James Sanden

My wife and I recently adopted two dogs from a rescue (Dignan and Futureman).  They’re about 2 years old and, while very sweet, need a lot of training.  I’ve been doing some research about the best way to train dogs and, since everything I do gets filtered through the lens of being a Chicago magician, I’ve noticed some of the training concepts can be applied to other areas of life.  (Think of it as a hybrid version of “Everything I needed to know I learned in kindergarten,” except I learned it while teaching our dogs to pee outside.)

Here’s the first lesson:

DOG VERSION:  You can’t expect a dog to do something they’ve never been taught to do.  So when I’m walking our dogs and they don’t “come” to me when I tell them to, I can’t get mad at them.  They aren’t ignoring me.  They literally don’t know what I’m talking about.  I have to teach the command to them before I can possibly expect them to listen.

HUMAN VERSION:  As a Chicago magician, and more importantly, an entreprenuer, when I try something new and am horrible at it, it doesn’t mean I’m a failure.  It just means I haven’t done it before.  Any expectation of mastery is ridiculous.  This applies equally as well to new close up magic I’m performing, as it does to new business strategies I’m trying out.  Ultimately, there’s no reason for me to be good at something I’ve never done, even if I think I “should” be good at it because “I should be able to do this by now!” or whatever else I tell myself.

This may seem like an obvious observation, but emotionally I get hooked when I fail at something I think I should be good at.  However, when I look at it through the simplified world of dog behavior it becomes black and white.  Whatever my opinion, if I’ve never done something I have absolutely no reason to be good at it.  So any time spent worrying about it is silly.  All there is to do is to isolate what works, do more of that, and discard whatever doesn’t.

It’s a very simple, easy to excute on and freeing point of view.

I’m sure as we continue training the dogs I’ll notice more and more, so stay tuned…

I know the post title sounds like a cheesy infomercial, and had you asked me a couple of years ago if I would be an avid networker, I would have told you I didn’t have it in me.  But what I’ve learned as a full time Chicago magician is that powerful networking isn’t some abstract business technique.  It’s just building relationships with people you can trust and share business with.  Once I saw it for what it was, it became easier, began to occur as a huge opportunity and is now something I search out for the opportunity to do.  In fact, I actually spent the entire day yesterday networking.  I had a great time, met some wonderful people and started to establish some solid connections.

All without performing a single magic trick!

(OK, just one.)

But I only performed it once.

(OK, twice.)

I’m excited because, while I love performing my children’s magic show, I’m looking for more opportunities to perform close up magic and my stage comedy magic show.  The market for this type of performance is mostly at corporate events, where word of mouth is king.  And one way to get the right kind of word to spread is to know people who are spreading the word.

By networking.

The event was also fun because they showcased some great entertainment, including two outstanding magicians, Ryan Oakes and David & Dania.  (I also had the chance to meet Ryan, who is also a really great guy.  If you’re in New York and he’s got a public appearance, you should check him out.)

What’s even better, of the four entertainers at the event, 2 of them were magicians.

Looks like I picked the right job.

If you missed it, here’s the clip of me doing close up magic  on WGN this morning!

As a full time Chicago magician I spend a lot of time working on the business side of show business, which I honestly find almost as interesting as working on new magic for my close up magic act or stage comedy magic show.  I’m excited to announce that, as a result of those efforts, tomorrow morning I’ll be appearing on WGN morning news as part of their annual WGN TV Kid’s Fair!  I’ll be promoting my children’s magic show, but am also planning  on astonishing and entertaining the TV audience in the 2 1/2 minutes they’re giving me.  While I don’t relish the idea of showing up at the studios at 4:30 in the morning, I’m certainly not complaining!  You can sit with bated breath by your TV’s around 7:25 a.m., or just wait for me to post a link to video on my blog.

I can’t wait!

As a Chicago magician I perform all types of magic shows, from close up magic to corporate entertainment to kids birthday party shows, but this weekend at the Lake County Fielders game in Zion I tried something new.

Escaping from a straight jacket!

I even got written up in the newspaper!  (The photo of me is hysterical)

Check it out!

As a Chicago magician I’m very fortunate that I get to do what I love for a living.  And I’m not just talking about performing one magic show over and over again.  I get to perform and share my magic with kids at family shows, make adults laugh at corporate events, and perform amazing close up magic at cocktail parties and the like.  I’ve wanted to be a professional entertainer for most of my life, but never really thought it was possible until now.

