One of the most sobering sounds I’ve ever heard was the loud “CLANG!” as the door closed and locked firmly behind me the very first time I entered a prison.
I remember thinking, “How many people know that I’m currently in here?” As if that was going to make much of a difference.
I’ve read Cigar Aficionado Magazine since I first got interested in cigars - all the way back in 1995.
The magazine just does something to me. The photos and cigar artwork are beautiful. They always interview people I am fascinated to learn more about. The luxury items they introduce me to always grab my attention.
As they say on the cover, they are “The Good Life Magazine For Men.”
For many years now, I have worked with my VIP private and corporate clients to create unforgettable events and magic that their guests will talk about for years. That is a major goal for me.
One of the ways that I do that is by accepting commissions for special projects. These commissions include finding unique ways to combine my magic with their message.
For a private client, the goal with a commission might be to make their Father’s 80th birthday celebration extra special and truly magical.
For a corporate client, they may commission me to create a project for a social media campaign that combines my magic with their brand.
A few weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to celebrate my favorite magazine. I decided to do that by creating an extraordinary card trick that told the story of Cigar Aficionado Magazine and Marvin Shanken - the publisher.
I believe that the outcome is truly excellent. Enjoy the above video to see what I created for them.
If you would like to learn more about commissioning a project from me, please click here.
Over the least six months I’ve enjoyed being on the Mornings on Main Street Show on Wednesday mornings. I recently learned that “The Intern” had a birthday coming up and I decided to create something special just to celebrate his big day…
Growing up with Tourette Syndrome taught me a few things about managing my mental health. Since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and May 15-June 15 is Tourette Syndrome Awareness Month, I have decided to do a four-part video series about how to increase your resilience.
Years ago, when I began speaking on growing up and living with Tourette Syndrome, I quickly learned that many people in my audiences were dealing with “overwhelming” challenges of their own. By sharing my struggles, it helped me overcome my feelings of embarrassment (from the tics I suffered from) and gave me a connection with everyone in the room that had never been there before.
Due to the situations that Covid has created for many people - quarantine, loneliness, depression, inability to work, anxiety, and more - it has become clear to me that mental health issues need to be normalized. No one should ever feel shame for struggling with a mental health issue.
I honestly believe that we just need to talk about it more. It needs to be out there for the world to see. Those of us who deal with mental health issues need to plant both of our feet firmly in the ground, plant our flag, and proudly take a stand for who we are. Only when more of us make it a part of everyday conversation will the stigma begin to vanish.
So here you go. This is me talking about living with Tourette Syndrome and sharing some of the tools that I learned on how to increase your/my resilience. God bless you.
Introduction - I’m hoping that international travel will become much easier in the near future. Until then, I’m sharing some wonderful memories of overseas adventures. This one is from 2016.
Recommended Things to Do:
Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site – While this isn’t a fun place to visit, it should be a required place to visit in order to learn how the Nazi party came to power, how they silenced, tortured, and killed their critics, and to understand why they had to be wiped off the face of the earth.
Architectural Sight Seeing – Munich is full of amazing architecture and you can easily spend a day marveling at the beautiful buildings.
Hofbrauhaus – As much travelling as I do, I had never experienced a restaurant/bar/brewery quite like the Hofbrauhaus. You’ll get a authentic taste of Bavaria in the food, the beer, (the servers) and the general attitude. Don’t hesitate to cut loose a little bit, everyone else is!
My Adventure – We left Ramstein AFB early in the morning and arrived at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany later that day. Garmisch is a beautiful little German village with breathtaking views of the Alps.
After Kevin and I checked in to our rooms we walked to the hotel ballroom where we would be performing our show later that evening for a conference that was occurring at the resort and for all of the local townspeople.
That night Kevin and I enjoyed entertaining a fun group of all ages. We had both kids and adults, and everyone had a blast. And while every show is a genuine pleasure for me to perform, my favorite part of that show was the time after the show that my entire team (performers and production team) spent sitting next to the bus staring into the night sky as we partook in cigars, libations, and laughter.
We had several options for what we should do the next day, a day that we had off. Quite a few folks had told us we should go to the nearby mountain and enjoy the view from the top. But since we were only about an hour and a half from Munich by train we opted for the big city.
As we were discussing what we should do in Munich, Bart and Kevin were in agreement that we should visit the Dachau Concentration Camp. And being a student of history, I concurred.
Once we decided where we were going we had a bit of an adventure getting there. We took a train to Munich, then we took a subway to a specific part of Munich, then we took a city bus to the concentration camp.
As we arrived at the camp and started to begin our tour, the rain did, in fact, arrive. The three of us stood under a shelter which, basically, was the front gate. After coming all that way, we weren’t about to let a downpour stop us. So, we hustled to the inside area where the exhibits were and spent about two hours reading about the history of Germany pre-World War II, how Hitler came to power, and all about Dachau – which was the concentration camp that all the other concentration camps were modeled after.
