San Francisco

I just got back from a week at a trade show in San Francisco. It was a great time and there are a good number of potential things to come from it.

In the weird things category I saw something called a "motorized cable car" (see picture). Now the whole point to a cable-car is that there is no motor. The driver has a brake lever and a clutch lever. A long cable runs under the street and is moving constangly. He alternates between grabbing the cable and being towed and releasing the cable and braking. It looks like a lot of hard work. I even saw some cable car defensive driving when our car had to stop quickly to avoid someone pulling out in front of them from a parking place. You have to be pretty dumb to get hit by a cable car. There is no such thing as a motorized cable car. They are cable-car-like busses.

Misdirections
While in San Francisco I visited the misdirections magic shop where Joe, the owner, was as nice as he could possibly be. I also spent some time having a very interesting conversation with Michael Steel who completely blurred all the lines with me about the art of magic and the realms of the real unknown. It was awesome!

Fisherman's Wharf
It's hard to spend time in San Francisco doing business without spending time at Fisherman's Wharf. I had dinner there a few times including the obligatory stop at Buena Vista for a taste of the original Irish coffee.

While there I connected with a street performer named Kenny. I've talked often to Mark Faulkner from New Orleans about his street magic experience. I've been intrigued by doing "magic in the wild" for a while and here I was in one of the mecca's for street performance. Kenny was just breaking down when we met. After a lovely adult beverage where I learned a little more about his experience and the local customs, Kenny said "You should go out and just do it." I did! I spent some time doing classical street magic just like magicians have done hundreds of years before me.

The whole experience was ifferent than the private and commercial events that I normally do. It was fun and exciting and something that I would definitely do again. Why would a performing commercial magician want to spend any time on the street? It's an amazing place to learn about people and to do things that I would never dream of doing in a commercial venue. It's almost like going out in disguise to be challenged in ways that you don't get in the polite and professional atmosphere of the show floor.

Mindreading
Those of you who know me know that I've spent a number of years exploring strange, odd and unusual things. I have devoted a good deal of time to exercising my abilities to observe and connect with people. Finally, I feel that it is time to share some of what I have learned with a new entertainment experience. I am developing a new series of programs which will demonstrate some of the potential that the mind posesses. One program, which is nearly ready, will involve questions submitted by audience members which I will answer without reading them. We are designing a version of this program which is perfect for young people, especially gatherings such as Sweet Sixteen Parties. Watch for more information in this space.

Pioneer Farms
I am talking with Pioneer Farms about having a program sponsored for their upcoming Halloween event in October. It will be a classic Halloween featuring a lot of good family fun. There are other events that I'm discussing with the Bad Cat Band, Odyssey Productions and more. There will be news here when we have it.

Contest
If you've been keeping up with the news around here you know that I took a prize at the "Search for the Next Houdini." I'm very proud of that achievement because I was up against some very stiff competition with a character and material that I had not shared yet. Over the Labor Day weekend I'll be in Dallas at the Texas Association of Magicians convention where I will compete again. It's another great challenge-- especially coming off of the heels of a trip to Phoenix. Please send out your good wishes. I'll post more about the whole experience later.