Yes, we still continue to face challenges but I firmly believe that it’s important to occasionally look at where you’ve come from and acknowledge your success — and failure. Do this often enough and with the right spirit and a clear path emerges in the direction you’re heading.

Despite the uncertainty of 2021, I was fortunate to present Virtual Deceptions at 44 online events and make appearances at 20 in-person corporate, private, and fundraising events this past year.

Here’s a taste of some of the most memorable moments…

The Return of In-Person Events

My first in-person event happened in May 2021. A team-building dinner for my new friends at Saltmine.

The event took place at Taplin Cellars, one of the oldest family-owned vineyard in Napa and Sylvia Taplin is the consummate host. The entire experience felt like being home.

The entertainment portion of the evening was a surprise for the team, so the folks at Taplin put me up in their cottage which doubled as a greenroom. After a fantastic meal prepared by The French Laundry, I was introduced and performed al fresco overlooking the vineyard.

What a joy to be back!

The Cottage at Taplin Cellars

The Cottage at Taplin Cellars

Greenroom

Dinner by The French Laundry

Sylvia Taplin thanking our chef for the evening and introducing the performance

Trade Shows

We saw the trade show industry open up this year with shows — large and small — across the country. One of the last events I did before locking down was the RSA Conference in February 2020 and we had no idea when the industry would be back.

Nice to see trade shows coming back and organizers adjusting the circumstance.

Stopping traffic for W Brothers at the Institute of Real Estate Conference Orange County Chapter Conference and Trade Show

Presenting for Bitdefender at Connect IT 2021 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas

Presenting for Bitdefender at Connect IT 2021 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas

In-Person Conferences

This year brought the opportunity to help a new client entertain conference attendees in Las Vegas and New Orleans.

Each reception included about 50 - 60 VIP conference attendees from across the country. And I designed a couple of customize presentations to get the client’s message across.

VIP Conference Reception at 1923 Prohibition Bar in Las Vegas

VIP Conference Reception at The Chicory in New Orleans

Speaking of Magic

As I mentioned at the top of this blog post, it’s important to look back and acknowledge success and failure. One of the things that kept me sane these past two years was finding a way to take the challenge we’re facing and do something positive with it.

“Every obstacle in life presents us with an opportunity to turn inward and invoke our own submerged inner resources. The trials we endure can and should introduce us to our strengths.”

— Epictitus

Making Zoom Magic

The more Zoom meetings I had with clients the more I realized I had something to offer.

MAKING ZOOM MAGIC is a peek-behind-the-curtain to share the process of pivoting from performing at in-person events to crafting a highly-interactive and successful virtual magic performance for corporate events. I presented the talk to a handful of groups — virtually, of course! — and walked attendees through the nuts and bolts to making their next Zoom meetings amazing.

If you’d like to discuss bringing MAKING ZOOM MAGIC or another customize presentation to your group please drop me a note here.

The Speaker Spring Board Podcast

Alfred Poor invited me to be part of The Speaker Springboard Podcast. We talked about the business of doing magic, and what managers and leaders can learn from it.

Yeah, we jammed a lot into 10-minutes but Alfred it really good at what he does and apparently I have a lot to say on the subject.

And that’s no lie.

Listen to the episode here!

Virtual Conferences and Meetings

As challenging as it has been, there have also been some exciting opportunities to emcee and entertain at sales and kick-off meetings and opening receptions at virtual conferences for clients like Guidewire, SingleStore, Clarizen, DocuSign, SNUG World, Side reUnite, the Society for Technical Communication, and more!

The Battery

Thrilled to be back at my residency at The Battery this year. It was great to see the membership and staff again!

I’ve been the Resident Magician at The Battery since 2015, entertaining casually in The Musto Bar.

In November, I presented Psychic Illusions for approximately 80 club members. The performance ran 90 minutes in length and featured an act rarely seen today. What a treat to be back at the club!

The Oracle Act

The Parlor at The Battery

Thank you

We made it! We’re one year wiser, one year stronger.

Thank you for your loyalty and support.

May you find much WONDER & JOY in 2022. I’ll see you there!

Dennis

Thrilled to join my colleague, Alfred Poor on this latest episode of The Speaker Springboard Podcast.

We talked about the #business of doing magic, and what #managers and #leaders can learn from it.

Yeah, we jammed a lot into 10-minutes but Alfred it really good at what he does and apparently I have a lot to say on the subject.

