holmenkollen-chapel.jpegOn March 1st my new iPhone App titled Bamboozlers released. For more info on the app click here. For a while now I have been packing and planning for my ten city tour across Scandinavia. On March 3rd I flew out and lectured across Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland:

03-03-11 Flew out of DFW to begin my adventure!
03-04-11 Arrived in London and then flew onto Copenhagen.  From there I caught a train onto Halmstad, Sweden.  I was basically awake for 30 hours straight after leaving home before reaching my final destination.
03-05-11 Performed and lectured in the amazing magic shop of author and magician Gay Ljungberg.  He’s a super great guy with loads of experience.  Had a good turn out and made a new friend.
03-06-11 Spent this day hopping three planes to make it to the Artic Circle in the north of Norway.  I made it but my suitcase full of product did not.  The wind here chills you to the bone and practically knocks you over.
03-07-11 Lectured in the home of Axel Olson in Bodo, Norway.  He was a very nice and gracious host with a fantastic magic room.  The group was great.  I’m only sorry that missed my chance to see the Northern Lights.
03-08-11 Made my way onto Namsos, Norway and was well looked after by the friendly and energetic Roger Skar.  He’s a true entertainer and I lectured in his party facility for a great group of guys.  I was fed well and ate reindeer for the first time.  My suitcase caught up with me about midnight that night thanks to my friends in Namsos.  I would love to return there.
03-09-11 Flew onto Trondheim, Norway and was greeted by Paul Rocks who performs magic regularly.  The lecture here was a fun one for an enthusiastic crowd.  The gang here was very talented.
03-10-11 Flew into Oslo, Norway and was greeted by my cousin Robert.  Went back to his and his girlfriend Silje’s place.  Then Rob and I trekked through the snow on foot to the train station pulling my big suitcase along with us. Once in downtown Oslo I lectured that night for a big crowd in a very chic underground bar setting.
03-11-11 This day we did some shopping and ran errands around Klofta and the surrounding cities.  The snow drifts were huge and it snowed all the while I was there.  So I made them some snow ice cream and they thought I was crazy to eat it.
03-12-11 This day we toured the town and made our quest to the Holmenkollbakken.  It’s an Olympic ski jump and we climbed the icy snow-covered steps to the top which was very nerve racking.  We walked around the outside of the King’s Palace, toured Frogner Park (full of sculptures), had a good dinner and then capped it off with a visit to the Ice Bar where the walls, tables, chairs, bar, and even the glasses were all made of ice. It was very cool… literally. (See the pics)
03-13-11 This day was reserved for family.  We went into the country and had lunch with my new cousin Nikki, her husband Eirik, and their 3 kids Oliver, Charlie & Lotta.  The food was good and the company was even better.  Then we went to a birthday party for Silje’s side of the family where I met her father and many more of her relatives.  We experienced what Robert called “death by cakes” because the hostess of a party always has 7 cakes or more and insists that you try them all.  And I drank some type of liquor there, that we would label as “paint remover” or “acetone” here. 🙂
03-14-11 Play time was over and I was back to work.  I made my way by means of a plane, a train and an automobile onto Horsens, Denmark.  I met the lovely Anna who set up my tour and lectured that night at the shop of  the amazing Steen Pegani.  It was a great turnout and great fun.
03-15-11 I took a train onto Aarhus, Denmark and lectured to a huge crowd this night.  Many younger guys attended which made it fun for me to watch their faces.
03-16-11 I took a train onto Copenhagen, Denmark and lectured for a very cool group of guys this night.
 

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03-17-11 I flew into Stockholm, Sweden and was greeted by the funny and talented Tyler Wilson (from Canada) and a new rising star in magic named Erik Nordvall (who was my contact there).  We attended the very stylish Magic Bar (see pic) that night where I met the newly famous Tom Stone (author of Vortex).  The show and atmosphere were great!

03-18-11 I toured Stockholm and then kicked-off the Swedish Magic Circle’s convention that night with

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my lecture.  After the lecture I found a Tapas restaurant and had a nice dinner.  After dining I watched some of the close-up competition and witnessed my new friend Erik Nordvall compete and ultimately win.  These guys were all great and I’d love to return there.

03-19-11 I flew into my last stop in Helsinki, Finland and was greeted by the incredibly kind Markku.  He was a wonderful host and the lecture was a good one.  Afterwards we had a nice steak dinner and hung out.

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03-20-11 This day was a long one!  I flew from Helsinki to Copenhagen, then to London, then to Chicago, and after running and going through customs I barely made my last flight home to Dallas.  Luckily I made it home and was glad to see my wonderful wife who I had only communicated with by Skype over the past few weeks.

It was a very memorable journey!  Click here to see a map of my actual journey. I considered it a huge success on many levels.  I did considerably well, I made many new friends, and several magazines there will be running my material in the near future. Plus, I have my packing down to a science now after traveling across twenty countries these past few years. 

oslo-ice-barWhile it was very cold for a Texas boy I felt like I adjusted quickly.  The saying there is that there is no such thing as bad weather- only bad clothes!  I miss my family there now and was glad to see what life is like for them.  Everyone was extremely gracious.

Once home I had many shows to perform before the end of the month and I tried to catch up on my sleep and honey-doos.  One day I hope to take my wife to Scandinavia and some other hot spots in the UK and Europe that I have discovered.  For now it is back to the grindstone performing, writing, and hopefully finding the time to produce some more DVDs. Oh yeah.. look for the nice review of my DVD Pockets Full of Miracles in this month’s Linking Ring magazine.