Magic Video Depot...

I thought some other magicians would enjoy my latest video clip (Linking Rings), so I went ahead and uploaded it to the Magic Video Depot (the MVD). I was surprised to get a message informing me that they no longer allow people to post their URL inside the video itself, and offered me the opportunity to place it on my profile instead.

I don't understand such a rule. I can think of a lot of reasons why I would want my URL in the video itself: many people share the videos with their friends - who may not have access to my MVD profile. MVD's videos are downloaded, not streamed ... a year from now my video will still be on their harddrive, but their site may be sold to the highest bidder. Perhaps in the future they may upgrade their software, removing my profile. I could go on here...

I can't understand what their motivation is, since not many people would bother to type my URL into their browser anyway. It is there to show original ownership - if someone that views my video needs to know how to get in touch with me, they will know how to do so. My website is a much better way to get in touch with me than any profile on any website. My videos are "my" content, and I want people to know that - which means I require any site wishing to use my content to include my name and URL. I release videos under a "Creative Commons" license and all I ask is that I get proper attribution with my name and URL.

So unfortunately, I will no longer be posting videos to the MVD. This is sad for the MVD surfers, since every video I have ever posted there is (a) a live performance, and (b) a unique routine exclusive to myself. If you watch my Linking Ring video, you will see me do something that nobody else in the entire world does ... and you will see me do it for a real live audience. From looking over their forums, these are exactly the type of videos their surfers want to see.

-JoeJoe

Linking Rings Video...

Summer is really starting to wind down, instead of getting in 8 or 9 good shows a night, we are getting 2 or 3, with a lot of trying in between. We only have a week to go, so I am really pushing for the last few video shots we can squeeze out of the summer - come next week, we will be unable to film crowds as the tourists return home.

So I have another video clip for ya'all! This one highlights a portion of my linking ring routine ... I wanted to get this online as I am somewhat proud of it, I've spent the entire summer perfecting this.

For the magicians out there that are "in the know", this part of my routine involves no key rings and no switches ... maybe you will figure it out, I don't know - I just think it is pretty kewl to link three rings that have all been examined by the audience. I'll continue to work on this one until I have it perfected beyond belief.

-JoeJoe

EDIT: Mac/Linux users can now view this video at YouTube!

How Rude...

So I pushed my cart to my pitch .... a family is walking by, so I naturally say "hi" ... when the dad hollers back at me ... and I quote ... "GO HI YOURSELF". Ugggh! The way he said it, the tone of his voice. Now mind you everything was still packed, I had no magic to show him, I didn't have a balloon for his kids ... I wanted nothing from him what-so-ever, I was just trying to be nice. How come people in August have to be so rude?

Normally I take my time setting up everything ... but tonight was different. I couldn't help notice this guy was standing at the curb with his family, perhaps awaiting a taxi or something - I didn't really care what he was doing there, but I wasn't going to be insulted like that. I quickly threw down my box and placed my magic into my pockets and broke out into a show for some other people in the area ... in a matter of minutes I had a nice size crowd cheering and clapping.

And that's when I saw it ... out of the corner of my eye ... trying to stay near the back where they wouldn't be seen ... there they were, the entire family - even dad! Clapping and cheering and having a grand ol time! Those are the moments I crave, it seems to me that whenever someone disses me it fires me up ... I hope now he realizes saying "hi" doesn't have to be a negative experience.

-JoeJoe

Mr. Bluebird ...

Continuing our new tradition of naming birds after song titles, Dana and I have opted to call our newest parakeet "Blue Sky", with a nickname of "Mr. Bluebird". Both were finger trained within an hour and are really enjoying their new home. I love having the birds around!

I can't believe what a proficient flyer Bluebird is, he hasn't hit the floor once which is unusual for a bird his age that has spent his life caged. I don't like caging my birds, they currently spend less than half the day caged and as their training progresses it will reach a point where they are never locked in a cage. Magnolia needs more flying experience before I can let her roam free.



At Barefoot Landing, we continue to pump out shows, we continue to get excellent footage. I nearly captured the entire linking ring routine on tape, with the exception of briefly turning my back to the camera and blocking the entire shot ... it is very difficult to film without a camera man. I do hope to capture that routine before the summer is over. Once we get some close-ups, I hope to put a video online.

