I've read a few of your replies to the posts here and find that the most endearing thing about your magic life is that you did not set out to be a big name. It just happened to you. You love magic and it shows from your creations.

Can't get over the fact that you are happy as a hairstylist, (love your beard btw!) who performs great magic. Making money from it seems, 'by the way' to you. In this sense, you're the perfect person for the majority of us here to learn from. A true blue, working class, world class magician/inventor!

My question is, what advice would you give to the rest of us here in order to realize our full potential as Magicians and still enjoy the experience the way you are?

Thanks and keep up the good work (I know you will).
Peace.

Realizing our full potential is a hard thing to put your finger on. It is such a personal thing. I would say that putting your whole heart into magic is the only way to realize that potential. You must be so passionate about it, that practice seems more fun than the actual performance itself. Loving to practice is the key. To just sit there and think about an effect and the way you want to present it can be fun. Of course the enjoyment comes when the person you have just entertained says, "Wow, now that was Magic" And most of all, don't overkill your effects. Keep them simple so the person can fully understand what you are doing. Don't make it confusing. Simple is always the best. Thanks, Dean

Thanks a lot Dean. I will try to follow your advice.

May I second Dean's "Simple is always best" advice with a partial quote from Frank Garcia, as the opening lines of the forward he wrote to his terrific book Million Dollar Card Secrets:

"The essential ingredient of successful magic is simplicity... It is my contention that all tricks should be presented in the most direct and simple manner possible... The average person enjoys being entertained by magic, but if the routines are complicated, the tricks will become problems instead of magic."

Make it simple, direct, and have fun with it.

John