Today I had my first live-streaming web TV show experience. Good times! I appeared on MomTV with Chris Byrne (aka “The Toy Guy”) and Shannon Eis from Time to Play. I performed a number of effects from the new Magic Lunch Box set from Cadaco, as well as taught a few tricks viewers could try at home. Really enjoyed working with these two fun hosts, and we had a great time interacting with the moms watching at home (thanks for tuning in!).
I had a wonderful week with Cadaco at the Toy Fair here in New York. Four fun-filled days at the Javits Center talking about magic, doing demos of the new magic sets, and meeting our customers. Heard some great stories from parents and store owners about their positive experiences with our magic sets, which is wonderful to hear! Ran into some old friends and made some new ones as well.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get much time to see the booths outside of our area, but I did see some fun things at the show. My favorite new product “Gelli Baff”, which is a new bath-time “toy” for kids. Basically, it turns your bathtub into a pool of colored goo! Kids would love this stuff. Here’s their site: http://www.gellibaff.co.uk/. Don’t know if/when it’s available here in the US.
For those of you interested in learning more about my line of magic with Cadaco, please swing over to their web site for the full low-down. You can also purchase the sets directly from their site (if you can’t find exactly what you want at your local toy store, Toys R Us, or Amazon.com).
Next week is the annual Toy Fair held here in New York City at the Javits Center. If you’re attending the show, please come by and say hello at the Cadaco showroom (Booth #1555).
As usual, I’ll be performing magic from our line of children’s magic sets (and some of my own material as well!). If you’ve never been to Toy Fair, it’s a fun experience and you should come check it all out. Imagine the Javits Center full of TOYS!!! The show is open from 10-5pm from Sunday, Feb 14th to Wednesday, Feb 17th. Check the web site to make sure you’re eligible for entry.
Back in 2006 I had the pleasure of working with Seth Kushner, a fantastic New York photographer who was working on an interesting book project with his close friend Anthony LaSala. The idea was to photograph (Seth’s role) and interview (Anthony’s role) Brooklyn citizens… all types of people, all sorts of jobs, and from every neighborhood. They captured each individual in his/her environment then did a small profile/interview about their experiences in Brooklyn. Overall, I think they met with hundreds of people, including notables such as Spike Lee, Rosie Perez, John Tuturro, and borough President Marty Markowitz. I was lucky enough to be included in the project’s final product, a beautiful coffee table book called “The Brooklynites”. (I think I’m on page 70-something!)
Seth Kushner has been periodically updating his blog with outtakes from the book, and he recently posted my favorite photo from our shoot (taken at Fada restaurant in Williamsburg). See the shot…
Interested in hearing about new internet scams? Want to avoid being the victim of a con artist? Like to know about viral videos before your friends? Enjoy the challenge of puzzles and brainteasers? If you answered “YES” to any of the previous questions, follow me on Twitter!
I decided to join Meeting Professionals International this year, as a means of meeting other event professionals in the New York area. The Greater New York chapter is one of the largest in the country, and I look forward to getting involved with its membership. If you’re a planner or vendor in the organization, please reach out and introduce yourself.
Meeting Professionals International (MPI) helps its 24,000 worldwide members thrive by providing human connections to knowledge, relationships, and marketplaces.
I just went through my 2009 calendar and compiled a list of all the cities I performed in over the year…. a grand total of 18! Some of the cities were visited multiple times (like Palm Beach and Chicago), some only once (Telluride was beautiful and I can’t wait to back!).
Here’s the list:
California (Carmel)
Colorado (Telluride)
Connecticut (various)
Delaware (Wilmington)
Florida (Palm Beach, Orlando, Naples)
Hawaii (Pearl Harbor, Honolulu)
Illinois (Chicago)
Maryland (Bethesda)
Massachusetts (various)
Missouri (St. Louis)
New Hampshire (Breton Falls)
New Jersey (various)
New York (various)
Nevada (Las Vegas)
Pennsylvania (various)
Texas (Dallas, Austin)
Virginia (Norfolk)
Washington, DC
For international, the list is smaller: The Bahamas, Japan (Yokosuka, US Naval Base), and Canada (Montreal, Ottawa).
Earlier this year Comcast released two DVDs of my Magic series on ActivityTV; the discs came out great and I’ve been getting a lot of wonderful feedback about them (a first grader from Missouri wrote me the nicest fan letter last week!) . Magic Volume 1 and Magic Volume 2 can be purchased right here on my web site, with free shipping! Take a look and watch a sample!
Just wanted to share a fantastic commercial that was just sent to me by Dani Marco, my co-star from The Real Hustle. Dani filmed this stop-motion commercial over a three day period, and I think it looks amazing. (The commercial also happens to be for Comcast, my favorite cable provider… Watch me teach magic on Comcast-on-Demand’s ActivityTV!)
Yesterday morning I was pleasantly surprised to find out from friends that I was on the front page of Slate.com. The piece is a quick interview I did back in May while in Telluride, as part of the “Interviews 50ยข” series with Alex Chadwick. In it, I tell a short story about the first (and last!) time I got conned by a couple New York street hustlers.
For those of you who may recognize this old con, I hadn’t seen “The Sting” before this happened to me! (It’s very similar to the opening sequence.)
Some of the other interviews in the series are fascinating… you can see them all here at: SlateV.com
Next week is the annual 
Back in 2006 I had the pleasure of working with Seth Kushner, a fantastic New York photographer who was working on an interesting book project with his close friend Anthony LaSala. The idea was to photograph (Seth’s role) and interview (Anthony’s role) Brooklyn citizens… all types of people, all sorts of jobs, and from every neighborhood. They captured each individual in his/her environment then did a small profile/interview about their experiences in Brooklyn. Overall, I think they met with hundreds of people, including notables such as Spike Lee, Rosie Perez, John Tuturro, and borough President Marty Markowitz. I was lucky enough to be included in the project’s final product, a beautiful coffee table book called “The Brooklynites”. (I think I’m on page 70-something!)
Interested in hearing about new internet scams? Want to avoid being the victim of a con artist? Like to know about viral videos before your friends? Enjoy the challenge of puzzles and brainteasers? If you answered “YES” to any of the previous questions, follow me on Twitter! 
I decided to join Meeting Professionals International this year, as a means of meeting other event professionals in the New York area. The Greater New York chapter is one of the largest in the country, and I look forward to getting involved with its membership. If you’re a planner or vendor in the organization, please reach out and introduce yourself.
I just went through my 2009 calendar and compiled a list of all the cities I performed in over the year…. a grand total of 18! Some of the cities were visited multiple times (like Palm Beach and Chicago), some only once (Telluride was beautiful and I can’t wait to back!).
Earlier this year Comcast released two DVDs of my Magic series on ActivityTV; the discs came out great and I’ve been getting a lot of wonderful feedback about them (a first grader from Missouri wrote me the nicest fan letter last week!) . Magic Volume 1 and Magic Volume 2 can be purchased right here on my web site, with free shipping! 
