I left home September 30th to begin my lecture tour and adventure across the central United States. It takes a lot of time and planning for these adventures but I always enjoy myself. It’s the unexpected surprises that are always fun. I only wish the clubs I visit would put themselves in a logical order so I wouldn’t have to zig zag across the country.
| 10-01-11 | Lectured in New Orleans, LA and stayed with the prolific magic author Jon Racherbaumer. Had a great dinner with Jon and his wife and then toured Bourbon Street. What a crazy place! |
| 10-02-11 | Drove onto Lake Charles, LA to stay with my friend Chip Romero. Chip is an amazing cruise ship magician and he houses an amazing collection of magic memorabilia from greats like Houdini, Henning, Mark Wilson, Pendragons, etc. |
| 10-03-11 | Lectured in Lake Charles, LA. |
| 10-04-11 | Lectured in Memphis, TN. I’ve been to Memphis a couple of times but this was my first time to perform there. |
| 10-05-11 | Lectured in St. Louis, MO. Hung out with my friend and mentorDan Fleshman. There was a big crowd that night! |
| 10-06-11 | Hung out at the amazing magic shop called Mr. Magic owned by a super gentleman named Jim Henson. I lectured in Little Rock, Arkansas that night and had dinner with the super funny and talented Derrick Rose. |
| 10-07-11 | Stayed with and lectured at the home of my friends The Battles who are always gracious to me. Going to Brandon, MS almost feels like going home. |
| 10-08-11 | I drove 6 hours and then stayed the night in Kentucky. |
| 10-09-11 | I drove another 5 hours onto Indianapolis, IN where I lectured that night to a very good group. My wife’s car battery died after, so I dealt with a tow truck and replacing it the next morning. |
| 10-10-11 | Drove onto Chicago where I hung out at Magic Inc and Fun Inc. That night I lectured at Midwest Magic in Franklin Park for a huge crowd and stayed with the funny and talented Tomas Medina and his lovely wife Valerie. |
| 10-11-11 | Went to Minneapolis, MN where I lectured at the gigantic Twin Cities Costume & Magic shop. That place is a sight to behold and the people were great. That’s one town I’d love to revisit. |
| 10-12-11 | Drove to Madison, WI where I lectured that night and met an amazing magician named Rick Wilcox. I understand now why Wisconsin is big on cheese (see the road pic on the right) that I snapped from my driver’s seat while in Wisconsin. |
| 10-13-11 | Went onto LeClaire, IA and visited the home of American Pickers TV show called Antique Archaeology. The gang was out filming but I’m glad I visited this town. I had a great lunch there and also took in the Buffalo Bill Cody museum. That night I lectured in IL for the Iowa club and a few of us went to Iowa for dinner so I could perform there as well. |
| 10-14-11 | Visited Branson, MO for the first time and lectured there that night to an enthusiastic crowd at the Magic & Jokes shop. |
| 10-15-11 | Lectured in Lincoln, NE that night at the very cool Magickits.com Magic Shop. |
| 10-16-11 | Lectured in Wichita, KS. |
| 10-17-11 | Came home this day to do laundry, repack, get a haircut, return emails, ship orders, etc. |
| 10-18-11 | Left for Houston, TX where I lectured that night and then hung out with my friends Alex Rangel and Danny Garcia. |
| 10-19-11 | Drove to Edinburg, TX and hung out at the headquarters for Viking Magic where some of the best props on the planet are made. I lectured that night in Pharr, TX to a great group of guys. |
| 10-20-11 | Gave my last lecture on the tour in San Antonio, TX for a fun group. That morning there was small earthquake felt in San Antonio!! |
| 10-21-11 | Drove home and did 2 shows that evening. |
I have a personal goal to perform professionally in all 50 states. This tour allowed me to knock out 7 more that I had yet to do. All in all I drove 7000 miles and I performed in 17 cities, in 13 states, and all in 20 days. Now I can proudly say that I have performed in 31 of the states. Thanks to Scott Wells who helped me prepare this tour.
I really enjoyed seeing old friends and making some new ones. Plus, there are some new projects that may spring from this tour. From the road I was working on my next DVD project and planning future tours. It’s always important in life to have something to look forward to. Mostly I was looking forward to going home. 🙂
Since my return I performed for such clients as Dads in the Hood, a billionaire’s private party, Sebesta Blomberg and a few more private events. I helped my friend Mitch with his company toys2u.com which should go live soon. I had dinner with my good friend Jeff Davis from California. I also got together with family to help my mother and sister celebrate their birthdays. One night we went to Verdun Manor haunted house in Terrell which is always fun this time of year. Plus, I played in a poker tournament where I did very well. Lastly, I just bought my wife a new car. Life is good.