April 18th

Wow............ What a week!

Opening night was last night. I had a BLAST!! Matt Van Zee (Spokane IBM Chapter president) and John Hill (Local guy, good magician) did a wonderful job with their parts of the show. Our black light work was a HUGE hit. I have a mask and 2 Ching-a-Ling latern productions (that I made from Tarbell) that we painted with day glo paints. Under the black lights the are COOL. We are using them for 2 dream sequences in our story.

Really the only snafu was that one of my D-lites decided it wasn't going to be very bright (I think it shorted out and the battery died). Stupid thing!! We'll get that fixed today before the show tonight. The show ran 1:15 minutes, I got great feedback. I couldn't be happier with it. 1 down, 6 to go!!

Ted

April 19th

Opening weekend is over! We had a lot of fun. Really we didn't have any major trouble. Yesterday my flash appearance decided that it didn't want to roll all the way up. I ducked under it and nobody seemed to care. This show has been the most fun I've had with magic in a long time.

The girls are having trouble getting our collapsable doll house to work. Two six year old are popping out (They've resorted to using the front door). People are stunned by it anyway and the girls are loving their time in the spot light.

I think that it's the most deceptive prop we have. It looks impossibly thin. Its good because it's the final part of our play. My daughter is growing fast. We probably won't be able to fit two of them in the house for much longer!

I'm glad to have a few days off now. I'm pretty tired from the show. This week I'll try to take it easy so I can really let them have it again next weekend!

Ted

ps.............. get this. I managed to convince the theater managers that a flash pot (in my flash appearance) is not really a pyrotechnic. I told them "It just smokes, don't worry). Somehow I think telling them that I am filling it with 4F gun powder might freak them out. They didn't even want me to use flash paper.

April 26,

Well this afternoon was our final show of 6 stage show's at the local theater. I'm a little sad that it's over, but I'll be glad to take some time off. Our next show isn't until next Saturday in Spokane. The playlet that we wrote, "The Warrior and the Magician" has been extremely well recieved and I have had nothing but positive feedback from the crowds. We sold out again today. I figure that's a good sign, when all the shows sell out.

After last Saturdays performance, the principal of the local middle school hired us to do an hour show for their "moving up day" at the beginning of June. I figured for $800 dollars for a show that we already have put together, I'm in!! Moving all of the props will take some work, but it'll be worth it.

We had a great crew of people that volunteered to help us clean out the theater after the show today. Everyone at the theater is a volunteer so they don't have a paid janitor. It was nice to have the help.

After our 6 shows we are 1/3 of the way towards paying for our second adoption (about $30,000.00 total) We are planning a series of 12 more shows to help us raise the rest of the money. I'd better get to work on the props. I think I'm taking a couple of weeks off first!!

Ted

April 29th,

I got our new website up and working today. I have a few photos from the stage show on it. As far as sites go I guess it's pretty basic but I'll be able to use it to make updates for our stage show. At this point we are planning to put on 3 a year (a new show every 4 months) It seems like a huge undertaking, but I'm having a blast.

The new site is

www.thpmagic.com

Let me know what you guys think.

Ted

May 15th,

Well after a couple of weeks off we are back at it. We started making props for the new show that will run in July today. I picked up 2 twelve foot long sonal tubes (24 inches in diameter) for making some giant square circles. I've got a cool idea using a giant square circle and an invisible deck. I'm thinking it'll be a great 7 or 8 minutes in the show. My daughter is psyched. We have 6 beach balls for each show that we will give away at the end of the shows. My daughter and maybe 2 other girls will pop out of the square circle.

I got my new straight jacket in the mail yesterday. I'm planning an escape while I do an Irish Hard shoe dance. Should be a blast. The show is pretty much set but I've got a lot of work to do on the props. I started writing the playlet for the second half today too. At the end I've got a friend that I'm going to cut into 6th. I've got quite a few private performances between now and then and the cabinet shop is roaring. I'm.............. well........... really busy.

