The Gypsy Thread

The Gypsy Thread, sometimes called the Hindu Thread, is a magic routine that I am very proud of. I first saw it performed by one of my magic mentors, Eugene Burger. I immediately fell in love with how pure the magic was. In fact, whenever I see Eugene's performance of it, I am still in awe of the mood that he creates with such a simple, yet powerful piece of magic. It was his ability to tell a story with his performance of it that inspired me to create my version of the mystery.

This piece was one of my first attempts at creating magic that spoke at a deeper level to my audience. Generally speaking, most magic is simply a couple of jokes or corny lines that are strung together to be a light hearted distraction. I wanted this piece to make my audiences think. I wanted them to reflect on life for a moment and consider something greater than themselves. I firmly believe that magic can and should speak to us the same way that a great film, song or piece of art does. At times it should be funny. At other times it should be inspirational or action packed or even sad. When performed well, with a good presentation, magic has the ability to do so much more than just amaze. How cool would it be if magic addressed big topics the way other artists do? I feel challenged to find a way to incorporate my personal view of the world in an entertaining way that doesn't feel like I'm hitting my audience over the head with an agenda.

I don't perform this piece of magic in every show. It just doesn't fit for every occasion and for every audience. I do perform it for any theatre or performing arts center shows that I do because I think it adds another level of texture to the entire experience I am trying to create. You can check it out below.

Secrets and Illusions On the Road – Continued

This is the ending of the "Secrets and Illusions On the Road" blog. Please read that before you read the finale of the story here. And since the last blog post, we finished the documentary of this story. I'll be posting links to the clips throughout.

So, I wake up the next morning and Scott has done a little detective work on his own. He tells me that he thinks the problem is the driver's side tie rod. We get on the phone with this information and attempt to find some auto mechanic open on New Year's Eve who will fit us in and get us our truck back quickly. We didn't want to get stuck there for two or three extra days! After a series of failed attempts we finally hook up with a company that will tow the truck in and get back to us with a diagnosis quickly. The tow truck arrives about 45 minutes later and we all wave good-bye to our only transportation. Trust me that was a weird feeling.

In the meantime, we call Enterprise Rent a Car and rent a cargo van so we can get our equipment to the venue for the evening's show. Don't forget we still have a show to do! Enterprise comes and picks me up and I go get the van. Once I arrive back at the hotel we unload everything from the trailer the truck was hauling and load it into the cargo van. At this point, everyone is totally frozen and it's time to head back up to the room and warm up. I mean, it was so cold it physically hurt to be outside.

So, we're sitting around feeling pretty good about ourselves when Scott's phone rings. Scott answers and it's the mechanics on the line. The next thing I hear makes my blood run cold…the truck is gone. EXCUSE ME…WHAT? Then Scott says, "I'm sorry could you repeat that." Oh, that's not what he said. He said the truck is done. Whoa, much better! All of a sudden my emotions go from total shock to complete elation. Yay! They went ahead and fixed the truck. It was a tie rod. (And it was probably due to those awesome potholes we kept hitting on our drive up.) To cap it all off, it didn't cost nearly what we thought it was going to cost.

So, the mechanic comes and picks Scott up so he can get the truck while Greg and I head back outside to unload the cargo van and reload the trailer. Oh joy, frozen again. Scott arrives with the (fixed) truck a little while later and all is good with the world.

After a relaxing lunch, it's time to head to the venue and get everything ready for show time.

The show went great and we got to meet some really cool people. After packing everything up we head back to the hotel and attempt to celebrate the New Year. That is a whole story of its own. Here's the wrap up video clip of our entire adventure.

I hope you've enjoyed the documentary we put together for this crazy story. We certainly had a blast even though the trip was not without incident. Fortunately for us, the trip home was totally boring. Good deal!