Card mentalism video

I recorded this video of a mental-themed illusion* at the request of another magician who was interested in my presentation for this routine. It’s a rough, off-the-cuff presentation but it was fun, so enjoy!

*My good friend Paul Cummins developed this excellent example of card mentalism.

Fourth quarter already?

I got back from performing trade show magic in Cleveland and looked at the calendar – the fourth quarter of 2009 kind of snuck up on me. I just finished jobs for NCR (now based near Atlanta) and Subnet Solutions (based in Calgary, Alberta), and other engagements are stacking up in December.

The schedule from now until New Year’s Eve is filling fast, but there are a couple of spots left. If your organization is planning a year-end event where I might be a corporate entertainment resource… call immediately (404 644 6791) to check your date. If I’m already booked, remember that my company also functions as an agency for other talented performers and speakers in various regions of the country. Let’s talk about what we can do for you and your event. (Here’s a fun option: Melody Knighton as Lucy or Dolly!)

Are you following me on the various social networking sites? If not, please do:
Connect: Atlanta Magician Joe M. Turner on Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter

I had a day off yesterday – a welcome breather in a week filled with 9 bookings! I took the opportunity to see two other performers “do their thing.” India-based mentalist Pradip Almadi spoke at a conference where I also performed. He’s in the country for a convention next week and happened to have an engagement in Atlanta. I also went over to Kennesaw State University last night to see Brian Brushwood, the ever-popular, freaky-fun magician to the college market.

Some upcoming performances:

	October 29 – Judgment Day, Tennessee Temple University, Chattanooga, TN. I’m part of a multi-day festival that is billed as a “Halloween alternative with an inspiring message.” Looking forward to being back in Chattanooga!
	November 1 – FBC Prattville, Prattville, AL – Sunday evening I’ll be doing a magic and mentalism show focusing on cult awareness and basic apologetics.
	November 4 – Marietta Business Association Expo, Cobb Civic Center, 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM. I’ll be entertaining throughout the event as well as doing some MC work.
	November 7 – 172nd Airlift Wing, Jackson, MS – A repeat engagement for Family Day for the Mississippi Air National Guard!

Upcoming Public Appearances

As a corporate magician, speaker, and entertainer, most of my presentations are for private audiences at meetings and conferences. I have been asked several times during the past week when I will have some appearances open to the public. Here are a few upcoming opportunities.

	September 29 (rescheduled to November 4, see comments) – Marietta Business Association Expo, Cobb Civic Center, 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM. I’ll be entertaining throughout the event as well as doing some MC work.
	October 8-11 – Ken Hartley’s “Supernatural,” Abba’s House, Chattanooga, TN, 7:00 PM each night. I’ll be performing close-up magic prior to the show as well as being a guest performer on the stage show.
	(POSTPONED) – Shenanigans at Red Clay Theatre, Duluth, GA. This performance has been postponed. If you have already purchased a ticket, contact the box office to obtain a refund or apply your purchase to the rescheduled show.

Meanwhile, don’t forget that I’m now appearing at Paisano’s on Cedarcrest on Saturday nights when I am in town. 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM each Saturday. If you are making a special trip to see me there, call me to confirm that I’m going to be there.

Atlanta Magician Turner: 4 Magical Ways to Grow Your Business

Atlanta Magician Turner Presents Four Magical Ways to Grow Your Business in a Challenging Economy My presentation today at the Paulding Business Association was on four things I am doing to grow my business.  I offered these tips and reminders as much for myself as I did for the audience.  What were the points? Identify and measure more specific audiences and target my marketing to them more effectively.  Exactly who am I trying to reach… what are some specific characteristics about them?  How can I help other people help me reach them? Identify new markets by thinking about different ways my services can be used.  What’s on the other side of that idea I had… that new commercial I saw… that new promotion I heard about? Strive to keep my communications with clients and prospects both current and relevant.  Is my language appropriate for my audience?  Am I presenting my business with professionalism and credibility?  Am I using new technology effectively? Do some unusual, offbeat things to generate and sustain buzz.  Where would they least expect me to find their card?

I introduced each of these points with a bit of magic or mentalism — then I expounded on how that experience related to the point and illustrated an idea that they could take away and apply to their own businesses. The result of all this?  A presentation that communicates useful ideas to an audience in an engaging manner, encouraging both retention of the information and immediate action. Information and entertainment, blended into a presentation that is part show, part seminar. Are you a member of a chamber, business association, or other group that would enjoy and benefit from a presentation like this? Contact me!

Summer 2009 in Review

JMT outside the Palace of Mystery at the Magic Castle

What happened? Summer zipped by so fast that the blog has been neglected a bit. Make sure you’re on my Facebook fan page or following me on Twitter to get more frequent updates.

