Performed this trick without makeup. People liked this trick. Some people thought it was cute or funny. In actuality it is based off the most scary and tragic period of my life! This is something I strive for in magic, to do tricks based off of my fears.

This trick tells the story of getting scammed in Tijuana. People who have partied in TJ know what's up because they been there. I got mostly real good feedback from magicians so I am pretty proud of this video. This video is also all over the internet on like 40 different video hosting sites. I kinda been slacking on magic because I have been so busy but at least I know people are watching me perform magic on the internet still to this day.

Shooting this video was a highlight of my vacation. It was one of my great regrets that I never tried busking at Seaport Village before I left San Diego. I didn't do any magic but got to be a part of busking there and now I feel a lot better. Also got to meet Chanz and talk to him about street performing which was great. Please like Magic Matt on Facebook.

Are you looking to get stage shows? This can be tough because there are not many opportunities out there. You can book a local theatre and do a couple of shows over a weekend but then what? With the cost of gas what it is it can be hard to take your show on the road.

One solution is to become a concert promoter! This way you can become a magic emcee, do your full stage act in between bands or do walk around close up in between sets. By charging an admission fee at the door or working out a deal with the venue for a cut of drinks you can pay the bands and yourself.

The first thing you want to do is find a bar or club that can have live performances. If you require a stage you will want to look for this. Approach the owner or person in charge and tell them you want to book a music and magic night. Starting off you may want to pick an off night during the week. The owner should be happy for a chance to get more customers on a slow night. Pick a date and comfirm your stipulations. Do you get a cut of the alcohol sales, do you provide your own doorman?

Next find a couple of bands to play. Every city has it's own weekly events paper. Start going to some shows and introduce yourself to the bands. Buy them a drink or perform a few tricks. Tell them about your exciting new show coming up and invite them to play. Ask them to recommend bands. Exchange numbers and get them to confirm that they can play the gig. Remember that not every show has to be Woodstock, two or three bands will be plenty!

Now you need to promote your show so people will show up. Design a poster that has the bands names, your name, venue address, time, 21+ or all ages, date and a cool picture that will entice your audience. Put these up at the venue and all over town, any place that has board you pin one to or a window you can tape one up. Use a staple hammer and put them on telephone poles as well. Get it listed in the paper and spread the word online on Facebook and anywhere else. The cool thing is the bands will help you promote and bring many of their friends as well.

The night of the show, remember to entertain your audience but your number one job is to sell drinks. It's cheesy but go ahead and tell them to tip their bartender. If your bands get paid and you get paid you could turn this into a monthly or even weekly gig!

For more information about being a concert promoter check

Pangenitor is electronic music created by probably the coolest internet friend I have! He is a professional street/sideshow performer currently in New Orleans.  It does my arm chair sitting self good to hear about his street adventures on facebook. This music is awesome too, totaly reminds me of Goblin! He let me use his music on one of my videos and I hope to use this song in the future a

Here is a short video where I discuss my psychic powers.  Where did the psychic stuff come from? Look here to see some possibilities. Are you interested in learning how to develop your psychic powers? Le

I'm at a stage in magic where I have a small library of magic books and these have all the tricks I could need for a career in performing. What I am wanting now is instruction in presentation and magic theory. I know that McBride's Mystery School is the best value in the magic retail world. I've corresponded with a few of the teachers there and they are incredibly generous with their time. In response, Mystery School is the first place I consider when making a magic purchase.

Eugene Burger is considered by many as magics greatest teacher. Watching this video is like being hypnotized, Eugene communicates on such a higher level. Again this great value because I know I can watch the video many times over and continue to get new understanding.

At the beginning there is a short film of Eugene walking through a cemetery speaking like philosophical poetry about magic and death. This is truly wonderful. Just what I was looking for! There is a awesome presentation by Jay Inglee. There is a incredible interview with Tony Andruzzi in his home. This is great as I want to know all the rules of bizarre so I can break them. Unfortunately that last quarter of the tape is teaching The Haunted Pack. Great trick but like I said I wasn't really wanting to learn tricks so much. Still three segments of this video were worth the price each. Incredible video!

Purchase it streaming here: http://virtual.magicalwisdom.com/

Jamie D. Grant is corporate magician who also sells decks of cards in glass bottles. Magic Friday is his weekly magic review show where he performs a trick up to 50 times in a day and then shows the trick to the camera and describes how well it performed. I really like this approach because the review comes from a working magician and is tested on real people. He has one friend named "Angry" Bob who is knowledgeable about how magic works but is really grouchy and he reports how well the trick did on him. His show is really good! Check it out here!

Native American spirituality is very big in my part of the world (Eastern Oregon). For years I have heard many of my friends talking about going to Native ritual ceremonies but never got invited until just recently. Two of my friends needed a ride to a sweat lodge and called and asked permission for me to join the sweat. When I got there I decided I would not join. It was extremely cold with snow on the ground and I am pretty sensitive to cold. As people started showing up, mostly friends of mine, i decided I better just do it. I stripped down to bathing suit and towel, shoes with no socks, and walked out to the teepee (I forget what they called it). First you walk around the teepee, then you raise your hands in the air facing each direction, then get down and crawl inside. Outside the tent there is a large fire and underneath the burning logs are rocks. The fire tender uses a pitchfork to move the hot rocks into a pit in the middle of the teepee. A girl then sprinkled cedar chips on the rocks. While the rocks were being loaded in, my friend who was my helper for the experience explained some breathing techniques and told me nothing would harm me inside the lodge. The door was closed and it became pitch black.

Amazing Jonathan has a great new show where he interviews guests, teaches magic and does comedy. On his first episode he has Pam and Johnny Thompson who are a classic magic duo. I laughed out loud many times during this show, lots of very funny jokes. I am hoping that the producer of this show will get it on Roku which has millions of viewers. You can watch it here.