Life is the synthesis of the passing of time and specific events all of which seem random at first, but eventually they coalesce into something beautiful, and when we reflect on them, they show us patterns, much like the turning of a kaleidoscope. What seems to be just a few objects trapped in a telescopic tunnel, when turned to the sunlight, they shine inspiration and reflect memories for us in magnificent colorful patterns. This is the kaleidoscope of life, it at time appears random and then suddenly when you look into the light, life changes from random events to form colorful concentric images almost perfect in their beauty. Here in Wichita Kansas, I found myself looking into that wonderful color-filled tube of life. This is a moment in my life where I reflected and suddenly it all came into focus if for only a brief moment.
I'd only been to Wichita once before in my life. It was a moment which was almost surreal in my foggy un-focusing memories. You see one of the women in my past was friends with Kirstie Alley's family (she is from Witchita) actually she babysat Kirstie, when she was a kid, as she lived next door to her parents. But that's another story. Anyway, it was Christmas time and we were invited over to their house to have a drink with Kirstie and her husband, Parker Stevenson. Of course I was invited for one reason... to perform magic. So the only memory I really have of that time in Kansas was that I did some tricks for Kirstie and Parker. I never knew I'd be asked to perform magic again in Witchita.
When I began my Magic Life journey I wasn't planning on visiting Kansas. Yet I made a comment that "Magicians are given a rare opportunity to peek behind the curtain and see the workings of the wizard in this marvelous world." That of course is a reference to THE WIZARD OF OZ. Thus I may have inadvertently opened up the heavens and a tornado of serendipity may have caused my path to end up in the land of the yellow brick road. It was after that, that I received a message from a friend from my past asking me if I would be close to Wichita during my travels.
Linda Swafford in High School
Her name is Linda, just think of her as the "good witch" in this tale of magic. Linda was a girl with whom I attended high school. On the acknowledgements page of THE MAGIC LIFE there is a list of
names which are people within my life who have been my teachers. The
list starts with a young carpenter who worked for my father when I was
just a little boy. His name was Marty Barts and everyday I should thank him
for something he taught me. He taught me to tie my shoes. There
is my English teacher in that high school who really inspired me to become a
writer, Carol Allred. These are people all who I treasure in one way or
another. Well, one of those person's on that page, whose name is there in
small print is a young girl named "Linda Swafford." Linda, (as she was then in the picture) was my first magician's assistant.
Well Linda went on to develop something of a love for the conjuring arts herself. Never becoming a true pro magician, she does perform magic at least once a year. Her son has also developed a love for magic and has performed magic in his talent show. She is an amazing person and has devoted herself to teaching, loving, and helping those in need. Over the years I've heard from Linda now and then asking me about magic and where to find a new trick or two.
Linda "Swafford" Dickerson and I Today
I truly believe that life will give us so many opportunities for magic if we simply follow it's flow and stop swimming upstream. I mention this, because it was in a book which my English teacher, Carol Allred, mentioned above, had assigned and the concept stuck with me and changed me and eventually led me back to Kansas. It was this book by Richard Bach, ILLUSIONS, about a reluctant messiah, a pilot, who traveled the country in a bi-plane, barnstorming, and teaching his philosophy that inspired me to write THE MAGIC LIFE. And it was this philosophy which inspired me to "go with the flow" when I received an invitation from Linda. Is it a coincidence that the main character was barnstorming, in a mythical place like Wichita Kansas?
So when I started my drive from Dallas to Wichita I pulled on the freeway and a huge billboard caught my attention, it said, "Be Sure and Try the Magic of Magic Dental." Then I turned on my radio and a song by Heart was playing, "Magic Man." I smiled, knowing I was on the right path that morning.
Later that evening, Linda wanted to share Wichita with me, almost apologetically, since some of the people who posted about my blog had made a few seemingly disparaging remarks. Well her and her boyfriend, Craig, took me to one of their favorite places to hang out, and there was a band playing. The bands name, THE BAND OF OZ, and of course they had to be singing, Steve Miller Band's song "ABRACADABRA."
It was then that the amazing magic life came full circle. Out of nowhere, a girl approaches us at the table. As if to tell me, "Don't ever forget that life is filled with magic" she states that she is with a bachelorette party and is on a scavenger hunt. She asks, "Can any of you do a magic trick?"And now I have two memories of performing magic in Wichita. There may not be two "t's" in Wichita, but there does seem to be magic to be found there. Thanks Linda, you are bewitching. Thank you for inviting, allowing me to stay at your home and again for reminding me of our magic time together.
And so I will continue my journey.. going with the flow of this magic life.
