OK. Now breathe.

The whirlwind of activity continues. After San Francisco I had a brief week at home followed by a speaking engagement in Phoenix Arizona. During this time I was working with Odyssey Productions on the upcoming Fiesta Latina and preparing to present my act at the Texas Association Of Magicians convention in Dallas.

The convention was an absolute blast.
If you've been paying attention to the news
on my web site, you know that I was successful in the competition and took the prize for Best Stage Comedy act. I also got to meet and see a number of magicians with whom I had corresponded in the past. Highlights for me were
the lecture by Johnny Thompson, the performances by Mike Caveney, the midnight performance by Banachek, and the comedy of Avner the Eccentric. Other highlights included Mr. Mysto, hanging out with my colleagues from San Antonio and psychicly bending forks for the nice girls in the nearby Hooters. It was also a pleasure to spend time with my friend Bill Palmer and see some of his outstanding cups and balls collection.

However, my absolute favorite part of the convention was seeing it through the eyes of a new magician who had never gone to a convention before. I've been working with my friend Timos for a while as he has developed his skill and style in magic. I talked him into going along with me to the convention and he seemed to take it all in. I've been doing magic for a while. I've been in the company of many other magicians for a good half of that time. I don't get as many surprises at these kinds of events because... well... I've been there before. But seeing everything through Timos's eyes brought it all to life for me and made it even more fun and wonderful.

Thanks to the TAOM judges for their support for my act. There is a funny story here. If you look at the picture of me and the other Austin winner, Marcus Eddie (on my left), you'll notice that my trophy seems to be missing a bit.

In the TAOM contest the judges have the authority to recategorized and act and award it accordingly. In this case they chose to move my category from simply Stage to Comedy Stage. The other winner, Daniel Reyes (not pictured), was awarded for Club Stage. Since they had not planned to give the additional award, they did not have a trophy prepared. I'm expecting to receive the completed
trophy soon.

My friend, Marcus, won for close-up magic. I competed in the close-up category as well. While I received some favorable comments, I have absolutely no problem taking a back seat to Marcus here. He's a great magician and one of my favorite people to swap magic with.

Right now things are full tilt toward Fiesta Latina where I'm working with dancers. This is fascinating by itself.
Magicians and actors tend to work with scripts. Things are designed and written and everything is built from
that plan. Dancers are very kinetic people. The learn by watching and copying. Their creative process is very
free-flowing and physical. So combining these to styles of creativity has provided some challenges. However I am
thrilled with the results. I'm working with a new actor,
Trisha Gutierrez, who has been an absolute joy. She's a
student so I don't know how many projects she'll be available. You should come see her at Fiesta Latina to help her see how much fun it can be.

Next month is October. There's another Odyssey Collaboration called "Fantasy Masquerade" on the 27th. There is also a possibility of setting up our Spirit Theater show closer to Halloween, possibly in conjunction with our Victorian Seance programs. You'll hear more from me here. In the middle of all of that is a possible trip to Bangalore, India and Seoul, Korea. No moss
growing on me!

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