The Rocky Mountain Session was founded by William Rader in 2016 after Magic in the Rockies ended after 20 consecutive years. This yearly magic session is devoted to sharing ideas, routines, and techniques to grow our art. It takes place over three days on the second weekend of September.
The Rocky Mountain Session is limited to 80 attendees to keep the sessions intimate so that you can hang out with your favorite performers. We welcome all skill levels as long as you have a sincere interest in growing our art.
Activities during the Rocky Mountain Session include lectures, shows, and a dealers room. The lecturers are often underground performers that excel in their craft. You don’t want to miss the shows which include an attendee show, a gala show, and a one man show.
The dealers room focuses on magic that you can purchase directly from the creators. Past dealers include Craig Osterling, Kainoa Harbottle, Curtis Kam, Marcus Eddie, Joe Anderson, Dave Neighbors, and Todd Lassen.
“The Rocky Mountain Session is everything I like best in a convention; a small, semi-secret gathering where talented artists and dedicated crazy people can share and learn. My only regret is that once people find out how good it is, it won’t stay much of a secret.”
Curtis Kam
2021 Lecturers
Dan Fleshman
Close-up Magician
Dan Fleshman has been practicing magic for nearly half a century. His specialty is restaurant magic, and he started his 13th year at the Chop House in Beaver Creek and Vail.
Dave Neighbors
Close-up Magician
Dave Neighbors is one of the top innovators in the world of coin magic. His routines and concepts on sleights and techniques are revered everywhere in the magic profession.
Dan Jaspersen
Magician & Mentalist
Dan Jaspersen is from Minnesota who speaks four languages, has performed for executives of Microsoft, Salesforce, Google, Harley Davidson, and builds robots for NASA.
Doug Brewer
Close-up Magician
Doug Brewer is mostly known for his coin magic. He is a student of Jonny Ace Palmer's and has won multiple magic contests. His magic is designed for working conditions.
2019 Lecturers
Danny Archer
Parlor Magician
Danny is also known as Gino Mozzarella. He performed at the Vail Chophouse for 8 years and now runs the Smoke & Mirrors Magic Theater.
Tony Cabral
Close-up Magician
Tony has spent 20 years specializing in card cheating. He currently performs behind the bar at Legal Test Kitchen in Boston’s Seaport.
John Bannon
Close-up Magician
John has been a magician for over 40 years. He's published over a dozen books and lecture notes highlighting incredible card and close-up magic.
Nathan Kranzo
Magician & Mentalist
Nathan's magic has been published in national and worldwide publications. He was featured on Wizard Wars and on America's Got Talent.
Rui Yamagishi
Close-up Magician
Rui has performed at Magic Bar Kanazawa Style in Japan for 10 years. He has advanced techniques and clever ideas with the classics of magic.
2018 Lecturers
Jack Carpenter
Close-up Magician
Jack has been delighting audiences with his “Con and Cardshark” sleight-of-hand for over 40 years. Cheating has never been this much fun.
Bill Goodwin
Close-up Magician
Bill is a student of Larry Jennings and is the librarian at the Magic Castle. He's released his dvd Reflection, Penumbra, and Jennings' Up in Smoke.
Doc Eason
Bar Magician
Doc has been the ‘resident magician’ of Snowmass for 41 years. He is also a 5 time Magic Castle award winner! You can currently see him at Stonebridge.
Max Maven
Mentalist
Max has performed in theaters and starred in TV shows around the world. Orson Welles wrote that Max has “the most original mind in magic.”
Kainoa Harbottle
Close-up Magician
Kainoa is known for his coin work on the Palms of Steel series, the New York Coin Magic Symposiums, and Reel Magic Magazine. He also writes for Genii.
2017 Lecturers
Lance Pierce
Close-up Magician
Lance has performed both full and part time over decades, from bar mitzvahs to weddings to the world-famous Malone’s Magic Bar in Boca Raton.
Paul Vigil
Parlor Magician
Paul is an award-winning performer, inventor, and lecturer. His three-year run at The Mirage Hotel & Casino garnered ecstatic reviews.
Curtis Kam
Parlor Magician
Curtis headlined “Magic in Paradise” at the Hale Koa Hotel for 13 years and has entertained corporate and private audiences in Hawaii for over 40 years.
Tyler Wilson
Close-up Magician
Tyler is a creator of magic and has published his material across more books and magazines than you can twerk a stick at.
Mike Pisciotta
Bar Magician
Mike performs nightly behind the bar at the Magic Castle and was recently named close-up magician of the year by the AMA.
2016 Lecturers
Mark Strivings
Mentalist
Mark is full-time mentalist who performs 450 shows per year. He’s written over 25 books, released nearly 20 videos, and has over 60 limited-release commercial items.
Bill Abbott
Parlor Magician
Bill is an internationally acclaimed entertainer with over 5000 performances in 11 countries. He’s written 9 books and over 40 online articles.
Steve Reynolds
Close-up Magician
Steve is one of magic’s underground sensations. A technician of the finest caliber, his magic is powerful, deceptive, and relatively simple to perform.
Caleb Wiles
Parlor Magician
Caleb is an author, creator, a columnist for Genii, and an all-around nice guy! Linking Ring Magazine calls Caleb “a new star on the magic horizon!”
