. One of the first things we did when we got back was to start updating to include the Hocus Pocus event.

I look forward to seeing you again next year!

Tom, thank you for your nice comments. Danielle loves magic and she loves being on stage. She has been very fortunate to have been surrounded by people who encourage and help her every step of the way. Everyone has been so extremely kind to her!

I'm glad you liked her site. I have spent hours designing it and putting it together. One of the first things we did when we got back was to start updating to include the Hocus Pocus event.

I look forward to seeing you again next year!

Well, you know about the STEAL I got on that Book with Dai Vernon's Autograph in it!

I bought a Brand New, Reg. Deck of Jumbo Bicycle Playing cards for $8, and really not much else.

My greatest pleasure was simply visiting with Tons of my Good Friends, like You, Ernie, Paul & Betty, Charles, Grant, Dexter, etc....Too Many to count!

Did you see the photo that Tony has on his blog at the HP site from this past week? There's a photo of Me, Tony & Ron Saylor admiring my Dai Vernon Autograph! *hehe*

It was a Fabulous day, wasn't it?!?!

I can't wait until this gets turned into a Full-Fledged CONVENTION!

Perhaps in 2009, hmmm???

=Frank=

Paul has pictures and a write up of the event on his web site. Just click on "From The Desk Of Paul Gross".

This was an extremely fun and memorable event. We can't wait until next year.

Dan