Without my "Disappearing JoeJoe, we are in somewhat unknown territory. I am in search of hat lines that are not a part of the show. We keep tinkering with some, fine tuning them trying to get just the right mixture.

As promised, here are pics of the newest jacket - this one is blue with a silver lapel. The stitching in the sleeve has come undone, so I will need to mend it ... perhaps this weekend, so we'll be wearing the yellow jacket for the rest of the week.

Getting ready to do it...

A small crowd forms as we cut and restore the rope...

Which becomes a bigger crowd!

When we get to the linking rings, we are completely surrounded!

-JoeJoe

Working hard....

Larry the Karaoke Guy (no relation to the Cable Guy) says I am one of the hardest working entertainers at Barefoot Landing ... I somewhat disagree, while I may arrive early and leave late ... he himself plays in a band at a poolside bar during the hottest part of the day. I don't know how he can do it, that heat is enough to kill the weak and frail ... I certainly wouldn't want to be working no pool side bars in the afternoon!

So Sunday is my day off, but everyone has been telling me how great Sunday nights are. So last night I decided to find out for myself, and we worked a Sunday night.

Good crowds, people seemed to want to have fun ... much better than last weeks crowd, last week was a nightmare. A guy was walking by so I give him a friendly "hi how ya doing" ... he responds with "no thanks". I'm standing there wondering just what he thought I was selling, I mean - good grief - Myrtle Beach is in the South folks, and while I know this may seem like a foreign concept ... people will often say "hi" to you when you walk down the street here. We're just goofy like that.

Overall, I did about the same last night as I did Friday night. So I wouldn't consider Sunday to be one of the best nights, since Friday night is normally my slowest night. But we did have a good time - it was the first night in town for people and they were generally in a good mood.

I'll post some pics of my newest jacket soon ...

-JoeJoe

Magnolia

We have opted to name our new keet "Magnolia" ... it is always difficult to determine the sex of a bird, especially when they are young. So if it turns out to be a boy, his full name will be "Steel Magnolia" ... and if she turns out to be a girl, we will call her "Sugar Magnolia". I believe she is female, thus I intend to refer to her as Sugar Mags, or just Mags for short.

She seemed lonely, parakeets are flock birds so I decided it would be best to get a second keet. This will make training more difficult, and I doubt they will ever learn to talk now ... but I have always believed that the needs of the bird outweigh any performance.

So now we have two parakeets, and it is my hope that at least one of them will want to do magic with me! I already have an idea of what I want to do with them, a simple vanish that has a comedy ending that would be very awesome - I don't know if I can train them properly for this, but so far everything is going extremely well.

Here is a pic of the new keet, which does not have a name yet:

-JoeJoe

New Partner... a new friend...

We arrived at the pitch Tuesday night ready to work ... but the skies were against us. So I called Dana and had her check the weather, rain was scheduled for the entire night - not good! It's one thing to entertain in the rain for happy June crowds, but by August the parents are grumpy and generally not as much fun ... I wasn't looking forward to this.

That is when Dana suggested we take the night off and go buy a bird. She didn't need to twist my arm on this one, I've been secretly wanting a new bird for some time, ever since Shooter (my Sun Conure) died. So we loaded everything back into the truck and headed to the pet store.

I spent an hour watching the parakeets, looking for just the right one ... I didn't want the most active one, I wanted the one that paid me the most attention. After about an hour, one of them had caught my eye, sitting still on the perch ... she would chirp every time I whistled. I put my finger in the cage near her when she naturally flew off to the other perch. She then snapped at another birdie to chase him away so she could be the closest bird to me - that was what sold me. I knew she liked me.

So heading home, I now have a new parakeet - the smallest of the parrot family, she will be just the perfect size. Still a baby, I began training as soon as we arrived home. I can tell she is not used to people's hands, but she is learning well. Dana has protested, insisting she should be allowed to adjust to her new environment before I handle her ... but I was able to explain that I don't want her feeling that her cage is "safe" - I want her feeling that I am "safe" - if she has the option of flying to her cage or flying to me, I want her to fly to me.

She has spent the last two days on my shoulder, she is eating well and softly chirping. Her only experience flying is in a cage, but she is beginning to learn how to land. I don't know what to name her yet ... that require some thought. With the right training, she will make a great addition to the act!

Here is a pic of her, she is a real cutie ... Dana isn't looking too bad either:

-JoeJoe

Going to lose my head...