It was absolutely fascinating learning the history of this place and of Germany. The three of us, on more than one occasion, looked at each other and wondered aloud how such a thing was possible. The facts are mind-numbing and the simple fact that such horrible things happened less than 80 years is hard to stomach. Even though I knew that my grandfather fought in World War II, it is hard to wrap my head around such a thing. The atrocities that occurred there must never be allowed to occur again.
After about three hours at Dachau, we found our way back to Munich and had ourselves a good look around. Much like London, a personal highlight for me was seeing all of the incredible architecture. I’ve never been a student of architecture, but this trip really opened my eyes to its beauty.
After a very full day it was time to find the Hofbrauhaus. This was the place where everyone told us to find to eat and have a German beer. And Bart explained to me that one of the things he enjoys most when travelling to different parts of the world is to sample the food and drink. Since I’m a bit of a foodie, and certainly the adventurous type, I was more than happy to search until we found it.
The Hofbrauhaus is absolutely huge. Cavernous would be a good way to describe it. And the place was packed. When we finally found a table in the very back area we were greeted by a waitress dressed in a traditional German dress who took very good care of us.
I opted for the “Roast Pork with Crackling” with gravy and potato dumpling, and a German beer. The meal and the atmosphere were outstanding. The Hofbrauhaus definitely lived up to all the hype.
After a full day of touring the camp and walking around Munich, the dinner and brew did me in. Bart wanted to keep exploring, but I was toast, so Kevin, Bart, and I headed back to the Resort and back to our regularly scheduled programming.
I developed my LIVE B-I-G System to defy the naysayers who claimed I would never be able to live my dream life. Because of this system, I became a successful professional magician, traveled to twenty-five countries around the world entertaining hundreds of thousands of people, motivated and inspired countless audiences, and wrote a best-selling book.
I want to help you live your best life, too. Complete the form below and I will send you the LIVE B-I-G system as a beautifully designed PDF file as my gift to you!
In 2004 I set out to create a piece of magic that I could take to magic competitions and, hopefully, start to build a reputation with. The result was this piece of magic. I’ve had the pleasure of sharing this routine with audiences all over the world and it is always one of the ones that people comment on after the show.
The routine has changed over the years. In fact, I completely retired it several years ago, thinking I would never perform it again. But it is too much fun to put away forever. It really is one of my signature pieces. This is the latest version (2021) of my Shakespearean Cups and Balls routine and this recording was made as part of a virtual magic show. I hope it makes you smile.
I would love to know what you think of it. Please leave a comment below.
Introduction - There isn’t any international travel happening at the moment so it’s the perfect time to revisit some wonderful memories of overseas adventures. This one is from 2016.
My Adventure - We touched down at Heathrow Airport and proceeded to grab our luggage and meet our tour bus. This was my first experience having my very own tour bus. Since we had to drive anywhere from 2 to 8 hours between shows it was far easier to do a European tour on a tour bus than any other way. Unfortunately the only time we spent in London that day was our bus driving us out of it to the first English city on our trip.
I was a little worried that our very busy schedule was going to keep us traveling every day with no time to visit London before we left Great Britain. As we spoke to our production team and reviewed our tour schedule we realized that we were, in fact, going to have a full day to visit London and do some sightseeing.
Several days later we left Alconbury on our day off and took the train to London. Woohoo!
Fellow traveler and video production guy Bart had contacted his cousin who lives in England and he found out that she was going to be in London the same day that we were. So, our first stop was to meet Bart’s cousin at the Prince Albert Memorial and Park.
After the initial pleasantries and some time for them to visit, Bart’s cousin and her family had an appointment to keep at a nearby museum, and we were on our way.
When we were planning what we should do while in London all the locals we spoke to had plenty of opinions on what would be fun. We finally decided on a “hop-on/hop-off” tour on the many buses that travel all over the metropolis of London. And while I don’t have any idea of what we may have missed, the hop-on/hop-off tour was brilliant! (as they would say in England)
Keeping in mind that we did get on and off the tour buses several times at different parts of the city to see things that interested us, it took us all day on those buses to see the entire city. Because we were there in April, the later it got in the day the colder we got. As the sun started to set, we started to freeze our tails off.
Since we spent the day as tourists we really just did touristy things. Personally, I love history and learning about all of the things that happened in the different parts of London was a blast. I mentioned to Kevin and Bart that I would love to spend about a month in London just being a tourist and taking it all in.
Since the United States is such a young country we just don’t have the history that a place like Great Britain does. I constantly found my mouth hanging open as I looked at the incredible architecture. Personal highlights included the Tower Palace, the Tower Bridge, and Buckingham Palace.
I think I’ll let that pictures tell the rest of the story…
I developed my LIVE B-I-G System to defy the naysayers who claimed I would never be able to live my dream life. Because of this system, I became a successful professional magician, traveled to twenty-five countries around the world entertaining hundreds of thousands of people, motivated and inspired countless audiences, and wrote a best-selling book.
I want to help you live your best life, too. Complete the form below and I will send you the LIVE B-I-G system as a beautifully designed PDF file as my gift to you!
