Professional Photoshoot

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I figured if I am upholding my standards to a high level of professionalism, it was time to have "professional" pictures taken for all of my marketing materials.

My new assistant Summer and I had a great time with the photo shoot and we have nothing but great things to say about Morgan Kennedy Photography's incredible work!

REMEMBER: These are just some of the many "rough shots" as they will now be edited and have graphics added for all my marketing materials...

Enjoy!



The "Elegant" Linking Rings


Solo- "Elegant" Linking Rings


Notice Summer has mastered the card fan as I am reading "Magic for Dummies"


The Cups & Balls- My magic addiction!!!


Comedy Linking Rings

"Sleight of Chicken"


"Chicken Card Stab"


"Pick a card any card"


"Billiard Ball Manipulation"


"Subtrunk Solo"

Summer and I with the Subtrunk

"Comedy Straitjacket"

I think Summer was liking this a bit too much!

"Wand Pose"

The ball is rolling! Things are coming together!

Things have been incredibly busy; however, I did make sure I set aside enough time to blog about some of my more-recent "happenings."

With the dark shadow of this hard economy lingering overhead, I have been able to make light of things with my persistence to "make magic number one!" Two months ago, I took the plunge! I'm am now living entirely off my income as a Comedy Magic Entertainer. Fortunately, I am the only stand-up magician within a 350 mile radius, so I have been able to keep busy!

I'm excited about the upcoming web-launch for my first website. Las Vegas magician and creative web designer- Dan Sperry, is currently building a custom site for me to display my work and achievements. We hope to have things in full-swing for 2009!

I've been following Keith Stickley's guidelines in his Fairs & Festivals book and have been amazed by the outcome of fairs looking to hire me for their events next summer!

Needless to say, there's been a lot of great things in the works. Like any job that is 9-5, I try to work as hard as I can to send out emails, letters, faxes, and make phone calls regarding my services. I've been doing several dry-run rehearsals of my show as to modify it and continue to write new and unique material that fits me.

I look forward to the coming year and hope to start working towards a income goal!

Look out 2009 I'm coming for you!

The New Performance Attire

I've been so happy with the response I've been receiving from my new costuming, that I wanted to share a few pictures from a recent show...


I feel a little more confident as the entertainer now that I have that "extra little push" in terms of performance attire. I felt before as if I was just coming from Sunday school to do a magic show... Now I feel like nobody can mistake what I am there for... (I hope that made sense).



As you can see, I was right in the middle of saying something... Believe it or not, I walked through WalMart in that suit amlost a half-hour before the show. Someone at the checkstand asked what I was dressed up for... I couldn't resist- I said, "I'm here for an interview."

Performing the Vanishing Ketchup Bottle...

We are moving into our new townhouse!

The title says it all!

My wife, son, and I are moving into our new townhouse on Wednesday! I'm looking forward to having a garage were I can set up my woodshop again and have extra space to set up an area wee I can video-tape my rehearsals to work on my current show a bit more.

The month of May is not a busy month for me as I only have a couple shows booked for this month; however, next month I am booked every weekend with several weekday shows booked! I will be in Las Vegas June 6th-9th on business and am excited to use some of my free time getting pictures done in my performance costume (my blue suit) for promotional use.

I've been dissecting each routine I do in my own show and adding and taking away various lines I use to make it more entertaining and allow a little room for audience involvement and ad-libbing as well.

I've been highly inspired by watching Jeff McBride, Mac King, Nick Lewin, and Micheal Finney's performances and how they have a continual flow from one effect to the next. I'm trying to make a lot of the stuff I perform my own and concrete performances.

I'm sure I'll take a short break until my next blog due to the move and getting settled in... I hope to post a video or two with a closer look at how I've condensed my stand-up show from a complete show that took up all the room in my car to transport -to- a show that fits in an ATA case that fits in the trunk... Believe it or not, I seem to get more milage out of the new material... What is new... is actually old classics of magic!

More to come later...

Some down time...

As you can see, its been a while since my last post. I performed my last show less than a week ago and have open updates until June.

I really haven't been pursuing bookings right now since we are getting ready to move into our new home and my regular 9-5 job has been keeping me too busy to really feel motivated when I get home. No worries though... I've been watching a lot of my old instructional DVDs by McBride and Finney; as well as, jotting down notes and ideas to better my performances. This Saturday, I hope to do a few rehearsals in front of a video camera to actually start dissecting my show and working on adding more comedy to it. I kind of fear seeing myself perform but I know this will be a valuable way to present a better product to my clients...

More later...

Local Public TV and Make A Wish Foundation

This weekend was eventful as I performed over two hours of walk-around magic for our local PBS Broadcast station; KIXE-TV, at their annual volunteer appreciation banquet. It put me in touch with some great new leads for potential bookings. I was also able to get a few pictures around the studio with the fancy cameras and PBS logo in the background. I know these kinds of pictures will look great on my website (under construction).

I also learned a great way to get my name out there locally. I donated a 30-45 minute show to the Make A Wish Foundation's annual silent auction. Several of the local radio stations covered the event (held at our mall) and read off names of the numerous people donating services, etc. for the foundation. Of those... Elegant Illusion Entertainment! It was a great way to give back to the community; as well as, put my name out there for the people evolved with these events that normally hold a high number of business men and women looking for quality entertainment.

Tomorrow, I go back to my nine-to-five only to daydream about going full time with the magic... as usual...

Keith Stickley's book: "The Fairs and Festival Entertainer"

I hate to give away one of my secrets; however, I've learned a great deal about booking events and presenting my "product" in a way that is fool proof with this book. I would recommend it to anyone looking to target fairs and festivals in your area (I mean... everywhere except the West Coast *wink-wink*)!