Well it was either Happy Hour at the Ritz or writing this column, and you can see what I chose - a labor of love. You have no idea how thrilled I am to be writing this (I'm thrilled that I'm still alive!) and how glad I am that my dear friend Greg has decided to start TOPS up again! I lost count of how many covers I was on. I had quite a run at Abbotts in the late 80's, so I decided to write a column on showmanship. People say I have quite a bit of it (Oh, the hush money)!

I was writing for a certain internet magic club. The response was unbelievable! The people that were running it were complete amateurs (not that there is anything wrong with amateurs), but they didn't quite understand magic or show business. However, I did meet some great people that wanted to learn from an old pro. You see, I have no children (my ex-wife didn't want to lose her figure!), but now she looks like a bag of wet laundry (sorry Myrna), so I did want to impart some of my years of experience to the new kids on the block. Hence this column!

I just got off the phone with the great Marvin Roy, and he agreed that true performers are a dying breed. There are so few of us left. What I mean by performer is someone who works 52 weeks a year 6 days a weeks, in one show or another. Yes, that is what we did! We were "Show People;" a different kind of people. We had to be different in order to work all the time, we had to be someone the public wanted to see! So now begins my tirade on the "new" performers. What I have seen recently is this: A magician, who bears a striking resemble to David Copperfield (a very dear friend), using the same props David did in some of his specials. By now the audience is very hip to what's going on. The minute a prop is wheeled on stage, they know just what is going to happen. I even had a kid rave about his guillotine. Did he really think the audience would think he was going to cut someone's head off? They are all the SAME!

I could not believe what I was seeing; all these guys were saving to buy the Origami, the Interlude, or some other expensive prop. They are all saving to buy the same props! I could not believe it! Why do they all want to this? The STEPFORD MAGI? What happened to being original?

I just found an article from an old Linking Ring from 1935 by the great Dell O'Dell (do your research, boys!) who wrote; "so many amateur magicians write me for a list of tricks and what tricks to buy. I believe always that the magician should outshine his feats of magic. Each day I hear from patrons "I saw a magician do such-and-such a trick." When I asked who it was, they never seemed to remember names and often they don't remember what the magician looked like." Is this what you new guys want? To be remembered just by an Oragami?

Now, you new guys are wondering who the hell is this Senor Rai? Well let me give you a brief bio. I have recently retired after 55 years in the magic business, which has been very good to me. My parents were Music Hall performers (Research!), and my sister a very famous dancer (if my wonderful friend Bob Lund were still here, he would tell you). I started show business when I was 14 years old. I always wore suits, ascots, and sprayed my hair silver, and yes, I worked all the nightclubs. You see, I came in at the very end of vaudeville. When it died all the big stars had to go somewhere. Some went to movies and some into nightclubs. That's where it all began for me. Every city had nightclubs - the big ones, many. Even small towns had one or two. The show was always, a big star, a singer, a dancer and a novelty act. Guess which one I was?

I began in Boston, then New York, Chicago, and Miami Beach. I worked a club in Charleston, South Carolina for 15 years (with winters off) doing the same act. When I asked the boss, should I change, his response: "Why fix something that isn't broken?"

From there, I went into the great Royal Hanneford Circus, where I became the "Million Dollar Ringmaster," performing a huge illusion act in all three rings (It will all be on my website that is currently under construction). Then it was on to Las Vegas, where I headlined in a show for two years. Finally boredom set in (badly) and I quit. Actually, I went to another casino because they offered me a thousand dollars a week more. But after a while I decided it was enough. 55 years is a long time! While I was traveling, we bought a house and lots of land. When I retired, it was all paid for! I now had a home to go to.

So here I am writing a column, to help the guys that WANT to learn. I will post my email, so you can ask me any question about magic or show business and I will answer you all. I know some of you are thinking "Who the hell does he think he is? An expert on everything?" No, no, I' m just a retired pro who just happens to know an LOT of celebs (magic and other wise).

I know nothing about close up; never had to. When you work in Vegas for so long, you get to know everyone. They all come to see you and you see them (I won Best Comedy Act in Vegas in '89). I had a party in my townhouse and you would not believe who was there. Thank God I have photos (I drink, you know), but what is great about all this is from the tons of emails I got from being on that amateur site, I learned people do want to learn how to be different!

I just found a VHS of the first and second Siegfried and Roy TV specials; I had forgotten just how great they were. Original is the word. Everyone was producing doves, so they produced flamingos. They vanished two people in the cargo net, and turned them into alligators. They passed an eagle through a mirror. All completely unique from anyone at the time. This is what I am trying to say: stop copying others! I never did. Find your own style. Ask your friends what part of your act they like and why. Listen to them even if you don't like it. If they are true friends, they are telling you the truth! Forget the new props. Look at the great Paul Osborne and what he is trying to do. Reinventing all the old Illusions, his Big Black Book is fabulous! He twists everything around to look new. Now if you all reinvent new ways of presenting the illusions, would you have to worry about the Masked Magician? If a prop he exposed looks completely different, you will get the surprise. Paul's books are goldmines (You can buy them all at ABBOTT'S)!

One of the greatest things said to me was when my closest friend in this business Rich Little said to me "Rai, I never thought of you as a magician, but a great performer!" That is just what I wanted to hear. So dear friends, do email me (raimike@yahoo.com) and I will answer your questions in this column. If you want to be named, I will. I am really dying to hear from you all. I love magic and always will. Well, it's cocktail hour again, and the gin is cold. Until next time!