Here’s a brief rundown of some of this summer’s highlights.

• Taught Abra-CAMP-Dabra, a three-day magic camp for residents of Seven Hills community
• Performed at Theater on Main in Acworth — and have already been asked back!
• Performed on a summer sunset cruise for Windsong Sailing Academy
• Was installed onto the Executive Committee of the International Brotherhood of Magicians at their convention in Nashville
• Performed for a group of Latvian kids being hosted by Simple Obedience Ministries, a charity near to my heart
• Performed my annual summer illusion show Midsummer Magic! at the Dallas Theater
• Delivered my “Memory Mojo!” talk for the Executive Roundtable series at the Georgian Club
• Performed a sold-out run at the Black Rose Theater in Brandon, Mississippi
• Delivered my “MAGIC of Change” talk for GMMSCA in Savannah, GA
• Performed during Burnt Hickory Baptist’s middle school choir mission trip in Jacksonville
  Became the first Mississippian and the first Georgia magician to perform in all three showrooms at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, CA
• Was featured on Public Broadcasting Atlanta’s “This Is Atlanta” program in an excellent documentary segment about the Georgia Magic Club
• Served as magic consultant and technical advisor on an episode of Drop Dead Diva for Lifetime television; met guest star Paula Abdul during the taping (right after she got a call from Donald Trump!)

As you can see, it’s been non-stop! That list doesn’t include the logistics of family trips, a hospital stay for my son (now doing fine!), and so many other great appearances that I just can’t list them all.

If you are a member of a professional organization, association or other group that hosts meetings and conventions on a quarterly or annual basis, I’d like to talk to you about connecting with your group’s leadership. In the words of Georgian Club membership director Beverly Huff:

“As a speaker, Joe delivered one of the best Executive Roundtable presentations we’ve ever had at the Club. I also saw him entertaining and serving as the MC at a fundraising event and he was just fantastic. If you want your event to be first class, he’s your man.”

Turner featured on Public Broadcasting Atlanta

Joe M. Turner and two of his colleagues were recently featured in a documentary about magic in the Atlanta area. The segment is featured on “This Is Atlanta,” a production of WABE – Public Broadcasting Atlanta. It will air repeatedly during July and August 2009.

“Some of you may know that I was elected to the executive committee of the International Brotherhood of Magicians at their recent convention. But even before that, I was active in the organization; I currently serve as the Territorial Vice President for the state of Georgia, and am a past president of Atlanta’s “Ring 9,” also known as the Georgia Magic Club. Here’s part of a note I sent to the executive committee about this latest press hit.” — Joe M. Turner IBM Ring 9 (The Georgia Magic Club) recently received an excellent bit of local promotion via a documentary piece on Public Broadcasting Atlanta. At the January meeting, a producer from “This is Atlanta” attended our ring meeting and shot some video for a proposed segment on magic in Atlanta. Current Ring 9 president Debbie Leifer arranged it and was careful to let them know that we wanted to be protective of the secrets while also emphasizing the openness of the club to visitors and potential new members. After the meeting, the producer and Debbie invited Ken Scott and myself to participate in more indepth interviews and additional performance segments.

The finished product will air in Atlanta during July and August, but it is now available for viewing online. I’m quite pleased with how it turned out. This link takes you straight to the page where you can read about the segment and click to view the video. The segment treats both the club and the art of magic with a wonderful combination of humor and respect. I extend my congratulations to Debbie Leifer for her success in bringing some great local press to IBM Ring 9, and to all the other Ring 9 members whose appearances in the piece represented our art and our organization so well to the viewing public.

Edited —

Click here to view video on YouTube.

Turner to speak at Georgian Club on July 14

Joe M. Turner speaks on memory training techniques for businesspeople at the Georgian Club in Atlanta on July 14 at 11:30 AM.

Corporate speaker and entertainer Joe M. Turner has been featured on Good Morning America, Nightline, and CNN Headline News. His sleight-of-hand skills and psychological illusions have made him a popular feature at corporate meetings and events nationwide. Joe will give a short sample of his memory improvement workshop. In addition to presenting some amazing mental demonstrations, Joe will teach some basic techniques including: Creative Association: Never forget where you parked again! The Loci Method: Give presentations and speeches with no notes. Plus great information on remembering lists, numbers, and names. $19.95 per person includes a lunch buffet. Reservations are required.

Turner Keynotes at Leadership Conference

In late April, Dee Dee Myers and I were keynote speakers at a leadership conference in Atlanta (produced by Wind Enterprises).  I opened the conference by making Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker appear onstage to welcome the guests, then I gave my talk on The Magic of Change — a change management primer using illusions to illustrate key points.  You can read a report on the conference here, but I thought I’d share a neat photo and a story.

