My TOP SECRET blog

My last comedy contest ever.

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 10:45:17 -0400

About every 2 years I get the idea to enter a comedy or magic contest. Well this little blog etry is set up to remind me as to why this is a bad idea. Unless it's a freak show contest (I have never lost one) or a contest on TV, from this point on I'm done.

As many of you know, I have been promoting that I was in the Rich Vos comedy contest at Club Mardi Gras in Scottsdale, AZ. This was a three phase contest that I did fairly well in. Below is a dicription of my experince during the finals. It's not meant to be a rant, it just decribes what happened as I experienced it.

Well I didn't win the contest last night. Honestly I'm not really surprised. To anyone thinking about entering any contest just know, it's not the destination it's the ride. I had fun and I did some good stage time, but I have yet to find an honest contest...

This contest was an audience vote. The rules said the audience was to circle the names of their top 4 favorites on the ballot and at the end of the show they would be tallied up to figure out who the winner was. If an audience member left early their ballot would not count because they didn't watch the whole show, so they couldn't really judge fairly.

So what happened? I was slotted to go last, this is usually a great spot, but not this time. The crowd was huge... for the first part of the show. Before the last 3 acts even hit the stage half of the crowd was gone, and as I was setting up my props (still deciding what to do) they were next to me tallying the votes of the people who had already left! Those people didn't even see the whole show! So I decided to do the same set I did the past 2 rounds and I didn't have the energy I should have.

So the bottom line is, this contest was a great idea for the club. I had to sell tickets to 10 of my friends for the first 2 shows at $10 a ticket. The final round was free, so that was nice. I actually had about 15 people show up for the first 2 shows and 20 for the last show. The bar sales were very high, so this was a great idea on their part. I'm not mad at them, I'm just disappointed in what actually happened with the judging, but I do know from experience this is the norm, at least in Arizona.

So there you go, that was my recent contest experience...
Fitz

Do you have any stories about entering a comedy contest? If so please share it here, the best story will get a super prize!!! (There is no prize but I'd like to hear your stories)

A video tour of our room at The Days Inn, Lake Havasu, AZ

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:15:58 -0400

This is a tour of our hotel room in Lake Havasu City. We stayed at the Days Inn, on May 22, 2010, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I was planning on editing this video, but I have decided it doesn't deserve it. So this is the raw tour, and it's a raw room. I give it 2 flushes out of 5!

Testing a new audio cable on the Zi8

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:04:24 -0400

Kodak Zi8 Audio Tests with Shure Microphones. In this video I show how I made a mic cable for the Kodak Zi8. It's an XLR to mini TRS connector. There is also a diagram for the pinouts and I do some tests using a couple of Shure microphones I had laying around. This video was more for my own use but I thought I would post it here for anyone interested. Good Luck!

The new climber at The Children's Museum of Phoenix

Mon, 17 May 2010 21:08:36 -0400

This is a short test video I shot on my new Kodak Zi8 HD pocket video camera. In the clip you will se many angles of the new climber at the Children's Museum of Phoenix. Kelley has worked for the museum for almost ten years now and this is a huge step for them. The climber stand 3 stories high and looks like a ton of fun, I hope you enjoy the clip.

A video tour of the Quality Inn, Walnut, CA

Fri, 14 May 2010 01:50:15 -0400

So this is the first video I'm posting in HD, it's not very good but it's a start... I hope you like it, or at least don't hate it.

Video tour of the Quality Inn, Lake Forest, CA

Mon, 10 May 2010 14:51:02 -0400

Here is a quick tour of my hotel room in Lake Forest, CA.

A video tour of my hotel room, a new blog idea

Mon, 03 May 2010 23:42:11 -0400

Okay so I decided tonight I am going to start a new blog concept, I'm going to shoot a short video tour of all of my hotel rooms. Tonight we are staying at the military base Camp Pendleton, and below you can find the video.

Why entertainers need insurance or “The evil spring snake"

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:05:53 -0400

Last Saturday I was performing at Ethan’s 6^th birthday. It was a packed house, there were about 12 kids in front of me, and about 25 adults all around the room. It was a fun show with a great energy until the evil spring snake made his move.

I had all of the kids laughing at me; after all they “caught” me and “knew” where the coke bottle had vanished. Well when I opened the can of potato chips that supposedly contained the missing coke bottle we were all surprised as 2 giant snarling spring snakes shot out and attacked the audience causing shrieks of excitement and laughter… and for one little girl, tears. “My tooth!” she said. Her parents took her into another room and the show went on. I asked an adult that was sitting next to the girl if a snake hit her and she laughed at me and said no. About 10 minutes later the girl sat back down and enjoyed the rest of the show.

As I was packing my show up the girl’s father asked me if he could get a picture of the girl, me and the spring snake. I was a little confused and I asked him if the snake knocked her tooth out, and he chuckled and said yes. He then asked if he had to pay me anything extra as him and his wife had been trying to get that loose tooth for several weeks. I obviously said no and smiled for the picture. I apologized to the little girl for the behavior of my giant snarling spring snake. She was quite but I think she forgave me. Lucky for me this story had a happy ending.

If you’re a performer and you need insurance click here.

I love New Years!

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:29:08 -0500

For nearly a decade I have spent my New Years blowing things up! A few years ago Kelley decided to join me. We shoot fireworks at the Tempe Town Lake New Years Block party event. This is a little video we shot last year showing how its all done. It starts off slow but the finale is worth the wait if you ask me.

New Photos

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:08:13 -0500

My wife Kelley and I recently met up with our wedding photographer Marnee Marriott, to make a new Christmas Card. While we were with her she was able to take some extra pictures of just me that I can use on my website. Marnee is not only a GREAT photographer she is also a Photoshop Wizard! If your getting married or just need photos I would highly recommend her, you can visit her site at Marriott Photography

Why a blog?

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:41:31 -0500

My dream is to become a full time professional magician. What this means to me is, I want to be able to provide for my family by performing magic alone. I want my wife to be able to stay at home with our future children and for us to have a healthy income that allows us to live comfortably, supported by my performances.

This blog is more of a journal recording the process I will go through as an “up and coming” performer. I hope one day it will lead other aspiring performers in the right direction. If (<-When) I make it, this will show the steps I have taken to get to where I am going. I will also post funny stories and tips of the trade that I have discovered along the way.

For the past 17 years I have been studying magic seriously. I have also learned to juggle, contact juggle, stilt walk, and make balloon animals. In the past I have made my living by doing kid shows, and close up magic. I have also worked in the “real world” as an audiovisual technician, pyrotechnician, audio video installer, and currently a technical director for a world famous magician. (This is a dream job)

During the last 6 years I have begun to focus and develop an act. It’s had many names, and different feels to it, but its core is finally turning into a real show. Currently I call it “Extraordinary Demonstrations of Useless Talents”. It has taken me years to come up with this name. This show is a “commando act” that means it fits in one small case and I can perform it anywhere.

I should warn you, I am not a writer. It has taken me months just to write this blog post, but I don’t care anymore. You will see many typos and misspelled words but don’t worry, one day I’ll have my writers come in and clean this all up.

Powered by Clover Content

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:24:34 -0400

This is my "blog" page and it's powered by my brother's Content Management System (CMS) called "Clover Content". "Clover plugs into your existing website, allowing you, the site owner, to have the power to control your content. We provide you with a simple to use editor that allows you to make changes when you want." For more information check out his site it's 100% FREE! Powered by Clover Content a simple cms Fitz