A Magicians Journey

Good December

2005-12-20T18:15:00.000Z

So it’s been a good December for me in my first year or business. OK, I haven’t been working everyday on the run up to Christmas but I am pleased with the gigs that I have done so far.

On the 1st December I was working for Dorian Michael at the Village Hotel in Cardiff. I entertained about 50 guests for about 2 hours. This involved a bit of mix and mingling and then Table Hopping. That went pretty well, so I was pleased with my performance.

2nd of December I was suppose to be working for the Royal Bank of Scotland but due to some confusion with the contract I was dropped, but I did end up working in Bracknell for Johnson & Johnson at the Hilton hotel. This was my first agency job so I was very nervous. I had some mix feelings after the show. I felt the night didn’t go as expected and I found the majority of people there very hard to please. I don’t know if it was me or the audience. The company also had a comedian on towards the end of the night, unfortunately I can’t remember his name but he had me in stitches. The audience were laughing but something was quite right. Anyway I can’t make excuses its all part of the business.

3rd of December I was at the Vale of Glamorgan Hotel in Cardiff where all the Rugby players stay when they come down to play at the Millennium. I was working for a local construction company called Lauren & Carter. This was a fantastic gig. Really enjoyed myself! Once again there were about 50 people there, so I had to cover 5 tables. There was one guy there who kept looking at me if I was a piece of pork at a Jewish wedding but I ignored him and enjoyed the rest of their company.

The following weekend I just worked my restaurant jobs, which I enjoy doing because there is no travelling what so ever. I may have mentioned in my previous posts about me working at Jumping Jaks over the Christmas period. Thankfully these were cancelled at late notice. Even though the money was OK, I wasn’t sure if I was up for entertaining piss heads in the freezing cold.

On the 15th I worked for Citigroup in London in a fancy nightclub called Pacha. This was a mix and mingle gig. There were no tables there so it was nice to play around with magic where we all had to stand. Obviously I was using some of my professional routines but I was also playing around with cigarettes etc. It was a lot of fun, but difficult with the loud music in the background.

On the 16th I went back to London this time with Dorian to perform for Ernst and Young in a huge Marquee in the grounds of The Oldbillingsgate Fish Market. Also at this gig were Paul Roberts and Mark Mason. Oh my god how mad is Mark Mason (JBMagic), but a great chap. The Marquee we were working in was absolutely huge. There were over 1400 guests, therefore there must have been over 140 tables there. Upstairs in the Marquee (yes you didn’t read that wrong) were bumper cars. This place was huge.

The gig went really well. Our contract was to work 2 hours. We had to mix and mingle for just under an hour and the last hour we had to perform during their starters. We were told which VIP tables to perform and then it was up to us where we wanted to go next. I think we must have done about 5 tables each.

At the end of the night, both Dorian and I went to meet up with Chris Dugdale and Phil Jay in a pub near The Natural History Museum for a couple of drinks and a chat.

I have never met Chris before but all I can say is that he is a complete nut case. It was a good night though.

We left London about 12ish expecting to get home for about 3ish in the morning. Oh we were wrong. I guess some of you heard about that huge accident on the M4 where 3 people died. Well I and Dorian were stuck in that traffic jam for over 2 and a half hours. The amount of police cars, fire engines and ambulances were unthinkable. Very scary actually. If we had left 5 minutes earlier we could have been in that accident. You never know. Anyway we got home around 5.45 in the morning.

To finish the Christmas rush I did a little cabaret act for a local care home free of charge. Im a nice guy really. It was very hard due to their mental and disability problems but I really enjoyed it, and it made me wonder how lucky we all are. So so sad.

Anyway folks, have a great Christmas. I hope Santa brings you all those prezzies you have asked for. Takecare guys! Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

Session

2005-11-30T12:33:00.000Z

It’s been a while since I posted last. Unfortunately I never got to go to Dubai due to some complications from the client side. Oh well, it would have been great to have gone but I know there will be other great opportunities in the near future.

So how have things been going for me? Well not bad at all. On the 19th of November I was up in Oxford for my last wedding of the season. It went really well. Really enjoyed my self, even though a lady there pick pocket me, for a laugh and didn’t notice until I went up to her table and started looking for my invisible deck (no pun intended J)

Then on the 26th November I travelled up to Cardiff Bay to work at the Coal Exchange for the Cardiff Arts Ball. The gig was first offered to a guy called Franko but he couldn’t make it, so he phone up Phil Jay and once again he couldn’t do it, so Phil past on my name. It was a great night but there were too many people there for just one magician. Oh I did something really unprofessional. As I finished my gig I couldn’t find the guy who booked me (my contact) so I left with out telling him. This is something you should never never ever do but I did. I need a big huge slap.

