Speaking The Language

I took two years of Spanish in high school. I got A’s in all four semesters but I didn’t really learn the language. I could answer questions on tests, count to diez, and remember simple phrases. But, try with all my might, I couldn’t truly express myself.

My childhood was full of music. We had instruments everywhere. A drum set, two clarinets, two saxophones, and two pianos. My brother and I played in the jazz ensemble and sang in choir. My sister was a remarkably talented pianist. (She played at the freakin’ White House in college!) I practiced and played but I just never got quite that good at any of my instruments.

I liked singing more. So I listened to Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole. I danced to “West Side Story” and “Singin’ In The Rain” in my bedroom, pretending to be the leading man. In college I got my BFA in Musical Theater. Basically I had two degrees: one in Acting and one in Vocal Performance. 

I took Music Theory and Voice Lessons. I worked hard. But it never quite came together. I don’t think I ever fully grasped the technique that would take me to the next level. I never understood the language of vocal performance, thus I never could fully let go and truly express myself.

But I’ve noticed a change in my performances lately that wasn’t there before. I’m starting to get a hang of this mind reading thing.

Fluency feels good. Being a “master of your domain” gives you a confidence that is hard to describe.

Imagine being trapped in your childhood home. Except there’s no light. It’s completely dark and you can’t see a thing. Could you find the door and get out? Of course! Because you know your childhood home like the back of your hand. It’s embedded so deep in your memory that you don’t even have to think about it.

It’s just there.

That’s what it feels like to know your craft so well that you can fully speak the language. That’s what mastery feels like.

I’m not saying I’m an expert at what I do. There are books I will never read and techniques that I will never fully master. But being a performer is the skill in which I am most well-versed. I understand it like no other skill I’ve ever attempted.

I know what it feels like to control a roomful of strangers. I know when to raise or lower my voice for extra impact. I understand where to stand and can anticipate what unplanned event is about to take place.

It’s not psychic or intuition. It’s having such a strong grasp of what I do that I’m prepared for nearly every eventuality that will occur. And when something new happens that I didn’t see coming, I don’t panic. I know that I have the skills to handle it and get back on track.

It’s taken two decades, but I finally speak the language.

FRIGID New York

I can finally announce that I am one of 30 selected shows to appear at the 2017 FRIGID New York Theatre Festival this year! I'll be performing SIX SHOWS in NYC between February 17 and March 4th. NYC friends, I'd love to see you there.

The festival was just featured on Broadway World and word is already spreading. Tickets to my shows are only $10 and available by clicking here.

Shows are as follows:

February 17th @ 10:30pm
February 24th @ 10:30pm
February 26th @ 3:30pm
February 27th @ 7:10pm
March 2nd @ 8:50pm
March 4th @ 7:10pm

Finally, here's the show poster my wife designed. Dayyyyummm.

Mysteries of the Mind

My new weekly show "Mysteries of the Mind" presented by the Chicago Magic Lounge opened this week in Chicago! We've been preparing for this for a long time and finally took the plunge.

It's going to be an adventure to keep performing every Wednesday on top of my busy travel schedule for corporate and private events, but I'm thrilled to take the stage every week with my own take on a contemporary mind reading show. Click here to buy tickets

WGN News took notice and invited me on the morning show to talk about "Mysteries of the Mind" and read the host's mind. This was my sixth appearance on WGN! You can watch the full appearance below:

Advice

I once drove over five hours to watch a show because I had heard good things and wanted to introduce myself to the performer. We’re about the same age, have a similar approach to the mystery arts, and I wanted to connect on a professional level.

The show was mediocre at best. My wife - my ever patient, infinite amount of magic shows audience member of a wife - leaned over to me ten minutes in and mouthed the words “I’m bored.”

I was, too.

It just wasn’t a good show. It didn’t captivate me and I didn’t leave feeling differently about anything than when I walked in. In fact, until I started writing this post this week I hadn’t thought about that show since we attended.

