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 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

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

Vote for us at the UK True Crime Awards here

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?

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

Vote for us at the UK True Crime Awards here

Monday Jan 20, 2025

13. The Hunt for the Wild Haggis

Monday Jan 20, 2025

Pour yourself a wee dram and join Barry and Lora for this special Burns Night episode, which investigates the infamous Scottish export the haggis, exploring the bizarre and legendary creature that is said to dwell north of the border. But could there be any truth behind the strange little snuffling creature native only to Bonnie Scotland? Plus, Barry makes his magical predictions about events yet to happen in 2025!

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

Monday Jan 13, 2025

12. A Psychopath in the Family?

Monday Jan 13, 2025

On the morning of 30th December, 1978, a series of shocking scenes are discovered at a respectable Colorado home. Two teenagers have been shot in their beds, one of them after a bloody struggle. Their 45 year-old mother is dead, too. She is found in the basement, slumped over her typewriter, having typed up a suicide note. This note, together with a host of other factors, reinforces the belief that the woman shot her own children before turning the gun on herself. But is there more to the story than meets the eye? In this episode Barry and Lora try to work out whether there is a psychopath in the family, sharing a simple psychopath test you can carry out at home.

Take the Hare Psychopathy Test here.

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 06, 2025

11. The Mysterious Lang Pack

Monday Jan 06, 2025

In the early part of the 18th century, a bloody and bizarre sequence of events unfolds at a country house in the north-east of England. It all begins when a stranger leaves an innocuous parcel of linens with the servants of the house. But just hours later and the scene is a bloodbath, and the servants quickly realise that the innocent-looking parcel of linens isn’t quite so innocent as it had seemed. In this episode, Barry and Lora investigate the surprising story of the bizarre ‘Lang Pack’.

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

Monday Dec 30, 2024

10. The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall

Monday Dec 30, 2024

One dark autumn day in 1936, two photographers visit a grand house in England to take pictures for a magazine article. What they don’t know is that the image they capture on their camera will go on to become one of the most famous ghost photographs of all time. But just who – or what – is the eerie figure in their picture? Is she really the infamous ghost said to haunt Raynham Hall, or could the photograph actually be nothing more than a brilliant hoax? In this episode, Barry and Lora investigate the chilling haunting known as ‘the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall.’

See the original photograph here.

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

Monday Dec 23, 2024

09. One Sleep ‘Til Christmas

Monday Dec 23, 2024

In the early hours of Christmas morning, a working man is discovered dead in his lodgings, the same man who had been celebrating the festive season with his friends only hours before. The man has been fatally struck on the skull. But could this really be the work of a cold-blooded yuletide murderer? Or could there have been some other reason for this man’s tragic and untimely demise? Join Barry and Lora for a special bonus Christmas episode, during which they discuss the tragic and gruesome death of a New York lamplighter.

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

Monday Dec 16, 2024

08. The Warminster Thing

Monday Dec 16, 2024

In the early hours of Christmas morning, the residents of a small town in south west England are awoken by a series of inexplicable sounds emanating from the roofs of their houses. Bizarre scrapings and thuddings are coming from the tiles above them, with some people even reporting extraordinary cacophonies, as though their chimneys are being smashed apart with huge and other-worldy force. But just what was going on? Was this a particularly violent visitation from Mr Claus, that most famous Christmas caller of them all? Or could there have been a more logical explanation for these peculiar festive happenings? Join us in this special festive episode as we delve into the case of the Warminster Thing, with added magical sound effects that might not be everything they seem!

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.