Breezing Through The Windy City

I had a ridiculous schedule for the last full weekend of June which had Sandy and I criss-crossing Connecticut and Massachusetts before winding up my final grad party performance in the wee hours of last Sunday morning. This gave us just enough time to pack for a lecture in Chicago on Monday night.

We flew into O'Hare with only about two hours to spare before the lecture for the Conjuror's Corner Magic Club which meets in the suburb of Roselle. It was a very enthusiastic and warm group and Sandy and I felt very welcome. We went out for a bite with a bunch of the local magicians after the lecture (great food!) and the following day, before flying back, we were treated to a tour of the city courtesy of Ozzie Maldonado, who is a Chicago police officer in addition to being a very serious and focused student of magic. We had a great time, particularly when Ozzie took us over to meet Tim Felix at Midwest Magic, one of the largest magic shops in the country (that's Ozzie and I at the shop.) It was too short a trip but we certainly made a lot of new friends.

I'm looking forward to some down time in July, starting with a Stevie Nicks concert tomorrow night (I know, I know...I'm old.) She's currently on tour to support her new Crystal Visions compilation and Sandy and I are looking forward to the show.

Here, There & Everywhere

Things continue to be busy, busy, busy.

While I have no pretensions of ever working Radio City Music Hall, I can at least now say that I've performed across the street. Last week, I journeyed into the Big Apple to perform for executives from Ernst & Young at a very tony midtown restaurant. It was a great group and we all had quite a bit of fun. Getting in and out of Manhattan can be a trick in itself but the trip was relatively painless once you get used to dodging the tourists who all seem to be looking up at the buildings rather than where they're going.

I also performed for Quinnipiac University's freshman orientation on two consecutive Saturday nights these past couple of weeks. This is the third year I've been a part of this event and the kids are always a ball to work for. The university provides entertainment and activities for the incoming class while they're getting the lay of the land. This is presumably to cut down on the number of freshman walking around with a dazed look in their eyes - probably the same look I had the first day I attended Boston University sometime back during the late Triassic Period.

I'm off to do a comedy club show in Massachusetts with Jay Rodrigues in a few hours...and then my schedule starts to get really nuts. June is certainly a hectic month every year but eventually the craziness comes to an end - unlike The Sopranos...

Getting Busy

There's a dichotomy inherent in blogging. When things are busy and interesting, there's no time to write about them. When things are quiet, there's all the time in the world to post but nothing to write about.

You can determine from the relative inactivity here during much of May that things have been very, very busy. Sandy and I started our season at Quassy Amusement Park and the new material is beginning to break in very nicely. We're still working on a new illusion that isn't quite ready for public consumption just yet, but we're hoping to have it out on the brand new Lakeside Theatre stage before the end of June.

We've also started our high school post-prom and post-graduation party season. Both Sandy and I have a number of high school functions over the next month. I usually do close-up magic for the seniors while Sandy does palm reading. A lot of magicians dislike this market but I have a great time with the kids.

This year, I had the unusual circumstance of performing at my daughter Heather's post-prom party. Unfortunately, her date had an early start at his job the following morning so they didn't make the party (at least that's the story I heard...) As it turns out, they've re-hired me for next year and since Heather's a Junior (her date was a Senior), I still have one more chance at embarassing her at a school function. Speaking of which, where does the time go? It just doesn't seem possible that my youngest daughter is going to proms...

In other events this past month, I had the opportunity to work with Jim Spinnato, one of the busiest (and funniest) hypnotists in the Northeast. Though he's one of my closest friends, we've never really had the chance to perform together. I opened a comedy club show for him last weekend, doing about thirty minutes of my adult magic show. Unfortunately, we had one less-than-model citizen in the audience who was a bit outspoken during my set but really hit his stride during Jim's show. Luckily, the management had the foresight to escort our friend to the door before everything got too far out of hand and Jim was able to bring his show to a successful conclusion.

Weirdness is by no means a rare circumstance in this business, however. For example, just the other day, someone inquiring about close-up magic for his private party actually asked me (cue Twilight Zone music) if it was necessary to interact with his guests. Really! I couldn't make this stuff up! Whenever something like this happens, a line from one of my favorite movies, As Good As It Gets, pops into my head. Jack Nicholson, as the splendidly cantankerous Melvin Udall, in response to a bothersome knock at his door, says, "Sell crazy someplace else. We're all stocked up here."

I'll try to write more soon.

A Day Off

Last Friday started off as a much-needed recreational day but it quickly began playing out like something right out of The Out-of-Towners as Sandy and I tried, against numerous obstacles, to get into New York City to see a concert. (Of course, I'm referring to the original 1970 film with Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis; the 1999 remake with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn sucked canal water.)

