Winning answers from a guy who was there

from an email from Jeff Moche

Yo Tommy Fo Fommy,
I usually do check out your blog link, but wasn't feeling
particularly magical or morose at the moment :)
Trivia is too easy. Geoff Latta with Bunnette Collins (I'm
guessing about B.C., but think that's her name). Harry
Lorayne, and Sol Stone.
What do I win??? Hey, you got a free car! Is that Seattle
or Oprah?

Pics Du Jour - From The Archives

The year, 1983. The city, New York. Can you guess who these regular attendees of the Rubens Deli Sessions are? Those were great sessions. You never knew who was going to show up. I would always start out at Tannens (which was on Times Square at that time), hang out with Mike Gallo who worked there; chat with Frank Garcia who was there almost every Saturday, then head down to the session. Dropping out of high school and moving to Manhatten would set in motion a series of adventures that hasn't stopped in over 20 years.

Dancing and planning

Went dancing last night and had a blast as usual. Danced with all my favorite girls. They all say I'm getting better, I guess they would know. I had Julie video tape Carie & me dancing. I wanted to study it. Wasn't too thrilled with what I saw. Really not too bad, but my moves seemed rushed and perhaps a bit overzealous. It would be nice to work on attaining a level of grace and style in movement.

I love dancing and really want to get good at it. It's a lot of fun and a very wholesome activity.

Talked to my Dad yesterday. He's in Biloxi, MS hanging with a buddy of his. Playing a little Texas Hold'em. Soon he will ride his motorcycle all the way here to Seattle. Got to like that! I talked to my Mom today as well as my Sister Caryn and my Brother Mike. My Mom lives in Cleveland, My sister in a rural suburb of Cincinnati and my brother lives in Newark, NJ. He is in Israel at the moment where he spent a decade. He's over there for a few weeks. The 18th was his 41st birthday and today was Caryn's 43rd birthday. Next month I will turn 40. Time flies!

I love my family and I'm happy that I have a good relationship with all of them. My father is concerned about my lack of direction at the moment. I am too. But I think it's time to "Plan my work and work my plan". Now all I need is a plan. I used to be good a booking gigs. I just need to get focused and start picking up the phone, making some calls, send out some promo packs and hustle up some work. I really need to get caught up on all my back child support. I am feeling pretty good these days and feel up to the challenge. I have a lot of talent and enthusiasm, just need to get motivated set some goals and get back with the program. The time is right, I can feel it.

I spent a few hours today editing a new promo DVD. I burned 5 of them and will send them out in the next few days. There are so many places to work, it's just a matter of selling them on the idea that I can help them achieve their objectives. It's not about me and my magic, but more about what their goals are and how I can help them get there. Magic is a powerful selling tool. My ideas about which markets I wish to solicit are starting to solidify and it's about time I got busy.

Pic Du Jour - From The Archives

My Grandfather Max Price

Tuesday

Tried working the Market at lunch hour, was lucky to get one show off the ground.



Another beautiful day, another day of light traffic at the market. I don't get it.

Today was an expensive day.

I bought my new performer permit for the market. that was $30 which I paid in quarters. The lady was thrilled.

I stayed at the market for a couple of hours hoping that it would gel up. Since it didn't, I thought I would do some running around that needed to be done.

paid my cell phone bill $73.56

cable and internet for the last two months $118.73

Water, Sewer & Solid Waste for two months $158.72

Electric Bill 2 Months $110.14

Groceries $77.01

Oil (for my furnace) remainder of last invoice $175.68

Felt good to get some bills out of the way.

Most of my errands were in West Seattle, where I live. Really a great place to be. Wonderful views on my way home.



The Tuesday Night Session at the Alki Beach Magic Studio was a good one. Brian Masters and Philemon were there early. Mark Jenson, Tim Flynn, Isaac Louie & Wil Bryan showed up a bit later. Shame Steve wasn't here. But he had a good reason. He was celebrating his wife's birthday. Good tricks, good discussion, good friends. All made for a magical evening.

