The 2012 Winter/Spring Tour is off to a wintery start! We had to reschedule the first college campus of the year (see below) and almost had to reschedule a second one! Nonetheless, things are really clicking with the show. I sincerely hope you have the opportunity to get to one of the shows on the tour soon!  See the below list of shows on the schedule to see if I’ll be in a city near you and keep checking back for updates!

2012 Winter/Spring Tour

January 12 – Chicago, IL – RESCHEDULED FOR FEB. 2
January 14 – Dubois, PA
January 19 – Adrian, MI
January 21 – Glassboro, NJ
January 26 – Cleveland, OH
January 31 – Baltimore, MD
February 2 – Chicago, IL
February 3 – Flagstaff, AZ
February 7 – Alpine, TX
February 9 – Lyndonville, VT
February 11 – Guest DJing –  Powell, OH
February 15 – Melbourne, FL
February 16 – Normal, IL
February 18 – Columbus, OH
February 22 – Mattoon, IL
February 25-29 – NACA – Charlotte, NC
March 10 – Dayton, OH
March 16 – Bexley, OH
March 29-31 – NACA – St. Paul, MN
April 6 – Bennington, VT
April 13 – Ewing, NJ
April 21 – Hamilton, OH
April 28 – Manito, IL

For more info on any of the above dates, refer to my published tour schedule.

Also – remember that voting is still going on for 2012 Entertainer of the Year!  The story was recently picked up by Columbus NBC4!

These “year-in-review” posts sometimes feel somewhat obligatory, but in this case, 2011 was an incredible year and as I look back, I’m overwhelmed with topics to write about.



Here are some standout memories:


2011 was a record year for me as far as the college tour goes. So many great memories. I performed in more colleges than ever this year. While it was hard on my body and mind at times, I got through it with the help of friends, loved ones and amazing audiences.


Did some great TV with ABC6/FOX28 Columbus’s Johnny DiLoretto – some of my first experience with LIVE television. I learned that live TV can be a very difficult thing – Johnny handles it like a pro. When it goes well, it’s exhilarating!


I began my commercial acting career in 2011, and worked on commercials and industrials for Intel, Ohio Lottery, Kemba Financial and a few others!


In 2011, I offered an original creation as my first release to the magic community. repAIR is a Popped and Restored Balloon effect that has never been seen before in the history of magic. It was met with favorable reviews and has sold really well so far.

The Free Beer Tour* was an event that I put together with Corey Montie where I toured local bars and taught attendees bar bets that they could use to scam their friends out of free drinks.


In probably one of the most important things I’ve done in my career, I helped Hopeline, IMAlive.org and Post Secret raise money for Suicide Awareness through this PSA.


Predictions for 2012:

For me, I can already tell that 2012 has some exciting things coming. Two of them I can’t talk about quite yet, but soon! If you get on my mailing list by entering your email address above or clicking here, I guarantee you’ll hear about them! As always, I usually tweet about things as they happen! I hope everyone has had an amazing Holiday Season. Have a wonderful and fun-filled New Years Eve. Make sure you kiss your loved one and hold them tight. If you don’t have a loved one, grab the person next to you and smooch. The memory of the kiss will long outlast the bruise you’ll receive from his or her significant other.


Stay tuned,
MK

The grateful magician acknowledges and recognizes the magicians that have come before him or her that have allowed the new presentations, methods, ideas and effects to flourish.


The grateful magician thanks his or her audiences for allowing themselves to be entertained by a complete stranger.


The grateful magician understands that people have many things to do. Watching a magic show doesn’t have to be one of them. They have made a choice to watch. And for that, a magician should be grateful.


The grateful magician thanks those in charge of hiring him or her and treats them with nothing but humble respect. A grateful magician is not a diva.


The grateful magician appreciates all types of audience members. Even silent ones.


The grateful magician supports those who create magic and pays for books, videos and effects rather than pirating and sharing them.


The grateful magician does not refuse to perform when asked.


The grateful magician realizes the sacrifice and dedication to those who work in theater, sound & lighting, booking, tech, crew, advertising and other behind-the-scenes roles and thanks them accordingly.


This Thanksgiving, I hope we (magicians) all try to be grateful magicians. And after Thanksgiving, let’s try to be grateful every day.


I’m going to start by thanking all of you who regularly read my blog. Thank you all. This applause is for you.

