For as long as I can remember my Mom has always sent out Christmas letters to everyone she ever knew.  My activities are always included in these letters so I don’t really feel as if I have to send my own messages – doubling up on the content.  However, with this blog it is a simple matter to tell you all about my 2008 (plus there is a 1 in 10 chance you might not be on my Mom’s mailing list)…

Performing magic and comedy shows is always a constant for me.  I’m doing it all the time.  It’s my full-time job and passion.  (Yes, I know how lucky I am that those things are the same.) So, this “summary” of my 2008 is going to be all about the big projects that I have worked on.  I am a project-orientated guy… bring who you need together into one place for a set length of time and then (when the project is done) you all move on to other projects.

The first big event of 2008 for myself and my non-profit company, Magic West, was the production of a limited engagement (2 nights) starring Jon Armstrong, the Close-Up Magician of the Year.  We had two sold-out shows at Club Paradiso to feature both Jon’s incredible magic and the hilarious stand-up comedy of Derick Lengwenus.  I love producing events that bring the best in the world to Calgary audiences, and this show was no exception.

Almost immediately after the conclusion of this show I began working with my good friend Jeff Buick on the launch of his fifth published novel Delicate Chaos.  In the last week of February Jeff put close to 400 of his fans into a Chapters store here in Calgary for the release.  Brother and sister team, Christopher and Nikki Barran, opened the show with their inspirational music, I did some magic/comedy, and Jeff shared stories of what it is like to be an author.  His books are definitely worth a read and I can’t wait for the release of his sixth one.

It was on the same night as this book launch that I signed a contract to produce a radio show for a local businessman.  While I had hoped that this contract would be longer-lived (I resigned in July), it was an incredible learning experience as I wrote and created a great deal of content in this time.  A lot of my friends wondered why I resigned.  It occurred to me that I was placing this contract above the importance of my own shows and after working in entertainment full-time for almost 6 years I have too much invested in this profession to loose focus on creating the best show that I can.

This year’s Pacific Coast Association of Magicians Convention was held in July in Monterey, California.  It was a beautiful place to hold a conference.  I was in attendance this year (as I have been since 2003) and as a Past President of the organization I had the honour of judging the general magic contests.  I learned how hard that can actually be!  It’s tough to evaluate one performer to another – but that’s not the benefit of contests.  The benefit is in the process of performing and creating and preparing – and with that in mind, all the contestants this year did a great job and, I am sure, learned a lot.  (The 2009 convention will be hosted by Shawn Farquhar in September on board the NCL Cruise Ship, Norweigan Pearl.  I’m already registered!)

At the end of August my family and I took a REAL vacation to Phoenix, AZ and Las Vegas, NV.  I say “real vacation” because this is the first time since I graduated high school that my travel didn’t have something to do with work.  We had a blast!  I even joined my family for a baseball game!  Phoenix was the more laid-back part of the trip with a golf game, shopping, and a trip to The Grand Canyon.  Vegas is Vegas… I lost some money, did some more shopping, saw Cirque du Soliel’s “O”, and met up with new and old industry-related friends.  (It was a true highlight to see Johnny Thompson do a close-up show there… my folks also loved it.) I also had a great time showing my brother how to get preferential seats at any show with general seating and a doorman: the greasy palm.  Using this tactic at a burlesque show resulted in him almost taking a boot to the head.  (Great trip!)

While I was on vacation this new web-site came online.  In fact, a substantial part of my year has been spent on the whole “image” and “branding” thing.  New logo, look, design, etc.  I’ve even now got a product coming out that will be for sale online soon.  (It’s for sale only after my shows right now.) Most people would be surprised how much time that marketing stuff actually takes.

The last few months of the year (leading up to the holiday “corporate season”), were spent performing and producing shows (all of which I have written a lot about on this blog).  It began with “One Enchanted Evening” in October – produced by Trevor Watters and Lorena.  From there is was the premiere of “Magically Delicious” with myself, Ryan Pilling, and Tyler Wilson.  And finally, it was Magic West’s Second Annual “Jawdroppers” in November.

December was spent driving/flying all over the place for shows for various corporations and getting ready for my last few performances of the year (starting again on Boxing Day).  I finished my Christmas shopping this morning, which brings me up to the writing of this post.  There’s nothing else “historical” that I can say… I’m now moving into uncharted territory…

Merry Christmas!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 at 2:46pm and is filed under News & Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.