Monday

Mondays feel like saturdays to me. I work all weekend and want to slow down on Monday. Hit the market Monday afternoon, but traffic was light, so I blew it off to take care of some running around that needed to be done. Went to the bank and the post office. Was home by 4PM or so. Buster and I took another walk on the beach and enjoyed the beautiful weather we've been having.



This house is around the corner from mine. How would you like to live here!?

I made dinner and then we went to Monday Night Magic at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park. It was the same cast of characters as usual on the bill. . . myself included. The show was the weakest one I have seen. We were all doing B to C material and not caring as much as we could.

Sunday AM

Sunday was a great day! The morning started by picking Buster up at the airport. I was so happy to see him! While in Cincinnati, he got his braces off!! He's had them on for the last 5 years since the age of ten. I can remember the day I took him to the oral surgeon to have 4 permanent teeth removed. His mouth was too small for the amount of teeth he had coming in. The orthodontist showed us on a computer, a high tech simulation of what the plan was. To remove the teeth and let the ones growing above them slide into the gaps. Then, with the braces pull them into place. The new teeth took a lot longer than we expected to come in, but the work is done and he has a million dollar smile now. . . . or at least a $3,500 one. Money well spent.



From the airport we went to the market where I worked hard to make $319.27 in just a few hours. Nice! During one of my breaks we went to the Chinese Restaurant near the Magic Shop at the market and had some of the most suculant fresh salmon I have ever eaten.

It was a Cellini day, I was one of the first street performers out there and the last to leave. After I finished for the day we went to see Sage perform at the Owl and Thistle. He was performing as Wiston Winthrop (one of him many characters). We hung out with sage before he performed and had a soda as we talked tricks.



Buster and I got home early enough to take a 2 hour sunset walk along the beach. The weather has been beautiful and life is good.

One More Saturday Night

Got to my show shortly before 6PM in Bellevue. I had been booked by a woman whose husband was turning 40. She had seen my act while street performing at the market and thought that it would be great fun to have me perform for their friends and family. It was great fun. The cool evening April air allowed us to do the show out on the deck in the back of the house. We had agreed on a 30 minute show as well as 30 minutes of strolling. The show went well with an intimate audience of about 30 of their close friends and family. Afterwards we went inside and I continued to entertain as people refreshed their drinks and noshed a bit. For the last group I ended my performance with the 3 card mental problem. This was a good choice to end on, as it left them scratching their heads!

I went home for an hour, relaxed, had a bite to eat and then got ready for my night at the Fenix Underground. My sets were good and my chops tight. Friday night Rick asked me if I had ever performed the card on ceiling. I told him I had done it in my youth, but if he wanted to see it I would dust it off and bust it out. So I did it, against my better judgment. Killed 2 people in the process. The ceiling must be 16-18 feet high and the deck comes down with some force. Hey, I did it, not sure if I'll do it again. . . but that card is up there for good or ill.

Brian Masters, Kristen and a a couple of friends of theirs stopped in and had a few drinks. They got to see me fumble my way through the card on ceiling.

Friday night Rick had bought me a couple of drinks and I didn't end up leaving until after 1AM. Saturday I was anxious to get to the South Center Session by midnight. The session was good, a lighter turn out than normal, less than a dozen guys. But always a good time. Tim Flynn showed up and did his new Daryl Ring on Wand routine for Nick.

Saturday was another magic filled day and night:

2:00 - 5:30 - Bob Sheets Lecture

6:00 - 7:00 - Private Party in Bellevue

9:30 - 11:30 - Fenix Underground

Midnight - 2:00AM South Center Session

I didn't really want to leave the session so early, but I had to get up in the morning and pick Buster up at the airport. I was very excited about seeing him!!

Bob Sheets Lecture

Saturday morning it rained. Imagine that. . . rain in Seattle. By early afternoon it had cleared up and I should have gone to the market to perform. Instead, I loafed around the house in my bath robe. I had a private party later in the evening and the Fenix that night so I didn't put too much pressure on myself. My choices were hit the market and bank some cash or go to the Bob Sheets lecture. I opted for the latter and thought I made a wise decision.

