“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”   - Helen Keller

I love that everyone thinks it’s awesome that my wife, Kate, and I are “willing to go travel the world” and do missions work.  But so many times, the “I think that’s awesome” comments are followed by, “I could never do that.” And if you try to determine why they think that, it almost always boils down to comfort and security…

“It’s just too unsafe.” Baloney. (And that’s to put it nicely.)

The chances are good that most of the places in the world you think are unsafe, are still safer than walking through some cities in the U.S. It’s just that your obsession with security is a superstition.  Like one of my close friends in the Middle East once told me, “I’m where God wants me to be, and I’m safer in God’s will than I am anywhere else in the world.” Amen to that.

What are you scared of??

I agree with Helen.  Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.  Who wants to live nothing??

It’s videos like this one that make me realize the value and importance of illusionism.TV.  Magic is awesome for kids, for so many reasons, and I can’t wait to see what kind of aspiring magicians are born out of such an exciting project!  If you haven’t checked it out yet, be sure to take a look.  It’s child friendly, safe and secure, and your kids will love it! Check out the site, and learn magic tricks now: http://illusionism.TV

But first, you’ve gotta see this:  

Awesome, huh?  Please comment and tell me you almost teared up, then I won’t feel like such a softy.  ;-)

Got a kid who might be interested in magic?  Let them learn a FREE TRICK right now, without even joining.  Then, join by July 31st, and save 50%: http://illusionism.TV

I’ve been blown away by how people responded so immediately!  Everyone started tweeting, re-tweeting, posting to Facebook, making calls and sending emails, and before you know it, we had plenty of opportunities and invitations to make a huge dent in our July & August schedule.  We’re even going to Nicaragua for a week…more on that in a later post.

Honestly, I can’t believe what’s happening.  Two years ago, if this would have happened, we would have rushed to put together some kind of “marketing campaign”, with some kind of “special discount offer”, and done my best to make a bunch of phone calls.  Instead, I’ve spent the past year doing my best to add value, serve others, and just build relationships with people right here, online.  And instead of putting together some kind of fancy piece of advertising, I turned to those who believe in us and what we do, and asked for help.  And you guys responded whole-heartedly, pitched in, and made some really amazing stuff happen.  How cool is that?

In my opinion, it’s very cool.  So to all of the Facebook and Twitter haters out there, I’ve gotta tell ya…without the power of social networking, what’s happening right now with our schedule and income just wouldn’t have happened the way it has.  It’s been absolutely unbelievable to see how God has been providing.  Thank you Web 2.0, and thanks to all of you who have embraced it, connected online, and followed along with what we’re doing. I can literally say, I couldn’t have done it without you!

And finally, a huge special thanks to my good friend, Bill Seaver.  He’s the one that talked me into jumping into this whole new world, and helped me understand the importance of blogging, and the potential community found through tools like Facebook and Twitter.  Check out Bill’s blog, and his upcoming Social Media & SEO Bootcamp here in Nashville.  No matter what kind of work you’re involved in, you should be there.  You’ll learn a ton, and you can’t beat the value.

Thanks for following along, and being a part of the journey.  I’m so thankful.  You guys rock!

We’ve loved seeing and meeting so many amazing people over the past month on our variety show tour, “Sens de Vie.”  We have one weekend left!  This weekend, (as you can see on our Tour Schedule), we’ll be in Crawfordsville, IN, Muskegon, MI, and Eldora, IA.  We can’t wait!  But we really, REALLY need your help…I have a HUGE request.  

This past weekend we got a phone call from our promoter in Muskegon, MI.  His dad has been very sick, has passed away suddenly, and it has all worked out that his funeral has landed on the day of our show there.  To make a really long story short, there hasn’t been much time or other resources available to spread the word about the show.  This is a great guy, because rather than cancel the event, everyone has decided to move forward and do a huge, last-second promotion to tell the whole city and surrounding area that we and our big, traveling, variety road show are coming to town!  And that’s where YOU come in!

Between things like Facebook and Twitter, and just good ole’ fashioned word-of-mouth, the world is indeed becoming smaller and smaller.  These days, even people who don’t live in a certain state seem to be connected to others who do.  My personal goal is to blow this thing out of the water, and despite the circumstances, pack out this show with a HUGE crowd!  But to do that, we really need your help in spreading the word.

