Scotland week

I saw the very talented and very funny Gary Middleton perform in the close-up room.  Loved his rope trick routine. Also saw Paul Vigil perform his flawless card and coin magic in the late night close-up venue. Cerebral and art-like magic...Dave Forrest did a wonderful magic illustion with a painting which predicted the future from  a dream in the parlour. Pop Haydn and Scott Land performed in the palace. Haydn is soooo funny and Scotts puppet work is extremely entertaining. You may know his work from the movie, "Team America". Also performing magic in the palace was the comedy duo Fifth Dimension .

Integrity

So far, I am doing what I said I was going to do based on my new years resolution. The Chinese New Year of The Dragon, (which happens to be the year I was born) started January 23rd, 2012. As a result, I am restating my goals again for this year based on another new years beginning.

1. Health; I am working out three days a week or more and have lost 6 pounds so far.

2. Wealth; I am paying off my credit card; THANK GOD!

3. Magic; I am practicing new magic everyday without fail...

I realize that when I do what I said I was going to do and don't make any excuses, I feel a lot better about my life. This blog is really about keeping me in check so that I don't slack off, but if it also inspires others to have integrity, then that too makes me happy for them.

Kickboxing and Magic

I just finished teaching Lou Serrano kickboxing in exchange for magic lessons. I learned so much from him tonight. Basically we went over card and coin magic. I'm tightening up the sleights on a coin routine, the matrix which is a card and coin routine and his version of  a card trick called "Everywhere and Nowhere".  On the kickboxing side we warmed up; went over basic boxing drills, then I held the focus mitts while he did various boxing combination's. We ended with big bag combos...

Comedy in magic

Last night I took the beautiful Robyn to the Magic castle. I enjoyed the comedy more than the magic. Hmmm, okay, the magic was way cool too. J. Neal did and excellent job of making us all laugh and impress everyone with his slight of hand.  Fielding West was hysterically funny in the Palace, but again his magic was very impressive too...

Magic Bar...

I took my friend Tatiana and her sister to the Magic Castle last night. David Gabay performed excellent card and coin magic at the bar! http://www.gabbaymagic.com/

Magic Castle renovated

The new close-up room is in a word, "Awesome"! I had a great time hanging out with Lou, Tad, Zach, Fred and too many others to mention.

Close-up Magic

I just saw my buddy, Lou Serrano perform at the magic castle and as always he was phenomenal! I also saw Rich Marotta and he too did an awesome job. I studied in the library for magicians and enjoyed David Roths coin magic for most of the early night... I look forward to seeing the entire Castle renovated on Friday the 13th:) 

House of Pancakes

Just got back from having breakfast- dinner with my buddy Lou Serrano after his performance at the Magic Castle. He was amazing as always. He made sure I was sober enough to drive home by taking me to IHOP after his show. Now that is a friend! I love him for that. Dana Daniels in the Pellar room was funny and the Palace show with Jonathan Pendragon and the Adams family hand guy, Christopher Hart was way cool. Gotta sleep now... I'll be there again tomorrow night to study magic in the library...

Entertainment

Tonight at the Magic Castle, I saw John Shryock and Mari Lynn  perform in the palace theater. The illusions were amazing! I enjoyed seeing Shryock levitate his wife and then make her disappear in mid-air! Eric Buss was very funny.Veteran magician  Mark Matsumoto performed sneaky sleight of hand close-up in the Peller room. In the parlour, Ben Seidman, who writes for Criss Angels TV show, was very talented and witty. His pick-pocketing is truly masterful and magical. 

Coin Magic

I am practicing coin magic from many sources; Alex Geiser's  Prodigy routine, David Roth's coin concealments, Bobo's vanishes, Shanky's DVD and many of the techniques that Lou Serrano taught me along with Armando Lucero's way of approaching magic...

kickboxing lessons for magic lessons

I taught my buddy Lou Serrano kickboxing today in exchange for magic lessons. I learned his chop cup and ball routine. Although I like his, I am going to create my own by combining other routines and adding my own personal touch. Lou suggested that would be the better way to approach magic, and I agree. The Magic castle library will be my main source...

Dinner with close friend Armando Lucero

Last night I had dinner with Armando Lucero. We spoke for hours about magic. Methods, definitions of magic, psychology and the philosophy. It was a perfect way to start the new year. After dinner, we went to a coffee shop. When the coffee shop closed, we went to a twenty four hour open restaurant til about three in the morning. I learned a lot and I am truly grateful for knowing Armando...