There is a highly addictive thought wave that runs through modern society that amateurs are nothing and making money is everything. It seems that if you are not doing something professionally, then you shouldn't be doing it at all. Apparently people just can't fathom putting forth the effort if money cannot be made or some sort of wealth attained. Being a professional has become the be-all-end all status symbol of success that all amateurs should strive to achieve. To stay an amateur means that you're at some infantile stage that needs improvement.

     This could never be more true than the magic community. "Quick! Hurry!
Learn this set of moves or buy this new gimmick. Be another Copperfield or Dai Vernon before someone finds out that you're not." It may not be said in that way, but the thought prevails that we must be professional moneymakers at our craft or we are less than perfect. It runs through many of our magical publications, gatherings, and conversations.

     The truth is that about 85-90% of magicians have a primary job other than magic that supports them. Also, the stress of being a professional can cause you to make some decisions that affect the amount happiness in your life.

     The word amateur comes from the Italian word "amore'", meaning "love" or "to love". To be an amateur literally means to do something simply for the love of doing it. How we ever got around to thinking it was a nasty word that meant someone was a nobody is beyond me.

     Another important point here is that all magicians owe a tremendous debt to amateurs. It is the amateur who, because of his/her love for the art, spends countless hours in front of a mirror with a certain prop working out moves that baffle our audiences. Professionals have very little time for this. They are either showing or arranging for a show. I know, I've been there.

     In 1989, I left the clamoring rat-race of the Southern California magic scene to live in North Florida. Here I met and married a beautiful woman named Lisa. Raising a family eventually took me away from professional magic, and I have since been very happy as a semi-professional amateur.
This means while I do still get paid for performing, I also hold another unrelated job.

     I love all facets of magic and that job allows me the time for magical creativity and magical studies beyond the tricks. I now hold a rich historical knowledge of the craft that I didn't have before. It also allows me to perform the shows I want, for the audiences I want, when I want to do them. I am able to share the magic of life with my wife and children. These freedoms are very important to me and are things that I didn't have as a professional magician.

     There is something else in magic that pays me more than money. When I am able to brighten lives and expand minds with a magical experience, it makes all the effort worthwhile. I see the beautiful look of bewilderment upon people's faces now more than I ever did before.

     As my magical friend Peter Derby has said many times, "There are many rooms in the house of magic." There are close-up workers, parlor magicians, and illusionists. There are obscure divisions such as prop collectors, mentalists, clowns, jugglers, fire eaters, and many more. Of these, there are professionals, semi-professionals, non-professionals, and yes amateurs of every degree. Whatever you do, and however you do it, make sure that the reasons you do it are your own and that you love doing it. Don't fall victim to a predetermined way of thinking. You will be much happier in the long run. I wish you the best of everything you want out of magic, and remember.......