Past What's New For November 2001

	November 28th 2001 Good morning! Thank God It's Friday! Well, I had a wonderful but quick time in New York City with the Red Hot & Rollin' gang. I did take some photos, So, I will show a few of them up here for you to see. I did get a few really nice one of Broadway & 42nd Street and some of the big ad displays. How did the shows go? GREAT! It was at the York College in Queens. We all stayed at the Comfort Inn on 71st & Broadway. They were okay and not so comfortable. The bathrooms were made for Santa's Elves. I kid you not, you could have one leg in the shower, brush your teeth wash your face and sit on the toilet all at the same time. As soon as you open the door to the bathroom, everything was all with in about a foot of space to move. They did have a pretty good Continental Breakfast though. But, that hotel was definitely made for skinny people, definitely! Anyway, we all went up to New York in a mini van. Practiced that night in a dance studio off Broadway, then went to the ESPN sports bar on Broadway. I had never been there, but the food and service was incredible!!! Went home after that, I prepared my magic for the next morning then went to sleep. Show time! The next morning we all go up at 6 o'clockish in the morning. Ate our Continental Breakfast, then took off to York College - which by the way had one of the most beautiful stages I've seen. It took me a bit to get my Santa outfet together on put on properly, especially Santa's famous belly and then I had to practice my "HO! HO! HO!" and Santa voice. We did a wireless mic test with the mic under my beard and it was great. I didn't have to strain my voice and did a cool deep Santa's voice. The first show was for a younger group, which went really well. The second show was for older kids and was good also, but had a few dings in it. ME? I was the Emcee and Santa on rollerskates. Many times I have been an Elf, but never a Santa. That was an experience. After the packing up, I was beat and slept all the way home. Well, we did make a pit stop to eat. You want to know one thing that I did notice when I was in New York? It was very much alive. I love the energy there! I did made a pit stop in Borders Bookstore and it was packed and I noticed there were a lot of people reading "Back Stage" & "Show biz" magazine. Which are the best mags to read on casting calls and jobs relating to the performing arts business. It goes to show you, many people still have lots of dreams. It was a fast trip, but I made a few new friends and got to see a little of the Big City Lights and the place where many dreams have come true. If you haven't yet, check out Red Hot & Rollin'.
	November 23rd 2001 The Day After!!! Hey I'm really sorry I haven't written that much in a while. Almost a week and a half. Shew! It's been busy. Soooo many things have been going on. Not just things in my performing life, but personal as well. It's quite late, but I wanted to at lease put something in here so you know I'm still around. So I put a little here.
	November 22nd 2001 HAPPY THANKS GIVING!!!! Yummy! I had a few friends over. I made pumpkin pie, apple cream pie (my specialty), cooked a 22 pound turkey, ham, mashed red potatoes, kale, green beans, homemade cranberry sauce, sauerkraut, beets, corn, gravy, homemade stuffing (in the bird), baby red potatoes, and probably a few other things I'm sure I'm missing...ohhh, and oatmeal raisin cookies
	November 21st 2001 Well, today was busy. I went to Jaleo-Tapas & Bar in Rockville, Maryland. There is one also in Washington D.C., which I visited after seeing a show at the Warner Theater. I went there
	November 16th 2001 The opening show went really well for Harry Potter - The Sorcerer's Stone opening on Friday. Yes, Cindy was performing with me, can you believe it? We did well as usual. Performed two shows, back-to-back, and did the Sub-Trunk (The Metamorphosis) also. After the first show, we watched Harry Potter. It was really, and reminded me of some old Disney movies, like Bed Knobs & Broom Sticks. It had that "air" about it. Go see it, adults and kids alike will love this.
	November 13th 2001 It's lunch time!I'm still sick! Well, just coughing, not contagious anymore. Sorry I haven't written anything in a few days. I was in bed all day yesterday. Well, almost. The night before, one of my kitties went wild in my office and knocked over a stack of file boxes with lots of papers in them. They were everywhere. It was either Gray Girl (G.G.) or Houdini. So their punishment is no laser-light playing for a week. It was a mess! Anyway, I just want to say hello to you. I have a show tonight so I have to get ready for that. See Ya! Don't forget!!!! This Friday morning I'm opening up for the Harry Potter movie at 10:45 at the Crown Movie Theaters in the Annapolis Mall. Be there!
	November 9th 2001 TGIF- And for those of your who don't know what that means? Well, it stands for Thank God It's Friday! News!!! Well, thanks to a few people and a few e-mails of people asking if I was performing at the Theater for the Opening of the Harry Potter movie. I'm going to be opening up for the Harry Potter movie next Friday at the Annapolis Mall Crown Theaters in Annapolis Maryland. Show will start about 10:45ish AM. I may do several shows that day. I don't know yet. Also, this is the weekend for MOTIONFEST! Check it out at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore! Go to the site for more information. Performers from around the world. I might be hanging out there on Saturday. This is where the best of the best come to join mingle meet and learn. I'm off to the movies to relax...see you when I get back!