This week has been quiet so far, but this Thursday I am working in Cardiff for a Hotel chain. This Friday I was suppose to be working for the Royal Bank of Scotland up in London, but unfortunately has been cancelled, but I am now working up in Bracknell for Johnson & Johnson. What makes this gig a little different is that it has been booked through an agent. So if I do well this Friday, and the positive reviews get fed back to the agent, she will hopefully use me more in the future. So fingers crossed.

Then on Saturday I’m in Cardiff again working for a construction company called Carter Lauren. So the outlook this weekend is fantastic.

Last night I had a great night. During the day Phil Jay rang me up asking me about a gig. One of the questions I asked was how he kept his account records. He told me over the phone but he said it would be better for me to come over for a chat.

I arrived at his house at 7pm and then left at 2am the following morning. We basically ended up having magic session for 7 hours. To be honest we didn’t do many tricks it was mostly on the business side of magic. I must have learnt a thousand new things last night. I just couldn’t believe some of the stuff he told me. I felt very privilege to be in the same room with this guy with such vast knowledge on psychology and magic. I would love to tell you guys some of the things he told, but I think he took me in with confidents. So for now I better keep it to my self. SORRY.

Towards the end of the night he started telling me the time he consulted Paul Zenon on his first series. Phil was the guy who originated the watch in the can of spaghetti.
He also showed Paul the method for the Car Tax Disc trick and the snooker table trick.

So as you can imagine it was a delight to be listening to Phil describing how he came up with the ideas, methods and handlings of these tricks. He also showed me his own handlings of these tricks (such as how Paul was suppose to remove the tax disc from the window) which I personally thought looked much better that Zenon’s handling.

So guys I shall leave you all to it for this week and I shall see you all again soon. Ta for now.

It's not what you know, its who you know - So so true!

2005-11-14T11:07:00.001Z

Hi Gang, things are going extremely well. The other week I had an audition at Chiquito Swansea, and eventually got the gig for every Sunday at Lunch time. Thankfully I am getting the same amount of cash as I do in TGI Friday’s but by only doing half the time. Which is nice!

Even though working in TGI Fridays for 4 hours is very hard going it is actually paying off. I met this guy there called Mark Reed, a pro golfer who works at the Machynys Golf Club in Llanelli. He asked if I could work New Years Eve for him, obvisously I said yes, but I wasn’t really expecting a phone call. About 2 days after working TGI Friday’s, I have a phone call from Mark asking if I could do it. So New Years is done and dusted.

Next week I have a wedding up in Oxfordshire, a little strange having a wedding so late in the year, oh well, means more money for me LOL. The following week I am covering Dorrian at the Cardiff Arts Ball in the Coal Exchange. That should be a nice gig, but they want me to go up on the stage to be introduced. I think they expect me to do a quick trick. Not sure what to do yet. Any ideas would be great.

Then in December I am going to London quite a bit which I look forward too. I will keep you all up to date on the London gigs.

Now let’s get to the point why I decided to make a post today. This morning the mobile starts ringing, I quickly glance at the screen to see who it is. Its Phil Jay, I won’t bother answering it, I am half a sleep and I never sound too good on the phone in the morning. So I decided that if it was important, Phil would leave an answer phone message.

The next thing the home phone starts ringing. My mother answers it. I can hear her down stairs talking to Phil. “Can I leave a message Phil? Richard is in bed at the moment.” The next thing my mum comes up stairs with the phone and says that Phil is on the other end and wants to speak to you urgently before he catches the plane to Venice.

“Hi Rich, are you available from the 22-24 November?”
“Not sure Phil, let me look at the Diary” – Picture Richy running down the stairs semi naked, actually don’t bother. Not nice.
“Yeah I am available”
“Do you have a passport?”
“Yeah I do” - Shit Shit, I hope its not expired.
“I might have a gig for you with me and Dorrian in Dubai”
“Say that again? In Durham?"
"No, in Dubai"
"Wow" - Actually I was like FUCKING HELL.
“Its not confirmed yet, but I will let you know tomorrow or on Wednesday”

So fingers crossed guys. If I don’t get this one, I don’t actually mind because I am well chuffed at Phil for even considering me for such a huge gig.

Well that’s all for today folks, I shall keep you posted.

Problem Spectators

2005-11-06T15:01:00.000Z

Hi De Ho neighbours, I hope you are all well? Apart for my folks splitting I am actually fine. Last Thursday I went for an audition in my local Chiquito. It went really well and had a great time. Spoke to the manager afterwards he was really impressed and as we were talking people were leaving the restaurant and approaching the manager and telling him how impressed they were by my performance, so all I have to do now is to wait for HQ to give the go ahead. So fingers crossed.