Actually, to be honest, I didn’t think it was possible until I married my lovely wife Megan.

(Before I even get to that, Megan needs to be thanked just for being the wife of a magician, whether professional or not.  It’s not easy to be married to a magician.  We’re a weird group.  But Megan has always been fantastically supportive.  She patiently watches and critiques my new magic, tolerates my huge collection of magic crap, and is amazingly understanding of my strange obsession with this wonderful and unique art.)

But what I really want to thank her for is making my dream come true.

See, if it weren’t for Megan suggesting that I pursue being a Chicago magician full time, it’s totally predictable that I would have just gone on with a normal career, just like everyone else.  But that’s not how Megan rolls.  She’s seen me unhappy in other jobs, knows my love for magic, and saw we were in a place in our lives where I could take a chance on living my dream.  I didn’t coerce or cajole her.  Like I said, I never would have even considered it.  In fact, I was totally surprised when she suggested I try being a magician full time.

Surprised, delighted, inspired and moved to tears to be totally honest.

I’m eternally grateful that my business is growing and that I’m finding success as a Chicago magician.  I’m challenged and excited by the opportunities I have and for the chance to develop my business as an entrepreneur.  I’m totally responsible for my failure or success, which is how it should be.

But I wouldn’t even be taking the chance if it weren’t for my beautiful, patient, passionate, brilliant wife standing for me having everything I want in life.

Megan is the best and most wonderful woman I have ever known.

This doesn’t come remotely close to capturing my gratitude, but it’s a start.

So thanks, Megan.  You truly are the best.

As a Chicago magician I find myself performing in a wide variety of venues.  I’ve done birthday party magic shows in living rooms, performed close up magic in restaurants and presented my comedy magic show in hotel banquet rooms for corporate entertainment.  But in all of these myriad shows, I have never performed at a baseball stadium.

Until now.

Starting this Sunday I will be performing my unique brand of close up magic for kids at the Lake County Fielders baseball stadium in Zion, IL (about an hour north of Chicago)!  In addition to performing my tried and true tricks, I’m excited to be performing magic I’ve specially designed for the client (similar to the type of material I create when I’m performing trade show magic to sell a company’s product or service).  The organization has also asked me to perform between innings on the field!  I only have 90 seconds, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to perform any magic, but it’s going to be a great exercise in creativity in any case.

In fact, if you have any ideas for short comic bits I could do in 90 seconds or less that are (ideally) magic related, let me know!

I’ll be at the stadium from 12-3 pm on August 1st, 8th, 22nd and September 5th.  If you’re interested in coming, check out the Fielders website for more information.

Hope to see you at the ball game!

As a full time professional Chicago magician I have to constantly develop new ways to build my business, i.e. get more magic shows.  This is the newest of my ground breaking, high tech marketing techniques:

Pretty innovative, eh?

It’s called a “retractable banner stand.”  Highly portable, light, but very visible.  I tried it out this week when I performed my children’s magic show at the Taste of Lincoln Avenue.  Like many advertising approaches, it won’t necessarily produce immediate results, but I like the ROI because it’s a one time expenditure.  I consider it my own personal magic show billboard.  Althouth it feels more like an informercial than a billboard, really, since the audience gets a demonstration of the product alongside my contact information.  I look forward to the day I ask someone, “How did you hear about me?” and they say, “I got your information from your sign at your magic show.”

That’ll be beautiful.

At the same time, I understand the importance of targeted marketing, and I realize this sign is better suited for the children’s magic show or birthday party show market.  For my close up magic and corporate entertainment services I’ll need to purchase another one.

Ah, the work of a Chicago magician.

It’s never done.

As a full time Chicago magician I’m surprised and a bit annoyed (though I imagine I shouldn’t be) by how frequently I’m asked if I perform magic full time.  It’s a bit more understandable when I’m performing close up magic as a restaurant magician or for a birthday party magic show, but I’m even asked the question when providing corporate entertainment.  I’m always a little taken aback (again, I probably shouldn’t be) by the question, but upon inspection I think it’s quite telling because it says something about how normal folks view magicians and by extension, artists.