I parked my new 94 Chevy Cavalier in the lot at the Edmonds PUD shortly before the lecture started at 2:00PM. I paid my $15 at the door to Roger who was obviously thrilled to receive a baggie full of quarters. The lecture started on time and the fun began. There was a good turn out of forty magicians or so.

Bob Sheets is a good magician and a very funny guy. He started out his lecture with his variation of the Trevor Lewis trick "The Homing Card" with influences from Fred Kaps and his "Reoccurring Queen". The trick had a surprise, instant, mid flight card change that got us all!

Next was his take on the Sach's Dice Trick followed by a very clever variation of Pat Page's 3 Card Monte.

He then went into a marvelous rope routine. Hang em high & Insomnia.



A short break at the one hour mark gave me the opportunity to puff on my cigar and chat with the boys a bit.

After the break he did some more rope magic. Cards Across (to an envelope hanging on a long piece of rope) which set up his version of Robert Harbin's Rope thru Body. As with most good lectures, not only did we learn lots of good audiences tested routines but more importantly they were sprinkled with his thinking; for instance, rather than take painstaking efforts to prove at the end of the routine. . . "do all your proof before the effect so at the end, you can simply accept the applause. Sounds simple but a great point. I was also introduced to some nifty rope gimmicks I had never heard of as well as the idea of using marine epoxy to install them.

He finished his lecture with his trade mark work on the Three Shell Game. It's no wonder that he is considered one the the premier performers in the thimble rigging game of chance. FUN STUFF. He definitely has some original thinking on the subject.

As he admitted, "He stands on the shoulders, heads and faces of those who came before him", but what a job he does.



I really liked the wisdom that he shared as a result of his study with Bib Fitch in his theatrical workshops. He made the point, that as magicians, we treat our stuff. . . like stuff. We miss the details and this can take away from the magic we are trying to create. Another thing that struck a nerve, was that if something is important to us it will be important to our audience. It sounds simple, but we all do it. Sequences lack depth and punch because of our own self defeating lack of conviction.

I'm glad I went. I was bummed to have to split for my gig right after the lecture. I left at 5:30 and got to my gig right on time.

Picking Buster up at the airport

Just got off the phone with Cricket. She said that they had a great visit and that Buster wanted to stay longer. She also told me what a great job I was doing with Buster and what a cool kid he is. Our tone is happy and friendly these days. It wasn't always that way. I can't figure out what I do to women to make them stop loving me. Who knows? I like to think that maybe it isn't about me. Maybe something in their own make up prevents them from. . . . shit. . . who knows. Women. . . can't live with them. . . . can't live with them.

So, I'm off to the airport to pick up my son. He sure will be surprised about the car and all. I've missed him in the week or so that he's been gone. The house has seemed empty. I will be very happy to hear all about his adventures. Evidently, My mom drove down from Cleveland to see him. She took them out to dinner to Mayura, an Indian Restaurant. I used to take Cricket on dates to Mayura when I was Buster's age. It was one of the few places that served underage kids and had good food. I ended up landing a gig there performing table to table magic on the weekends. Swami, the owner and my old friend is still there and was pleased to see the gang. He couldn't believe how big Buster was.

Todd Kearby took him to Haines House of Cards, the magic shop I grew up at and worked at since the age of 12. Wonder if he wow'ed the boys with a few tricks.

Need to get on the road.

Circle Game - Joni Mitchell

Yesterday a child came out to wonder
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
And tearful at the falling of a star
Then the child moved ten times round the seasons
Skated over ten clear frozen streams
Words like, when you’re older, must appease him
And promises of someday make his dreams
And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and dawn
We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return we con only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game.

Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now
Cartwheels turn to car wheels thru the town
And they tell him,
Take your time, it won’t be long now
Till you drag your feet to slow the circles down
And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and dawn
We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty
Though his dreams have lost some grandeur
Coming true
There’ll be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty
Before the last revolving year is through.
And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return, we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game