Phil Jay has been in contact and has asked me to pencil in two gigs for the beginning of the December in London which is nice and he also asked me if I could call Chris Dugdale as he may have a gig for me.

Gave Chris a ring, told me that Phil thinks highly of me and that he would like me to work along side 4 other magicians in London for Ernst & Young. Of course I said YES.

So things are running smoothly at the moment and hopefully by next year I will be buying my self a brand new Golf GTI, that’s if all goes well LOL.

Oh, while I was working in TGI's last night I was entertaining this large table, the table were great, probably the best table I had all night, but there was this one fella on the table and I can tell he wasn’t impressed. From the way he was talking to me etc, I assumed he was one of those guys who is always the centre of attention with his group of friends, so when I came along and became the centre of attention he didn’t like it. There was one thing that he did that really pissed me off. As I finished my chop cup routine with 2 loads of an orange and a lemon, I always leave the chop cup on the table with the two loads in side, which tells the audience that there was no way that they could of been in the cup from the beginning. As I moved on to the next trick, the fucking idiot picked up my orange, peeled it and then ate it. What a fucking wanker. He did it because he wanted the attention I guess.

Unfortunately I spent bloody 15 minutes trying to get hold of another object I could use for the load. Thankfully one of the staff got me a lime.

Here is some food for thought (No pun intended) Now I don’t understand some of these spectators. If I was to approach a table as the manager of the restaurant for example and placed my wallet on the table or my electronic gizmo for taking the orders, I can guarantee that not one person on that table would pick it up, why? Maybe because there is nothing of interest for the customer to be curious over, plus the customer/spectator knows that that object belongs to me and that it’s personal to me, so they know that they don’t have the right to pick it up etc.

So why do some spectators pick up your chop cup after using it? Obviously they are very curious over that object because two fruits have appeared from it, but what gives them the RIGHT to pick it up. Just because you are a magician and you are entertaining them, they think its ok to pick up your props or in my case, eat my props. For all they could know, that chop cup could be worth several hundred pounds.

If any one has got any thoughts on this subject please feel free to contribute. Take care folks.

Yet another Obstacle

2005-10-26T11:47:00.000+01:00

I want this blog to be as accurate and as personal as possible so we can all get an understanding of the journey in which an amateur becomes a professional. This involves detailing my ups and downs. As you maybe aware from reading my first post, the reason why I decided to take the big step was due to me and my girlfriend splitting up. It took me around a month and a half to get over it, but I’m doing just fine now. My magic career has giving me goals and it keeps me sane (lol) and keeps me going. Unfortunately I have been hit by yet another big downer this month.

My folks had been abroad for a week and only came back yesterday. As soon as they stepped through the door I asked if they had a good time, the reply wasn’t what I was expecting. My dad said no and wanted to talk to me privately. He took me into the other room and told me that due to reasons which I will not discuss here, that my folks were going to split up. My old man packed his bags and left within 45 minutes of telling me.

So I have yet to know if I will ever see my dad again. Only time will tell I guess. So folks I have once again hit another obstacle, but I have got to keep going. I have got to keep strong for my mum and support her during this very difficult time while also concentrating on my career. Life’s a bitch folks, but got to keep going. Roll on 2006. Hopefully I may have a better year next year.

Getting there Slowly

2005-10-24T16:30:00.000+01:00

Hi Guys, sorry I haven’t posted for a while. Been a little busy recently, so how’s the journey going I hear you ask? Well I am getting there slowly.

The other week, Phil asked me if he could see me perform in front of a lay audience. We both agreed to meet down my local for a couple of slurps and for him to watch me perform.

Now put me in front of a group of strangers and I can perform like no tomorrow, but this was going to be different. Phil Jay was going to sit on the opposite table and watch my every move. As you can imagine I was absolutely cacking myself.

After roaming the pub for a suitable table, I found a table with four blokes on it. I invited Phil to sit nearby and commenced with my performance. I must have done about a 10 minute routine using my Chop Cup, Ambitious card and a few gags etc.
Once I got going I completely forgot about Phil watching, but my sub conscious was still focused on Phil.

After the performance I sat down with Phil and discussed my magic. This was the bit I was shitting myself over but I wanted Phil to be completely honest with me. So I asked the question “So what do you think?” he replied “Much better than I thought”. As you can imagine my face lit up. He gave me some nice complements plus one criticism. He said I kept apologising for my magic. Now I never noticed this but I can really see what he means now. Anyway, we carried on talking, and he showed me a few tricks. The advice he was giving me was absolutely fantastic. The stuff he was telling me, you can not find in any books or videos. Basically they were his trade secrets if you know what I mean. After chatting for a bit, he asked how much I charged. He told me that the stuff I was doing, I should be charging more.