My latest stop on this Magic Life journey was Dallas, Texas where I stayed with my brother, Carl, a master of the smoked meats, especially his home made beef jerky....mmmmmmmmmmmm. He made me a whole batch to take on the road, but now as I ready to leave I've realized it is nothing but an empty plastic bag.
Dallas brings to mind beef brisket bar-b-que, blonde two-stepping divorcee's, and tall glistening glass buildings. I always see in my mind those longhorn statues, dashing through a fountain in front of those big shiny buildings. Perhaps you think of the most amazing professional football team ever known, (for cheerleaders in hot pants that is) the Dallas Cowboys. Not to mention a giant sized stadium filled with over-sized foam cowboy hats. But I often think of Dallas itself as filled with cantankerous cattlemen or billionaire oil barrens, sitting around a Texas Holdem poker table, gambling more on a hand than we make in our lives. Betting those big glass buildings, as we would a stack of chips. Seems that most of those high stakes billionaires, for some unknown reason eventually become real estate developers. I was involved in real estate here in Texas and my younger brother Carl is a developer here in Dallas. I've seen many of those billionaire/millionaire developer types over the years.
This is a typical Dallas girl, so friendly.
Why do they become developers? I'm not sure. Maybe they do it so they can eventually dump the woman who gave them a wonderful family and "land" a beautiful blond trophy wife, whom they then can then buy huge... tracks of land. You thought I was going to say " fake boobs" didn't you? But it didn't really fit in the whole "land" concept now did it?
The real wealth in Dallas comes from the land, and not just from the oil. And one thing Dallas has is lots and lots of beautiful, build-able, flat land. And when I visit Dallas, I think of this land filled with wonderful buildings, and beautiful golf communities with lakes and amazing country clubs. I can almost hear the theme song to the show, Dallas playing in my mind as I write this blog; with scenes of the famous South Fork Ranch, home to JR Ewing. But Dallas is a huge place and has many magical things to offer.
One magical thing they always seem to have an abundance of is beautiful blond women. And they know how to flaunt it. With restaurants like, Twin Peaks, Hooters, and Bone Daddy's you can always find an over abundance of beautiful blonds to bring you a cold Lone Star beer.
Model Brittnay Lynn
I really hadn't planned what magician I'd try to meet in Dallas when I first decided to come here. Mostly I just wanted to spend time with my younger brother Carl and his wife, Steffany and their beautiful little girl. (No, not to chase those blondes) But THE MAGIC LIFE sometimes just hands me things out of thin air, almost like magic. And it did again.
Dallas is a home to two great mysteries of our times and both involve who shot whom? We may never know who really shot JFK here in Dealy Plaza. And we may never really know who shot JR either. But it was a different kind of shooting all together which led me to a Dallas based magician. It was a photo shoot of a beautiful model named Brittnay Lynn (in the previous blog) who led me to a young magician named, Aaron Stone. This is a good enough reason to put in another picture of Brittnay, isn't it?
I called Aaron and told him I'd like to interview him over breakfast and he was as amazing as those mysteries for which Dallas is famous.
Dallas Magician Aaron Stone
Aaron, is a young professional magician here in Dallas and I can see that he is indeed a real pro. It doesn't take long in our conversation to see that I'm talking to one of "us" and not just some kid who wants to be a magician. He drops the proper names and talks good trick trash. Aaron has been performing magic for over 10 years. He reminded me of so many of "us" who started as a teen and found ourselves living with a deck of cards in our hands over a period of years, until finally we have a revelation, that someone will actually pay us to do tricks. He is young and is trying to look cutting edge. He had an eyebrow piercing and a dash of bright red in his otherwise black hair.
There is a point among magicians where one discovers that magic works not on secrets, but upon principles. I think it is around this time that we start discovering our own magic. Watching a magician perform something which he has created in his own mind and then mastered at his own fingertips is always a pleasure for me. Aaron showed me one of his own creations and I've chosen to share it with you on his video.
But I wanted to delve deeper to find what made this guy, who went out
of his way to apologize for his recently died red finger nails, (which
changed colors when he colored the top of his hair) tick. How was he, so
many years younger, and so different on the surface, so much like me.
Many of us grow up with family strife and relational issues in this day and age. Aaron was raised not knowing his mother. And the one thing which most professional magicians will tell you is that, "their father never supported their career choice." Here was something which Aaron and I shared. Both of us decided to become a magician in spite of our father's wishes. My father almost disowned me when I decided to pursue magic, and Aaron's father was no different. They offered no support and certainly would be reticent to come watch their son's perform. I remember when I finally "forced" my father to come watch me perform and recall his eating crow, telling me that he had no idea I was so good at what I'd chosen to do. He said, "if I'd known you were going to be this good, I'd have told you to do it."