All of the details for our final weekend are on our tour schedule, and all the info for the big show in Muskegon can be found here. To make it simple, the basic info is as follows:

Venue: Calvary Church, 5873 Kendra Rd., Fruitport, MI 49415
Show Time: 7:30PM

It’s not often I use this blog to make special requests, asking you to do physically do something on our behalf.  But we could really, really use your help.  here are a few simple things you can do to help:

1. Repost a link to this blog, (Copy & Paste this one if you’d like:  http://tinyurl.com/HarrisInMuskegon ), to every where you connect with people online…Twitter, Facebook, MySpace,etc.  Be sure to include a personal note and invitation, especially if you’ve seen us live before and can share an honest recommendation of our show.
2. If you know anyone at all, especially pastors and community leaders, in the Muskegon, MI/Grand Rapids area, pick up the phone and call them, telling them about the show, and strongly encourage them to go with a huge group of people.
3. Send an email out to anyone you know in that part of the country, telling them about the show, and having them spread the word as well.
4. Anytime you tell someone about the show, if possible, include the video about the show found on this page.

It’s times like this that the church has the opportunity to shine.  Our huge network of believers can rally, spread the word, and together, make something happen.  None of this is really about me, my stuff, or my own little kingdom here on earth.  It’s about something much bigger, better, and a greater Kingdom in Heaven, so thanks in advance for your help!

Muskegon – See ya soon!!!

Though I’m not always good at it, I’m more interested in encouraging others to think, and motivated by the potential of influence or change. So here’s an opinion that will hopefully influence a few others to consider getting over themselves, and making a better attempt at being who they were actually created to be.

My opinion: Other magicians are almost all the same.

Seriously. It seems that these days, every time someone encourages me to “check someone out online,”  it all ends up being the same story…

“Tuxedos are stupid. Top hats are cheesy. I’m edgy, because I don’t have a top hat or a rabbit. And I’m cool, because I buy clothes that look like they’re from Express or the Buckle.”

“Oh, and I use awesome rock music.”

Nice.

I know, in fairness, it’s not everyone. There are some really unique performers out there doing an incredible job at just being themselves. They’re smart enough and wise enough to realize that trying to be anything else is not only stupid, but a disgrace to their maker. Unfortunately, that’s far from the majority. Especially among the very, very small group of “non-cheesy” type of illusionists who happen to be Christians. I wonder…when did you guys decide to just be relevant, rather than unique? And why are all the guys who are Christians trying so hard to be the evangelistic version of Criss Angel?

I understand you’re insecure…the deck is stacked against us.  I can relate to your frustration of years of stereo-typing due to our industry being plagued with cheesiness and mediocrity.  I’m sorry for that, but slamming tuxedos and top hats out of fear of others thinking you might have them, doesn’t make you special. It just makes you like all the other magicians who are trying to be cool and “relevant.” And now that there are so many doing that, you aren’t so special anymore. (Accept to people who like the Christian versions of stuff, just because they’re thankful when it’s no longer cheesy.)

I guess in a way, my argument is hard to accept. Probably because you’re getting plenty of bookings.  After all, a lot of pastors, conferences, and camps love that stuff. I mean, if they’re buying christian versions of these by the thousands, and if these “steal it and make it christian” kind of groups can actually make it, why wouldn’t they want the christian version of this?

I guess, (I guess I’m doing a lot of guessing here), that being unique is hard.  I definitely had my struggles in attempting to be different by discovering who I really am.  When I was a kid, I copied a few other performers I looked up to and respected.  And they deserve to feel frustrated by that.  Now that I see YouTube videos of other performers copying my stuff, I totally relate.

Better yet, I once got an email from another magician accusing me of copying his hair, shirt, and pose in all of his pictures.  I had never seen his site until he emailed me, and I replied back with photos from the past 10 years of me doing the same pose over and over, every couple of years. (I never got a reply, even after touching base with him 6 months later.)

I had no interest in copying this guy, and while the whole thing was laughable to me and he’s now started to make a small name for himself, it did teach me a valuable lesson: A lot of illusionists are turning out the same. (Which is why my website now has a lot less “grunge,” why I got rid of all of my graphic T’s and embroidered button-ups, and why my show attempts to be more classy than it does edgy.)