He then asked whether I would be up for working in the corporate sector. My answer was NO. Only joking folks, of course I said yes. He said he would be in touch.

To move to the present, Phil rang me about 2 days ago regarding an email I sent him. We ended up talking for about 30 minutes on the phone discussing about charity work and PDP (Personal Development Plans). He also told me that he might have some work for me in November and December doing team magic. So fingers crossed folks.

So what else have I been up too? Well I have been doing a hell of a lot of admin work. Writing to lots of restaurants, hotels and evening spending over 3 hours in town popping into all the restaurants and bars talking to the managers (plus a few drinks on the side – it’s a hard life). From doing this I have ended up with an audition in Chiquitos this Sunday. So fingers crossed.

Also from working in TGI Fridays, I have ended up doing 7 days of magic in Jumping Jacks over the Xmas period. A little strange I know, but they want me to entertain during the parties on Monday and Tuesdays plus on a Friday and Saturday night while people are waiting in the Q’s. It’s going to be a strange experience but the money ain’t bad.

So that’s that for this week guys. I hope you are all well and moving towards your goals.

Mr Jay

2005-10-04T14:11:00.000+01:00

Had a great weekend! On Sunday I went along to my local magic society to catch up with some old friends. While I was there I was speaking to the president about Phil Jay. I asked him if he has ever come along to any of their meetings. He said “we made him an honorary member many years ago but he never has the time to come, but tonight he will be here”. My face glowed as soon as he told me. Since Phil only lives 20 minutes away from me I always wanted to have a chat with him, but never seen him around.

Here is a list of some of the people he has performed to in his last 16 years of magic:

Jackie Stewart (On his yacht)
Royal Family (8 times)
4 other royal families including the Sultan of Brunei
Robbie Williams
Richard Branson
Whitney Houston,
Sir Elton John,
Stevie Wonder
And many many more.

He also privately teaches magicians as well. Marc Oberon spent a couple of days with him to sort out his routine before winning at Blackpool this year.

Not bad hey! I believe Phil is one of the most established close up magicians in the UK and probably the highest earner too.

Anyway as I was talking to some of the guys in the society, Phil walks in and sits down. I decided to take this opportunity to sit down with him and tell him about me turning pro very recently. What a great guy. He answered all my questions and had many a story to tell.

Around 10pm that night everyone left the meeting except for Phil, myself and 3 other guys. We all sat round the table with Phil. We kind of had a question and answer session with him. One of the questions he had was, “How do you approach a table?” As soon as I heard that question I cringed (it’s not the kind of question you ask a pro). He said he never tells anyone this kind of stuff unless it’s in a lecture. The last lecture he did was with Paul Zenon. The rate per person was £350 WOW. Phil then turned round and said because its you guys I will tell you. He said the stuff he was about to give was GOLD DUST. I’m not sure if some of the guys knew what he meant by GOLD DUST, but for me it was more than GOLD DUST. He also performed a couple of effects including “Card to spectator’s pocket”, his version of the double lift, and a demonstration of him forcing a card (he knows how to bloody force a card, that’s for sure).

At the end of the night, Phil asked for my business card and said he will give me a ring.

The next day I had an answer phone message from Phil asking if we could arrange an evening where he could see me perform in front of a lay audience. If he likes what he sees he will pass gigs onto me or even put me in his team. I rang Phil up to thank him for his contribution to last night, and to except his offer.

He then asked if I wanted to pop over his house for a bit. How could I refuse? He showed me his performance at the Magic Castle. He had a fantastic routine. Very funny indeed!

We then went to the local pub for a quick slurp and a bite to eat. I asked him so many questions about the business of magic and he answered every single one.

I must have spent around 4-5 hours with him, and I enjoyed every minute of it. He is a very nice man and very funny. If you ever get the chance to meet him, do it.

Pinch punch first of the month

2005-10-01T12:01:00.000+01:00

Pinch punch first of the month! Doh its after 12pm.. Oh well. I can’t believe its October already and winter is now setting in. The scariest thing about October and NO it’s not Halloween, well actually it is, because I find as soon as Halloween is here, the next thing you know its fire works night and then its bloody Crimbo. Oh how time flies in these next few months.

So what have I been up to? Apart from the old TGI's, I haven’t had any private gigs this week but I have a nice wedding gig for November and a couple in October. That reminds me, I must send them a confirmation letter and invoice to them today. I know folks that my diary isn’t filling that quickly, but I knew that the first several months would be a steady process.