But Aaron's story takes the cake in this contest.
All boys want to please their fathers and receive their praise. Many of us spend years trying to please our fathers, and some of us, rebel against having to seek their approval. For Aaron, I think he really took his father's denial to heart. Maybe it was because he was the child of just a single parent. But Aaron, tells the story of how he put a special tribute to his father in his show: and no, not the good kind. During the show he actually tells the audience to give his father the finger, in a clever way of course, for not supporting his choice to become a magician. Well years after he'd used the line a hundred times, he gets his father to come to see the show. When he gets to the part in the show where he says to "give his father the finger," he paused and thought about whether or not to say it. He didn't tell his father to stand, or point him out of the crowd at least before he continued.
However, his good judgement probably derailed due to some emotional train wreck going on in his head, and he decided to go ahead and use the same routine. Maybe it was for a little payback, or maybe for his own pride, but he used his same routine and his father sat there and heard him ask the audience to "give him the finger." I'm sure it was an emotional, if not educational, moment for both of them. I can only imagine his father's hard swallow as that huge crow passed down his esophagus.
However, this story does have a happy ending, as his father was moved by the show and afterwards apologized for not believing in his son. I doubt that my father would have been so generous, I think he'd have come back stage and hit me behind the ear with a two-by-four.
Austin, a strange mix of cowboys and college students, of politicians and programmers, creates an atmosphere where almost anything, even magic can happen. Austin is full of eclectic eccentricities. It's a place where Michael Dell started a computer company and Willy Nelson lost everything to the IRS (and now has a street named after him.) Both strange and wonderful is this city on the Colorado River. And the Austinites know it. In fact you can often see them wearing the slogan on a tee shirt, "Keep Austin Weird." Weird yes, but the one thing that almost everyone says who goes to school there or practically anyone who has ever lived there is, "I love Austin."
Brittnay Lynn in Cid's Apartment
Having spent time as a student at the University of Texas, I too say, "I love Austin."
In my book, THE MAGIC LIFE, the main character, James, first comes in contact with the magician at a street festival in this magical place. The scene in the book is actually based upon my own experience of performing on the street at the Pecan street Festival. Austin is indeed a magical place, which has several note worthy magicians.
When I put Austin on my map, I figured I'd go ahead and stay with one of my old college buddies and call up one of those local magicians for an interview. I called my old college compadre Cid Galindo, an amazing friend I've had for all these many years. Cid gave me the thumbs up and pretty much said, "mi casa es su casa." So Austin was going to be included and I'd also get a chance to see my friend and patent attorney, Anthony Campbell, who was my first editor in grad school.
My intention was to get an interview with one of the local magicians there in Austin, but my magic life seemed to take an interesting turn which never included interviewing a magician. First there was meeting Cid's wonderful little girl Lola. That was where I got to use some of my own magic, Lola wanted me to do a couple tricks for her, so I did. When her Mom came to pick her up, (Cid and her are separated) she wanted to see some too. So I showed her and Lola magic, and also sang them a couple of songs which I figured I'd video for you there in Austin, because after all it is a music mecca.
But I decided to get some work done and unfortunately, or actually amazingly fortunately, work led to fun which led to never interviewing a magician or even recording my songs.
Instead I have to share my wonderful happenstance meeting with a beautiful model named Brittnay Lynn. I decided to shoot some workout shots with her for the Lions, Tigers, and Bears, OMG! website. Which led to trying to find a bikini bottom, which she didn't have, and eventually buying her a pair of tie-dyed shorts for the workout shots. Cid offered the use of his Hilton Fitness Center membership and I was allowed to use their gym for the shoot. This was a great location and Brittnay was absolutely beautiful and she actually got a pretty good workout during the photo session too.
We had so much fun at the shoot that she asked me to take her out afterward for a drink, which led to dinner, then more drinks. She started getting really hot, and I'm not just talking about my "beer goggle eyes" here either. No her skin was getting hot and flushed. We then discovered that Brittnay was allergic to something we had for dinner. Soon she was breaking out with hives. (End of the evening for me unless I take care of her.) So of course we had to go back to Cid's place and get her an allergy pill and lay her down in his bed. I gave her an Allegra and put some cold wash cloths on her, and we watched "Adult Swim" cartoons for a while. Eventually she was OK. And she was actually ready to rally just as Cid came in the door from his evening out. He had quite a surprised look on his face when he saw me sitting on the bed with Brittany in it wearing wet wash cloths. Come on, she was hot, she had to take her cloths off to put the wet wash cloths on her. (I know your minds are in the gutter at this point.)
