Things are always busy, in a good way, around here.  Beyond working lots of gigs we’ve had time to hook up with many friends.  The month started off with an overnight visit from our friends The Fleischers out of California.  The next day I drove to Austin to film more episodes of Scam School. See the trick I call Post-it Note Puzzle in Bamboozlers 3, from the recent Scam School shoot above.  The shoot went well and I had dinner with a long-time friend Justin.  The next day I had a fun gig at a golf competition at a country club in Fort Worth. The next night was a private party for a fun family who has used my services in the past.

The next day I attended my nephew Lane’s graduation party where I did a little magic for he and his friends.  Everyone is proud of Lane as he will be attending A&M. The following day I flew to LA with my old chum Ward and we attended The Magic Castle in Hollywood and had a nice dinner.  The next night I worked a private gig at The Magic Castle for a couple of hours.  It was nice to be flown out and treated like a rock star and to hang out at one of my favorite places on Earth. I’ve done over one hundred shows at the Castle and it never gets old.  In fact, I can’t wait to go back. It’s even more gratifying to know that they sell all three of my Bamboozlers books in their gift shop.

Once home I did my Boston’s gig in McKinney that Friday the 13th and the next day I had off, which is rare, so I visited with my good friends Jesse Woodall and Craig Raley.  The next day was Father’s Day and I was happy to spend it with my grandfather Bill and my step-father C.E.  A couple of days later I had a fun night with the Dallas Magic Club.  The same week I had many shows and helped out the magic shop in McKinney for a day.

I ended the month by working a 35th birthday party for one of my biggest fans named Sally.  I recently helped Sally get engaged by producing a ring during one of my routines while at Boston’s one night.  It’s always fun when people get so excited just to be standing in the room with me.  I think I was more excited than she- just to be entertaining her friends and family.  I love my job!

See the most recent episode of Scam School below.  In it I teach a routine I call Nimble Corks from my book Close-Up Magic Secrets. I figured out recently that the Scam School episodes with myself and Brushwood currently have over three million hits!

This has been a productive month. I had 20 gigs in May. Which sounds like I had 11 days off but it didn’t feel that way. I attended many fun private events like my friend Jared’s house party, dinner with my parents, dinner with friends, and my sister Chelsye’s birthday.

The countless award-winning Michael Dardant stayed the night one evening and we stayed up until 2am playing video games. The up and coming magician Ben Jackson stopped by for a visit and we hashed out some ideas for a television show that he is working on. My wife and I had our 22nd anniversary but we’ve actually spent 26 years together. We will celebrate in style later this year.

I just released my new Winning Spinning Nickels; click here to learn more about them. Many of the photos from my photo shoot with Joel Chan are done and I’ve been adding them to my website. See my resume page, my services page and my references page to see many of the new photos. I have more photos that I will find a way to incorporate at a later date. Some of the Scam School episodes that were shot in late April are beginning to air. See one that is dedicated to entertaining folks with matches below:

My new Magic Math Sticks, Consecutive Conundrum puzzle and 7 Lucky Dice are selling well.  Typically in one year I will release a couple of new items.  This year I am focusing on expanding my product line.  I have a production team now who is working on some upcoming DVD releases for me as well.  It’s a lot to juggle all of this while performing and traveling but I love it.  My regular gig at Bostons in McKinney is going strong and I’m there two nights a week.  Come see me Wednesdays from 6:30-8:30pm and Fridays 7-9pm.  I have many regulars that come to see me weekly now so I’m constantly working on new things.

One exciting gig for me this month was flying to Columbus, OH on Sunday May 25th.  I lectured for Penguin Magic that night which was broadcast all over the world via the internet.  The feedback has been tremendous.  Many have said it was the best lecture they’ve witnessed. Hearing that means a lot to me seeing how over 100 guys that I respect have done the same there.  Apparently I set a record for the most magic per minute with the variety of effects I performed.  You can download the lecture and read the reviews by clicking on the picture above.

I also drove to West Virginia the next day and did a little magic for some folks.  Since I was paid I can now say I’ve performed professionally in 41 of the states.  That was a very long day for me. That morning I ate breakfast in Columbus, OH, had lunch in Wheeling, WV, had dinner in Atlanta, GA and then flew to DFW and was home in bed just north of Dallas before midnight.  Life is never boring!