Come See Me Perform Live!

If you're in or near the Peoria, Illinois area and would like to see my ART of Magic show, which is my own approach to performing magic that's more artistic, here's an opportunity to do so.

On May 31, I'll be appearing at the Apollo Theatre in downtown Peoria in Magic, Music, Art, and Harriet, which features both my ART of Magic show and Edith Barnard's one woman portrayal of author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Read about it or order tickets HERE.

Hope to see you there!

The Importance of Art in Life

Here's a fun little video that a friend from a local arts organization just sent me the link to. It's on the importance of art and sharing your expression.

Enjoy!

Arts Conference

Couldn't remember if I'd mentioned it here yet, but I'm currently involved in a project in the arts community in the Peoria area. This June, Peoria is hosting the Illinois "One State - Together in the Arts" conference. It's a biennual statewide conference that draws artists, arts educators, and others interested in the business of the arts from all over Illinois.

I'm serving on the local planning committee for the event. This is the first time the conference has been held outside of Chicago or Champaign, and it's a pretty big deal for Peoria and the Central Illinois community. We're planning a variety of arts related entertainment and activities during the conference for the attendees to enjoy.

This is a great collaboration of artists and arts enthusiasts, and a great opportunity for the Central Illinois arts community as well. And as a performing artist and entertainer, aside from the thrill of being part of something so inspiring, it's also a great networking and PR opportunity too. You get by giving. (I already booked one show through someone I met at one of our planning sessions.)

As an artist, are you contributing to the arts in your area? Networking and collaborating with other artists from other artistic disciplines can be a great way to broaden your expression of magic, and move your career forward, if you do it professionally. And in general, I think that the more we promote the arts, the more opportunities there are for what we do as performing artists and entertainers.

I highly recommend giving it your consideration. There may be a wealth of opportunities in the arts community in your area.

Human Slinky

Here's something really fun I just stumbled across. It's a "human slinky" act. What kinds of ideas for magic could this inspire? I'm especially interested in movement, choreography, and how those things also apply to magic.

Enjoy!

New Year Inspiration

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope the New Year finds you filled with inspiration, wonder, and joy. In these trying economic times, inspiration is essential, in my view.

I was doing strolling magic at a gig on New Year's Eve, and in between tables, I was realizing what a blast I was having. And a big part of it for me was the sheer joy and wonder that people were responding to my magic with. I love that! How fortunate are we, to be able to do something that inspires those kinds of feelings for others? It just makes me feel blessed!

And I think that whenever we experience that kind of inspiration, it's always wise to express thanks for it. An attitude of real gratitude keeps the channels open and allows for the flow of inspiration to continue.

And here are a couple tidbits that I found inspiring and thought I'd share.

HERE is a talk by Magician Eric Mead on the link between magic and nature. I enjoyed it a great deal... his approach, while quite different than my own, is nonetheless right up my alley. I think you'll like it too.

And THIS is a link that my good friend Johnny Ace Palmer sent me recently. It's an inspiring and "magical" animation based on a new technology. It may take a few minutes to load, but once it does, a playing card will appear on the screen. Scroll down to the slider below and move it gradually to the right and stop and watch what takes place, then move it a little more to the right and stop and another show will take place and keep doing this till you are to the end.

Enjoy! And stay inspired!

Big Hands!

Here's something fun a friend just sent me. A YouTube video called "Rachmaninov had Big Hands". I'm not sure of the origin of this, but it's really creative and fun.

What kind of magic routines might this inspire?

As I've mentioned before, it's important to find inspiration from a variety of sources, not just magic related ones.

And of course inspiration, in its many forms, is one of the important things we should give Thanks for this season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

John Calvert

This past Saturday evening I was highly fortunate to be able to attend a performance and lecture by John Calvert, that was hosted by the Peoria Magicians Assembly. John Calvert is a living legend in magic, and his life and career read like some sort of high society adventure novel. He had a career as a movie actor "back in the day", and has traveled around the world numerous times performing magic. I've been wanting to see his show for years, and this was my first opportunity to do so.

And at 97 years of age, I must say the man still absolutely exudes charm. He absolutely lives up to his reputation as a master showman and ambassador of goodwill. One can't help but get caught up in his aura of good humored fun and positive emotion. He's a great lesson in what it means to be a master performer.

He's really the epitome of what I'm always advocating: find your character, be yourself, extend charisma, choose magic that fits your character, connect with the audience, (I could go on, and on, and on...), and he's a one-man study in poise and being comfortable on stage.

He's a true artist in every sense.

At the end of his show, John made a strong assertion that we in the magic fraternity are blessed to share joy and goodwill with the world, and that it is our responsibility to do so to the best of our abilities. And he attributed this mission of goodwill with his amazing longevity.

I couldn't agree more. If John is scheduled to come to your town anytime soon, I highly recommend that you do whatever you can to catch his performance. I'm confident you won't be disappointed by this master artist.