Even Hot with Hives
But this was the beginning of a wonderful, magical night with Brittnay and Cid in Austin.We went out 'til way too late, and Brittnay led the way. By the end of the evening, or about when the sun was to come up, we had to call it a night, so we went back to Cid's to dance in his gallery and continue the night. My diet certainly seems to be going to hell on this trip as we not only stopped for a slice of pizza but then Cid made us all a sandwich at his place. And of course the magic life wouldn't have been complete without a little bit of the bubbly.
Nothing is more magical than being loved and admired. As I played my guitar and sang for my 10 year old niece, Sugarbean, I felt that magic. She didn't know I could play a guitar and I think she likes her ol' uncle Ace. I did have to take all the dirty words out of my songs though. But simply spending a couple days with my younger brother, Stuart, (my first partner in magic) and his wonderful family was magic beyond compare. One of the maxims in my book, THE MAGIC LIFE, simply states, "Enjoy the time you spend with family and friends." I truly believe this is a key success factor in creating a magic life, one we often forget. I want to thank Stuart, Shannon and Natalie, (Sugarbean) for a wonderful stay with them. Of course I need to give a plug to QuickPoles, his amazing invention, which is a magic trick in and of itself.
Now, as I sit in what is one of the largest Starbucks I've ever seen, here on Post Oak in Houston, I'm amazed at the diversity and activity. Of course it's big, cause everything's big in Texas. Big SUV's, pickups and vans pull up to the drive in window, filled with women with big hair, bigger boobs, and men with big boots, and belt buckles. There aren't many men wearing cowboy hats though, but it's filled with the big dogs, the movers and shakers. Right here in this Starbucks, so many people, all moving and shaking, perhaps from too much caffeine.
Houston, a place where cows and cowboys mix it up with oil barrens and metro-sexuals, is filled with magic memories for me. My father, John Starry, lived here after he and my mother divorced, and so I discovered this magical place during my summer visits as a teen. But it wasn't until years later that I adopted it as my own home. Over the years here, I met and made many fantastic friends, many marvelous magicians, and even a few wondrous wizards. It was a place where there were always opportunities for anyone with a drive and willingness to work to make it happen.
Building a John Starry home
We create ourselves and leave a trail of our creations along the way in life. My father chose Houston to make his mark and he passed away here a few years back leaving a trail, a path, a proof of his life, so to speak, behind.
Same home front view years later
I was living in LA performing magic at Six Flags Magic
Mountain, when my father who was building homes in a northern suburb of
Houston called me. It was the end of the amusement park season, and he asked me to come
and work for him. We built three homes that year all in the same neighborhood.
I decided to go find those homes which my father and I built years ago, just to see what memories they evoked. When I saw them, I teared up. My father, were he alive today, should be proud of his creation, of the trail he left behind. My father died not leaving much behind, but he did certainly leave his proof of life. Those homes all looked amazing, and the neighborhood, which had only a few homes in it at the time, now, just as Dad predicted was filled with beautiful homes. My life is so filled with wonderful memories of my magical youth in this
amazing place spent building homes with my sometimes cantankerous
father.
Sawing illusion built in those houses
Strait Jacket Escape
I remember standing like a wire walker on the rafters and nailing them risking a thirty foot fall (above.) I used the same tools to cut cabinets for the kitchens to build my sawing a lady in half illusion in the garage of that house on the weekends. And it was here in Houston, that I met a magician named Sam Martin, who owned a magic/novelty/costume shop he called "Just for Laughs." It was Sam who first talked me into doing a "hanging strait jacket escape from a burning rope." That was truly a defining moment in my magic life, it was certainly part of my proof of life.
What was meant to be a short stay ended up being a large chunk of my magic life.
Along with the jazz and party atmosphere of New Orleans, are the stories of ghosts in haunted cemeteries, of vampires walking amongst the night, and of voodoo witches who can work their magic on you. None of which would compare with the pure mystical power demonstrated by a magician who calls this mysterious place his home. His name is Jon Racherbaumer. And my meeting with him was mystical, magical, and more than I had imagined.
Jon is one of those magicians which can blend into the scenery, but he has those clues which to the trained eye, identify him as different, as someone special, even someone with extraordinary abilities. First he dresses in black - often a tell tale sign of a magician. When I asked him about if it were some mystical or magical thing, he disarmingly stated, "I started wearing black, because I could never decide which colors went together. I'm just glad you can buy the black underwear to go with it."
