This is the Press Release from the latest wonderful thing that happened..
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Doc Eason was just named Best Closeup Magician in a Reader’s Choice poll awards at about.com.

The Readers’ Choice Awards highlights the best products, features, and services across a wide variety of topics. This year the Readers’ Choice Awards showcases the best in hundreds of categories across most of About.com’s channels, from technology to hobbies to sports. It is an international internet based site.

Wayne Kawamoto, the Editorial Guide for magic.about.com, adds, “I was very pleased with the field of nominees that my readers created for the 2012 Readers’ Choice Awards. It was a competitive group of highly qualified and respected close-up magicians from around the world. Doc Eason’s win shows that he is a popular, knowledgeable and influential entertainer in the world of magic. He is a more than worthy winner.”

Doc says he is frankly stunned by this honor. “I didn’t even know this competition was going on! The list of names came out of the blue at me. No one is more surprised than I am. The nominees include many of my personal heroes. To be even named in the same list as some of these men is very humbling.”

Doc has been a major player in the Snowmass entertainment scene since 1977. He held forth at John Denver’s World Famous Tower Comedy Magic Bar in Snowmass for almost three decades. Still based in Colorado, he has been sighted recently in Florida and California.

Doc is the recipient of four Academy Awards from the Academy of Magic Arts in Hollywood. Currently on tour in Florida, he will also be appearing at the famed Hollywood Magic Castle in May. He is also planning a trip to Denver’s own Lumber Baron Magic Cabaret in June.
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Awards… what do they mean? I guess it means that enough people like what you do, they give you an award. Zippety doo dah..

I have never been a competition guy. There are, however, a lot of magicians who are. They put together a routine that fits in a tight time frame. Points are taken off if the routine runs over the allotted time. The object is to fool or surprise the magician judges. If you succeed in doing that, then you win a trophy and a title such as #1 closeup magician in (Pick your favorite city or region). I never saw the point.

My introduction to bar magic showed me an entirely different approach. Get into the trenches, behind the bar and take the patrons on a ride through hilarity and amazement. It was a whole different pace and could never be shoe horned into a time constraint. So I steer away from competitions when ever I can.

I just kept my head down, showed up for work, even if I didn’t feel like it, and slogged through, for 35 years.

A few years ago, I was entered (rather reluctantly) into the “sweepstakes” by the Academy of Magical Arts. But, this was different than a contest. Everyone who performs at the Castle is eligible for nomination. The membership of the Academy (peers) vote and a short list of 5 people are named. Then the membership votes again on those. One member, one vote. Because I live a thousand miles away, I did not campaign for it, either by glad handing or handing out swag. I was flattered and honored to just be on the list, let alone win! After more than a few fruitless ‘trips to the altar’, I was finally awarded Closeup Magician of the Year (for two years in a row!) This is humbling. An Academy award! Unbelievable. I am lucky enough to have a total of four Academy awards.

But then this about.com thing comes in ..

magic.about.com is an international public website for people who are interested in the craft. They had apparently polled their membership as to the “Best Closeup Magician” and Wayne called to tell me I had made the short list along with magicians from Spain, Sweden, Japan, Las Vegas, Hollywood and NYC. My initial excitement to even be on this list was dampened by the fact that multiple votes were allowed; sorta like American Idol only this was only one vote per day. So this looked to be a squaring off of people who knew how to manipulate Facebook and the internet and those who don’t even have a presence on the net. Plus it was anyone and everyone voting, not just magicians.

Once I understood what the rules were for this, I pulled way back on the contest, and refused to beg for votes. I just went back to work and figured that someone else would be much more deserving than me.

Wrong. The first of April, I found out that I had won this silly competition. I really don’t know what to think about it. Didn’t ask for it, would rather have not been involved but it was beyond my control. There is no trophy, no cash award, just ‘bragging rights’ (for whatever that is worth).

So I am flattered, richly honored, a little puzzled and at a total loss as to how this could have happened when you look at the other guys on that list. Thanks if you voted for me.

As Michael P Shore would say, ‘Famous-er and famous-er”

Of the 64 Christmases I’ve spent on this earth, some of them simply aren’t as joyous and as high on the ranking as others. It happens. This particular one wasn’t one of my best. In the middle of a month when I am usually gearing up for the big push, I was thrown into an intense scenario that I had little choice about. I reluctantly went through a week of physical and emotional punishment.