I had a great show last night at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, OH – the next to the last show of the fall tour! I performed in Rickly Chapel, an upstairs auditorium on campus. Normally at Heidelberg, I can’t perform without a train going by every five minutes (and by “by” I mean literally BY – the tain train tracks are 50 feet away), but for some reason there were NO trains during my show. A Thanksgiving Miracle!


One mishap during the show. After visiting someone in the front row near the top of the show, I decided to return to the state by hopping up rather than using the stairs at the side. The result was my back pocket getting caught up on the edge of the stage and me being pulled down violently. It was funny at the time, but I’m sore this morning. I think I injured my butt-bone. Do I have a butt-bone? I can’t wait to see the weirdo traffic that “butt bone” brings to my site.


Here are some photos from the evening. The part where I’m laying on the stage are immediately after my “mishap.” Thanks to Lacey Squire for the photos.

I consider making people laugh one of the most important things I can do. Occasionally, I get the opportunity to do something more important than that.


I recently worked with Hopeline.com‘s Reese Butler and PostSecret‘s Frank Warren on a project to help them raise money for suicide prevention during DC Gives on November 9. They have produced a deck of cards that feature warning signs for friends and family members to look out for to identify a loved one at risk. Their idea was to have a magician display these cards and they selected me to shoot this project with them. The video will be used after the DC Gives event to continue to raise money for Suicide Prevention via Hopeline, which is the 1-800-SUICIDE support hotline and IMAlive.org, a 24/7 suicide prevention chat line. The specially printed playing cards, along with special wristbands (also seen in the video) will be available after the November 9 DC Gives event by donating to Hopeline.





Subscribers to my “Michael Mail” E-newsletter got an exclusive look at this video earlier this week (to get on this list, type your email in the box on the upper right corner of my website or click here). Please help benefit this great cause and spread this video out to your social networks via Facebook, Twitter and email by using the share icons below.


Thank you,
MK


P.S. Within minutes of this video going live on my YouTube Account yesterday, a young man contacted me, seeking help.

I’m excited to announce that my original popped and restored balloon effect, repAIR, is now available for purchase worldwide, making it my first ever release to the magic community. repAIR is an effect in which a balloon is inflated, tied in a knot, popped, and then repAIRed and inflated once again. Your hands can be shown empty both before and after the trick.


repAIR is available exclusively through Theory11.com :: The Wire, and was one of the few tricks to be chosen to be launched along with the revolutionary new magic marketplace. From Theory11′s website:

Imagine it: You walk up to a group of people. After asking for one of the girls’ numbers and being rejected, you pull out a balloon from your pocket and begin to inflate it. You remove a pencil from your pocket and pop the balloon, scaring the crap out of the girl (whom you are probably too good for anyway) and she begins to cry. Let’s face it: there’s nothing worse than a crying girl. You immediately start to massage the broken balloon pieces until they fuse together, allowing you to blow the balloon up once again. She gives you her number, but you don’t call because she’s been with all your friends. You instead make a fart noise with the balloon and put it back into your pocket – she doesn’t deserve it.
repAIR happens right in front of their faces and you’re able to show both hands completely empty before and after the effect. There’s no need to load, ditch or swallow anything. It’s super practical, extremely baffling, and looks like real magic.

$14.95 Available for instant download from Theory11.com/Wire

Also: Here’s a video of me performance repAIR to a packed house in Manchester, NH.

This video was edited out of archive footage from February of 2011 during a particularly treacherous travel situation.

Since I’m such a big deal and all, I get asked to be on big-time television shows like Public Access in Wheeling, WV. I know, I know. I’m getting recognized everywhere now. I kid, but in reality, this is a pretty cool program when you realize that it’s produced entirely by high school students with the help of Nathan Marshall and the Brooke High School Video Production teaching staff.







Visit Nathan’s YouTube channel to see more episodes of “Ohio Valley Tonite.” When I was in high school, we had a pretty nice production studio, and I would have loved the opportunity to work on projects like this. Students are learning shot composition, editing, green screen, lighting, audio and more.

I recently appeared on “Good Day Columbus” with Johnny DiLoretto to promote the “Free Beer Tour*.” It’s a series of events where I’ll show you how to win free drinks from your friends using “can’t lose” bar bets.







The next Free Beer Tour* evening will be THIS THURSDAY at Brewski’s in Upper Arlington, OH. For more info, visit Dimensional Entertainment.