I believe that Jon is without a doubt "the expert" on card magic. Even though Jon and I have known one another for a while, for me to perform a card trick in front of him makes my hands shake. To me it's like "trying to do algebra in front of Einstein." We met years ago (when I looked much older) both of us sporting the gray pony tailed look. I drove to his home and when he first greeted me, of course he noticed my change, and we started our discussion with a talk about haircuts and Just For Men beard dye. This was probably the best illusion I was going to do the entire afternoon. But when Jon and I began to talk about "the magic life" he was simply amazing. Jon grew up in a truly historical time for magicians. We talked about the change in culture amongst magicians.
You see, when we started in magic, both Jon and I learned from books and if we could find them, other magicians. Today magicians are really spoon fed from the likes of readily available DVD's and Youtube videos. A couple of clicks and you've downloaded what took years for us to find and read. Well I should say some of us learned from books, and some of us wrote those books. Jon wrote 72 books on magic so far, (mostly on cards) and amongst magicians he is famous for his works. His personal library of magic books is the most impressive I've seen so far in my life.
I wanted to talk with Jon, not about magic and tricks, although we spent hours talking cards, but I wanted to talk about the real magic in life, about life's challenges and mysteries. He opened up to me and we talked about his relationships over the years. Jon has been married three times, he has 7 children and 10 grand children. I can tell what his priority in life is because when his phone rang during my interview, he said, "I don't have to take that unless it's one of my kids."
Jon and I discussed how magicians look at life differently and always look for more information. Magicians are curious by nature. Something about learning that there are secrets behind those things we call illusions lead us magicians to search for those secrets behind the mysteries and the problems or puzzles which life presents to us. Jon told me something quite interesting, which he was told by a former CIA agent. He said, ninety percent of the decisions we make, both large and small are made with insufficient information. All of us, from the President making earth impacting decisions, to you and I deciding which toothpaste to buy. He believes magicians at least take the search for information one step farther because we are skeptical from the start. Jon believes we have an obligation to research our questions thoroughly before making our decisions.
Magicians are almost always infected by what we refer to among us as "the bug." It is the moment that we see that magic trick for the first time that just blows our mind and suddenly we are thrown into the realm of being haunted by not knowing the secret. For Jon he was in the right place at the right time. When he was about ten years old, he saw a magician perform some miraculous illusions in Elmhurst, Illinois. Little did he know that that magician turned out to be the father of the magic encyclopedia (which to this day is a hall mark of magician's education). His name was Harlan Tarbell and his seven volume course on magic written in 1928 became a standard. Jon received the first autographed, volume of the Tarbell Course in Magic, encyclopedia as a kid, and was at that time, injected with the magic virus. He has had a bad case of magicianitus ever since. He showed me some of the results of his almost obsessive studies of the paste boards.
Years later he discovered, as I did, that asking a magician "how do you do that?" was pretty much forbidden. It not only branded you as an amateur, it was in bad form. Magicians then, simply said, "where did you find that?" or if you couldn't find it, or eventually figure out how something was done, you hoped you had something good enough of your own to trade.
Jon was lucky in that respect because he learned much of his magic in a totally different way, one which shaped him into the magician he is today. One magician asked Jon to write his tricks into a book, and after much cajoling, Jon agreed to do it, and a defining moment of his life took shape. Jon learned many of the tricks of his trade by writing books about magic for other magicians.
Quite frankly, I found this leaning method quite a trick in itself. It's no wonder the man is so skilled. Describing a magic trick in writing, especially something involving sleight of hand, is extremely difficult and time consuming. To do it well takes a certain knack for creating and expressing details. This may well be why Jon has been so successful, his attention to details. But also the mere act of writing the trick up for students of the craft, would include learning the trick far better than any student ever would be able. Even today, finding new magic sometimes involves the old fashioned, meeting with other magicians.
As I've stated before, there is just something about a magician which others in the profession or even amateurs can somehow perceive or identify. Perhaps the way they dress (black underwear?) or the way they seem to hold objects in their hands, but there is something about them. When Jon and I went from his home to go have a bite at a local pub, before we practically set down, a young man came up to our table from across the restaurant and asked, "Are you guys magicians?" We both answered, "yes" and Jon told him to come back after we had lunch and we'd talk tricks with him.
His name was Andrew. Andrew was actually studying to be a chef, but he was still bitten by the magic bug. I could see it in his eyes. He had the same eager look which I had when I was young and hungry to find more and more magic. Jon and I shared some tricks with Andrew and I certainly enjoyed Andrew's positive participation in the conversation. I could see his amazement when Jon did certain tricks and could tell that Andrew was dying to ask that age old question, "How did you do that." But I think that the magic culture hasn't changed much in that respect over the years as he only asked for our autographs. I'm sure he had no idea who I was, but he no doubt had heard of Jon.
