Today I had two library shows in Kelowna as I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post. I explained how I was going to be including a brand new magic routine in my show, and I’m pleased to announce that it went over great! The kids were interacting, laughing, and were very amazed. I couldn’t have asked for more. I have one more library to perform at on Thursday, so I’m looking to perform the routine at least 1 more time. I’m probably even going to adapt parts of the routine into other routines that I have.

But something interesting did happen at my second library show today. While performing my cut-and-restored rope illusion, I managed to somehow turn it into the cut-and-restored finger trick. While cutting the rope I accidently cut part of my skin off too! Ouch! I was able to quickly clean myself up, and get back to the show though. I played some music to keep the audience interested while I took a moment to clean off my hands and get bandaged up. The ladies working at the library were quick to grab me some papertowls and gauze which was a huge help!

But like I mentioned yesterday there’s something to be learned from it. I’ve updated my small first-aid kit to include gauze and tape for starters. Also, it’s always good to see how you handle yourself in those types of situations so that you’re better prepared for them in the future. I always record my shows so I have a recording of the incident so I can see how it looked to the audience. I watched the show tonight and besides a brief break, the audience could hardly tell anything was amiss! When I got home I had an email from the client sitting in my inbox that read “Great shows. You mastered ‘the show must go on’. Hope all is well.”

And yes, I’m keeping the trick in the show for Thursday’s audience!

Many people are paralyzed by failure.

I’ve never understood this. I would much rather take a risk on my own terms. Bad things are going to happen in life. It’s just a fact. Things we have no control over. At least if you go for something and fail, you attempted something that very few other people ever do.

At a young age I learnt that failure can be a good thing. When I first started performing there were times when I had spectators that I couldn’t control, or times when magic wouldn’t go as expected. I remember vividly a time when I was 9 years old and a trick went horribly wrong and it brought me to tears. In the end though it really wasn’t such a big deal, and I really believe that it made me stronger.

I could give you example after example of this from my own life but I’m sure you have your own examples. Think back to these times when you failed but you gained so much more out of it. My online friend Tom Beleware said something interesting the other day “The good thing about life is, it has a one-sided score board, the failures never count.”

So get out there. Get inspired. And try…

Tomorrow I’ll be performing at two local libraries and I’m performing a brand new routine. Each show is going to have between 60-100 kids plus adults. This new routine is outside of my comfort zone, and honestly I’m a little nervous about it but that’s exactly why I’m doing it.

I’ll let you know how it goes!

Failure: The Secret to Success

Do you have extra noise in your life? Well, I’ve noticed it my life recently, and I’ve been taking steps to correct it. For example, I’m a huge fan of RSS. In the past even been proud of how many websites I keep up with on a day to day basis. But today I’m slowly eliminating websites that aren’t thought provoking, or don’t provide me with information that I can act upon. I’ve turned off email on my blackberry which helps me better focus through other tasks like writing this post. And I’m removing myself from online discussions where the people participating seem to have no respect for the human on the other side of their computer screen.

These changes have helped me become far more efficient, and have freed up huge amounts of extra time. I’ve been able to spend more time with friends, family, and creating new video clips for the web.

Motivational speaker Brian Tracy makes a great point in his live presentations. We all have 24 hours in a day right. From top athletes, to presidents, to entrepreneurs. How we use that time is what’s important.

Are there areas of your life where you’re killing time? You may have a hard time finding the problem areas at first. I know I didn’t realize how much time I was wasting on a day to day basis.

I challenge you to free up some of that time and use it doing something more meaningful. You might be surprised. I promise you’ll be happier for it.

(But don’t stop reading my blog. Free time up in other ways! I appreciate your attention it’s the most valuable thing you can give to me.)

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I just recently got some brand new business cards printed up. I got them printed by a local print company in Kelowna. They did some posters for me in the past and I was pretty happy with them.

This time I wanted to get some new business cards printed, but I wanted really nice business cards. I was looking around for a special kind of textured laminate paper, and I was able to provide Ehmann Printworx with a sample and they were able to make them for me.

In the end the cards turned out really nice and I’m quite happy with them. I’m looking forward to handing out all 2,000 of them. I’ve already handed out a few dozen, but of course the first few are always the easiest.

[ Click image for full version ]

[ More pictures on my Facebook ]

Today I did an interview for “Okanagan Today”. The story is about the Okanagan Arts Awards this weekend.

I had a great time at the interview. We started off by filming a bunch of different magic tricks. Since there was no host this time, I had to do solo effects. I performed some coin manipulation, a few card color changes, changing a $10 into a $100 bill, and a few other things. After filming the effects Tamie Williams interviewed me. We’ve met several times over the years, I performed for her daughters 11th birthday over 7 years ago.

