Well, it's been a few weeks and I figured I should put something up here. Not a whole lot to report. Just enjoying the hot humid days of summer.
As far as entertainment, when not providing it myself, I've been taking in a lot of movies. Most recently, The Dark Knight. If you read this and haven't seen it yet, shame on you. Drop what you're doing and go now! I hate to jump on the Heath Ledger bandwagon, but this guy did such a great job showing what a creepy villian the Joker really is. Bravo.
I also had a chance to get to see Billy Joel. My date cancelled at the last minute, so my pal Eddie joined me. What a blast! Billy is one of these guys who doesn't need to keep touring, but does so because he loves what he does; and that's easy for anyone to see.
In a few weeks, another pal Scott and I will hop a train down to Atlantic City. We'll be catching a show by a wonderful husband and wife duo, Mark Kalin and Jinger. I've seen them twice before and their show is well worth seeing another time. Since they're normally on the west coast, we jumped at the chance when we found out they'll be in A.C. for the summer.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
My misadventure with Michael...
Yeah, it doesn't have the same ring as "My Dinner with Andre" or even "My Breakfast with Blassie", but it'll do.
The main event of the day is what's known as a magic lecture. Ordinarily, this is a guest magician traveling through the area giving a demonstration to other magicians. A lot of times, it works like this; "Here's a trick, here's how you do it." "Here's another trick, here's how you do it." These are usually pretty boring. I have enough tricks to last 5 lifetimes. Tonight was going to be something special and I knew it. Our presenter was Michael Vincent, from London. We've spoken quite a bit online, but had never met. Actually he was here for only 3 days, studying with HIS mentor who lives in D.C. (See kids, you never stop learning.) While Mike was setting up his projector and laptop, he discovered he was missing his remote to change slides. He asked where the nearest Apple store was. (Yet another reason I like this guy.) I told him it was 15 minutes away and I could take him. Of course, this was just a ploy to get this guy alone for about 40 minutes and pick his brain about magic. I didn't have to, as soon as we got in the car, he started to pick MY brain. Where I perform, how long I've been a magician, what kind of material. As we were leaving the mall with his new remote, I backed into a huge pole in the parking garage. Maybe I was in a hurry to get him back; or maybe I was still a little star-struck; maybe I'm a bad driver. Probably it was all 3. The car was fine, I was fine and most importantly, Michael was fine. Although, he seemed to acquire a bit of a taste for whiplash jokes. Our little misadventure aside, it was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life in magic. He fooled me with a trick that's been in my own repertoire for many years. He presents himself like an college professor, teaching the coolest subject there is, sleight of hand with cards. He's a fine gentleman, and my driving aside, I like to think I've made a new friend across the pond.
There are some wonderful videos at his site www.michaelvincent.co.uk Take a look, and you'll see just how smooth he really is.
After Mike's wonderful talk, a few of us retired to a diner for a late night snack and to trade tricks. I had EVERY intention of being home about midnight or 1 AM. Well, some people at the diner saw the magic and asked to see for themselves. Long story short, I arrived home about 3 AM! Hence Sunday was NOT a fun day. Thankfully, I have a few days to recover before my next show. This weekend I'll be appearing at Scott's Grille in Harrisburg Friday night. Saturday after an appearance at a wedding reception, will be at What if in Hershey.
Saturday, I spent the whole day in Baltimore. First to the Apple store in Towson to get a small repair on my laptop; then I was off to Denny and Lee's magic studio. Denny Haney has been a bit of a mentor for the last 7 or 8 years. Always there with some advice on a new routine or idea, or anytime I need a joke or funny line. I don't get there often, so when I do I like to make a whole day of it to visit with Denny and Baby, his pig. Yep, pig.
The main event of the day is what's known as a magic lecture. Ordinarily, this is a guest magician traveling through the area giving a demonstration to other magicians. A lot of times, it works like this; "Here's a trick, here's how you do it." "Here's another trick, here's how you do it." These are usually pretty boring. I have enough tricks to last 5 lifetimes. Tonight was going to be something special and I knew it. Our presenter was Michael Vincent, from London. We've spoken quite a bit online, but had never met. Actually he was here for only 3 days, studying with HIS mentor who lives in D.C. (See kids, you never stop learning.) While Mike was setting up his projector and laptop, he discovered he was missing his remote to change slides. He asked where the nearest Apple store was. (Yet another reason I like this guy.) I told him it was 15 minutes away and I could take him. Of course, this was just a ploy to get this guy alone for about 40 minutes and pick his brain about magic. I didn't have to, as soon as we got in the car, he started to pick MY brain. Where I perform, how long I've been a magician, what kind of material. As we were leaving the mall with his new remote, I backed into a huge pole in the parking garage. Maybe I was in a hurry to get him back; or maybe I was still a little star-struck; maybe I'm a bad driver. Probably it was all 3. The car was fine, I was fine and most importantly, Michael was fine. Although, he seemed to acquire a bit of a taste for whiplash jokes. Our little misadventure aside, it was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life in magic. He fooled me with a trick that's been in my own repertoire for many years. He presents himself like an college professor, teaching the coolest subject there is, sleight of hand with cards. He's a fine gentleman, and my driving aside, I like to think I've made a new friend across the pond.
There are some wonderful videos at his site www.michaelvincent.co.uk Take a look, and you'll see just how smooth he really is.
After Mike's wonderful talk, a few of us retired to a diner for a late night snack and to trade tricks. I had EVERY intention of being home about midnight or 1 AM. Well, some people at the diner saw the magic and asked to see for themselves. Long story short, I arrived home about 3 AM! Hence Sunday was NOT a fun day. Thankfully, I have a few days to recover before my next show. This weekend I'll be appearing at Scott's Grille in Harrisburg Friday night. Saturday after an appearance at a wedding reception, will be at What if in Hershey.
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