Though bruised, I made it through that stretch but when I came up for air, I found myself at the beginning of a crazy schedule that had me going every night from the 20th through new years. I traded one level of intensity for another. I am not complaining. Being mercifully busy was the best thing that could have happened. Besides the obvious financial benefit, I was able to put smiles on a lot of faces. That fed my soul.

In the middle of all this, the strangest thing happened.

On Christmas night, I was driving home from an wonderful early party in a lovely home on Red Mountain in Aspen with three generations represented. I finished, they went to dinner and I was on the road home at 8PM. Perfect.

As I headed out of Aspen, for some reason, the music choices on my favorite NPR stations were awful. I hit search- something I rarely do- and I landed on 93.5 -’The Thunder!’-a commercial pop station I NEVER listen to- not my kind of station. But, by the strangest coincidence, I lucked into the run up to the reading of a story called “The Littlest Cowboy’s Christmas”. The author is a local pal -Michael Chandler. I recognized his voice so I listened. Threading my way through Snowmass Canyon, this wonderful little story unfolded. I was spellbound. It’s a true story of a Christmas eve 40 years ago. Chandler and his son, a cowboy named Joe, his shaggy horse, Lefty, and a guy named John Denver and his son gathered in a drafty barn not far from here. The story was captivating, but since I knew all the people in the story, it was even more riveting. Just as I pulled into my driveway (the timing couldn’t have been more perfect), John’s rendition of “Silent Night” started.

It’s good I was where I needed to be, because the culmination of that heartwarming story, the clarity of John’s beautiful voice, the peacefulness of the cold crisp Christmas night, the memories of all my previous Christmases, the memories of my own beautiful children singing John’s music to me, the awareness that this wasn’t my ‘best Christmas’, well, it all just hit me. I sat in the driveway and the tears just came. By the time the third verse started, I was wracked with a cathartic sobbing that rarely happens to me but that I welcome when it does. It signals a release of emotion that I have held in for a long time. The story ended. I turned the radio off and sat in the stillness marveling at what had just happened.

It’s certainly not the first time that John’s music has brought me to tears but what made this little event so much more remarkable was the unlikely circumstances of happening on this reading, on a station that I never listen to, tuning in at the exact right moment, and the fact that John’s guitar began to play AS I drove into my driveway. The coincidental nature of all this is unlikely but was perfectly timed.

If you think of things like this, maybe I was MEANT to hear it. Though December is still a blur, this little bit of magic restored my Christmas.

I am not sure whether to thank Michael, or maybe even John for reaching back through the veils! All I know is that this strange coincidental set of circumstances lent some peace to the evening and it made my Christmas (dare I say) truly magical.

I hope you all have a wonderful new year.
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If you are so inclined, that whole story is at the following

http://www.radiofreeaspen.com/audio/PSAPGM111225.mp3

Click on the scrubber bar thingy, move it to 16:00 and listen to this story. It will be worth it. When the song ends, the story isn’t over!!! Give it a moment, and Chandler picks it back up and finishs it.

If you are further inclined, the book is available at Amazon.

http://tinyurl.com/72rrle2

This night…a random night in the winter…I was blessed by having a STELLAR and stunning trio of beautiful women in the front row.  Of the three beauties, only Mia is a local, who I see now and then. But the other two, cute and perky Sandy and the ravishingly beautiful Alicia with her beguiling eyes…. just happened to be there.

Here is the strange thing though, I had never seen them -ever -before. I never saw them again that week nor have I seen them  since!  That’s kind of bizzare.

They added a lot of vitality to the group…I couldn’t have hired a better audience.

Maybe the stars were in alignment…maybe I just got lucky… who knows… but this piece comes as close to capturing the vibe of the Tower as any piece of video. It is also a lovely look back at the legendary place. Those were the days, my friends, those were the days…

click on this link… I can’t figure out how to make the YouTUbe thing appear here without having to click on it…
Angels in the front row.

Mike in the blue shirt is reacting to something I was doing. I wish he could be in my audience every night.