I’ve only learned this over the past year or so. Finally, after living for almost 27 years and performing for 15 of them, I’m finally learning who I am, and that just wasn’t it. It’s hard, because it’s really easy to be influenced by the contrasting messages that are screaming all around us, begging for us to fit in and try to “just be cool.”

In my recent past, I had a management company that totally convinced me to try to become someone I’m not.  I have memories of getting told over and over to do things like wear my pants lower around my waist. I always questioned it all, because it just wasn’t me, but was always scolded by being told I needed to “look like an artist.” Apparently, wearing your pants lower makes you a more effective performer.

Wrong.

Between that, being told to do more of what I wasn’t created to do, and less of what I was created to do, I got fed up. I fired them, then went off on my own journey towards discovering who God created me to be.  And in the process, I’ve learned to be comfortable with who that is.  And now that I know, I’m not interested in making all of the content we put out there be about how cool and relevant I am.  As it turns out, everyone else is doing that, and now uniqueness seems strangely “creative.”

But it’s not all that creative. It’s just displaying the creativity of the Creator, by being who He created me to be.

I’m cool with you being relevant. But please, stop with the “look how relevant I am” speech. Instead of telling people what you aren’t, and listing all the cool things you do, why not show people who you are, and let your relevance speak for itself?

I’m not better than anyone else. I’m just different. And it turns out, that’s a beautiful thing to be…

When I was 9 years old, I got a magic set for Christmas from my grandmother.  Not at all what I asked for, but that’s what I got.  Turns out, it changed my life.  When I was 11, I got paid $25 to do my first “real” show.  By 14, I was traveling, performing for schools and churches, and even at all kinds of public and private parties and events. By 16, I got my first cruise ship gig, performing on a big boat back and forth from the Carribean.  By 18, I was making almost $200,000 a year.  By 25, I had made a million dollars in my lifetime.  And I had wasted every penny of it.  

I know.  Stupid.  Really, really stupid.  And I have plenty of friends that know my story, most of whom have said the same encouraging words, “Well, be thankful you figured that out at age 25 instead of 50, like so many others.”  Yeah, yeah. I mean, thanks, I appreciate it, but it was still really stupid. All I have to show for all the money I wasted is debt. Turns out, Dave Ramsey isn’t the moron a lot of others claim he is.

What’s ironic about this story is that I was seemingly successful, in the process of being a failure. But it was really just the illusion of success.

I’ve learned a lot in the past few years.  My wife and I have down-sized twice, decreased our living expenses by thousands of dollars a month, live incredibly simple lifestyles, and in the past 3 years, have paid off almost $150,000 in debt.  Because of our intensity, we’d be debt free by now, but we’ve hit a few uncontrollable road blocks along the way.  Freedom is close. We can taste it!

For the record, all of this really comes down to one simple truth: I was created to worship my creator, and somewhere along the way, regardless of my intentions or how I was raised, I got tricked and deceived into worshiping myself.  And that my friends, will leave your soul feeling even more empty than your bank account.

And let’s face it…the big fancy house we built, (which I sold 4 years ago), wasn’t even about the house.  The expensive SUV’s I drove, weren’t even about the SUV’s. The big screen TV’s had nothing to do with my desire for big TV’s.  I rarely watched them.  Instead, it was about doing everything in my power to control the perceptions of other people, so they could see me, the way I wanted them to see me.  My house was nothing but a monument to my existence.  The only thing I was really successful at, was creating the illusion of success.  The sad part?  A lot of others believed it.  But then again, creating illusions is something I excel at, and that isn’t always a good thing.

So what about today? Well, I take a very small salary.  The honest truth is, though it’s not what most others perceive, we barely make it by each month.  And that’s mainly due to the size of the dreams we chase.  The way I see it, if it isn’t God-sized, it isn’t worth chasing.  But from the moment I discovered the reality that I was being stupid with my time, money, and talents, and changed the way we do things, I’ve still continued to fail over and over again.  It’s now just a different kind of failure, and I no longer have the illusion of success.