The Virtual Magic Show has proven itself to be a perfect escape from the pandemic. While COVID has wrecked havoc on traditional in-person entertainment offerings, it has opened up new opportunities for forward-thinking entertainers to provide laughter and fun to their audiences. The Virtual Magic Show is an excellent example of that. This is why…
Magic is incredibly versatile. The different styles of magic (sleight-of-hand, illusion, mentalism) offer a variety of ways for a magician to connect with his/her audience.
Magic translates through the screen. At the beginning of the pandemic magicians scrambled for unique ways to connect with their audience in ways never attempted before. The result - we found that entertaining audiences on Zoom was a brand new and fun way to create a magical experience…and that it works!
Magic is timeless. No matter how technologically advanced we get, magicians are masters of surprise and amazement - audiences NEVER get tired of that.
Companies are still planning meetings, virtual cocktail parties, awards ceremonies, holiday parties, and more. A virtual magic show spices up an event and provides a fun diversion in an otherwise busy day of serious programming. Besides, it’s fun to turn the “Grinch” of the office - the one who didn’t think it would work - into a believer!
Theaters need a way to reach their subscribers and have relevant programming. Since most theaters are not able to produce in-person shows, partnering with a magician who understands the virtual arena can be a very successful union.
Colleges still need to build community with their students. With unique virtual programming they can entertain, educate, and build rapport & camaraderie in their student body.
Associations are holding fundraisers, virtual meetings, and conferences. While the pandemic put everything on hold initially, pretty soon people pivoted to online, virtual events. Associations need great speakers, emcee’s, and entertainment to have successful events. Some magicians are excellent speakers, masters of ceremonies, and more.
Churches are hosting events to connect their followers and celebrate holidays & other special occasions. Virtual Magic Shows have proven to be a fun way to engage families and youth audiences.
Families are keeping in touch with each other for special events. Just because the world is in the middle of a pandemic doesn’t mean that people are going to stop celebrating birthdays, thanksgiving, and more. Magic shows through Zoom are a way for families who are in different parts of the world to gather online, visit, laugh together, and enjoy seeing each other.
The bottom line is this…finding a virtual magic show/magician that understands who you are and what you are trying to accomplish with your event is the key. Take a good hard look at the promotional material and the performance clips, and then don’t hesitate to request a Zoom meeting with the artist in order to get your questions answered.
When I started designing my virtual magic show I knew that I wanted to have a piece of magic in it that spoke directly to the needs of people suffering through the pandemic. While most of my show is comprised of jaw-dropping sleight-of-hand and interactive magic, this beautiful piece of magic is poignant and inspiring.
I hope you enjoy it.
-J.
P.s. - For more information on my virtual magic show, click here.
Introduction - Since the COVID-19 pandemic has stopped virtually all international travel, I’m remembering and reporting on some wonderful memories of trips and adventures I’ve taken over the years. This one is from 2016.
My Adventure - Well, there’s no feeling like flying and living in airports for a little over twenty-four hours until you get to your destination. And as much as I enjoy the adventures this lifestyle affords me, non-stop travel with no breaks to actually let down and chill is definitely not one of the best parts.
With that said, I had some excellent travel partners – Kevin and Bart – to enjoy this adventure with.
We landed at the Pristina Airport and proceeded to travel another hour by van to our destination. Look, I’ll be honest with you…I wouldn’t have picked Kosovo for a vacation spot. In fact, if I hadn’t been performing my show there the following night, I would have never circled this place on the map. But that is part of the fun, isn’t it?
Fortunately, when we arrived we had the day to relax and get acclimated to a completely different time zone. This was our first stop on an eleven city tour of Europe. Kevin and Bart crashed hard and I spent the day noodling around our surroundings because I was so excited about getting this thing kicked off.
The next day our host showed us around the base and then took us to one of his favorite spots for lunch. Kevin, Bart, and I spent several hours walking around the city and then we had a great steak at a very nice restaurant.
Part of the fun of performing a show on a military base is getting to experience a tiny flavor of what it is like to live that lifestyle. We definitely got a kick out of all the activities that were planned for us that day!
Our show that evening was great. We had a spirited audience who was ready to have fun and we gave them a monster of a show. Since we were in the middle of nowhere our setup was a little more modest than all of the other stops on our tour. My sleight of hand got great reactions, and Kevin’s insane mental feats drew gasps and left people wondering how such mysteries are possible.
As is normal for show business we went to bed late that night and had to wake up less than four hours later to drive back to the airport and head to our next destination. I’m just glad to still be alive to type these words. Our driver decided he wanted to audition for the Indianapolis 500 that morning. I’m pretty sure he set a land speed record for the little rickety van that we were in.
I developed my LIVE B-I-G System to defy the naysayers who claimed I would never be able to live my dream life. Because of this system, I became a successful professional magician, traveled to twenty-five countries around the world entertaining hundreds of thousands of people, motivated and inspired countless audiences, and wrote a best-selling book.
I want to help you live your best life, too. Complete the form below and I will send you the LIVE B-I-G system as a beautifully designed PDF file as my gift to you!