I am equally rabid about his incredible talent. We have spent much time laughing together and he loves the bent wheel line. So he skillfully wove the line into his nationally syndicated strip, Mother Goose and Grimmy.

What an unbelievable weekend.

I was in Central FL to be a part of the last weekend of Epcot’s Food and Wine festival.  Though I have been in Orlando many times, I really haven’t been to anything at Epcot for more than 20 years. I never had the time or inclination to ‘hit the parks’. Mostly I have been ‘flying solo’ and any visit to Disney really isn’t that special if you can’t share the memory with someone.

This time was to be a bit different. I was there ‘working’ and so had a team to hang with. So I had a chance to really enjoy the place with a group of like minded folks and it was a gas.

I did my little stint but got to hang around a bit longer in the Disney Beach Club hotel. Deluxe!

Culminating this 5 week celebration of eating and drinking was the “Party for the Senses”- a gala event that was the capstone to the whole thing. My client was involved in this as well but my part of the weekend was over and there weren’t enough tickets to allow me to attend.

Enter: my Disney Pal John surprised me when he told me he had just one ticket left and asked if I was interested in going.

Um, YAH!! so I spent Saturday on the DL .. resting up for what proved to be one of the best nights of my life.

I was to meet up with John and the rest of his contingent at about 7 but I knew that one of my favorite bands was playing at a wide open concert so I headed over to Epcot at about 5, figuring this was a good place to kill a couple of hours.

The nearer I got to the entrance the more people began to join in the stream of folks heading toward the turnstiles. This was an extremely popular weekend and there were more people in this stream than I have been around in a long while. I cleared the gate, (where I had to lay my finger on a scanner that took my fingerprint to get in! Very weird.)

As I entered the park, the atmosphere really began to rev up. There was already a river of people in the walkways and if you wanted to get out of the river, all you had to do was head to the side (the “riverbank”) and you could sit out and observe the flow. In this mix was an astounding assortment of people- from the most interesting and beautiful faces, sensuous bodies in an array of clothing options -to the most grotesque of shapes and sizes.   I wonder how Americans are perceived by our foreign visitors???  and speaking of foreign visitors… this was as close to a European vacation as you can get. Besides the different themes, snippets of conversations in strange languages move past you as you make your way through the crowd.

I entered the park at “England” and skirted the lake as I headed toward the American Stage.. I suddenly found myself in “Japan”! -complete with the iconic Torii in the water and Shinto temple architecture. I was just in time for a demonstration of those big Japanese drums being played by three very intense looking Japanese girls in traditional garb rhythmically pounding out a complex drumming piece that I can only guess goes back thousands of years. I thought to myself, “I spent three weeks in Japan and never saw anything approaching this.” That I had to come to Florida to experience authentic Japanese culture was incongruent at best. I was spell bound as the drumming intensified and I could feel the resonance in my core. When they stopped, I just stood there vibrating and mesmerized by what I had just witnessed.

Shaking my head, I once again joined the river and was swept in to the “American” section where Big Bad Voodoo Daddy was just coming on stage. Wow. I LOVE the music they play…high powered swing music that makes it impossible to sit still when you listen. In my typical concert pattern, I couldn’t sit down and so I wandered all over the venue, occasionally getting close to band to feel that beat. As I made it back toward the ‘river’ I was able to witness a spontaneous dance number performed by two lithe and beautiful people.  She was slim, long waisted with a short bob haircut and stunningly cute. He was long and tall and sinewy.  They just burst into a high energy bop that had the crowd mesmerized- well, I was anyway. I fell in love with this girl in a matter of seconds.. so free, spontaneous, and boy! could she move.. I thought for a moment that they were cast members-so spot on was their dancing, but as the dance wore on, it was evident that they were just members of the ‘river’. Over as quickly as it started, they collapsed into each others arms before the end of the song, blended into the stream and disappeared leaving me slack-jawed at the exhibition.

I stayed for about 45 minutes and soaked in more of the high-energy music. Shaking my head at how wonderful this was, I joined the flow toward the big gates that kept the regular folks separated from those of us lucky enough to have tickets to the Party for the Senses.

