Magician Problems

More funny stuff at www.Zazzle.com/MagicTrickShirts

The Classics of Magic... Bring a Towel

Here's a fun little comic panel I put together using a stock photo (probably from istockphoto.com) and a funny idea.

Years ago I used a rabbit in my act. Named Sebastian. Wore a spiked collar. This was very early in my career as a magician, so I didn't have very many gigs. Sebastian got to appear maybe 4 times before I sold him to an older more experienced magician.

The biggest show was at a magicians convention in northern Ohio, maybe Massilon. I was booked to appear in the close-up contest, very exciting. My act consisted of a card trick with my pet rock finding the chosen card, a dice matrix routine set to music, cups and balls and a cut & restored rope. I ended the routine by producing Sebastian from a crumbled up paper bag (which had been used earlier in the show). I did the performance and everything went fine.

Until I was told to move over to the next table and do it again...

I didn't know about this rotating performance setup, so I was not prepared. I only had the one bag and one rope. The setup time for my show was about 4-5 minutes. There was no way I could spend that much time setting up once I got to the next table, so I had to make a lot of changes immediately. The second show did not go so well, so by the third and fourth I was barely managing to present anything of interest (plus the rope was getting shorter and shorter).

But I learned an important lesson: Know what you're getting into before you get into it.

Oh, and during the 3rd show, Tony Slydini was in the audience watching as I did some sloppy lapping in my cups and balls routine. I was under a lot of pressure and probably sweating.

I'll have to tell you another Slydini story later, but back to my graphic design adventures.

Lately I've been working on the layout and coding for the Ludlow Theatre site (which right now is just basic info slapped up there until I get the actual site coded and running), my portfolio site, and getting ready to update the circus camp site. I'm also designing a logo and poster/flyer for my friend BooBoo the clown's new show called "Kindness Counts". And still booking shows for October and November. Nice being busy.

When I get more to show, I'll post it here.