In the film, Lemmon and Dennis play George and Gwen Kellerman, a hapless Midwest couple trying to get to a job interview in Manhattan but one thing after another - plane delays, transit strikes, even a mugging - stands in their way. Likewise, Sandy and I had tickets to see Loreena McKennitt at Radio City Music Hall but prior to settling into our seats, I had some emergency dental work, we were delayed in getting to the train station by an accident and then a three-mile backup and, once we finally got into the city, there were no cabs so we were forced to cancel a dinner engagement with an uptown friend before the concert.

We did finally make it to the show, however, and even with all of the trouble, it was well worth the trip. If you've never heard Loreena McKennitt's music, stop reading this right now and purchase either The Mask and Mirror (my favorite), The Visit, The Book of Secrets, or her newest recording, An Ancient Muse. You can thank me later.

On the business side of things, Sandy and I are looking forward to opening day at Quassy Amusement Park on Saturday. We have a brand-new stage, which we just checked out today, and the park did a great job. Weather permitting, we'll be doing four shows on Saturday and four on Sunday.

No Business Like Show Business

This weekend, within one 24-hour period and across several venues, I performed alongside a chamber music trio, four celebrity impersonators (there was a Robert DeNiro, a Joe Pesci, a Joan Rivers and a Frank Sinatra), an astrologer, a mariachi duo, a clown, a yo-yo expert and a steel-drum band. This is not to mention the guys with the animatronic jungle animals at the high-end fundraiser with the circus theme who were giving rides to the attendees.

There's a camaraderie that exists between entertainers - particularly variety artists - that I've never encountered in any other profession I was involved with prior to performing magic full time. My 12 years in radio, for example, was hallmarked, with one or two exceptions, by backstabbing sycophants who would constantly be jockeying for advantage and position. This was a day at the beach, however, when compared with the time I spent working at an advertising agency. A horrifying number of people would lose their jobs without any warning just because one client decided to "go another way" with their campaign. Definitely not recommended for the faint of heart!

Entertainers, however, have a totally different mindset and even when their talents lie in completely disparate areas, there's usually an immediate rapport that develops. Working with all of these professionals this weekend made me realize how lucky I am to be able to meet and be counted amongst such talented individuals.

That is, except for the clown. It wasn't the clown's fault, though. It's just that they scare me...

Surprise, Surprise

I came home Friday night after working at Señor Pancho's in Prospect to discover that Sandy had put together a surprise party for my 50th birthday (it actually fell on Easter Sunday this year). With just a few exceptions, just about everyone who means something to me showed up, so it was a very special occasion.

I was starting to feel sorry for myself - turning 50 and all - but a gathering like this makes you realize that getting older also means that, if you're as fortunate as I've apparently been, you accumulate a lot of wonderful and amazing friends through the years. The party, combined with my good friend and fellow magic collector, J.P. Jackson, referring to me as a "young pup" earlier in the day, broke me out of my turning-50 funk.

Incidentally, I'll be performing at the grand opening of the new Michael's Jewelers location in Danbury this Friday from 5 PM until 9 PM. If you'd like to stop by and say hello, you can print out an invitation here. Billed as "A Night To Remember," this looks like it's going to be quite an event!

Two Lectures In Two Days

Sandy and I hit the road this past Tuesday to do two lectures for magic clubs in New England. The first one was for the Rhode Island Societies of Magicians (R.I.S.M.) which meets in Cranston. It was a great group and the trip also gave me a chance to catch up with some old friends before and after the lecture.

On Wednesday, we headed up to Boston's north shore to lecture for Assembly 104 of the Society of American Magicians which meets in Salem. We had initially thought about getting up there early and looking around at the witch-related tourist attractions but the unpredictable New England weather had a contrary opinion. It was raining when we left Connecticut but about 45 minutes into Massachusetts, the rain started turning into a wintry mix. Just outside of Boston, the precipitation was unequivocally snow and driving started to get a bit tricky. We stopped and saw our friends Ed and Margie Gardner at Diamond's Magic in Peabody and by the time we left there, there was a couple of inches of the white crap on the ground. Fun times...

Luckily, it's a hardy stock of people in that neck of the woods and the lecture in Salem was well attended. It was another good, receptive group and I also got a chance to catch up with my friend, Vlad, a magician with a decidedly vampiric edge, whom I haven't seen in a number of years.

Well, it's off to Señor Pancho's in Prospect tonight for some walk-around magic and then my season of shows at the Isabella Freedman Retreat Center begins tomorrow evening.

Happy Easter, by the way.