The best news of all is that we got a SECOND placement from our adoption agency. That's right, next time we go to China we are getting TWO more little girls. They are both super cute. We need to raise about $40,000.00 bucks for all the travel and adoption fees. I hope we sell out all the shows in July. I think we will, we'll need every penny!

Ted

Today was moving up day!!

At the local junior high school they have a graduation where the seventh graders move over in the bleachers to the eighth graders spot, etc. The day started off with the choir singing the national anthem and then the pep band playing. Next I was hired to entertain them all for an hour.

450 6th 7th and 8th graders. The show went well. I tried a new presentation for an invisible deck effect where I used a bunch of beach balls to help me, "pick out" random spectators. The balls had different characters on them. Spiderman, Nemo, etc. We played some music and let the kids wack the balls all around in the bleachers. When we stopped the music we had the kids grab the balls. Then we had the kids holding the balls name a suit and card.

I used the ID to produce the card using a camcorder and a projector. They went CRAZY!!!

10 minutes of fun with an invisible deck, best idea I've had in a while!

Next they bused the kindergardeners over. I had 135 five year olds for 30 minutes. They were a great group and we had a blast.

All and all it was a good morning. $900.00 for an hour and forty five minutes.

Back to work I go on the July shows.

Ted

June 12th

A birthday party for 15 7 year olds today. The show went well, the kids had a blast. Best of all the parents seemed really happy with it. I had some trouble with the balloon figures today. I think I had a rough spot on one of my nails and I popped a record number!!! What a pain!!

The party was outside and the mosquitos were thick. Lucky Scott Thompson (father of the birthday boy) sprayed me down with repellent!

Ted

July 12th,

Well, an evening of magic 2 is underway!! Opening night was Friday. We had a great time. The crowd seemed truly appreciative. I'm lucky this time to have several of the Haran Dancers in the show. They are doing cool work and really adding to the show. I have to keep that in mind. Want to spice up your show? Get some world class dancers!!!

The Giant Square Circle prop is really going off well. I got some really great help with the theater lighting and it's lit up just right. It's really tricking people. We have lots of stuff coming out, ending with my daughter and her friend. Audible gasps on both of the first two nights!!

I'm having a blast with my straight jacket escape. Last night we had a prison guard in the audience who came up and strapped me in. He was perfect. Scary looking but very cool. Turns out he's Brian Golphenee's little brother that I've never met. His name is Shane. I'm dancing with the dancers while I do the escape. Since I can only do the first and last part of the dance I've been falling and rolling around on the stage in the middle while I try to escape. Last night I got a little carried away and I bruised my butt bone!!! Is that a technical term? Anyway, the audience loves it!

Nessa is doing a dance she calls Fribble. It is COOL! I'm so greatful to the dancers. They are also doing an original dance to the music, "There aint nobody here but us chickens". The have chicken costumes. It is REALLY funny.

Todays show is early. We will open the house doors at 1:30. I'm glad the weekend is almost over, I'm tired.

Hopefully we will have 3 more sold out shows next weekend. I'm having fun!

Ted

Ted,

Great to heard your having a blast. I'd love to hear about today's show, so if you get time you should make a journal entry about that.

The straight jacket is seriously fun, especially if you add a bit of comedy to it. Great stuff.

Jordan

July 19th,

Today was the final show for An Evening of Magic II. The crowd was great today. They were very boisterous and generally having a good time. Everything was perfect today, a rare thing in live theater for sure! The dancers were AMAZING as usual. I love the set list for this show. It seems to flow nicely. We ran just over an hour. I'm glad the show is done. My butt HURTS. 6 staged wipe outs in my staight jacket (while I was dancing with the Haran dancers in Irish hard shoes) and I've got a sore glutious maximus! People were howling. I even got an audience member to itch my nose for me.

My daughter seemed really happy with the show. I could here her laughing like crazy in the back of the theater every night when I did the comedy egg can. We had lots of give aways. Beach balls, fire fighter hats, squishy hair, etc. People loved it.