A powerful thirst was developing and so I stopped into the ‘authentic’ British pub and got a cider and black… a drink that I had in England a long time ago but hadn’t had for years. Wandering out of the crowded pub, I began to look for a quiet place to imbibe, I headed to a bench overlooking the lake and struck up a conversation with two lovely folks who actually lived in Bristol, England and love coming over here and enjoying the world according to Disney.  We compared and contrasted cultures and marveled at this thing called Epcot. It was a wonderfully engrossing fun encounter.

I had time to kill before the rest of the group showed up so I bid adieu to my Bristol friends and entered the stream again just going where ever it took me. I stood and watched a Canadian rock n roll band that featured a bagpipe player as lead! what a bizarre thing but really good!  As I whirled around I was met with a most intense parade of humanity!  Again, the beautiful mingled with the grotesque and everyone in between was also represented. Just as I was thinking how happy everyone looked, as if on cue, a dumpy woman clutching her cell phone with both hands hustled by going in the opposite direction, sobbing, ” She broke my heart! She broke my heart!” another 5 second vignette adding to the other ones that were happening faster than I can describe. I guess everyone wasn’t happy that night.

Groups of a half dozen 20 something kids, dressed in collegiate T shirts, in various states of conviviality would break into song or random cheering and then be gone only to be replaced by bored parents tapping on their cell phones while their strollers were bouncing with kids who were alternatively straining to get out of their restraints, glassy eyed from a whole day at the park or asleep. It is impossible to capture the constantly changing scenes that were going across my viewing screen other than saying it was as close to a psychedelic experience without actual hallucinogens involved. I was loving it.

And the main event hadn’t even started.

I met up with John and his wonderful crew of guests who included a new pal Jeff and his girl Kate who was vivacious and beautiful and had a ready smile.. and whose mom is also from Naugatuck.. what? are the odds.

At 730 promptly the queue started to enter the huge private circus tent. So our crew of 7, joined this feeder and Poof! we were in.

The place was simply buzzing with excitement. The soundtrack for the party was all Cirque music played live that just enhanced the dreamlike atmosphere. There must have been 40 food stations that each had two different foods -all bite sized-accompanied by different paired wines. A lot of thought went into this incredibly well choreographed evening.  Without a moment’s hesitation we all dove into the swirling mass of people who had the single aim of eating as much different food and tasting as many different wines as we could.

Bison, veal, pork shoulder, exotic fish, vegetarian tidbits, many of which I had never even heard of before, tastefully arranged on little beds of grain that I had never heard of either. Delectable morsels of foods that were totally new to me! I thought I was fairly well travelled but grains like farro (?) and fish called Sable (?)  How nice to find things that I have never experienced! All presented in the most delectable fashion.

Three different times, our attention was directed to the main stage where elements of Cirque du Soleil performed a couple of bits. a treat for the eyes if ever there was.

I managed to stay away from the brown liquors that would have probably put me in the ditch. As it was I had a pleasant buzz from the wine and the pervading vibe that was simply sublime. After 3 hours of eating as much as we could, the announcement for the fireworks came across the crowd and Jeff, Kate and I made our way through the throng to an ideal viewing area for the fireworks.  Now, there are fireworks and there are Disney fireworks. This was an intense show that included many varieties of spectacular ‘fill up the sky’ types of pyrotechnics and projections on the clouds left over from the rockets. What a wonderful way to finish this evening off.

I floated back into the ‘Senses’ tent to say my good byes to the new pals I had made. Though invited, I took a pass on the invitation to the after party. I was pleasantly buzzed and just tired enough to make it to my room and hunker in for the evening. I am sure I missed a good time but when I lolled awake the next morning my I was thankful I had made that call.

It was a grand night -

Thank you John, thank you Phil, thank you all for making this one of my grandest nights ever.

I think you will agree, it is a pretty startling resemblance. I was very flattered.

Aside from the fact that everyone on this tour spoke English the tour was every bit as intense and no less grueling as the Japanese tour.

This whole tour was arranged by a dedicated magician who patterned this tour after the Japanese model. I knew that I was signing on for an experience and it was certainly that.

The roster of magicians that have blazed the “Xcelent tour” trail is an impressive list of talent and I am honored to be included.

Ryan really rose to the occasion and was a star on this run. His retail expertise really shined at every stop. He efficiently set up shop and kept pace at the sales table and that allowed me to do all the other stuff. Frankly I don’t know how I used to do this whole thing singlehanded. It is a tremendous amount of work. I simply could not have done this without him.

