The Magician’s Wife

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Join magician Barry Jones and his writer wife Lora as they reveal the methods behind the world’s craziest real-life mysteries. How can a murderer be in two places at once? A diamond teleport itself five miles as if by magic? Or a host of ghostly faces materialise in an ordinary kitchen floor? Prepare to be amazed, as Barry and Lora pull back the curtain to expose the smoke and mirrors behind these bizarre happenings and more. And you’ll also have the chance to participate in a series of brain-bending audio magic tricks along the way!

Episodes

Monday Mar 10, 2025

21. Peggy, the Demonic Doll Part II

Monday Mar 10, 2025

In 2015, a photograph of a doll is shared on a Facebook page. Within hours, followers of the page begin reporting a whole host of seemingly inexplicable phenomena. Nausea, headaches, scratches to their skin, recurring nightmares, instances of pet dogs going beserk, and even strokes and heart attacks. But is this doll really possessed by some powerful demonic energy? Or might there be a more earthly explanation for this deluge of extraordinary happenings? In this episode of The Magician’s Wife, Barry and Lora investigate the disturbing doll known as ‘Peggy’.

Buy Lora’s debut novel here: thewomaninthewallpaper.com

Vote for us at the UK True Crime Awards here

Email your thoughts and theories on this case to us at: themagicianswifepodcast@gmail.com.

Monday Mar 10, 2025

20. Peggy, the Demonic Doll Part I

Monday Mar 10, 2025

Buy Lora’s debut novel here: thewomaninthewallpaper.com

Vote for us at the UK True Crime Awards here

Email your thoughts and theories on this case to us at: themagicianswifepodcast@gmail.com.

Monday Mar 03, 2025

19. The Escape from British Alcatraz

Monday Mar 03, 2025

On a bitter January day, three men are found to be missing from one of the highest security prisons in the UK, a prison with a reputation as the ‘British Alcatraz’. With seemingly no tools or materials, they have somehow managed to scale two huge perimeter walls. And stranger still is the fact that the men responsible haven’t actually ‘broken out’ of this prison at all. The men responsible have let themselves out, using a key. But with no keys stolen and none of the locks showing any signs of having been picked, how could this be possible? In this week’s episode, Barry and Lora explore the 1995 HMP Parkhurst breakout.

Buy Lora’s debut novel here: thewomaninthewallpaper.com

Vote for us at the UK True Crime Awards here

Email your thoughts and theories on this case to us at: themagicianswifepodcast@gmail.com.

Monday Feb 24, 2025

18. The Woman Who Sweated Gold

Monday Feb 24, 2025

In 1988, a Florida housewife makes an utterly astonishing claim. She says that, on a regular basis, large golden patches spontaneously form across the whole of her body, as though she is literally sweating gold. And that is not even the limit of her powers. This same woman is also a talented psychic, who has worked with the police. Moreover, she can make precious objects fall from her eyes and ears, as though they have been conjured. But is she really a gifted psychic, possessing some of the most extraordinary paranormal skills ever recorded? Or might there have been a more magical method behind the remarkable phenomena?

Buy Lora’s debut novel here: thewomaninthewallpaper.com

Vote for us at the UK True Crime Awards here

Email your thoughts and theories on this case to us at: themagicianswifepodcast@gmail.com.

Monday Feb 17, 2025

17. Party Like It’s 1793!

Monday Feb 17, 2025

Join Lora and Barry for a very special episode of The Magician’s Wife, to celebrate the launch of Lora’s debut novel The Woman in the Wallpaper. For today’s trick, we invite you to party like it’s 1793. But listen carefully… is everything really what it seems?

Buy Lora’s debut novel here: thewomaninthewallpaper.com

Vote for us at the UK True Crime Awards here

Email your thoughts and theories on this case to us at: themagicianswifepodcast@gmail.com.

Monday Feb 10, 2025

16. Lucid Decapitation

Monday Feb 10, 2025

In 1793, a young woman meets her end in the jaws of the guillotine. But when her severed head is held up to the crowd, her expression is clearly seen to change by multiple witnesses, as though she is still conscious. Similar accounts follow, of freshly-severed heads blinking and winking, blushing and moving their lips, until there are so many witnesses to this gruesome phenomena, they can’t all be mistaken. But surely they must be, as a head remaining conscious after it has been decapitated sounds far too much like a magic trick. Doesn’t it? In this episode of The Magician’s Wife, Barry and Lora investigate the grisly topic of ‘lucid decapitation’.

Buy Lora’s debut novel here: thewomaninthewallpaper.com

Vote for us at the UK True Crime Awards here

Email your thoughts and theories on this case to us at: themagicianswifepodcast@gmail.com.

Monday Feb 03, 2025

15. Tarrare, The Human Food Caddy

Monday Feb 03, 2025

In 18th century Prussia, a man giving off the foulest stench imaginable is found wandering the streets eating anything he can get his hands on. When he is arrested by the authorities, he claims he is a French spy, carrying top secret documents inside a wooden box that he has swallowed. After waiting for nature to take its course, the authorities realise that the strange man is indeed telling the truth. Little do they know the extent of his extraordinary eating habits, from cutlery to rocks, to a much more sinister menu than anyone could have imagined. But who was this outlandish individual and, more importantly, what was causing his behaviour? Join Barry and Lora as they explore the life of the French showman and criminal Tarrare.

Buy Lora’s debut novel here: thewomaninthewallpaper.com

Vote for us at the UK True Crime Awards here

Email your thoughts and theories on this case to us at: themagicianswifepodcast@gmail.com.

Monday Jan 27, 2025

14. The Tylenol Copycat Killer

Monday Jan 27, 2025

In the summer of 1986, whilst getting ready for work, a mother suddenly collapses and dies in the bathroom of her home. The headache tablets she took that morning are examined and found to be contaminated with lethal doses of cyanide. Soon, not only have more contaminated bottles been found, but a woman has come forward claiming her husband may have also died from swallowing the same deadly headache pills. Has a pharmaceutical company really manufactured a killer batch of tablets, or is there a little more to this story than meets the eye?

Buy Lora’s debut novel here: thewomaninthewallpaper.com

Vote for us at the UK True Crime Awards here

Email your thoughts and theories on this case to us at: themagicianswifepodcast@gmail.com.

Join professional TV/stage magician Barry Jones and his wife Lora, a professional writer, to explore some of the world’s craziest mysteries, from true crime to the paranormal. Each fortnightly episode delves into a real-life case and, just like a ”how to” conjuring book, dissects it into two essential components: The Effect— the astonishing spectacle that leaves the public in awe; and The Method— the secret techniques and misdirection that remain concealed from the untrained eye. And not only that, but you, the listener, will be invited to participate in a series of brain-bending audio hallucinations along the way! So prepare to be amazed, as Barry and Lora pull back the curtain to expose the smoke and mirrors behind crimes, hoaxes, the supernatural and much more, unveiling their inner workings.