Funny stories, tips and tricks to survival and success of you and your business.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
HELP OTHERS
PLEASE HELP: The profits my performance brings in from the Magic’s Best Choices Show (MBCS) on January 10th and every MBCS after will go towards the patients sent away from University Medical Center when they closed their outpatient program to their oncology department. This is a every other Tuesday show. Show your support and come see it so we can make it at least a weekly show. Buy your tickets online at magicsbestchoices.eventbrite.com
The department has since reopened but needs our help because the funding was pulled and they are having a tough time treating patients.
If you have a donation for the raffle, that will be part of my profits that go toward these patients, it would be greatly appreciated and you will receive much appreciation during the show and afterwards with continued online recognition. People read Facebook and twitter and they will see your company or service there and everywhere else I mention this fundraising. But honestly, donate to donate. Thank you for your support.
PACK STYLISH AND SMART. Want to save packing a bag when you go to the airport? Wear your suit to the airport and leave the hang up at home. This also makes you look good and that always helps start conversations and close deals. Happy Holidays! (Taken with instagram)
IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED
You know the rest… Try try again. I finally got my blog to accept comments and for it to say “comment” instead of “permalink” which didn’t make any sense to me. There is another lesson with this… If you can’t understand it, chances are your readers can’t either.
GET YOUR INFO OUT THERE!!!
So all of my iPhone using friends…
I have found a great app for making signatures. It’s called EMAIL SIGNATURE PRO. For some reason it only has three stars in the app store but don’t be fooled. This is one of the best apps I have bought (it’s five bucks). It has multiple customizable signatures that include your picture and also has room for your top social network links (your top, not the top… For example there is a blog pic for Wordpress and tumblr.)
I have tried out other signature apps out there and this one picks up the ball that those dropped. If you are looking to send an email with an attachment then you can copy the signature to your clipboard and paste it at the bottom of your email.
Seriously…
Great job guys!
REMEMBER WHERE YOU CAME FROM
I am sitting here at Arizona Charlie’s with some very good and OLD friends. These holidays, we are hopefully spending time with loved ones and if not, we will definitely be thinking about them.
Anyone who has had any success has done so somewhat because of where they came from.
So thanks to these guys I am with for being there for me and thanks to all of those who have been there for me before now.
And a special thanks to my Mom and Dad for their continued support.
GET HELP FROM THE BEST
People learn from each other. That’s how the world works. We learn what to do and what not to do. As I have said to many people, we are a buffet of everyone else. Those we come in contact with today will affect the way we are tomorrow. That being said if you can get help from someone else in your field that has more knowledge and experience then by all means DO IT. I have been very fortunate in my life to have several people personally help me along the way giving me ideas, encouragement, third party recommendations and direction. By the way, if you respond saying you don’t need direction from anyone then you should be scared as to which way you are going. Everyone needs direction and encouragement. These two are also very different which I will discuss in a later blog.
Last night I had the opportunity to be coached one-on-one by the one and only Jeff McBride. Jeff has toured the world several times over performing and teaching magic, dance, mime and movement to hundreds of thousands of people. When he called me up and asked me to come over to his house for a session, I was thrilled to say the least. This is a guy that I have been watching and learning from on video for almost twenty years and I have always looked up to his ability to be a successful magician.
Last night I learned from one of the best as we talked about marketing, avenues for income, public relations, giving for giving’s sake and so much more. Jeff makes the teachings about what the student wants to learn by making the first part of the lesson asking you questions.
Jeff has a beautiful home and a library with rehearsal space that helps his students prepare to be the best they can be. I would recommend that you get help in whatever you do from the best as well. I will definitely be a different person today because of my interactions with Jeff McBride yesterday.
For those interested in learning more about getting lessons by Jeff, you can look him up at http://McBrideMagic.tv (Taken with instagram)
MY DEFINITION OF SUCCESS…. (if you are asking who cares about what I think, look at the person reading the blog)
So success I believe relies upon a few things. Two are:
1.) Being happy. I’m probably most happy when I am at the theater. Whether I’m performing in my own show, part of someone else’s or just in the audience, I love being in the room with a stage. I see a lot of shows. A lot. There are many good shows in Vegas and more than a few bad ones. By the way, you will never read on this blog about bad shows. Theater, like everything else, is a living breathing changing thing, that is going to only get better so it does no good to bad mouth it. When you’re onstage and have a bad show you know it. Believe me when I say that. Your mediocre shows seem better than they are but you can tell the difference between a bad show and a good one.
MOVING ON… Last night Ronnie and I went to go see Recycled Percussion at the Tropicana. This is a great show. They boast they are the show with the most audience participation and they live up to it. Going into the theater we were given “instruments” to play, and from then on my attention did not wonder but I, as well as hundreds of others, were completely captivated. We were all part of a team and we loved it. The audience applauded by using their instruments (items to hit with drumsticks… I wasn’t going to tip it but even if you know what the instrument is you’ll still go to the show. The opening number alone is worth it). This show is magical in the fact that it takes adults and brings them back to their childhood. This show will succeed if they keep doing what they are doing. DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY. THAT WILL BRING SUCCESS.
2.) Success is based on helping people and never giving up. Recycled Percussion, @recycledrocks for you twitter fans out there, is a group that was on America’s Got Talent and didn’t win but didn’t give up either. They involved the whole audience as I said before and changed people. After their show, they sign autographs an take pictures, again affecting people. These guys will succeed in this town and should they choose to have different shows in different cities like The Blue Man Group (also a good show), I know they will succeed in many more. (Taken with Instagram at Recycled Percussion-Tiffany Theatre)
I’M SHARING MY MONEY WITH YOU.
I promised tips on how to succeed. Well here is a way you can make some money!!!
Go and sign up (it’s free) at http://www.magicandcomedy.com/gbentourage.html and I will send you advertisements you can post anywhere. When someone sees one and books me, YOU GET PAID when I get paid.
20% is a nice commission I think. So go get me shows and get your dough!!!
NEVER GIVE UP.
This is the best piece of advice I can give anybody.
What did you want to do when you were a little kid (like 5 or so)? Did you want to be an astronaut, a ballerina, or a professional baseball player? What did you dream of and why are you not doing it now?
I have always wanted to be a magician. There is not anything else I’ve wanted to do for this long. This video is from when I was 5 years old performing in a talent show. As you can see there was a small glitch but everything got worked out in the end. If I had given up when I had a prop mishap then I might have gone onto a different job that I didn’t love as much. A lot of people say that you should do for a living what you would do even if you were retired. Then you would never work a day in your life. Believe me I have worked at the magic thing but it doesn’t seem like work when you love what you do.
And as far as you people out there who said they wanted to be a professional baseball player, watch the movie, “The Rookie” which is based on a true story. This movie goes to show that it is never too late.
Johnny Carson did his first tonight show when he was 37. Lewis Black didn’t get into stand up big time until he was in his 50s and Rodney Dangerfield started late too.
Do what you love and be free.
Tyas, P.J., and yours truly. These are the two first guys I met in Vegas who became my “magic buddies.” Of course, this is almost 8 years ago. So the lesson for this first blog of today is keep your friends close and your family closer. Both of these guys have asked me to join them for thanksgiving dinner because my family was in Sacramento and I couldn’t get out to see them. These friends are now family. (Taken with Instagram at Boomers)