It doesn’t matter how good of a magician you, you could be the best magician in the entire world, but if you are no good at the business side of things, you ain’t going anywhere. Therefore I am currently working my arse off on the marketing side. I am handing out business cards at every opportunity, performing in many different locations while out on the piss, writing letters to all local and distant hotels, companies etc and slowly my name is getting about.

In fact I was down the local the other week, and my mate ask me if I could approach these groups of guys, because some of them were his mates. So I said why not. As my mate approached them to ask if they wanted to see some magic, one of the guys turned around to me and said "Are you the magic guy everyone is talking about?" I said "I’m not sure but maybe".
He basically said he has heard a lot of good stuff about me and wondered if he could work along side him. A bit of a weird request, so I asked what he did. He said he owned a Corporate Hospitality Event company. He took my business card and we left it at that.

About a week later I had a phone call from his PA asking if I could meet up with her to talk to her about what I can do and also show her a couple of stuff so she knows what I am like. If she has seen me, it’s easier for her to sell me when talking to clients.

To cut a long story short, I am working with them now and they already have a huge gig for me in October. The gig has only been pencilled in at the moment, because they need to finalise it, but it looks very promising.

So folks, I guess the more you perform and the more you get your name about the more chance you are going to get clients. Well that’s what I tell the folks every time I go to the pub, “I’m off to the office” hey hey, but its so true LOL.

Quiet Week

2005-09-25T14:26:00.000+01:00

I’m sorry folks that I haven’t posted for a while. To be honest things have been a little quiet in the last couple of weeks. I am still working at TGI’s every weekend which is going really cool. 4 Hours is a long time to perform, but it so much fun. I am now also getting a couple of potential leads from working there, which is a huge bonus.

Since things have been pretty quiet this week, except for a couple of bookings through my website for the next couple of months, I decided to start designing a brochure for myself. I went to the printers the other day showing what I have designed. I will have to wait till Monday for a quote, but I have a funny feeling its going to be a lot of money. Oh well, I guess you need to spend money to make money.

Oh yeah, because I am now self employed, I thought it would be a good idea to get an accountant to do all the tax returns etc for me. I finally got one after many phone calls, but I can really see it being worth while. Hopefully it all works out.

Wedding Fayre

2005-09-12T20:00:00.000+01:00

I must admit, I am all magic out!!! I thought I would never say these words, but I really am. As they say in the Fast Show, "Today I mostly been watching the Ashes". What a TEST, its been absolutely fantastic. Not a huge cricket fan but I have now been converted. Well done England!!

This weekend has been busy. I did my first proper night at TGI’s on Saturday. It went really well, even though it wasn’t as busy as I thought it would be. To perform for 4 hours is a long time, but the time flew by. I ended up entertaining this group of about 10 young girls. Even though most them were absolutely gorgeous, they were hard work especially when they kept asking me to strip. LOL.. Oh well they loved the magic and had a good time.

I also got my first tip in TGI’s from this nice gentleman. When I perform, I NEVER work for tips. I know some magicians do but I decided that the restaurant pays me enough so I’d rather that money go to the waiters. But this time the gentleman did the old SECRET handshake so I couldn’t refuse. I bought me a few good drinks that night.

On Sunday I went to my first ever wedding fayre. I had a really good time, even though it was a really long day. It took me a little over 1 ½ to get there. The journey took me right up into the valleys of Wales. What a journey. Anyway I arrived there a little before 11am and set up stall. The convention was a lot smaller than I assumed but the atmosphere in there seemed really cool. I got talking to two photographers opposite me and hopefully we might sort some work out for each other in the near future. I gave them the idea about magicians entertaining family and friends during the photo shoot. They really liked this idea. Fingers crossed, they may ask me to come along to some of their wedding shoots. Also they said they will give me discount if I went to their studio for an hour or two of photography. This is something I am really looking into at the moment because I eventually want to get professional leaflets and brochures done. Having professional studio photographs will hopefully make the brochures really stand out.

Anyway, you are all probably wondering how the day went. To be honest I really enjoyed myself up there but to perform magic for a little over 5 hours became very hard and tiring, especially when you are also pitching yourself to each group who approaches you.

I performed several tricks during the fayre including Sam the Bellhop (when I had time for the set up), ambitious card, chop cup, chink a chink, and a couple of gambling demonstrations when the situation was right. Unfortunately I was hoping to have a few bookings on the stop but they never came. I am not sure whether it was the way I was selling myself, the way I performed or due to the demographic location of the hotel. Because it was up in the valleys maybe they are not as well off as those who go to wedding fayres in the centre of Cardiff for example. I don’t know, but I will be nice to try out a fayre in a city rather than a village.