But the show wasn’t the part that bothered me. It was the way the performer treated me afterwards. I viewed us as mutual performers - colleagues, if you will. I wasn’t putting either one of us on a pedestal. We both had our credits and respective projects. We were equals.

So I introduced myself and he said he knew me and had heard good things. All cordial, all good. And I said I would send him my number so we could connect and I would show him around Chicago the next time he passed through.

The day after, I shot off a thank you message for the show and my cell number so we could connect down the road. 

I never got a response back. I still haven’t.

That’s what really bugged me.

It seems these days that everyone has advice they want to offer. I have friends in their early twenties posting words of wisdom on Twitter, as if they already have it all figured out. Social media gives everyone a platform to be an expert.

As a performer I receive a ton of advice - good and bad - from other performers, teachers, parents, friends, and even audience members. I keep a folder on my hard drive of the quotes and ideas people have shared with me and all I’ve learned from the advice I’ve collected is that nobody has a fucking clue.

Everyone likes to pretend they have it all figured out. They post quotes and share deep thoughts like it’s an epiphany that will connect the dots for everyone else in the world. Those quotes may look really good on a greeting card but most of them are dead wrong. It’s just a way of looking busy, of posturing so you can seem important.

I try to take the opposite route. I rarely give advice. If people ask me about something I don’t know, then I tell them I don’t know. If people ask me about how to become a mind reader then I tell them the basics and that I’m still figuring it out myself. I tell them it takes time and it’s a lifelong pursuit. I don’t pretend to be a prodigy or a “self-proclaimed expert”.

So let’s break it down. Here’s some of the worst advice I’ve ever received:

• Do What You Love And You’ll Never Work A Day In Your Life - Not true. If you do what you love, you’ll end up working more than you ever thought possible. You’ll work 80 hours a week, weekends, and evenings. Not because you love it but because there’s no other option. And yes, it will be work. You’ll balance the books and design websites. You’ll send invoices and chase clients for money they owe you. And occasionally you’ll get to do the thing you’re passionate about. But don’t pretend you’ll never work a day in your life. That’s simply not true.

• Have A Backup Plan So You Have Something To Fall Back On - A lot of people told me a theater degree was a waste and I should double major in something. The suggestion was usually Business or Entrepreneurship. But I didn’t want to be a businessman. I wanted to be an artist. I realized that if I had a fall back plan then I would most likely fall back on it. So I didn’t give myself a safety net. I decided to set my sights on one thing and never wavered.

• You’re Only As Good As Your Last Show - Some performers I know like to say this phrase as a reminder that you need to give a good show each and every time. I don’t agree. I think you’re only as good as the sum total of all of your shows. There will be bad shows and good shows, but it’s the impact you leave over the breadth of a career that matters. You can’t give a bad show on Thursday and suddenly say that the standing ovation you got on Wednesday night is moot. One show can’t make or break a career.

Those are just a few pieces of advice I’ve heard over and over again. The best way to handle those moments was summed up perfectly by Robert Downey, Jr. when he said “Listen. Smile. Agree. And then do whatever the fuck you were going to do anyway.”

The best thing I’ve learned about advice is that you don’t need it. If you want something badly enough, you’ll figure it out. Yes, people will give you really useful tips on doing your taxes or buying the right car. But when they get into all that over-the-top “hustle-mentality”, “create-your-best-life”, “you-can-do-anything-you-want-if-you-set-your-mind-to-it” mumbo jumbo, they have no idea what they’re talking about.

Just do you. And know that they’re just as scared as you are.

Oh yeah, I guess there is one piece of advice I can give you.

Always return people’s messages. You never know when you’re going to need something from that person in return. And if you don’t, they just might write a blog about you someday.

Thanks, Obama

I watched President Obama’s farewell address in my hotel room in Illinois the other night. Like many, I have been a longtime Obama supporter and have followed his presidency closely over the past eight years. I can say unequivocally that he is one of the few living people I consider a hero.

Our current President is a beautiful example of what a leader should be and there is no doubt in my mind that he will be the greatest President of my lifetime.  As we say farewell to the Obamas and move into a new era of fear and uncertainty, we say goodbye to everything that the past eight years stood for.