As for me, I've learned that when you get older and have done magic for what seems like a hundred years, you never even find yourself finding anything which prompts that feeling of "how did you do that?" However, Jon did bring that to me once during this meeting. And unlike our young friend still bound by a brotherhoods conventions, I said "Jon, tell me how you did that one thing where you?" And he did. LOL Older does have it's advantages.
A trip to New Orleans isn't complete unless I venture at least once into the French Quarter to wander down Bourbon Street, drink a hurricane at Pat O'briens bar, sing a song at the Cat's Meow, hug and kiss a strange woman on the street, and suddenly realize it's after 1:00. So was last night. At 1:00 most of Bourbon Street is just getting started, but I realized I had a long drive in front of me today, so I'd better call it an early night. I made my way past the hawkers, all trying me to come check out their nude dancers and live sex shows, which along with a free cover charge and five dollar beer, were almost too hard to resist. Almost? So it's now approximately 1:37 A.M. as I make it to the corner on Canal Street to wait for the street car up to the "Hotel Lyles" on St. Charles. I wait a while and a cab pulls up and tells me that the street cars are about an hour apart. So I decide that I'll go ahead and jump in a cab.
The Sign on the Building Next to Us as We Pulled Up.
An almost magical life event takes place at that magical hour. Out of nowhere a girl appears and jumps into the cab after me. She says she is going up St. Charles and would love to share the cab with me. Who am I to say no? She chats me up and tells me that she's going to an all night restaurant. As we pull up she says, "Why don't you come have dinner with me?" Must have been my charm and good looks, or the sign on the wall which I saw as we pulled up. Magic life is amazing when you just let it guide you. And of course who am I to say no? Well we have the "best Jambalaya you can get at 2:00 in the morning. And before you know it she is telling me her life story, and I'm thinking this is going to be great. However, the life story ends with, "... and I love my boyfriend so much. He is my everything. I want him to have my babies." So ends my magical story and it's now 3:00 A.M. I'm way too tired and I have so much to do before I leave New Orleans.
I'm up at 8:00, have a cup of coffee, pack the Jeep, and now I'm at Starbucks hacking away at my blog. I am bound and determined to get this article on the magician, Jon Racherbaumer out before I hit the trail to Houston town. But I just had to share my last night in NOLA with you before I did. I'm trying to download a little video clip of Jon doing a trick for me and it's pretty cool
New Orleans, a city that is a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, calls to me like an old, silver-haired, black gentleman, strumming a worn out guitar with his time calloused fingers. He's singing a blues from his wicker rocker on his front porch, filling the humid air with his raspy voice between puffs on his long-ashed cigarette. The Big Easy, is that music, moving slowly to the rhythms of that unique sound of blues and jazz. Blues are the heart and souls, and jazz is the music which always remains true to it's source, playing notes and riffs around the true unchanged melody. Through a hundred years NOLA often seems frozen in time. But change is the one true constant in life and even a world tied to tradition such as New Orleans will succumb to it's power.
Jack Lyles "Where's my stuff?"
For me, I've been fortunate enough to have included in my magic life, some magical friends, and through their generosity and love I've included much time in New Orleans in my life's journey. My time spent here will no doubt be some of the most magical and wondrous times of my life.
Living in Houston, years ago I had the privilege to meet the Lyles family, Jack and Pam and their son and daughter, Jeffery and Taylor. When they moved to New Orleans, they took my friendship with them and over the years, I've spent many, nights and days, reveling with them at their home endearingly referred to as "Hotel Lyles." I've learned the wonders of Mardi Gras, walked amongst the topless women on Bourbon Street, marveled at the street magic in the French Quarter, and seen the ravages of hurricane Katrina.
Change is not a welcomed adversary, but like the mythical "trickster" change appears to wreak havoc upon his stealthful visit. But hopefully when he departs, a life lesson has been learned. And as change is the only true constant in life, we must learn to embrace each new chapter, cherishing the memories of that which lay behind us as magical illusions fading in our mind as the years go by. The Lyles offered me a place to stay in New Orleans one last time. And I feel a true privilege being the last real guest of Hotel Lyles. Pam and Jack are embracing a new chapter in their lives too and doing it with gusto. Looking forward to the adventures that await them.
NOLA - A Mystical City Wrapped in Magical Traditions
I'll miss the Hotel Lyles with all it's amazing memories and traditions, but our friendships will be that true melody which only the riffs and notes encircle to make that beautiful magical life sound. I know that all my New Orleans friends and those who have had this wonderful, magical encounter with this amazing family, will miss our times at "Hotel Lyles" but we will always cherish those memories which "the trickster" cannot ever take from us.
