Hi Michael,

I would like to ask you about where you stand on "spontaneous magic" Do you believe that a "real" magician should be on 24/7? (of course, excluding time sleeping and time spent with the kids!)

But what I'm asking you is this: When one's repertoire grows to the point where yours has, do you find yourself creating magic at unexpected moments for unsuspecting spectators? (For example, when you are checking out at the grocery store, when you are chatting with a next door neighbor, when you are checking into the front desk at a hotel, etc., etc., etc.

Or do you keep the amazement strictly for payed performances?

The reason I'm asking, is because I read an interesting essay by Juan Tamirez in Gennii, and it seemed to be his philosophy that magic should happen all the time, and we should always be prepared to amaze anybody when they are least expecting it. He was talking about creating (seemingly) spontaneous miracles.

I just wondered if he is the only one of us running around like that!

For many years I was one of those 24/7 guys -- you never saw me without a deck of cards in my hands. My girlfriends and family would joke "I can't wait until you are on TV, so I can turn you off!" I was so passionate about magic that I rarely thought about anything else.

But I'm not like that any more. I no longer feel the drive to always be recognized as the magician. In fact, in most cases, I'm happier to be known as a normal guy. The neighbors have eventually found out that I'm a magician, but we got to know them all first as Savannah's Mom and Dad. The magic part came much later.

For the most part, I try to reserve the moments of astonishment for show time, but at the same time, I do know a lot of the classic impromptu magic with everyday objects, so if it seems like a good moment for magic, I'm happy to be the guy doing it!

Ahhhh!

Hi Michael and thanks for your time!

I too am a father of two young ones, with one belonging to the SYM (Girl, 11 years old). What suggestions do you have as far as teaching some of the presentation skills needed to this age group? Also, which of the classics do you enjoy performing impromptu that the kids and their friends enjoy at least as much as you enjoy performing?

Thanks again,

MoonBeam

Any thoughts on this Michael?