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

Hi Mike , thanks for 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 am a full-time comedy magician and I’m extremely lucky and grateful to do what I love every day. I knew from a young age I wanted to be a magician but, at the time, I didn’t realize all of the work it was going to take to get there. In order to present magic successfully, one must learn difficult sleight of hand which requires dedication to hours of practice and access to secret literature describing the techniques and mentors willing to help you along the way. A successful magic performer must also learn communication, speaking and acting skills which also requires hours of lessons and mentorship from theatrical instructors. And, on top of that, a magical entertainer must learn the art of deception through psychology and misdirection. The challenge of learning all of these techniques would not have been possible without an encouraging and supportive family. My mother and grandparents offered all they could to provide me with the secret books I would track down through magician mail-order catalogs, they would send me to performance camps and magician conventions as well as taking me to countless theatrical performances and live shows where I was exposed to performers like David Copperfield, Harry Blackstone, Jr. , The Amazing Kreskin, Jeff Dunham, Jay Leno, Jeff Foxworthy and countless others. In middle school and high school I took advantage of the theater programs that were offered and in college I used my electives for similar theatrical training as well as getting a job at a Dallas magic shop where I would sell jokes, gags and simple magic tricks and get hired out on the weekends for magic gigs booked through the shop. By the time I graduated college with a degree in psychology I realized everything I had learned up to that point about magic and performance was not going to do me any good if I didn’t know the “business” side of show business. So, with dreams of being a full time performing magician, I got a day job in order to learn how a business operates. I spent 5 years as a manager learning the ins and outs of a business as ferociously as I had learned the complex sleight of hand and performance techniques all the while spending my time off driving to different open mics or comedy clubs for a little bit of stage time. Finding places I could be bad and make mistakes; find places I could fail and go up again the next night and fail all over again. And then, one day, after the countless performance failures had become less and less and I knew enough about business and had saved enough money; I quit my day job and dove head first into being a full time professional magician. I’ve been performing my special kind of comedy magic full time for 15 years now and the main lesson I learned from all of this is practice and dedication can only get you so far; it’s only through failure that there is real growth, failure breeds success.

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

I’m a comedy magician. I attempt to combine the performance art of sleight of hand magic and illusion with the performance art of comedy and humor to create an experience for the audience that is fun, interactive, memorable but most importantly mind-blowing. I offer my audience a fresh take on a magic show by presenting original presentations while involving the audience in the presentation as much as possible which leads to a good amount of improvisation thus creating a unique performance each and every time. I am proud to have been a part of the longest running magic show in DFW history. With the support of The world famous Improv Comedy Club in Addison, Texas we are moving into our 14th year of offering a weekly magic show for audiences of all ages. This residency has shined new light and interest on magicians and has lead to many of the other Improv Clubs in Texas and around the country to do the same.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I think I pursued a creative career out of a love of happiness, a search for freedom and as a personal challenge. I knew from a young age I was going to be a professional entertainer. Growing up, my fondest memories were experiencing live entertainment with my family. There was something about bringing a group of strangers together through a shared experience of joy that really resonated with my young mind. I always dreamed the best job in the world would be one that brought happiness into people’s lives.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The freedom to dream. The freedom to create something no one has ever seen before. The freedom to express my unique point of view through my performances. The freedom to experience the world on my terms. This pursuit of freedom was also a challenge; a challenge to myself. Could I really reach a level of competence allowing this to be my career? Do I have the drive, determination and patience to go beyond the amateur/hobbyist level? As it turns out, being a professional entertainer, spreading happiness to strangers and creative freedom is an ongoing challenge regardless of your spirit. Any success in this crazy world of show business only happens because of countless failures. Ultimately the creative pursuit is the unwillingness to give up in the face of failure and when you can do that, you’re truly free.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.mikewilliamsmagic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/funnymagicguy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/funnymagicguy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikewilliamsmagic
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/funnymagicguy
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/funnymagicguy