It is March 2013, and I return to Canada to perform for a fundraising show in Kindersley, Saskatchewan, about 2 hours outside Saskatoon. Kindersley has a population of just under 5,000 and is a mineral rich farming community, like so many others in this region.

Over the last 25 years of my career, I have performed for a lot of fairs and expositions, including the Calgary Stampede, Saskatoon Prairielands Exhibition, Medicine Hat Exhibition, Royal Manitoba Winter Exhibition in Brandon, private parties for the military, and others.

In December 2011, I did not apply for a tax exemption before doing a show for a military squadron. This was my mistake and I knew better. Regaredless, it cost me $225.00, which the government withheld from my check and submitted to Revenue Canada (the equivalent of the Internal Revenue Service in the USA). The only way I was going to get that money back was to file a Canadian tax return. I didn’t bother.

Before working in Canada, U.S. citizens must apply for tax exemption. If they do not, it is mandated that the Canadian host retain 15% of gross payment and send it to Revenue Canada. To apply for tax exemption, there are a number of steps to take. It is not complicated, but it must be done at least 3-4 weeks before the event date to give Revenue Canada sufficent time to respond.

2012 July 8 - I recently went camping along the coast of California at Phieffer Big Sur State Park to get out of the San Francisco Bay Area and breathe some smoke. The neighbors at our next door site were friendly enough when we arrived, but there seemed to be some differences in how we communed with nature. The first sign was their Coke Zero, the giant red bag of Fritos chips, and the two cushioned, raised chairs their designer Scotties (dogs) sat on. The clincher was when they used a remote control to close the door of their VW SUV from 60 feet away...

On March 19th, 2012 I flew to Long Beach on a whim, to visit the Magic Castle in Hollywood. I went there to visit a childhood friend of my father’s, George Schindler, and got to meet his wife, Nina, for the second time. George was performing in the Parlor at the Magic Castle and I had never seen him perform before. He arranged two guest passes for me, so I brought along hypnotist Marc Bachrach, whose home I stayed at while in the LA area. ...

2012 February 17 - I just completed a magic lecture tour across the Southern states, arranged by Scott Wells, Southern Lecture Tour Coordinator of Houston. I was in seven cities including St. Louis, Kansas City, New Orleans, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin. Two places I stayed at have been in the homes of magic collectors who have magic museums and collections second to none I have ever seen. ...

2012 February 17 - Let’s catch up. I had a busy holiday season, and a very busy January. On New Years I was in the middle of Nebraska for a fundraiser that brought in more than $8,500 for the local Catholic School. They charged $60 per ticket to see my show and have dinner. 145 adults came, in a town that only has 750 people. I felt like a rock star! I did a great show, too. What an amazing audience! After the show I went to the local saloon for New Years Eve, drank with the locals, and had a great time. I love that Midwest hospitality. Thank you Elgin, Nebraska! ...

2011 December 7 - Today is Pearl Harbor Day. On this day in 1941, the largest single attack on American soil by an outside country or agency took place. Prior to this—from 1864 and earlier—only civil war battles had rung up high tolls of death and destruction in the United States. Since then it has been the Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on New York City’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

I am leaving Las Vegas this morning, after dropping my daughter off at McCarran airport. Jessica and I spent the last four nights at the International Association of Fairs and Expositions (IAFE) Annual Convention, held here again in 2011 at the Paris Hotel & Casino...

This is my first blog in my new blog site - Thursday, October 6th, 2011. Kind of excited about the potential of this for search engines finding me. It is suggested that I blog here instead of on Facebook or Twitter or on an outside blog site so the copy draws spiders to my web site. We will have to see how that goes.

This week I'm performing in Lumberton, North Carolina, at the Robeson County Fair. I believe this is the 10th year I have worked at this fair. I did the fair for a few years, then took a few years off, and have returned now for a few more years.

CeaCea and the SandMan perform
their Two-Person Comedy Hypnosis Show
at the Dubai Shopping Festival, Dubai, U.A.E. in 2000

CeaCea and Alan were invited to perform three Comedy Hypnosis shows a day for 10 days at the Dubai Shopping Festival in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) in March 2000. The shows were a total disaster! It was a very educational trip, however. ...