Even though I didn’t get any bookings on the day I did have several people who were very very interested. I have already got one email off them so that’s not too bad. All in good time I guess.

I guess working at an exhibition/fayre, magic is a different trade all together. You are not just concentrating on the magic but also pitching your product, which is yourself. It was a great experience, and when I next have the money I will defiantly do it again.

ADMIN

2005-09-10T11:11:00.000+01:00

The last several days have been very busy, especially in the admin department.

The beginning of the week I auditioned for TGI Fridays, which I eventually got after a couple of days waiting. I am so chuffed about this position because it’s such a cool place to work and I feel the atmosphere there really suits my style of performance.

As for the admin, I am currently getting in touch with a local accountant to help me with my book keeping and tax rebates etc. Oh the fun of self employment, but its got to be done. I also booked myself a table at a local Wedding Fayre this Sunday to promote my self in front of future brides to be. The table cost me just under £200. It seems a lot especially with the lack of money I have at the moment, but hopefully it will be worth it in the long run.

Because of this fayre I have been doing a lot of work for it. Setting up competitions, literature and getting my new business cards printed. So basically this week I haven’t stopped. I wanted to do some practice this week but I didn’t really get the chance. I have been playing with Derek Dingles ‘Rollover Aces’. I am getting there but the shuffling isn’t 100% smooth yet. I also bought myself some Slydini’s silks. I thought it would be a nice addition to add to my repertoire in the restaurants. I will let you know how they work out, and how many times I had to get the scissors out to cut the god dam knot.

Oh yeah, yesterday evening I travelled up to Silchester to perform 3 hours at a wedding. It went alright, but I felt 3 hours was a little long for about 60 people. Apart from that, I really enjoyed myself.

Well folks, back to writing the literature for the fayre, and hopefully down to a little practise before working in TGI Fridays tonight.

TGI Fridays Here I Come

2005-09-07T18:31:00.000+01:00

I just got a phone call from TGI Fridays and I have got the job. At the moment its a 4 week trial period working twice a week. I am well chuffed. The only problem is I think I might of undercharged but what the hell.... I am in there.

Busy Weekend

2005-09-06T12:41:00.000+01:00

Well folks, the last couple of days have been very busy. Sunday evening I travelled up to Cardiff to perform at a wedding dinner. Unfortunately it took a lot longer to get there than I assumed. I could never join the army because I am really shit at reading maps. Therefore I am contemplating whether to buy a Navigation system or not. The one I have in mind is the TOMTOM 500. Very expensive I know but I think it would be very good investment. If any of you guys have a SAT NAV or in fact a TOMTOM, please leave me a comment or something.

Anyway, back to the wedding. I arrived on time THANK GOD and took a wonder around to see what the place was. I first assumed it was a huge Mansion/Manor converted into a Hotel. You know the ones, the very old manors you see in the country side. I later found out that manor/mansion wasn’t a hotel but a house belonging to the brides father. The house was absolutely gorgeous.

After being mesmerized by the stunning house I followed the group around to the back garden. I could see a big crowd gathered around one particular corner of the garden. Basically they had also hired a street performer. I missed most of the show, but the crowd seemed to really like him.

I had a chance to talk to the performer after the show. Unfortunately I can’t remember his name, but he seemed like a really good guy. I asked him about the wedding and how it was going so far. He told me everyone here was very laid back and chilled. I asked why? He said that all the people here work in the music industry. I later found out that the Groom and friends all work on ‘We Will Rock You’ in London. So I assume they all must be rock session musicians or something.

The magic went really well that night. I performed for just over 2 hours and everyone really had a good time. After the 2 hours, I was asked to do another hour because things were running late. I didn’t mind because that would mean more money for me.

During the last hour I recognised one of the guys at a table. I just couldn’t place my finger on it, until I asked someone out of curiosity. As soon as he said his name it hit me. The guy was Nicko from Iron Maiden. Now how cool is that. I didn’t actually get to perform for him but I did notice he did have a few peaks over my way to see what I was up too etc.

Over all it was a good night and a nice pay packet. I look forward to my next wedding which will be this Friday in Newbury.

The next night (Last night), I performed at TGI Fridays. WOW that’s all I can say. I had a fantastic time. The atmosphere in there was just incredible. Because it was their opening night it was extremely busy but I had so much fun. I also got the chance to entertain some of the lads from the Welsh Rugby squad which I thought was really cool. They were great lads. They were a little hard to perform to at first, but once I got them, they were hooked and they absolutely loved it. They asked me to teach them a trick, so I decided to teach them the old French Drop. They were astonished by it. In fact all through the night, once they caught my eye they kept asking me to come back and show them some more tricks. I must have gone back to their table about 5 times and repeated the French drop about a 100 times. Oh well it was great fun and it was nice to perform for the guys who won us the GRAND SLAM. Come on WALES!. Sorry, I am getting a little patriotic on you lot.