Goodbye compassion and eloquence. Farewell dignity and humility. Love of family and country must take a backseat now to greed and narcissism - but only at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It’s up to us to hold our heads high and not let go of the virtues that Obama clung to. It's up to us to carry his torch and move forward with purpose. We can't leave the responsibility of patriotism to anyone else any longer - it's up to us, and us alone.

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

— Barack Obama

That’s what I learned from Obama - one of many things we have to be thankful for. Just to name a few…
 
Thanks, Obama - for helping my wife and me afford health insurance as self-employed artists.

Thanks, Obama - for pushing for equality for all people. I’ll never forget when all people were given the freedom to marry the person they love. Days later, the Chicago Pride Parade was more joyous and hopeful than anything I’d ever been a part of.

Thanks, Obama - for caring about our planet and trying to fight climate change amidst a wave of people who are unwilling to accept scientific facts.

Thanks, Obama - for embracing change, progress, new technology, and innovation. Thanks for never being afraid of the future and always looking ahead with optimism and confidence.

Thanks, Obama - for your poise and grace. Thank you for being a kind, hard working family man that never wavered in his commitment to being a leader for all Americans. I’m sorry you were met with such hatred and resistance but thank you for standing tall in the face of unbelievable cruelty. 

Thank you, Mr. President, for your compassionate and dignified leadership over the past eight years. I have a feeling we won’t be fully aware of your incredible impact for generations to come.

Consistency

One of the best decisions I made last year was to only work during business hours. Up until 2016 I was making business decisions 24/7. I took pride in keeping my inbox empty and responding to all inquiries in a prompt and professional manner.

But not any more.

You see, I never got into performing to be a businessman. I just wanted to be onstage. But as more time passed, I became a workaholic. I would work 18 hour days every day of the week. My hours were filled with mundane tasks that kept me busy. And “busy” is a clever buzzword that people like to use to pretend they’re successful.

The truth is, you’re never going to accomplish everything you need to in one day. Yes, there will be days that are wildly more successful than other days but not every day will be that way. There’s no sense in treating every moment like it needs to be incredibly productive.

Opening up my evening and weekend hours left time for other pursuits. I started writing and reading more. Sometimes those projects were work-related (I spend a lot of time writing new show ideas, for instance) but most of the time they were just for fun. By the end of the year I had not only booked more shows than any previous year but I had also written a new show, a dozen or so essays I’m proud of, started to write my first book, and read some classic literature.

In the early years of being self-employed I almost never had time for creative pursuits. When you have a career in the arts it’s easy to lose sight of why you got into it in the first place. You get so wrapped up in learning new business skills that you forget to work on your real passions, too.

Lately, my focus has been to do one small thing daily. I try to do something business-related and something creative. Finishing a single task is a big deal. It usually leads to several other tasks, too. But staying small and staying focused keeps me sane and happy.

There’s a difference between overworking yourself and being consistent. It’s like training for a marathon - you have to work at it in small steps, every single day for months. Usually it feels like you aren’t getting anywhere but then, out of nowhere, you have a huge breakthrough.

When months of small progress have passed I’m always amazed to look back and see the results. Consistency always pays off but you have to be patient - you have to push through and not give up when things get challenging.

For the second year in a row, I just uploaded my 2016 Second Every Day Year In Review video. For the past year I’ve been filming a second of video each and every day. Then, I compile them all into a video, add the dates, and set it to music. The result is always astonishing.

I look back at each second and I can tell you everything I did on any particular day. I have clips with my favorite people, places I’ve been, and special memories of cats, coffee, food, hugs, sunrises, sunsets, and more.

The video is a testament to being consistent. It’s a true encapsulation of life as a whole. Some days were boring, some days were failures. Other days were full of big shows and big achievements. But no matter what, I still shot a brief video clip on a daily basis.

Together the trivial and boring, combined with the successful and silly make up my life. A life of consistent, incremental progress in a forward direction.