Sometimes you get the magic, sometimes the magic gets you. As my big black jeep and I hit the Florida turnpike I had the probability of meeting a magician who worked in Orlando. Even Mickey Mouse seemed to foretell a magical meeting as even at the rest stop there was his statue with "share the magic" written below. Orlando wreaks of "magic" you can practically smell the magic in the air. Actually that's the burnt gunpowder from a dozen different fireworks shows that seem to appear nightly in and around The Magic Kingdom. But my trip to this city, in which magic itself resonates, was not to meet a conjuror of sorts. (Even though his credit card said "magic" on it.) And fortunately for me it made dinner and a couple of drinks appear. Let me explain.
The word magic, has magic in it.
Years ago when I first penned The Magic LifeI put the chapters on the Internet one at a time, in a newsgroup for writers. At that time the book wasn't even called The Magic Life, but rather The Magic One.
There were no clever "maxims" at the beginning of each chapter, and the dream sequences weren't even in the book. For those of you who read the hard copy version, it would be quite a different book. However there were many for whom the book still resonated and they wrote to me telling me so.
One such person was a guy named "Tim Roebuck." He was 25 at the time and living in Virginia Beach. If you own the book, you'll see he has his comments included on the back cover. He said,
"You have given a gift.
Your words of encouragement and hope, intricately woven into a well
structured novel, enraptured me. It was very entertaining, while pulling
on the very core of existence. ...Thank you
for your gift."
An original "magic lifer."
Tim and I have kept in touch over the year,s as I have with a few of the early readers, who have watched the book come from such humble beginnings to be so well received. Well when I proposed this trip, Tim, was one of the first to contact me with a generous offer to come stay at his home in Orlando. So after I re-routed my trip, I said that I'd love to meet him after all these many years. Here is a guy that I've never met and really only had a dozen contacts with over 15 years and when I met him, within minutes I felt as though we had been old friends for many years.
Angi the cute and sweet bartender.
Tim took me out and knowing my reputation, it was to a place which made amazing margaritas. He must have also known my preference for cute bartenders as he seemed to have supplied that also. I sat with Tim and discussed many magical things in life. He told me as if I were his true confident of the many trials which he as been through over the years and as he did it became evident why I found myself with this "magic lifer." I was there for a reason.
So many times in my magic life, I find myself being drawn to people who are having self doubt about following their passions. I asked Tim if he had ever imagined, when he read my manuscript so many years ago, if he would ever in his wildest dreams sitting across from his table drinking morning coffee. I was surprised at his answer. He said, "actually I knew we'd meet someday."
Two future millionaire entrepreneurs
Well, I realized at that moment that it was he who manifested this reality. And in truth "he" simply asked me to come see him. Imagine me finding a reader who read the book 14 years ago and now finds he needs the advice more than ever. Tim, who works for Deloitte and Touche, was having doubts about starting his own photography business. And believe me, he is a great photographer.
I tried to give him some solid advice about following his dreams, to take it slow and ease himself into that direction as he could afford the time and money. But to be sure and take the extra effort that it requires to move that direction. And to start now. The happiness he received as reward would be worth the work.
World's softest cat
But then I was doubly surprised to see his wife, Lisa, was also starting a business and had just put up a website. The product pictures were fantastic, one with their cat, (who is just as soft as the blankets) and of course her husband had taken them. I helped her a little with the website and I absolutely loved her product. They are these amazingly soft personalized baby blankets. She has an amazing eye and touch for the fabric. You touch them and want to snuggle them. Please check them out if you have a baby or someone who does. Or even if you have a cat that want's one. I know I'll be getting one of these for someone on this trip. They are simply magical and so are these two "magic life" people.
Of course I couldn't leave without performing a little of the other kind of magic. Tim and Lisa's girls really enjoyed seeing two rubber bands pass through each other and of course my fave, the kings and queens card trick. Tim did video tape it, so hopefully I'll have it on here soon.
Two wizards and a magician walk into a bar. the first wizard say's, "watch this" and he waves his wand and three drinks appear in front of them. He points his wand to the next wizard and states, "your turn." The second wizard responds "Ok, watch this." He waves his wand and the three drinks disappear. Both wizards then point their wands at the magician, who suddenly turns into a duck. The duck looks up at them and says, "You bastards just stuck me with the bill again, didn't you."
If you sat down next to a wizard you might realize it, but the magician somehow blends into the scenery. At least in Key West, where such characters abound, they do. Here are three men sitting at a bar and one of them is the magician. The others are wizards in their own right, but I doubt they can turn the magician into a duck.