The simplest reason I think that people ask this question is that (as I’ve written about before), people have preconceived notions about magic and magicians, and not just Chicago magicians.  Specifically, they usually have only one context for magic and it’s either in the form of a birthday party clown or an illusionist on TV, though some folks do think of street magicians like David Blaine or Criss Angel.  They don’t think (and have no reason to) of the myriad markets magic is perfect for, including (but not limited to) weddings, trade shows, school assemblies, cocktail parties, promotions, etc.  More than that, they don’t consider that there could be an overlap between categories, which is to say if they see me in my fedora and vest doing close up magic at the restaurant or in my Disney vest doing a birthday party magic show, they wouldn’t imagine I could also perform sales magic at a trade show to promote their company’s service or product.

I believe the other reason people ask this question is that, and this is the unfortunate part, there’s a general belief that it’s not possible (or at least extremely difficult) to make a living as a performer/artist.  While it’s true that there are far fewer magicians than there are accountants, it is possible to make a living at magic.  Quite a good one in fact.  I know of a number of very successful magicians that no one has ever heard of who do quite well for themselves and will never be on TV.  In fact, I actually think it’s easier to make a living as a magician artist than as a dancer/actor/painter/musician type artist.  If only because there are so many different markets and venues for, in particular, a Chicago magician.  And while I’m not successful at the level some of these “unknown” magicians are, I’m getting there.

To sum up, I believe people ask me if I have a “day job” because a) they don’t really know what a professional magician does and b) are cynical about the economic feasibility of being a full time performer.  Given that (and after reviewing what I’ve written above), answering the question now seems to me to be an opportunity to educate.  I can spread the good word about how many different markets and ways there are to utilize a magician, and I can let people know that they can include my name in the “making a living as an artist” column.  Thinking back on it, I’ve found that people sometimes get quite excited and inspired to hear that I’m successfully living my dreams.  And we can always use a few more inspired people in the world.  Who knows, my living my dream might help others to take a chance and live theirs.

Thanks for listening.  I’m feeling much better now.

I recently started performing close up magic at Mad Mark’s Mystic Pizza in Schaumburg, just a little bit northwest of Chicago.  My typical “costume” (except when I’m performing my birthday party show) is a suit and tie, however when I met Mad Mark himself he told me I needed to wear something more “fun.”  It took a couple of tries, but I finally came up with a costume that works: slacks and a nice vest, plus a fedora.

What I didn’t expect was that my choice of costume would affect how people reacted to me when I approached their table.  Typically, when I walk up to a table and explain that I am the “house magician” the guests look at me strangely.  I came to expect that and I could usually get a laugh by commenting on their reaction with something like, “I know you weren’t expecting me to say that.”  The line itself isn’t particularly funny, but by acknowledging what they were thinking I was able to break the ice.  However, with the vest and fedora I actually look more like a stereotypical magician.  Which means the guests aren’t surprised when I introduce myself as the “house magician.”  I quickly learned I could still break the ice by pausing and adding, “…if the outfit didn’t already give me away.”

However, with the introduction of the costume change I noticed that it’s a bit more difficult to get a table of adults to be interested in watching my magic.  I think it’s because many people only associate magic with kids birthday parties, so when I actually look like a magician they assume that, if there aren’t kids at the table, I don’t have anything to offer them.  I think the suit lends me a little more credibility, at least in the sense that I might be able to offer a more sophisticated magic show (suitable for corporate entertainment, for example.)

This observation reminded of an article by one of my favorite magicians, Michael Close.  He quotes a musician in one of his famous magic books, Workers 3, Wendy Carlos, who wrote the following:

Carlos’ Three Laws:

1) For every parameter that you can control, you must control.

2) What is full of redundancy or formula is predictably boring.  What is free of all structure or discipline is randomly boring.  In between lies art.

3) If you find that a worthwhile task requires much more work to do really well than you ever dreamed, you’re probably doing it correctly.  If you make it look easy, you’re definitely doing it correctly.

While these laws were originally created in relation to music, they apply equally as well to the art of magic.  While each law could be discussed in depth in relation to being a magician, in the context of this post I’m talking about the first law.  Specifically, costuming is one of the many parameters that affect audience perception.  As a professional Chicago magician I’m very interested in how audiences both perceive and think of me.  I’m no longer just interested in performing a “good show,” though any given show has literally hundreds of potential variables that can possibly be addressed.   Add in a desire to market and promote onself professionally as a Chicago magician and the variables increase dramatically.

Which is to say that, while I have put a lot of effort into developing my show and business, I still have a lot of work to do.

All this from noticing a difference in response to my outfit at my restaurant gig.  Who woulda thunk it?