Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Magic Al Rich. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Magic Al, appreciate you joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I feel very fortunate to be a full-time magician. It’s not an easy way to go in certain ways. Some months are great, and some months are slow. Sometimes it seems like I won’t make enough money for the month and then I’ll get a few last minute gigs and all is good.

When I was married my wife didn’t like the financial uncertainty. She thought I should get a “real job”. She said I would have plenty of time to do my shows on the weekend. She didn’t care if I made a ton of money. She just wanted to feel comfortable that a paycheck was coming in each week.

What she didn’t understand is that it isn’t just about the couple hours at the gig. It is the practice, the writing, the learning and have the time to promote and book the shows. It is also about having the energy to do all these things. Forty hours a week at a job can be draining. Will I have the energy to work seven days a week?

I kept the magic career and didn’t keep my wife.

One thing I would recommend for anyone interested in going full time is to focus a good amount of time on the business side. I can have a fantastic magic show but if people don’t know about me, I won’t get any work. The more work I have the more people see me and the more it expands my business.

When I was going full time (19 years old) I remember seeing fantastic magicians getting “real jobs” because they focused all their time on the magic and not enough on getting booked.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My uncle was a famous magician all over the world. But, mostly in Reseda. No, he wasn’t really famous. But he would perform at our family holiday parties. I was ten years old, a middle child, so of course I tried to figure out his tricks. He said, hey, why don’t I teach you magic? It never occurred to me that I could be a magician. I think he just wanted me to stop heckling him.

I wasn’t very good at first, but by the time I was 15 years old, I was loving it. I got a job at a magic store in the San Ferando Valley called Magic World. It was great to have all the secrets at my fingertips.

My grades weren’t very good in school, so this was a way to use my mind and develop my sense of humor. It was also a way to get attention. I mentioned being a middle child, right?

At nineteen, I thought I might become a teacher. I loved working with children. Then I thought, I don’t want to control the children all day. It would be way more fun to entertain them for 45 minutes at schools and birthday parties. Then while they got hyped up on cake and candy, I would get the heck out of there.

Today, I still perform my comedy magic show for children and adults. And….

I am focusing on my Mentalism show. I like that it is entertaining, mind blowing and funny like my magic show, but also has depth about how we are all Magical. I like to explore ideas about intuition, communication, connection with others, unseen energies, happiness and the magic of the universe.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The freedom of my lifestyle is so rewarding. If I’m inspired to stay up until 3 am working on a new routine and I want to sleep in until noon the next day, I can do that.

It is a very hard concept for me to understand going to a job just for the money. It seemed like a prison. A boss telling me what to do. Rules that say I have to get in at a certain time, have lunch for a specific amount of minutes. Work all day to build someone else’s business seemed unthinkable. And, after years of work, they could just let me go.

I know for some people this is easy and has many benefits. More power to you.

Building a career, having flexibility with my schedule, performing at different venues, writing my own script, expressing myself in my unique way is a freedom that I cherish.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I think most magicians have a similar background. We often start as teenagers and are shy and insecure. We want to appear more than we think we are. What is bigger than life? Doing something most people can’t do. Perform magic tricks.

The backlash is that we tend to hide behind the magic. We don’t want to share who we are because people might see we are not enough.

I took some seminars at Landmark Worldwide. It made me so much more comfortable expressing myself. Not just my “good stuff” but also my vulnerabilities, my fears, and my pain. I learned how to share myself. I learned how to be authentic.

All this dramatically shifted who I was being as a performer. I was more connected to my audience. I felt like I was Pinocchio and became Real.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.BeMagicalShow.com