	November 7th 2001 7:30 AM - I'm under the weather.Yes, I'm sick! Yuck! I'm going back to bed! I hadn't been this sick in a long time. David Blaine was on again last night on The Learning Channel. I guess he was just at the right place and the right time. Most of the magicians I've spoken with really don't think he's all that. What do I think? Well, personally, I think he's pretty good, but I don't think he's the greatest street magician I've ever seen. If you've seen his special, he doesn't seem to approach people very well to get their interest . In the special they showed one girl was walking by. She had a white "doctors" type of jacket on. David asks,"...Excuse me, do you work for the Hospital?" She responded,"I'm a medical student." David says, "You are? You're studying medicine?" As they were walking he again asks, "Hey, can I show you one thing?" Then takes a deck of cards out from his pocket and she stops."... That transcends ... the mind?" She starts to walk off. "Look, no no real quick, it's okay, you'll like this..." Still walking away, "No, No, that's okay" She said. I feel approaching someone on the street and doing magic is totally different than the stage or a controlled atmosphere because you are in an uncontrolled environment. "Transcends the mind" isn't one of the best choices of words I'd pick. It sounds too mind bending or something form the 60's for the average laymen to deal with. On stage it would work. I felt he should have told her who he was, what he was doing, then that would let her in and feel more comfortable being around him. A moment later on the David Blaine special they show him again approaching a guy asking,"Hey, can I show you something?" Then Points to the camera following behind them, "Look ... do you have two seconds?" The guy was like, "Nah." He never stopped. "Can I show you something?" Sounds too, well, you know? I would have chosen a totally different approach, like, "Excuse me sir, can you spare a moment? I'm a Street Magician, My name is David Blaine and I'm doing a special. And if possible, I'd like to show you something quite cool with this deck of cards...and I think you'll be totally amazed" All I can say is, if you want to street perform, what works for one person may not for the next. Most people are in their own zone on the street, so you have to be very careful how you press yourself on someone and what you say to them. I noticed, David Blaine's magic works, but his dialogue or "patter" doesn't. Well, he's in the spotlight, let's hope it works for him. Okay, not I'm going back to bed. Then I'm going to the doctors.
	November 5th 2001 It's Monday about 10:00PM. I had a really busy weekend. I performed three shows. They were all good shows and that is rare. Normally, one show in a weekend will have something happen in it, no matter how many I may do. But, since I improvise a good portion of it, I can cover up any problem that may arise. The audience never knows, unless I bring attention to it. Being a professional means being calm and act as if it were meant to happen. I have Roll with it or the audience may see even more of my embarrassment. Believe me, I've had my share of performance flub-ups. Hundreds! But, the show must go on. But, there are also those times when while I'm performing, I feel that there is a special magic happening on stage, at a party or bar and everything is just perfect. I even seem to amaze myself. The more they like what I'm doing, the more I can get into it and time just seems to fly by. I saw some pretty good movies this weekend. Domestic Disturbance with John Travolta and Monsters Inc. By the say people that did Toy Story. It was GREAT! Sunday evening I was invited to a party by a friend, Kristin, who dances in the group Footworks. She also plays the Fiddle and Guitar. She asked me to hang out with them at their farm house. When I got there, Kristin was jamming on the Fiddle with two other musicians. They were playing in the living room and kitchen. I met a lot of the "Footworks" gang and got to hear some incredible music live. Then near the end, I was asked to do some magic. The only thing I can say, was, it couldn't have been a more perfect end to a perfect performing weekend. I did take a few photos and with have them up in a few days. In the mean while, check out the Footwooks web site!
	November 2nd 2001 Today was a very long day. Most of it was driving to and from Ashburn, VA. where I was performing for a Grand Opening for Giant Food Corp. It took a little over an hour to get there, but a bit past two to get back home. Before I started my trip back, I stopped at a local Mc Donald's, right across the street. I know it's fast food, but they do have some not so bad food when you are in a hurry and hungry. Anyway, it was funny, because everyone that had worked there was "Spanish" and it wasn't too busy. I got some food and some orange juice then sat down and ate. I met the manager on my way in and he seemed pretty nice. He must have just taken his break, because he was eating also. I was still wearing my Jack Julius T-Shirt and performance clothes. So, when I was done, when back to my car and grabbed a few things, came back aand did a few close-up tricks. They went nuts. The manager asked for a card and so I went back to my car and got some cards and did one more. The eating-paper-napkin one. I eat a napkin and then this long colorful streamer (about 25 feet long) comes out out my mouth. They loved it. I was happy. There the manager cam up and said,"What do you want? Anything! You can have anything you want...apple pie? Give him apple pie..." I told him it was okay, but he insisted and gave me a few apple pies. Yes, I ate them.
	November 1st 2001 So how was your Halloween? Lotsa candy? I can't believe it, but I actually did nothing. I didn't go dancing, to a party or club, absolutely nothing. Well, that's not true, I helped this Spanish(not very good English speaking) family with their door knob and lock. The mother was cooking, left the child in the house for a moment and when stepping out some how the door was closed and she locked herself out. She panicked and someone called the Fire Dept. (which is literally right across the street) and had them bust the lock to get in. She had no one to help her, cause her husband was at work and so were her friends. The door was unable to be locked and so it just stayed slightly open. So I checked it out, and went and got her a new door knob, put it in and just when I was finished, her husband came home. Tomorrow I'm performing for Giant again. Good Night!