I think that this show was the hardest show physically that I have ever done. It was great, but I think I'm done with physical comedy. I got a great compliment, there were some Italians in the audience tonight that didn't speak english. I was told, after the show through an interpreter, that they loved it. I thought that spoke volumes about the magic. I was very happy to hear that.

Every time a set of show ends I feel a combination of relieved and disappointed. For sure a small part of me dies at the end of every show. I don't want it to end, but it always does. There's only one thing to do, get to work on the next shows!!

Ted

July 30th,

So we are going to present the next stage show run in April of next year. I got a HUGE shot in the arm today for they show. I TALKED TO WHIT HAYDN ON THE PHONE TODAY!!! He's sending me the schematics to build his teleportation device. It is the PERFECT bill in lemon in my opinion. Really funny and Really baffling. I can't believe my luck! He said that there are less than 300 sold. As he put it, he's keeping it under the radar, since he still does the effect. All I can say is WOW!!! Thanks Whit!!!!

The rest of the show, titled The Classics of Magic, is in the works. I'm going to use my flash appearance. I'm going to build a thin model sawing and saw my daughter in half. I'm going to pull a rabbit out of a hat. I'm going to do a torn and restored news paper. I'm going to use my oriental doll house production. I'm planning on doing 1 card trick. Maybe Jay Sankey's airtight (I haven't decided yet). I'd also like to present an Asra levitation, but I may run out of money. My total show budget is only $4000.00, but I already have most of the illusions and can make the others. I don't know about the Asra though. If I can manage it I'll be supremely happy!

One thing I'm really seriously considering is getting some Fakini billiard balls and doing a billiard ball act. I've had a set of wooden ones off and on for the last 30 years. They have always just collected dust. I think it's about time I actually got some and put them to use!! It's one of the first things I remember my grandfather doing. I'm certainly not going to win any awards, but I'll do my best!

I feel really great about this show. A lot of that is things I've always wanted to do on stage and just have never gotten around to.

Feeling lucky today!!!
Ted

January 1, 2010!!!

Wow.............. where did the year go. I've got 4 more months to finish the new show. I've still got a lot of work to do.

Our family just returned from China. I now have THREE adopted daughters. The trip was a blast. I'm looking forward to going back to work on the show next week so I can relax! Being on vacation is tiresome!

Ted

Wow, have I ever done a CRAPPY job keeping this journal updated. Ok, here's an update. Now I've got 3 adopted girls and soon will be leaving for 2 boys. I've put on a bunch of stage shows to help raise money for the adoptions. My girls did a great job helping me. I produced my oldest using SACRED. I made a version of Blueprinted from Osbornes Illusions systems to make my middle daughters middle disappear. I used some old Ernie Kovak music (pancakes and sasuage) for the routine and called it a weight loss machine. She loved it. At the end of the show a friend and I did a hillarious routine while we put my youngest on a chair suspension. We, "accidentally" hypnotized eachother while trying to hypnotize her for the suspension. We even danced like Las Vegas show girls at the end. 6 performances, $12,000 more for the adoptions. I had a blast. We even had it recorded in Blue Ray! I sent the show out to all my relatives as a Christmas presents. The girls we so proud of it that they have started doing magic shows for me.

It's super cute, they make tickets, they set up the living room. They perform for my wife and I. Today they did their second show for us in our living room. My life is truely blessed!

April 18th, 2012

Well, friday is the day. We leave for China to get our 2 new boys David and Webster. I'm exicted about the trip, but dreading the travel. We won't really be back in the US and functioning until May 7th.

I hope to get to check out some new Chinese magic shops while I'm there. Our next big public performance isn't until the beginning of June. We have been hired to perform for 1 hour on stage at Town and Country Days in Kettle Falls WA, right after the parade. The crowds are always huge for the parade and they are anticipating several thousand people. It should be a really fun show!

The Haran Dancers have the hour right after us. They are world class dancers, so we BETTER BE GOOD!!!

Ted

You certainly have.

Life gets the better of all of us at some stage.