The “Magic World” is filled with secrets, and I’m going to give you the inside scoop on a few of them.

(No… I’m not revealing how tricks are done. If you want to know that, try google)

I’m going to be revealing the REAL secrets about magic, magicians, and our crazy corner of the entertainment industry. Here’s the first secret:

Most magicians are amateurs… and a very large percentage of amateur magician are lawyers and doctors. (really!) In fact, some of the best magicians in the country are successful lawyers and physicians. Here’s just a few respected lawyer/magicians:

David Ben
Guy Hollingworth
Simon Aronson
Brian Glicker

For some great reading… check out this GREAT blog: Law & Magic Blog It’s a GREAT READ!

Personally… I would never want to be a lawyer or a doctor. I have tons of respect for what they do… but it just isn’t for me. I feel very fortunate that I can make a living as a magician in Los Angeles.

A lot of people focus on the “big name” professionals in the business, but amateur magicians and magic enthusiasts are a very important part of the magic community. Magic enthusiasts keep the magic shops open. They buy the tickets for David Copperfield and watch the magic specials on TV. Most importantly… they have a huge creative influence in the magic world. Many of the most important magical minds, such as Dai Vernon, Ed Marlo, and Larry Jennings never made a living from performing.

Kinda nifty, huh?

Practice!

(gets smacked for making such a lame joke.)

Every year the Academy Awards seriously throws a monkey wrench into my Magic Castle plans. The Kodak Theater (home of the awards show) is ONE BLOCK south of the Magic Castle.

Last year it took me nearly 90 minutes to travel the 4 miles from my house to get there! 90 minutes! Security around the Kodak theater is INSANE during the awards. They have the entire road blocked off for an entire week prior to the red carpet event.

So how should I go there tonight? Shall I take Mulholland? Shall I use Highland? I really don’t want to deal with the INSANE roadblocks and security… but I promised some friends that I would see their shows.

Wish me luck!

My strolling magic performance at the Wedding Happy Hour went very, very well. A lot of people came up to me throughout the night and told me that I was the “hit of the party,” which is always a good thing to hear! To be honest, the crowd was so engaged and enthusiastic that it really made my job easy!

Here’s a VIDEO of the event. You’ll even see me doing some magic.

Wedding Happy Hour from Matt Sutherland on Vimeo.

I’m going to add some other cool videos soon! Keep watching!

This Sunday I performed some strolling magic at a Hilton resort in Huntington Beach. The people were terrific, and things really couldn’t have gone better. It was a huge success.

FYI: Strolling Magic is when the magician walks around during the cocktail hour while performing sleight-of-hand for small groups of people.

Sunday’s gig was great… but after four hours of leaning over tables to entertain resort guests and another 2.5 hours driving to Palm Springs (family stuff)… my back was killing me! I think I really strained it. Not. Cool.

Tomorrow I have a wedding event at 6pm in downtown LA. The event I’m performing at is called Wedding Happy Hour. Weddings are actually a great event to have strolling magic. It’s practically unheard of in the USA, but having a “wedding magician” is really common in England.

In my opinion, being a true professional means you:

• have a QUALITY show that people LOVE
• make MOST of your income from performing magic
• always do what it takes to make your clients happy

And even if your back is KILLING YOU… you still put on a BIG smile and entertain the next table at your gig.

We’ll see how things go tomorrow. I’m hopeful!