We arrived in Victoria a few days before the official start to sort of get in the groove.

We were blessed by outstanding weather on our first full day in the capital of British Columbia. Ryan and I just wandered around, enjoying the foliage, views and the vibe of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The extra days at the front end of this tour really helped to get set up for the daily grind to come.

Beacon Hill Park Victoria BC

Once we started, the typical day was head to the airport. check bags, wait for the flight, fly to our destination, meet our new host, be taken to a hotel, freshen up, load the gig bags with product, do the lecture, sell, sell, sell, go to the pub with the boys, have a beer or two and tell a few stories, then head to the hotel for a few hours of sleep and then do it all again the next day.. we did this for 6 days straight.

It got to the point where we didn’t remember details that happened just a few days before because all the days ran together.

We met some wonderful magicians, who were very kind to us road warriors. The problem with a pace like that, is it doesn’t allow a lot of time for visits with older ‘living legend’ kinda  guys who I would like to have spent time with. The opportunities to meet and spend time with these guys are fewer and farther between and so to be in the same town but not have the time to visit with them was one of my biggest disappointments.

This could be called the Trains, Boats, Planes, Ferries and Bus tour. We were on them all.

On our day off we rented a car and headed to the Oregon Coast (from Lincoln City to Florence anyway) and experienced a beautiful day that included rain, drizzle, sun, blue skies, clouds, and then rain again. Not sure how people live out there in the gray. Ryan is very sensitive to grayness. If it snows here for three days straight, his mood is severely effected . He wouldn’t be able to live there in the northwest for any more than a season or two! Not sure I would either. I love it when it is clear and bright, it just isn’t like that often enough for my tastes.

The after lecture hangs are often the best part of the experience. Ryan really shined in these sessions. His long flowing beautiful hair and slender articulate fingers deftly demonstrated his skills which have increased greatly after a year of practice with me over our kitchen table. He was holding his own with some of the ‘big dogs’ of the magic world and he held his own very well.  So this was a voyage of discovery for the young lad. He really came into his own on this adventure. He now has a name for himself out there in the magic world. All I could do is sit back and smile proudly. He really did me right out there.

The boys in Edmonton

Like his brother before him in Japan, Ryan and I bonded on several levels and it was something that will always stand out as extra special time together.

To which the obvious answer is .. why not?

I had a two day engagement in Denver on one weekend and then on the next weekend I had to be in Springfield, IL. I didn’t want to go and come back then go and  come back again. So I thought I would look into what might be in between those two cities. After a couple of inquiries to Omaha, I nailed down a two day event there. Then a straight line emerged and the Amtrak route was a perfect fit.  For years, I have heard people talk about the trip through the mountains and into Denver. For any number of other reasons, I was unable to do this but all I can say is “DO IT”.  The train runs through some of the most spectacular scenery I have ever seen and the 6 hour trip went way too fast. Plus I have never taken a multiple day train trip and it was time to cross this off my bucket list.

Simple as that.

You can’t be in a hurry on a train. So I factored in a few hours here and there so that Amtrak’s undependable schedule was never an issue. Even the return ~the 22 hour run from Galesburg to Glenwood~ was knocked askew by a DERAILMENT  of all things. Even that disruption was not really an insurmountable glitch. It wasn’t MY train that derailed… so, though it was all a bit behind schedule. it was all good.

The whole experience put me in touch with a lot of different people from lots of different walks of life. That is a big part of this whole adventure. If a person is uneasy while interacting with strangers, this might not be the best suggestion. But if you at ease with this, some of the people you come into contact with are fascinating. I met a lot of people from Europe who were experiencing the US version of extended train travel. Their insights and comments were especially insightful. Though their trains are a bit better than ours, they had never seen our wide open scenery. The great plains giving way to the Rocky Mountains as we came into Colorado was quite a site for me but for them it was staggering.