His name is Tim Glancey, he is the one in the hat, not the top hat, but the one in the loud shirt, who looks as though he's hiding a coin or something in his right hand. Tim has had an amazing magic life and I have had a true opportunity to have crossed his path with mine.
I met Glancey while I was attending Boise State University, studying theater. He got me my first restaurant job at the Grizzly Bear Pizza parlor, doing table to table magic. He introduced me to other magicians and many, many sleights and tricks. I ran into him years later in Las Vegas at a magician's convention and he'd been doing magic all over the country, at the time he was living and working in Orlando, Florida.
Tim, was the original magician for the Orlando magic, which considering the position was a miracle in and of itself. When the Orlando Magic first announced that their name was to be "the magic," a thousand magicians quickly shot them a proposal and resume. Tim told me he was different. He camped at their doorstep. When he finally got a chance to meet with them and introduced himself as a magician, they said, "We aren't that kind of magic." And he off the top of his head replied, "Well I'm not that kind of magician."
"Well, what kind of magician are you then?"
"I do team sports magic."
And at that moment the concept of "Team Sports Magic" was born. He told me that he was just shooting from the hip. He envisioned and eventually created someone pulling a basketball from a briefcase. From then on Tim developed the sports team magic program which created an intimate relationship with a sports arena audience to get them involved. He told me that the principle was to bring the person in the back of the crowd into the show as he would a person watching him do a close-up trick. How does one do that? You might ask. How can you personally connect with an enormous crowd.
If you've ever been to a game where someone shoots a tee-shirt into the audience with and air cannon, then you can thank this magician. While creating this concept of team sports magic, he came up with that idea and invented the way to get a tee shirt, Nerf ball, etc, into the hands of a person yelling and screaming from twenty rows up.
I had the pleasure once again of watching Tim perform some of his close-up magic that night. I was absolutely dumbfounded by a simple little illusion. He pulled a match from a pack of matches, lit it, held it in his hand and it changed into a silver dollar. I don't mean it looked like it changed. It was a match one moment and a dollar the next instant, with smoke still rising from it's edge. Tim later shared with me that simple magic is always the best.
Tim has lived a life of a magician, from time to time it's hard like most lives can be. But he told me that he has never filled out a job application in his life and knows that security for him is an illusion. But his security has been that he could walk into a restaurant if he needed and would tell the manager, let me perform tonight and see if it works for both of us. Within 30 minutes the manager would be asking, "how much do you charge to do this." He has managed to work, travel and live life as a magician, relying on his skills and abilities to make others happy.
I sat with Tim and talked about life and the magic moments he has had throughout his. He calls them "click" moments. The time he closed up his magic shop and headed for Orlando, the door went "click." I like to call them "defining moments." Those moments that change the direction of your life, they define your life. The moment that Tim said the words "I do team sports magic" for example was a defining moment a "click" in Tim's life.
When I asked him what the most amazing thin he has ever done, he didn't tell me about making a dragon appear in a box hanging a hundred feet in the air, or sawing a woman in two. No, he told me about a time he surprised his girlfriend by getting some of her relatives to come make a surprise visit. It made him relive that magic moment and he teared up with tears of joy. We talked about so many things, magical things, amazing things. I know that this old friend of mine, this magic mentor, who has taught so many and helped so many others get their lives on track, does know the difference between real magic, and those things a magician does with cards.
When I think of Key West it brings to mind, some marvelous imagery, as well as conjuring up foggy rum soaked memories of fantasy fests gone by. The farthest southern point of the US, it is more than snorkel trips, sunset cruises, and restaurants where chickens scratch at your feet. It is a mysterious island filled with hidden secrets. Beyond the delicious taste of a cool slice of key lime pie, and the palm trees split by a serene sunset, most of all, it is a place filled with characters. As though Hemingway himself had provided background and filled this tourist town with his own eclectic creations. It is in this very place indeed where he staggered down to a local bar, to challenge a friend to a drinking contest or boxing match. The saloons still echo his bygone bravado,with names such as Sloppy Joe's, Captain Tony's, or The Schooner Warf, they are a magnet to the often loud, wrinkled, liver ravaged, pirates which wander Duval Street in search of a drop of the magic which fortunately this wonderful, eye-opening, island can provide.
My search for magic began with my own christening as I finished packing the Jeep. The very last thing after everything was packed was to take out the leftover groceries from my refrigerator to give to a friend. When I did the bottom of the bag fell out and a half bottle of Cabernet went pouring down my shorts, ran down my right leg, soaked into my white gym sock and pretty much dyed my white tennis shoe instantly. My trip was going to begin as random as my life, like the man who is picked to be a spy simply because he has "one red shoe."
