Lazy Days

Lazy days?   Not really.   Since coming back from the fabulous time we had at the EMC in Portugal (and thank you for all the kind comments) I have not done much in the way of performances.     A few private gigs is all.     That sounds like lazy days but...

Around the Daniels abode we have had to rip out the main bathroom due to a bad leak and builders have been clumping in and out throwing out hundreds of tiles and fittings.    Later today we will be touring showrooms and making final decisions on what is going to replace what and where.

Men have also been swinging from tree to tree and to my sorrow trees over 100 years old are coming down thanks to their innards being eaten and destroyed by a fungus.   The exteriors look fine but we couldn't understand why huge branches kept crashing down.    Luckily, and it was luck, nobody was hurt or property damaged.

The worst example was when an ancient weeping willow split in two with a huge explosion of sound.   Debbie was working in her office at the back of the house and the upper branches just missed that as the breaking tree brought down another tree.   That meant of course that everything in that back garden had to be sawn up and bulldozed out.     We have fantastic neighbours and they have already taken away most of the old wood and we will level out that back garden with a rent-a-dozer next week.

I have been having HUGE doses of nostalgia as I continue to list magic props, books and posters onto eBay.  I can only do a few per day and that is not caused entirely by lack of time.  I am afraid that I pick something up and then on top of the time it takes to photograph measure describe each item, I have to fondle and enjoy the memories.

So many other bits and bobs of jobs are being done around here as well as river trips with friends or just by ourselves.

Mam had her 96th birthday - still lives on her own - and I have been round there cutting hedges and grass.  She had a goodly day as many members of the family made it to her bungalow to visit.

Oh yes, I nearly forgot: in a moment of madness I succumbed to many requests and have planned some magic seminar dates (on a different page on this site) for a real mixture of magicians of all levels.   Some people have asked why I have charged so much and I laughed when I got those messages.   They are so out of touch with the real world and expect everything for free.

"I can learn magic off YouTube" they say.   Yes you can, and you will be just as horribly bad at it as they are.    Here's a golden rule:  How a magic trick works  is NEVER the secret of the entertainment aspect of magic, be it close up, television, or large theatre.    The ART that is magic is much more important and it is the ART that is mostly concealed from the audiences so they can sit back and ENJOY the show.