As of yet I don’t know if I have got the job yet. Management said they will be in touch with me today. So fingers crossed. I really hope I get the job because the place really suits my style. I guess I can’t keep my hopes up though.

Anyway folks, I shall leave you all to it and I will let you know whether I get the job or not.

Heart of Ice

2005-09-04T13:45:00.000+01:00

I was in my local the other night and as usual was getting asked to do magic every bloody 5 minutes. I don’t mind really because I get free drinks all night but it can be a pain when I just want to sit down for 2 minutes and have a quiet drink with my mates.

While in the pub I was entertaining these 4 young girls (One was a stunner so I didn’t mind) and after a few tricks one of the other girls just grabbed a card from the deck and asked me if I could name it. Thankfully I caught a quick glimpse at it and I creamed it as much as I could. You should have seen their faces. They thought I was the devils child or something. Her friend also wanted a go and before I could tell her that I was getting headaches or what ever crap I could come up with at the time from trying to read minds she quickly grabbed another card. Once again I caught another glimpse and creamed it for what it was worth and their faces went pale. I loved it and they loved it even more.

It got to the stage when one of the girls asked me if I was able to fortune tell etc. Now I am completely against this quack nonsense shit, but for some reason instead of saying no, I said I can occasionally contact the dead. I couldn’t believe I said it and there was no going back. I asked her if she had a dead relative and she said her auntie (bang, here was my first answer). I then carried on with some basic cold reading – I hear a name James, Johnny, John…Got a hit straight away. By the end of the 10 minute reading I told her that her step fathers name was John, that she kept a badge given to her from her auntie, that she had an accident when she was younger and some other rubbish.

She was completely astonished and you could see her eyes were glazing over. She wanted more but I said the pub was too noisy which made it really difficult to do. To be honest I thought I did pretty well especially since I have never actually done cold reading before, but I really felt like shit after it. I had truly deceived this poor young lady. I know for sure I will never do it again, and just keep to the old 52 paste boards. It makes me wonder how these fake mediums etc do it. They must have a heart of ice. Sick F*ckers they are really. People tell me that mediums dont do any harm because they make people feel good that they were able to get in touch with their deceased relative. Well all I can say is that Heroin makes people feel good. Mr Randi wouldn’t have been impressed with me that’s for sure.

Oh well, for now on I shall keep telling people how MOST of these psychics/mediums do what they do. Makes me feel much happier.

Anyway, tonight I have a gig in Cardiff doing a wedding for about 150 people. I am a little nervous because I haven’t done a wedding for a while, but I am really looking forward to it. I will let you all know how it goes. So keep coming back folks.

Day 1 of the Journey

2005-09-01T15:45:00.000+01:00

Well folks, today is my first day working for myself. It feels very weird knowing now that for the next few months or for the rest of my life that I won’t be working for anybody else except for me. Many people of told me which slurping a few shandy's down the pub, that once you work for your self you will never want to work for anyone else ever again. Obviously I will have to wait and see but I can see where they are coming from.

So today is my first day, so what have I been doing?

Well I had a nice lie in for once and got up at 11am when my mother brought me a nice cup of tea (I could get use to living at home again after 4 years :) ). Had some free lunch by diving into the old folks fridge. I call it a magic fridge. Everyday I open the door there always seems to be fresh food and drink in there. How I will never know, I guess its one of those seventh wonders of the world. But at the end of the day I am not complaining.

After lunch I sat my self down on the old laptop and decided to do some admin work. Very boring but its got to be done.

In the last several months, Swansea has been developing (which makes a change. Normally all the money goes to Cardiff) and only recently have opened up a large complex situated at the bottom of Wind Street. In this complex are a huge Hotel, and many new restaurants.

So this morning I took the opportunity to write to these restaurants and use their competition to my advantage. I started to write a few letters to some of the restaurants I could remember but then I got stuck. There were a few more establishments which I couldn’t remember so I decided to get out of the office (well mum and dads dining room) and took a journey to Swansea to write down the names of these restaurants.

As I was driving past I noticed that TGI Fridays was opened. According to the posters out side, the place wasn’t supposed to be open till Monday. This got me a little curious. So I parked up the car, and walked into TGI's for a sneak peak.

On entering I sat myself down by the bar and ordered my self a small coke. Unfortunately the waitress but the coke into a very small glass and only noticed when the manager mentioned it, so they decided to give it to me for free. How nice of them!

