Seriously People, I'm trying to be funny here.

Comedy is a dangerous business. What I may think is super funny may not be funny to you at all. In my comedy magic show I often improvise with the audience volunteers and with situations that arise during the show. This of course leads to certain number of jokes that don't work. I think of it as a matter of percentage. If you tell more jokes in a day than the average person then you will have a larger number of them bomb. Boy there is no feeling quite like coming up with something on the spot that you think is hilarious and it just falls flat. It's like a little part of you dies right there on stage. Of course when a bit hits that you've just created right there it's like you suddenly grow wings.

So, this is where you have to ask yourself, "Do I risk it?" I know some comedians that if they think something is funny they will say it, no matter what. Even if no one laughs night after night. Of course there have been comedians who broke new ground and barriers doing this but there have also been others who just languished in obscurity. There are also examples of comedians who are very precise in their material and never say anything that would offend. There are many examples of this type, most of whom were given sitcoms. So, as a comedian I have to ask myself, do I only do material they couldn't possibly offend or do I do I stay true to myself?

Staying true to myself doesn't mean I'm going to go around and say lots of naughty words but it does mean I'm going to have some fun. I recently read an article about performing magic for businesses and corporate functions that said you can never joke about the boss or the employees. Sure you don't want to make the hackney old jokes about the boss or the underlings but geez if you can't even take a joke maybe you shouldn't hire a comic magician. Sure a guy who is over weight doesn't want to be called fat nor is that very funny. It's too easy. I still haven't found a name for the type of comedy I do. My friend Jason describes it as Gentle mocking or Humble teasing. I guess if you can't take that you shouldn't hire me.

I can just hear some of my business guru pals freaking out by me saying that someone shouldn't hire me. But if I have to choose between not getting a gig and being generic I'll choose not getting the gig.

Remember folks, keep it funny and keep it honest.

Look out Dundee!

This weekend pretty much wraps up the Festival Season. There are a few fall festivals where I will be entertaining but nearly as many as the summer time ones. This weekend I will be appearing at the West Dundee Heritage Fest on stilts and juggling. That's right besides being a professional corporate and college magician I also walk on stilts.

Here are a couple of older pictures on the left from New Years Day in Naperville several years ago and the one on the right was taken at the lake front in 2003 or 04.

So, if you are in West Dundee this Saturday, look me up! (That's a really bad stilt joke.)

I was in Good Hands.

On Saturday I had the great pleasure to perform at the AllState Company Picnic. It is great to see a company that still celebrates its employees. The company provides tons of entertainment for the employees and they don't spend any time making speeches or presentations. They had a great cover band, a juggling show, stilt walkers, and me doing my corporate close up strolling magic.

They also have amusement rides, a craft fair, and a few dog adoption groups. Also the food is very good.

I've done this event for the past three years and even saw some familiar faces. It always amazing me how much the kids can change over a year. Which is weird because I am obviously not any older. How do they get older?

The Day to Labor

I am not a Laborer, I am a comic magician but I do work hard. Today I worked an awesome gig for the Chicago Federation of Labor's Labor Day picnic. It was great to get to hang out with so many down to earth people. I've always liked the Blue Collar crowd, they remind me of the folks I grew up around in rural Pennsylvania.

The event really had great music. When I thought, "Labor organization picnic," I didn't think, "great music." But of course, all the musicians are going to be members of the musicians union which means they are above average musicians. I was talking about this to one of the guests and he ask me how the magicians union was. Of course there is no magicians union. Should there be? I'm not really sure what they would get us. We really do have awesome jobs! We get paid to go to parties, have a good time, and do the thing we love. Could we ask for more?