Magic Live 2016: A Story Told in Photos

By Chelsea Nichole

In eight months over a thousand magicians will gather again at The Orleans for, in my opinion, the best magic convention there is: MAGIC Live! This past MAGIC Live was an absolutely fantastic time and if you happened to miss it here are some of the highlights from Live 2016.

This year I helped alongside Katie in registration so the conference started for me one day before pre-registration in order to help set everything up. The following Saturday pre-registration went without a hitch and everyone was so excited to come through and pick up their swag and get their photo badges.

On Sunday registration picked right up early in the morning with a great turnout of excited people. Later in the evening the MAGIC Anniversary Party started. At the party you received an envelope of cards of one character and in order to get the set you had to find other people to exchange cards with. The game provides an easy ice breaker and encourages people to meet others and make new friends. With fourteen hundred guests it is easy to get intimidated but the opening game offers a great way to engage with people you might not have otherwise met. I personally made some new friends that night and we ended up hanging out in the Bicycle Lounge. Which, on a side note, Bicycle showing up and hosting a lounge was a great way for Bicycle to recognize magicians as serious customers.

Another exciting moment that took place on Sunday was the opening of the Dealer’s Room. Many people milled about the dealer’s room on Sunday and throughout the rest of the week. It’s safe to say the Dealer’s Room was the most popular spot throughout the convention.

Another hang out location at MAGIC Live is the bowling alley upstairs. Many nights after the lectures and shows friends would gather to bowl, tell stories, catch up with old friends and make new friends.

My personal favorite session this year was the Close-Up Experience. This year Steve Valentine hosted and the performers were: Bebel, Charlie Fry, Jared Kopf, and Pierric. I laughed the hardest watching Kopf lip sync to the song Lizzie and the Rainman while doing sleight of hand. Pierric’s performance was also pretty funny; he performed his act he did at FISM this past year.

My other favorite lecture of the convention was the focus session where 8 lectures happened simultaneously. You could hop around from each lecturer and hear snippets of each or spend the entire time listening to only one. There was a lot of freedom and people were constantly moving. It was an overall fun experience. I spent the most time listening to Jason England and Eric Jones.

On the very last night after the show and finale party some magicians started jamming at the downstairs bar. What a great way to end the convention by hanging out and watching incredible magicians do what they love.