I figure it will only be a few more years until I’ll be performing for kids birthday parties where I performed for their parents birthday. I first started performing when I was 8 years old and I often performed for kids that were about the same age. Now I’m 23, and there’s lots of people my age that are having kids. So I figure in just a few more years I can perform for the next generation. It kind of scares me actually. Makes me feel like one of those teachers where they taught your grandparents, parents, and you!

The Okanagan Today story is going to air on Thursday on Channel 11. The show starts at 6:00pm and repeats every 40 minutes or so until Friday morning at 6am, then back up at 10am til 2pm. I’m going to try and record a copy and put it up on youtube too.

Everybody always complains about the horrors and tortures of flying, and although I’m not a regular air-passenger I’ve had my fair share of flying nightmares. But even still, there’s nothing more magical than being up in the air just as the sun is going down and looking out the window at all the stars on the top half of the sky, and the bright lights of the cities below.

When I flew to Vegas this past summer our transfer flight from Seattle was at night, so our flight to Vegas was in darkness. But it was an amazing sight to fly into Las Vegas, the brightest city in the world, and see all the lights below.

I’ve always hoped that as I continue to perform magic I’ll have more opportunities to travel. The world around us is spectacular.

Wow, life happens fast! Its been a long time since I’ve updated, but I’ve been keeping really really busy. I wanted to just send out a quick thank-you and Merry Christmas to everyone who’s been reading my magic blog.

Tonight I hit a patch of ice while driving at about 70Km/hr. I had to re-correct several times to avoid going into the ditch and driving into the on coming lane. Once I was sort of going straight-ish I tapped my breaks and spun around 540º! I’m so lucky there were no other cars on the road, and I didn’t end up in a ditch. There was no damage at all, everyone is ok, but it was very very scary. But I know better now and I need to slow down on these dangerous roads.

This Christmas really makes me feel lucky to be alive! Merry Christmas everyone– and drive safe!!

I’m pleasantly proud to announce that I won the 2008 KEY Business Award for Quality Excellence. It’s an honor to win two years in a row. Congratulate all the other winners:

* Alpine Aerotech
* All Kinds of Carpet & Flooring
* Hergott Law
* The Cove Lakeside Resort
* Westside Celebration Society
* Bill Wlodanczyk
* The Good Guys
* Zellers Inc. Westbank
* Two Eagles Golf Course & Academy
* Always Write Business Service
* Emmanuel Church
* John Byland
* Troy Schmidt

This week is National Fire Prevention Week (Oct 5-11th) and I was invited to perform at the Kelowna Fire Hall for the “Fire Chief for a Day” event. 50 kids from different schools across the Okanagan and their parents came to the Kelowna Fire Hall on October 8 for activities. For the show I was requested to include some special fire prevention related magic. During the show I showed all the kids a Smoke Alarm, and had the fire card put into one of 4 envelopes. The other 3 had just blank paper. One by one I put the envelopes on the Smoke Alarm to see if it could find the fire. Finally the Smoke Alarm being to ring as it had found the fire!

At the event they did a live fire demonstration showing how fast a fire can spread in your house. I had no idea that by the time the smoke alarm goes off you only have 2 minutes to get out of your house.

Home Fire Safety Tips – Half of these I had never even heard of before I did my research!

• More than half of all fatal home fires happen at night while people are asleep. Smoke detectors sound an alarm when a fire starts, waking people before they are trapped or overcome by smoke. With smoke detectors your risk of dying in a home fire is cut nearly in half.
• Install smoke detectors outside every sleeping area and on every level of your home, including the basement. Follow installation instructions carefully, and test smoke detectors monthly. Change all smoke detector batteries at least once a year. If your detector is more than 10 years old, replace it with a new one.
• Smoke alarms should be tested and maintained in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions. Alarms should be tested once a month by pushing the test button and listening for the alarm.
• For battery operated smoke alarms, replace batteries at least once a year or for extended life batteries according to manufacturer’s instructions. Batteries should also be replaced when the smoke alarm makes a chirping sound.
• Smoke alarms should be cleaned, at least once every six months, by gently vacuuming the exterior.
• Smoke alarms do wear out and should be replaced at least every 10 years.

On Thursday was the luncheon event to present the nominations, and the semi-finalists for the 2008 KEY Business Excellence Awards. I was nominated in 4 categories including Young Entrepreneur, Quality Excellence, Service Based, and Customer Service. Since I won Young Entrepreneur last year I can’t win it again this year. I’m in a semi-finalist in two categories- Service Based, and Customer Service.

The KEY Business Gala Awards Night is coming up on October 18th. I really hope I win again this year, keep your fingers crossed for me!