As I stared into that old wooden Anheuser-Busch Magic Box that’s been by my side since 1975, and has literally traveled ALL over the world with me, I only had two thoughts.
The first… Wow… I’ve been at this professional show business game for exactly 40 years now!
Here it is, May 2024, exactly 40 years!
The second thought… oh my God… everything on my body hurts so much more than I thought
was possible way back in 1984.
Having said that, I’m super happy to be here!
Exactly 40 years ago this May… I graduated from the University of North Alabama with a Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre. It was not easy; I’m dyslexic, and I just don’t read well. I also don’t take tests very well, but I worked for it.
I owned it.
I – ALSO – owned a beautiful white wedding dress.
I’d made the choice a few days earlier to not get married to a woman I really loved but didn’t believe we could make it work.
Thanks to the stress of this adventure I’d lost 15 pounds and was ready to skip town and make a completely fresh start.
My feeling was… look out New York City… here I come!
Days later I was living in a five-story walkup in “The Village” – NYC. It was a studio apartment that included five roommates, and a bathtub in the kitchen. No kidding, you open the front door to the apartment and you’re looking at your roommate taking a bath.
A couple of observations… looking back on 40 years of professional show business.
The first observation… I feel that I’m now at the TOP OF MY GAME.
I’m proud of that. I don’t think I was a good magician at the start of my career. I’m pretty sure I was terrible, but I enjoyed entertaining people and magic was a great way to do it. I worked hard at it and I’m proud of arriving in the position I am in now.
The second observation… I’m a lot better off financially than I was then.
Back then I was poor as a church mouse, but we got by. I studied, I street performed, I hustled, and I eventually married well.
Over the years, my partner in crime – THE ART GODDESS – and I have worked hard to make good financial decisions about mortgages, investments, and such. I’ve also gotten lucky.
We – HAVE – faced some extremely scary times (the pandemic was just horrible for us, and we definitely moved BACKWARDS several pegs), but things are good and stable now.
I really didn’t have a good “feel” for business when I started out, but I come from a long line of
The third observation… I’m grateful for all of it…. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I’ve been lucky enough to travel around the world. No kidding… I’ve performed shows in Portugal, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Australia, Canada, and more. Some of these shows were amazing, and some were the most stressful shows of my entire life. In one case, I was overseas and literally believed I was having a mental breakdown and heart attack all at the same time, but I’m grateful for all of it.
I wish I’d handled the hurdles and challenges a little better than I have, but you deal with stuff… “where you are” and that’s exactly what I did.
I’m grateful for the Alabama Public Television board members who gave me a shot at a national science show for kids. Interestingly, this is NOT the show I originally pitched, this was my BACKUP show, but it worked and man I’m really proud of STEVE TRASH SCIENCE.
I could have made it better if I’d had more money, but I’m pretty sure you can say that about anything…
I’m grateful for all the agents who believed in me and have sent me to fairs, festivals, and performing arts venues across the US.
I’m grateful for my dogs.
I’m grateful for my family.
I’m grateful for my beautiful Frog Pond Manor home.
I’m grateful for the Art Goddess.
I’m also grateful to you.
Thank you for supporting me over the years.
And… I’d like to apologize to everyone I’ve bored over the past 40 years; I’ve always given it my best, but I know I’ve come up short sometimes.
Having said that, I never mail it in, so please forgive my shortcomings.
I always give 100% and I really do appreciate you coming along for the ride with me.
Thank you.
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