Slow progress in the last few days on what might well turn out to be the best magic trick ever ;-)

Media coverage has included the local paper and local BBC radio - so hardly wonderful or impressive for the potential sponsor!! Still I guess these things have to start small and then grow. About to announce the pilot in the next few days so please do check back to discover which mad fool has agreed to fly the balloon!!

On a more positive - the team have invented yet another way to make the balloon vanish. That gives us three possible methods of doing it now. The advantage of the new method is that it will cost far less than the other ideas, but will be more weather critical. Still we shall no doubt thrash it out over tea and biscuits soon.

On the other side of the pond I see that Mr Blaine has been pushing the boundaries of magic by standing (?) in a giant gyroscope for two days or so.... gosh!!

What did everyone else think to the David Blaine magic stunt?

Back here I have just started my Christmas Cabaret season - you could not imagine a job that is less suited to a corporate magician! When I signed the contract I must have been suffering from a temporary brain shutdown. Still - it all helps to form your character :-) So long as no harm comes to my car, I guess I can suffer a few more nights of trying to fit in with and entertain lower life forms.....

NO!!! Don't do it

The last thing that I need after we have taken off is a hysterical passenger. They thought they wanted to do it. But as the houses get smaller and you can no longer hear any familiar noises from the ground (apart from dogs barking) - they suddenly realize that this is for real and if it goes wrong then.... We will talk about that another day.

So with all that in mind I am delighted to announce that handwriting expert Joyce Parkinson has agreed to join the team and analyze applicants handwriting for me. It will be one of a battery of tests that we are using to make sure that we really do pick the right person.

You can find out more about Joyce and her skills as a Graphologist at her website :
www.jpanalysis.co.uk

Getting into your mind

A few people have asked why they need to hand write their application to take part in the "make me vanish" stunt.

Well quite simply I want to use every possible method of ensuring that I select the best person for the job and one concern is will they panic at the last minute! After all, unless they have some flying experience, finding themselves at 2,500 feet in a basket might be a little unnerving. But then we will be making the balloon vanish so it will be a little more exciting than the average balloon ride!

We have a whole series of tests and filters set up for the assessment day. But the first tool we will be using is a graphologist to analyze hand writing.

Make Me Vanish

At last I have publicly announced my plans for a world first in magic. "Make Me Vanish" is the name that I have given to this once in a life time stunt, to make a hot air balloon vanish, in mid flight!
Lots of magicians have made BIG objects appear or disappear (cars, boats, Great Wall of China, Statue of Liberty). But as far as I can establish nobody has EVER made an aircraft vanish whilst it is flying. The inspiration for this trick was really simple - I want to do something bigger and better than anyone else has ever achieved! Why would you bother with anything less?
Before magic, I used to fly hot air balloons. So I am not embarking on this mad stunt without a good knowledge of what is possible from an aviation point of view not just a magic perspective. During the "cross over" from flying hot air balloons to magic as a hobby many people would jest about how I "should make my hot air balloon vanish"... Well I guess that their rather repetitive and humourless quip stuck with me. As I turned professional in magic I decided that I needed a landmark trick and of course the obvious thing to do was make a balloon vanish!
I shall post more soon about the background to the stunt and will of course also add details of our progress as we lead up to the big day! If you have a question please feel free to ask through this blog. If you have a media enquiry please contact Haypresto Media Management who represent me exclusively with the media.

Welcome

Well I guess every story has to start somewhere and explaining what this blog is all about seems like a pretty good place to start!

I decided to create the Life & Times of a Corporate Magician as so many people seem to be interested in what being a "magician" is all about. What do you do with your day? What do you think about various TV shows and TV magicians? What is the difference between a Corporate Magician and any other sort?

Over the next few weeks and months I will try and answer these questions as well as answering anything that YOU might like to ask me online (either as a comment or by email). So if you like the idea of this topic then get involved, its always more fun than just watching :-)

The main thing that you need to know is that a professional magician will spend most of his time selling and working on the business. I do, and that is the part that I love the most! So another important aspect to this blog will be about how to market and sell within a small business.

Which takes precedence, the magic or the business, we will have to discover as we go along.

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