Hello to everyone on the Magic Café.

It's a pleasure to sign up and rub elbows with all you fellow magicians. I've been in magic for a number of years and have most recently been involved in the Renaissance Festival venues. My stage character is "Pizpor" (yes, most people pronounce it ****-poor, but I prefer pizz-poor. Whatever. Doesn't matter.) Lately, as I've been doing more and more gigs as Pizpor, it's taken on more of a Vaudeville quality which suits me just fine.

My videos at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSQhlH8L6fI

I get asked a lot - What idiot names his show, “The Pizpor Show?”

Ok, that’s a fair question. Here’s what happened:

Several years ago I was asked to develop an original comedy act for a festival in Western Wisconsin. They wanted a character loosely related to one that I had just performed in a Sven and Ole type show (if you’re not from around here, you might not get it) and they insisted that it be unique, different, and fresh.

In creating the act, I took my influences from comedy legends such as Ernie Kovacs, Steve Allen, Carl Reiner, Red Skelton, Woody Allen, George Carl, Milton Berle, and Carol Burnett to name a few, and comedy magicians that I worship like Carl Ballantine and Tommy Cooper. With those personalities as my benchmarks, the Pizpor character took shape and came to life.

The name Pizpor was originally a joke because we didn’t know how good the show was going to be. We figured we could just poke fun at ourselves, the audience and the magic and just have a good time without a lot of pretense of greatness. Much to our delight, the premise of the character and show came together perfectly and the name stuck.

The Pizpor character is from the financially disadvantaged social class of society. A hard luck chump trying to catch a break, he pokes fun at himself and his show with his self-effacing humor.

The popularity of the show exceeded our wildest expectations. For the past several seasons we have been playing to overflow crowds at nearly every show. People were seeing the show two and more times just to see what antics would play out.

Every show is unique. I never know what’s going to happen. The interactions with the audience is where the fun originates.

Our motto is: Pizpor - it’s not just a show. It’s a state of mind.

Feel free to send me a Facebook friend request.

Hey Pizzzzpor

Welcome to the Café!

Jim

Hi Pizpor!
I saw your clip, very nonshalant character, liked it...
Just joined the forum and finding nice people around.
Cheers
Eli

Hi Eli and Jim!
Cool - glad to meet you!
There's a lot of great people on this site. I hope to meet many of them.
All the best,
Pizzer

G'day Pizpor
I checked out you material on You Tube and I reckon you have come up with a very entertaining character and presentation. I look forward to reading your input here at the Café.
Bob Latta (aka Troppo Bob)

Nice videos Pizzzzpor!
I like your style, and the wya you interact with people. Every show is different and that's what I like the most about performing. Specially comedy magic...flowing with improv.
Nice to meet you!
seeya around.
Bob C

Thanks Bob and Bob! Great to make your acquaintance! Thanks for your kind words about the video. We just finished it and it's always so hard to know if it's ok or not. I appreciate your input a lot! Thanks

Very very high quality video and wonderful looking show, many older working and retired magicians will especially like it. Your persona for the mid-west is right on target yet still fun for anyone.

Your decision to use the lady that was not impressed was a wise one.

Do you have a Twitter address?

Bob

Hi Bob (A lot of Bob's here LOL) - Thanks for your very kind comments. I don't have a Twitter, but I am on Facebook. Feel free to look me up.

Yes, even I've been surprised and pleased by the acceptance of the show by the mature crowds. We've (the pizpor orchestra and i) have become quasi regulars on the VFW circuit of all places. And for what ever reason, western Wisconsin seems to be into Pizpor - but don't ask me to explain that phenomena. It's all so funny where a show gets booked. I'm so surprised sometimes.

We should all share stories about weird gigs or audiences that we've encountered.