And that’s no lie.

Listen to the episode here!

I was born and raised in the small community of Malba, which was nestled in the shadow of the Whitestone Bridge, in Queens, NY. My parents had businesses in Astoria, where I also lived for the last 10 years of my time in NYC.

To get to “work” we travelled via the Whitestone Expressway to the Grand Central Parkway which took us right past Shea Stadium. (It will always be “Shea” to me!) Shea was my part of culture and right in my backyard and the view never got old.

When The Rolling Stones announced their Steel Wheels Tour would bring them to Shea, it was a no brainer. We had great seats and it was…well, it was The Stones, man! What else is there to say?

“I wanted to play drums because I fell in love with the glitter and the lights, but it wasn’t about adulation. It was being up there playing.”

— Charlie Watts

I always looked at successful people as having some untouchable quality or they have some immense talent — I’m not fond of that word, but for now it’ll work — that few others possess that makes them. They are “other than” me.

In his book, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles, Steven Pressfield says: “The professional has learned that success, like happiness, comes as a by-product of work. The professional concentrates on the work and allows rewards to come or not come, whatever they like.”

Yes, I do work at my business. But I’m a Magician and my job is to play. Success comes or it doesn’t.

Charlies explains it far more eloquently here.

Thanks, Charlie.

The world of Magic is filled with larger than life personalities, impossible miracles, and legendary stories that border on myth.

This recent article in the New York Times tries to capture all that with the story of one man and his Holy Grail.

David Berglas is famous in our little world for many things but nothing comes close to the legend that’s been created around a trick known as Any Card at Any Number. To be more specific, The Berglas Effect.

It goes like this. You’re asked to name a playing card in a standard deck of cards. Another person is asked for a number from 1 to 52. You’re then asked to pick up a deck of cards sitting on the table — untouched by the performer — and count down to the number named. The card you asked for is found exactly at the number named. Fucking miracle.

Most magic tricks go from Point A to Point B to Point C and eventually reach an astonishing climax. It happens the same way every time, so essentially the performer needs to follow the steps.

But not The Berglas Effect. It’s almost impossible to teach or explain because, depending on the method used, it’s never the same twice. It requires spontaneity, an open mind, and a set made of brass.

It’s rarely seen because it’s hard to do but I’m not necessarily speaking about technique. There are many versions of the trick. Have you noticed new video banners on the redesigned website? The final moments of those two card tricks you see there is a version of ACANN. There’s also a different version in my virtual show.

The challenge is creating the space so the power of the effect can exist.

It would be so easy to post the entire video of those performances but that would be a disservice. You’d miss out on that feeling in the center of your body when the bottom falls out. Who am I to deprive you of that?

No. Better if you ask about it when next we meet.

Wanted to share some exciting news...

Last night, after 15 months of virtual performances, I had my FIRST IN-PERSON EVENT! An intimate company team building dinner at Taplin Cellars, the oldest family owned vineyard in Napa.

The entertainment portion of the evening was a surprise for the team, so the folks at Taplin put me up in their cottage which doubled as a greenroom. After a fantastic meal prepared by The French Laundry, I was introduced and performed al fresco overlooking the vineyard.

What a joy to be back!

Is this the end of virtual performances?

Well, only time will tell. But calls are coming in fast-and-furious for in-person events and it's looking good.

That's all for now. Be well.

“My chief task has been to conquer fear. The public sees only the thrill of the accomplished trick; they have no conception of the tortuous preliminary self-training that was necessary to conquer fear.”

— Harry Houdini (March 24, 1874 - October 31, 1926)

This has been tucked away in my notes since September 2018. Dusted it off, made some edits and is now posted here for our edification.

To set the scene, I was performing at my residency last night for about eight people. We were gathered on couches and ottomans around a low, glass table. Throughout the evening, guests drift in and out of the performances, but this one lasted about 30 minutes.

Close-up magic is quite intimate and casual and, if done “right,” the audience and performer really get to know each other.

This particular audience was a gathering of eight friends. I was sitting on the couch next to Mario, who was from El Salvador, and his wife who was from Germany. They lived in Hanover but visit San Francisco every 4 year to see family.

“The Magician is an initiate of secret and hidden knowledge of all kinds.
And this is the important point. All knowledge that takes special training to acquire is the province of the Magician energy.”

