Most of us can remember our very first experience of seeing magic. I was 7 years old when I saw my first magic performance and that day changed my life. Not only did I decide that I wanted to be a magician, but I also knew at that moment that it would become my life's work.

I could have been, like so many others, to make magic a hobby and perform occasionally while making a living other ways. However, being an only child and growing up in a low-income family, I had plenty of time to spend alone, reading magic books borrowed from the library and no future prospects for higher education.

This, I realized later, was a blessing in disguise. I really felt I had no choice but to perform magic as a full-time profession. When I was 19, there was a dry spell with few shows and I considered a "back-up plan" as another avenue for income. As I relayed my concerns to a wise, older friend he replied, "If you have something to back-up on when things get tough, you probably will." Even at my young age, I knew he was right. That was the second experience that changed my life. I was now dedicated to making a success in the entertainment business with no "back-up plan".

As my full-time career approaches it's 30th anniversary, I am very happy with the decisions I have made. It hasn't been a perfect journey thus far, but it's pretty close. I have some good, old friends who ask me, "Is it still fun?" They mean, of course, am I still loving the passion for the art as I had as a child? I suppose knowing what I know now makes me somewhat jaded when I see a “new” trick. Now, I believe that I've come to really appreciate the basics of magic; those simpler effects that most magicians take for granted. Those effects where I can sink in some real entertainment value. I don't look at magic tricks for what effect they give to an audience, but how much of "me" I can put into it. After all, I'm an entertainer first, then a magician. Am I still having fun? Yes, but a different type of fun.

I've talked with countless amateur and semi-professional magicians who long to perform magic full-time. They look at me as a pinnacle of magic success. A small, secret part of me would like to switch places with them and experience a "normal" life of planned vacations and being home most evenings to tuck the children in bed. As this issue is posted, I will have been 3 months away from my family. You have to be a strong individual to conform to this way of life and have an even stronger spouse who understands the big picture. I am very blessed to have my beautiful wife. We just celebrated our 17th anniversary!

When I am told by a amateur or semi-pro that he's going to go into performing magic full-time and what my advise is, I say, "What are you doing it for? Business or Pleasure?”