Thursday, May 22, 2008

Chamber Challenge... Dang CLEVER DUCKS!

"Good Morning SLO!" is what I hear every so often when attending the Chamber of Commerce breakfast and business meeting. Today was very fun...

I was a "speaker" today which was perfect timing being that I was on the cover of the New Times for being voted Best Entertainer. After making the crowd believe that I make my fortunes with my new drug company, they watched a promo of me doing entertainment poking fun at those pharmaceutical commericals (with the endless side effects!). After the laughter subsided, I performed one effect. The person was chosen by a thrown airplane into the crowd of about 300 business owners and the like. Boy oh boy, the plane crashed landed 4 feet in front of me directly onto Amy Kardel from Clever Ducks. I ended up rushing through the effect to get a partial prediction of freely chosen thoughts and ended the timed speech with, "On the bottom of the flyer at your seats you'll see that there is a challenge... the first to find Dave Garth on my website gets $500 towards a appearance!"... (Dave Garth is the CEO/President of the Chamber of Commerce). We'll guess who won only hours later!?... That is right, Amy Kardel from Clever Ducks. Here's the funny part- I didn't remember or notice that Dave Garth signed my chamber certificate that is on my media/press page on the site. I had planned on giving people a hard challenge of finding the PICTURE of Dave Garth hidden within the album on the site... Oh, well... Better planning next time!

Congrats to Amy Kardel of Clever Ducks for searching and finding "Dave Garth"! As promised, I've posted the winner on the blog asap. The rest of you will have to hire me and see what she is so excited about. After being involved in an effect upclose and personal, she was determined to win this challenge today. There is certainly a big difference between watching an effect and being part of one.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Rich picked as "Best Entertainer"! Thanks Central Coast!

Great News! I was just named Best Entertainer by the annual New Times Readers Poll on the Central Coast. If you live on the central coast of California, grab a May 8-14th copy. I'm on the cover of the newspaper, the cover of the magazine insert, have an interview and several other magical pictures that introduce the other winners in each category! Take a look online at New Times... or take a look at all the parts at my website!

Being recognized as a quality entertainer means a great deal to me. If the category was Best Magician, it wouldn't have been as big of a deal since there are FAR fewer magicians than there are entertainers, actors, singers, dancers, solo artists, jugglers, comedians, etc. THANK YOU so much for those who voted for me.

This should make a huge difference regionally for those event planners who are not familiar with my responsibilities and value as a strolling entertainer. Guests are number one and the magic is just one of several ways I engage to make events more memorable and sophisticated for guests.