Some magicians have commented that they loved being able to do magic for passengers. I didn’t do any magic for anyone on the train. I wanted to use the time for relaxing and contemplating the experiences I was having OFF the train. That’s just me. It was a long and busy winter. The drama and sub plots of my personal life are enough to fill in a lot of blogs. I loved having the time to ‘cocoon’ in my little compartment. No internet but that’s ok too. The iphone kept me as connected as I wanted to be.  I loved having a compartment to retreat to when the population of the club car turned weird.  Cozy but comfortable is the best way to describe the ‘roomette’.  The food, included (!)  when you buy the roomette, is surprisingly good. The company varies wildly from fascinating folks to people you would never even notice were they not across the table from you. It was all good, though.

But I was happy to jump off and be home with my own bed and shower.

I will say that there is nothing quite so delicious as a long hot shower and one’s own bed after several days on a train.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the train. I love the concept of not being in an all fired hurry to get to where you are headed. I guess I straddle enough time to (barely) remember  the golden age of rail travel. I am a fan. Though they have one, I have yet to take a shower on the train and  so it is especially wonderful when you are finally able to take a long and luxurious shower in your own bathtub.

Would I do this again.. you bet.. in a heartbeat. I might like to do a longer trip next time.

Now prepping for the next adventure.

While it was a strange year for snowfall~hardly any here in Basalt, but LOTS up in the resort, it turned out to be a great winter for me. For the past several years, I have done an afternoon show at the Silvertree Hotel in the Conservatory, a difficult venue in that it was a long narrow room – a bit like working in a trailer. This year the ‘powers that be’ moved me into another of their properties, the Wildwood Hotel lobby. This was a better venue (still flawed but much more workable). The first performance was revelatory. I found that if you look out that window right there, you can see the Tower Building. As I gazed at the crowd, I saw that clearly half the room had actually BEEN in the Tower at some point over the years. So I asked the crowd if they would like to hear the story of how the Tower came about. After an enthusiastic affirmative response, I began to explain how Crow, Paul and Michael P Shore arrived here in this magical place, how John Denver became involved, how Bob Sheets introduced the magic bar in the summer of 1975. People seem to be genuinely interested in all these old stories and I am only too willing to tell them again. I am also introducing some new magic that seems to support the stories.

For the last 12 weeks, I honed and polished the material. I added and eliminated different pieces. Wishing that I could do it once a day  rather than once a week, I did what I could to make this into an entertaining romp through the early days of Snowmass. I had some wonderful advice coming from Eric Mead, who of course was a big part of the recent history. Nearly everyone who saw it had suggestions and ideas. I sorted through all of them and, while it still has a ways to go, I am thrilled with how it is developing.

I firmly believe that this is the ‘next step’ for me. As much as I love working the bar, it is a demanding venue that has a variable payoff. I am liking the idea of being able to present this to an attentive crowd who will have paid to see it. They are there at the start, sit and watch the show and then file out. The randomness of the bar, with people coming and going, being called to dinner, the unruly hyped up kids are all NOT present for this. The potential for this is limitless. I can see a venue that would seat about 50-60 ppl and be a real feature for the folks who come and visit us here.

I will keep you posted as to the development of the presentation I am calling ‘Secret Destinations’.

The Stonebridge was a tremendous crossroads of “people from everytime”. Countless faces from the past swirled past me all year long. It was heartwarming to see so many folks, some of whom I have seen every year for 34 years. Astounding.

I am also ‘finding my voice’ with the  ”name thing”. One of the magic stunts I am known for, comes from the trick where I have a bunch of cards selected. They are shuffled back in the deck and then I attempt them find their cards and call each person by name. I am a firm believer that the use of a person’s name is one of the most powerful ways that we have to connect with other people.  I have put together a session on how to do exactly that, connect with people by using their names. My audiences seem to really respond well to this piece. Yet another way for groups to use my talents.

So, though I am moving a bit slower and it seems like I take more naps these days, I am actually quite busy.

On an upcoming trip to Texas, one of my chores will be to pack up Kati who, though she had a fine time and a productive year in Texas, has decided to move a little closer to home and transfer to CU Boulder. I couldn’t be happier about that. She is a whole lot closer to home, she is instate, and since Mack went there, we have a lot of friends ‘on the ground’ there for her to connect up with. Southwestern was a great ‘first year of college’ school but she missed the mountains and this makes me warm inside.

Life moves on whether we like it or not.

Thanks for your continued interest in my life and times.