— King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine by Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette

As often happens after a performance in this particular venue, guests will often ask questions:

“How did you get into magic?”

“Do you have a teacher?”

“Did you go to school for it?”

One woman commented that “you must have been born with it?”

Mario said he could never do anything like what he experienced.

When I asked what he did for a living he replied that he was a chef but “it's nothing like what you do.”

"Yes, it is, Mario. It's exactly like what I do."

Ghabrana Nahi is a web show hosted by Rafea Moshin of Evenement, an Event Management and Solutions Company based in Pakistan.

Honored to be featured on their 20th episode as their first international guest!

Discover what sparked my interest in magic, the challenges faced and surmounted when moving west, and how I’m currently making adjustments to meet this moment.

And of course, there’s a bit of magic as well.

We had a fantastic time and hope you’ll have a look!

History

After arriving in the Bay Area in 2012, I challenged myself to make as many connections as I could to rebuild my business. Sometime in 2013, I connected with The Elios Society, A Company of Friends for Hellenic Heritage. I joined one of their meetings and performed after their meal. It was great to connect with that many Greeks under one roof. It felt like home!

As we sheltered-in-place and my business pivoted to performing virtual shows, I began reaching out again to past clients and The Elios Society was on my list.

Planning

I approached with the idea of putting together a virtual magic show where members can connect over cocktails and an evening of entertainment.

But it was on the very first call with the Executive Director when the idea began to expand.

The owners of The Argentum Project, and Elios Society members, would put together a fabulous menu that included mezedes (that’s Greek for appetizers!) dinner, glyko (Greek sweets!), and a bottle of wine to everyone who RSVP’d for the event. 

View fullsize

Execution

A total of 108 meals were delivered to 40 households across the Bay Area and a handful were even overnighted to the east coast arriving just in time for the show.

On Saturday, August 8th, attendees simply heated and enjoyed their meals with family in the comfort of their own homes. And at 7:30 PM everyone logged onto Zoom for the show. 

Each meal also came with a deck of playing cards, generously provided by the Eldorado Reno. Yet another member of The Elios Society stepping up to make the evening a success!

Why did each member need a deck of playing cards?

Well, VIRTUAL DECEPTIONS, is a highly-interactive experience with guests participating directly in the show!

It was a fantastic time and we had a blast!

Are you looking for a virtual magic show to create a truly unique experience for your association, organization, or group? Let’s find a creative solution that will suit your needs.

One of the first and most memorable gigs I had came soon after we moved to the west coast in 2012.

The venue was a “maker space” in the Mission District of San Francisco. It was my first time in that part of town and had no idea what to expect. As I parked the car and walked around the corner to find the graffiti filled front door, I thought “well, this is another fine mess you’ve gotten yourself into.”

The place was filled with tables, shelves, and workspaces of electronic gear. It looked like the laboratory of a mad scientist except it felt like there was some method to it all.

At the time, I was temping to support my family and rebuild things here in The New Frontier, using skills I developed while studying and working as an actor in New York City. But I was also taking any magic gig I could get my hands on.

This particular evening was a short performance before dessert for a group of about 20 gathered to celebrate a friend who was changing jobs. For years the guest-of-honor had worked as an editor for gay porn films and now he was starting a new gig at a company that made straight porn.

And man, did they roast him. They even had a custom cake made that looked like…er, on second thought.

As it turned out, it was a fun group to entertain and we had a blast. Yeah, I’ve been wrong about these things before.

Anyway, as I stood in the back of the house waiting for an introduction, my eyes drifted around the room taking in the audience, the set up of the performance area, the decor, etc. Eventually I noticed something scrawled on the wall.

If you weren’t standing right next to it you would have missed it. I snapped a picture and it was my cell phone wallpaper for over a year.

Recently, I was having a conversation with a friend. He’s a semi-pro with a solid “day job” who does magic on the side and regularly produces his own one-man show, which has quite a following.

We were on the phone some time in May talking about what we were going to work on while shut down and sheltered-in-place. He had a plan based on the fact that, as things began to open up, people would be interested in hosting smaller, more intimate events and he asked what I thought about his idea.

“Does doing that or anything else you’ve done in magic make you happy?” I asked.

I don’t think it’s about “the marketing plan” at all. That’s a necessary evil to get your work seen. The question that needs to be answered is “does it bring you joy?”

Everything else lines up around that.

Actual size. Almost.