The waitress later told me that the restaurant was open today so that all the staff could get use to their positions before the big opening day this Monday. Therefore all drinks and food was half price. No wonder why I had a free coke; can’t complain though.

After a few slurps, I decided; why not! I asked the waitress if I could speak to the Manager. About 5 minutes later, the assistant manager came over. I asked if the establishment had any table to table entertainment. He said "We do and we don't". A bit of a strange reply but then he turned around and asked me why. I said "I am a table to table restaurant magician and have been working up in London for a South African chain for the past couple of months, and have now moved back to Swansea, and was wondering if you would consider using my services?"

After a couple of questions about what kind of magic I did and when I was available, he paid a visit to the Manager. After a LONG 5 minute wait, he returned and asked if I was available to perform this Monday during the opening day. As you can imagine I said YES.

So basically folks, this Monday I will be doing a kind of audition free of charge. If they like what they see and like the customer reactions, then we shall discuss money and the nights I will be performing.

So there we have it. First day on my todd, and its already looking good. Fingers crossed folks. Anyway back to admin work now... Oh the joys of the self employed :)

Notice

2005-08-24T12:19:00.000+01:00

Well guys, just handed in my notice and thank god my manager was really sweet. She wasn’t surprised in the slightest and was very supportive, which made it so much easier for me. So guys, Wednesday 31st 2005 will be my last day working for someone else. After that I will be self employed and working as a Sole Trader. Its scarier now because it seems that more real now. If any of you guys have any tips or want to leave a message please feel free to leave a comment below. Well that’s it guys, I will keep you all posted with my next steps.

P.s. Big thanks to Amy (co-worker) for being really supportive over the last 3 weeks :)

Introduction

2005-08-20T20:50:00.000+01:00

Welcome to 'A Magicians Journey' created by Richard Stone. Now I guess you are wondering why the hell is another magician starting another Blog when there are literally 100's out there all ready based on the subject, well the answer is simple, my Blog is going to be based on the journey of an amateur magician taking the journey to becoming a professional/fulltime magician. Before we begin the journey I will try and give a brief description about myself, why I have decided to take this huge leap in becoming pro and why I care to share this experience with you. To begin, I’m a 23 year old guy born and bred in a small village called Mumbles (South Wales). If you are a fan of the great Cardini you may have heard of the village as it’s claimed that Cardini was from the small fishing village of Mumbles, but this has now been disproved by some researchers but this is for another day. Anyway where was I; Oh yeah; I got into magic at a very early age but it wasn’t till I was about 16 when I really fell for the art especially card magic.

After pondering around with magic with family, friends and strangers down the pub (you can find me most weekends down the White Rose, Mumbles.. come and say hello) I decided to go semi professional last year doing a couple of wedding gigs and parties here and there during the weekends while working full time as a web designer in Newbury, Berkshire.

Living in Newbury for just under 2 years both my girlfriend and I decided that once she graduates we would both move into a flat in the London area so we could start our new life together. So about 3 months ago I was offered a job in the Wembley area and took it straight away knowing that my girlfriend would come and join me once she was offered a job.

While working in London I got my self a descent job working as a restaurant magician every Sunday. Even though the travelling was a little tedious at times, I loved it.

So where are you heading with this? I hear you cry, well about 3 weeks ago both my girlfriend and I split up after 5 and a half years causing my future plans to be in London to crumble. To cut a long story short I am basically going to quit my job up in London and move back home (due to financial support) and become a full time magician.

Ever since going semi professional I have dreamt every night about becoming a full time magician and I now believe this is the time. If I don’t take this opportunity now I know I never will and I would regret it in many years to come. If I do it now and it fails, so what I am young, no mortgage and in the future I could turn around and say “Well at least I did it and sampled the life of a working magician”.

So in just over 2 weeks time I will be moving back home with the folks (for a very short period I hope) and jump straight into it. I know its not going to be easy; it’s not going to be fun all the time. I will have ups and downs everyday in the journey of becoming an accomplished full time magician, so I have decided to share this experience over the web for you all to read. Why? I don’t know, maybe I am doing it for myself so I can look back on it in the years to come to see how much I achieved or didn’t achieve through the journey. I also hope that those magicians which are pondering on whether to go pro, semi or even just curious share this journey with me. I hope it will be an interesting read and I will not hold anything back. I will be as honest as I can.. If the gig went shit I will tell you all. If I had a 3some after the gig I will tell you all especially a friend across the pond (you know who you are). I will even post stuff about me resigning and how that went. Oh god that’s going to be scary.

Anyway guys, I shall leave you all to it and I hope you all keep coming back to check out what I have been getting up to. Now back to trying to write my resignation letter.. OUCH.