I don't care that it's screwed onto my shoulders, I really feel like I'm going to lose my head before the summer is over! So far this season ... I've lost 5 dancing hankys and 3 pen-through-anythings ... not to mention I have destroyed my one-of-a-kind Disappearing JoeJoe and ripped a jacket. I am going through props like crazy here!

So today I went to Wal-Mart and bought new tapes so I could record tonight ... when I get to the pitch, I realized they were still at home sitting on the kitchen table with the rest of the groceries. See what I'm talking about here?!?

Summer is really taking a toll on me, I'm hanging in as best I can ... I've got the next two days off and I intend to enjoy them. Hopefully by Monday, this heat will subside some ... see ya'all then!

-JoeJoe

As I predicted in my last post, crowds were noticeably thinner tonight proving that summer is indeed beginning to wind down.

This is where I feel sorry for the 'weekend warrior' ... that is, a part time street performer who hits the bricks only when he has the spare time. See, a weekend warrior can only analyze his own performance. He does not get enough data on his location and his target audience to be able to analyze anything but his own performance. Thus, many weekend warriors think they did a poor job when in reality they just arrived on a poor night. Or, they may think they did an excellent job when in all reality they just got lucky on a good night. I've said it before, and while I know very few magicians ever believe me ... I will say it again: the size of the crowd and the weight of the hat is a very poor indicator of the caliber of performer.

So from here on out I will need to be on my A game - there is no room for mistakes. There is still footage that I must get for my DVD, and if I skip a beat the summer will be over and I won't have the tape I need. There are so many variables I have no control over, every performance must be it's very best in hopes of capturing that special moment. I would hate to have all conditions perfect (ie: lighting, framing, crowd response, background noise, etc etc etc ) only to have me drop a linking ring or something dumb like that. Overall, we have great footage this summer ... we know which camera angles work and I really want to continue this trend through to the end.

I just love the way my tails blow in the wind:

It has been a little hot, so I have been taking the hat off:

Speaking of hats, this is my newest one:

It has quickly become my favorite
hat, I like both the look and the feel of it:

-JoeJoe

In Anderson South Carolina, children start going back to school today (August 3rd 2006). Pure insanity, ending summer vacation in this blasted heat ... while kids should be out playing in the water and having fun, they go to stuffy classrooms that educators don't have the budget to properly cool. Lawmakers should be ashamed for their testing practices that encite this, educators should be ashamed for going along with the program, and parents should be ashamed for allowing it to happen.

It doesn't stop there either ... tomorrow Lexington schools start. On the 7th, Dochester Florence, and Marlboro schools start. Union schools start on the 10th, followed by Dillon on the 11th. Greenville on the 17th. yes ... summer is winding down, and soon it will be nothing more than a paragraph on a piece of paper to be graded.

I'm not sure what the fall has in store for me, but I don't have time to stop and think about it. For while schools are starting to start for some, they are not starting for everyone! Which means I've still got work to do...

-JoeJoe

Heat Wave Continues...

Again tonight, we pumped out shows till 11:00 ... I'm surprised I am holding up this well in the heat. My job isn't over when I get home either, I've been burning the midnight oil ripping video - two more tapes processed. Only one behind, which I don't think there is anything important on (but we'll process it anyways).

The shows are much shorter now, it's starting to get boring. The main flow seems to be Dancing Hank, Misled, Unshuffled, and the Pen-through-Bill. Often we do the Disappearing Silk Hank, sometimes we do the Linking Rings, and when the conditions allow for it we do my Sword through Body. That is pretty much the new show now that the Disappearing JoeJoe is out of commission.

Here are some more photo's ... when summer is over, I'll do up a nice thumbnail gallery of something with them all:

Linking the Rings

And here I am getting my finger cut off,

a sight gag I do to freak out the parents (hehe):

-JoeJoe

My second wind is starting to kick in ... last night, I stayed on site till 11:30 - a full half hour after Barefoot Landing closed. The heat is still really strong, I hope it breaks soon ... I haven't done my sword illusion in over a week now, as it is just too hot to wear the harness.

I managed to get two tapes transferred to the computer, but I still have three waiting to be ripped. We are getting some excellent footage! While I would love to post a routine or two, I would prefer to wait till I can do them really right - where I can cut in close ups so you can actually see the magic.

-JoeJoe