Kickboxing and Magic

Went over patter and technique for a card trick, "everywhere and nowhere". It's coming along nicely. Moving objects using telekinetic powers was another amazing learning experience. I continued to teach Lou kickboxing by having him punch focus mitts and the big bag followed by two 2 minute rounds of jab sparring...

Magic Castle with Robyn

I went to the Magic Castle last night with my friend Robyn. We saw Adam Wylie in the close-up room and Stoil Stoilov in the Parlour of Prestidigitation. I enjoyed speaking to Stoil in the bar downstairs after his show. We spoke Russian:)

Magic Castle last night

I went to the magic castle last night and saw some magic in the Palace of Mystery that I found useful in my own magic. It was a simple miming illusion done by Tina Lenert  with rings and Ardan James with a hat, but it looked really cool... Bruce Gold performed in the Parlour and Paul Draper performed in the close-up room.

My niece Mia. Chuck E Cheese Magic...

My niece had a birthday party yesterday at Chuck E Cheese Pizza. I did a few magic tricks for her and all my other nieces and nephews. I'm the only one in my family who doesn't have kids... I pulled a rabbit out of a hat for Mia and gave it to her for her special day... No it wasn't a real rabbit:)

At the magic castle I saw George Tovar in the Parlour of Prestidigitation. followed by Phil Van Tee in the same room at different times. George did an excellent job of not only entertaining his audience, but once again showing such confidence in his skill to perform card and coin illusions that looked very magical. My friend, fellow magician, Fred Falk and I really enjoyed his version of the McDonald Aces. He actually put the cards in the spectators hands then made each ace vanish!
Phil Van Tee was spectacular in his handling of the rope tricks.  The knots he produces are beyond magical. That kind of rope magic takes years of practice and it surely paid off in spades. I met Jordan, (MC brother is Brian) and her friend Stephanie, who is going back to Mississippi in a couple of days. I enjoyed performing a few card and coin tricks for them. The pleasure was mine...

Close-up Magic

Arriving at the Magic Castle at 7pm, I  saw Brian Gillis in the close-up room. His sleight of hand card magic was simply amazing. I then saw high school teacher and magician, Jheff in the parlour room who baffled his audience with mind reading magic. In the Palace of Mystery Ice McDonald made birds appear out of thin air. His partner Mystina danced with a dummy like Fred Astaire with amazing color clothe changing to the rhythm of the music. I ended the evening watching George Tovar, in the close-up room, who was a reminder to me of why I love to perform magic. His card magic really looked like magic. He was very polite and respectful to his audience. His humor was subtle and it was very evident that he was an experienced professional. Mr. Tovar truly inspired me...

Kickboxing and Magic Lessons

Just finished learning more magic. My buddy and mentor Lou Serrano taught me the Haunted pack and we reviewed the,"coin in the bottle" routine. It's all in the details to make it look like real magic. As for the kickboxing, we reviewed kickboxing drills on the focus mitts, followed by three rounds sparring, then we finish with kickboxing combination on the big bag. I video recorded this time for learning purposes...

reunions

I invited my friend, Danny Soto and his girlfriend, Leanor who I met again from facebook to the Magic Castle last night.  Danny and I went to Jr high and high school together. We saw the Palace show, the late parlour show with Scottish Alex Proctor. Then we saw my friend  Mad Tad  perform with his mentor McMaster. It was a blast hanging out with my other magician friends, Lou, his girl friend Dee, Zach, Fred and so many others. The girl in the picture just jumped in. She happens to be a friend of my first mentor Magician Armando Lucero.

Kickboxing and Magic

Today I re-learned the coin though the bottle routine. So many details to make it look like real magic. I'm so happy to have Lou as a best friend and mentor. Today, Lou and I sparred. He bought a mouth piece and new hand wraps. After working the thai pads he put on head gear, mouth piece and we did jab and thigh-kick sparring. For his first real fight, not too bad. I did pressure him a little bit, but I never hurt him. Teaching, does not mean hurting your student. There is a difference between pressure and inflicting pain. It is never okay to hurt and possibly discourage a student. We did two, 2 minute rounds. If we keep training like this, he can only get better; by better, I mean if he get's into a fight with a layman, that person will prey there is a god up there...