This photo of me and Dee Dee Myers was taken after her keynote at lunch.

As we started to take this photo, I suggested with a grin, “I think I should stand on your right.” She joked back, “Yes, you probably don’t want to get to my left.”

I’ll post more pics when I get them.

Featured speaker/performer at Atlanta Tea Party

Last night I was a featured speaker and performer at the Atlanta Tea Party, the largest such gathering in the nation! My performance before the 15,000+ attendees illustrated that no matter what the message, magic can be an effective and entertaining way to communicate it to an audience.

Coordinated at the grassroots level, the Atlanta Tea Party was a collection of people across party lines who are seeking a return to common sense in government policies relating to taxation and spending. It was a great night!

The Atlanta Tea Party was held at the State Capitol in downtown Atlanta. Sean Hannity of Fox News Channel broadcast his show live from the gathering. While I did get any airtime on FNC, the great news is that I performed for somewhere upwards of 15,000 people last night at the Atlanta Tea Party. I did get to meet and snap photos with Congressman Tom Price, Dick Armey, and Sean Hannity. I even met Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher, whose offhand question to then-candidate Obama began a wave of media interest that landed me on a report that was featured on Good Morning America.

When I first arrived at the event, it looked at first as if I might be cut from the program schedule altogether. When Sean Hannity got on site, the producer demanded several changes to the schedule at their hour; nobody was to be on stage during the actual broadcast. The organizers had to cut an hour of programming… and my planned 5-minute set was one of the pieces on the chopping block. They were able to put few people back on the program by running people on the main stage during Hannity’s commercial breaks. The people restored to the program were Congressman Lynn Westmoreland, Congressman Tom Price, and me! I was onstage during the 9:30pm commercials. I was fortunate to be part of that group, as there was not enough time to restore several other scheduled performers and speakers to the program.

Hannity’s show was tightly packed and packaged and set… there was no way I was going to get on this time. (But that day is coming, I am sure!) I am told there is a video of my performance from the feed that went to the jumbotrons; I’ll try to get my hands on it.

Here are some photos from the Atlanta Tea Party.

with Joe the Plumber (cell phone photo)

with Sean Hannity (forgive the silly face — trying to snap this in an instant as he was passing by and shook my hand — no time to get someone to take it for me)

with former House Majority Leader Dick Armey

with Congressman Tom Price

Waiting backstage to go on and escape the chains of socialist policies combined with irresponsible government spending…

Performing on the stage at the Atlanta Tea Party during a break in the Hannity show; those two folks are about to pull that chain through my midsection!

Here we go… we have to pull together if we’re not going to be bound by debt and socialism.

And we’re through — they pulled it right through my body!

Half-day registration option for Apr 21 leadership conference

Wind Enterprises announces NEW “HALF DAY CONFERENCE OPTION” for Joe M. Turner’s clients to hear Dee Dee Myers, make great connections and meet career recruitment teams from Fortune-ranked companies.

So you only have a few hours to be with us and not the whole day? Well, we hear you loud and clear! We have received input from some prospective attendees that they just can’t take the entire day off to attend the conference, so we are introducing a special program that is a Half Day Conference Opportunity! Attendees have the opportunity to choose either the morning or the afternoon session.

Morning 1/2 day program includes: keynote, America’s Corporate Magician Joe M. Turner, and choice of six morning concurrent sessions, as well as the entire luncheon program with Dee Dee Myers, including the Women of Power and Vision plenary session

Afternoon 1/2 day program includes: the entire luncheon program with Dee Dee Myers, the Women of Power and Vision plenary session AND the afternoon concurrent workshops, closing keynote Nicki Keohohou and the fabulous Connection Reception with great giveaways.

And the best part is the PRICE: It’s ONLY $75 for the Half Day program!

Previously we announced a PINK SLIP Special full day registration that is $95 for women who have lost their jobs. In addition, we have strategic partner pricing and sponsor pricing that is about half of what we charged last year for the conference. And of course, for the full day conference, Joe M. Turner’s clients will receive discounted pricing for this life-changing event, the lowest ever, only $150. If you join the newly launched Wind Enterprises Membership Program (http://www.windenterprises.biz/membership-program/participating-partners/) you will receive another $50 discount off the already low rate of $150, so the price is only $100! To register & receive the discounted Joe M. Turner’s Special Rate, go to WindEnterprises.com, Register Now, and use WEMAGIC for the Promo Code. This validates the discount price of $150. WindEnterprises.com also has information about the conference speakers and workshops; a limited number of exhibitor booths are still available. We are being very flexible this year in response to your requests and to this challenging economy, and hope to see you at our 12th annual Possible Woman Leadership Conference April 21st!

To register or for details, go to www.windenterprises.com. The New Half Day Conference Option is on the Registration Page.