Tamalewood's Calling! Revitalizing My Acting Career In New Mexico

There’s just too much happening here to ignore it anymore. The film industry is booming in my home state. In fact, New Mexico’s new nickname is Tamalewood. So, I called my talent agency who I haven’t worked with since they changed ownership and reupped my contract. With any luck I’ll be on set before you can say, “Red or green?”

Thanks to my Denver photographer friend Richard Feldman for the great headshots.

Me. Coming soon to a theater near you!

Book Your Company Holiday Entertainment Soon!

I have to tell ya, I get sooo many calls in November from well-meaning people who got volunteered to hire entertainment for their company’s holiday party and didn’t know where to start so they put off their task until the last minute. By then, all the quality entertainers were booked. So they “settled” for someone who was available.

That happened with one company who contacted me last year. This year, well, they’ve already booked me! That’s the way to do it. 

Don’t start looking for a band, comedian, hypnotist, dance troupe, murder mystery, casino night, dj or whatever in November. Seriously, all the good ones will be booked. Start now. Contact me, contact an entertainment agency in your area, contact the local comedy club, but contact somebody!

When you’ve hired the best entertainment within your budget, believe me, you’ll be the company hero.

Don’t worry, most bookers want to help you get the best talent available and will walk you through the process. When you succeed, they succeed.

Cheap Market Research And The Snow Cone Lady

Last weekend I had a stage hypnosis gig at a small county fair in Colorado. Because of heavy rainstorms the night before, the fair started out being rather weakly attended. But the show must go on. I performed for a small crowd (sounds like an oxymoron to me) for the first show.  I noticed a lady wearing a t-shirt from the snow cone vending stand sitting in the back row.

As the weather cleared up and the fair attendance grew, so did my audience. At every show, I noticed the snow cone lady. I made her part of my fourth show (although she didn’t volunteer to be hypnotized) by referencing her snow cone stand in some of my skits.

After the hypnosis show, I walked over to the snow cone trailer for a cold one. I opted for blueberry. As the snow cone lady handed me my icy treat, she told me she liked my show better than the hypnotists they’d had at this fair in the past. I said, “Thank you” and started to leave. Then I turned around and asked her, “Why? I’m doing some cheap marketing research and would like to know why you like my show better than the previous hypnotists?” She said, “It’s because you’re more friendly, funny and approachable than the hypnotists we’ve had before. They were more dark and mysterious.”

I said, “Thanks” and left. And I had a smile on my face. Because she confirmed that I had made my show into what I wanted it to be.

When I was first learning hypnosis I went to a couple of other stage hypnotist shows and was stricken by their lack of friendliness to their audience and volunteers. And I made up my mind that my “hook”, my unique selling proposition in marketing lingo, was going to be that my show would be a party that engaged everyone at the show. So, instead of the all-powerful, mysterious hypnotist, I wanted to be the host of a party where hypnosis was just one of the things on the menu. Being warm and welcoming was my first goal. Even if the hypnosis part didn’t work for some reason, everyone would at least feel as if they were part of a fun event.

Luckily my hypnotic skills haven’t failed me. But they’re still secondary to my host skills.

So, thank you, snow cone lady. You’ve confirmed my instincts as to the theme of my show. I’m honored that you were able to attend my little soiree. I hope you had fun and please, drive that snow cone trailer home safely.