To understand what I’m talking about, you really have to have an understanding of our model, and my vision for what I’m pursuing…

I’ve learned in the last 2 years that free shows in church buildings attract a lot of “christians.”  I’ve also learned that doing a quality show in a cool theatre, and charging people a few bucks to see the show, attracts a lot of people who are searching for meaning, purpose, and truth.  It’s actually somewhat fascinating to me, but really seems like common sense if you think about it.  And if my vision is to share truth with people in a world filled with deception, well, it makes a lot of sense to go to those people, in the places they’re already being entertained.  (A lot more sense than waving around a flag or poster begging them to come see me in a place they already don’t want to come to, and care much about something they got for free.)

Without going into a long, drawn out and detailed explanation of business, economics, and marketing, let me simply say this: For that model to work, I have to find a way to promote and spread the word about our shows to people who have never heard of me.  Musicians have Radio. Comedians have Comedy Central, XM, and iTunes. Illusionists? Well, we can do TV, but you can imagine how difficult that is.  And even Criss Angel has his own TV show, while his Vegas show is failing miserably.  It’s hard.  Really, really hard!

But, what if there were people who already had the resources, relationships, talents, and influence to partner with me in successfully pulling off these types of events? Turns out, there are plenty of them.  But there’s a really big catch: They don’t want to partner with us.

So how have I seemingly “gotten my act together” over the past couple of years, yet still continued to fail?  It comes down to two reasons:

1. Instead of wasting the money we make on ourselves, we invest it back into pursuing the vision, and donating our time to serve others internationally. We make a little less money this way, while our expenses have gone up.
2. We can’t talk the promoters who can help us make this happen into actually partnering with us.

That might seem confusing to you, but allow me to explain…

“Promoters,” (as they’re commonly called in my circles), usually spend their time and resources on acts that draw crowds. (Usually because big crowds equal profit.)  Those promoters base their crowd size expectations on how many albums a band has sold in their area, if they have a hit song on the local radio station, etc. Obviously, those are two things I have neither of. But what’s ironic about this is that these same promoters are saying, “There’s a ton of concerts and music tours out there right now. I’m looking for something different.”  So, we offer it. We offer them something unique, creative, and different.  And we offer it along with a handful of examples of a few promoters who have given us a shot, and had huge successes with sold-out shows.  But when it comes down to it, we’re told over and over again, “Ummm…we aren’t interested in taking the risk in bringing in something that doesn’t have a track record. I mean, it looks cool, and it’s really creative, and I bet the show is awesome, but it’s just not something we’re willing to try.”

I’m thankful for the few leaders and promoters who have been willing to think outside the box, try something different, and partner with us.  We just don’t have enough of them yet for this thing to be truly successful.  I don’t take those few for granted in any way, and thank God for them daily.

Earlier this week, I had a meeting with the team of guys who handle all of my booking.  I just finished writing an incredible, brand-new show, and released it as our new fall tour for 2010, and I will transparently admit that it’s been the same story.  In our meeting, they let me know that the response they’re getting is the usual, “Looks cool, but we aren’t willing to take the risk.”  (Except of course from the people who booked us last year and had 100% sold-out shows.  They’re more than excited to have us back!)

Please don’t read this and feel the need to be concerned about me feeling disappointed.  I’m certainly not a quitter.  Of course, it’s frustrating.  I could always just book smaller gigs over and over at churches, and try to find a way to be satisfied.  And I could always sell-out and make a great living, and go back to a self-centered life. Making a million bucks all over again, honestly, wouldn’t be incredibly difficult. But I’m not interested in settling, and I am filled with hope for the future.

When we bring our show to a community, people do show up.  They do stand up and clap at the end.  They do take the time to say hi in the lobby afterwards and express their appreciation.  They do send me emails and letters, sharing their stories of how their lives were touched or challenged by the content shared through our art.  And yes, one by one, we are finding people who are willing to put their visions before their fear, and come alongside us as we journey towards something new.  And one by one, those people are winning big, especially for the kingdom, in the perspective of eternity.

If you have a desire to host us, just get in touch.  Don’t worry about money.  I’ll carry the risk with you.  I’ve seen God honor the vision. Join us, and try something different.  It’s not fun to publicly confess this stuff, in a place where your peers can easily access it, but I’m proud of the vision we’re chasing, the changes we’re making, the way we’re pushing ourselves to be creative and different, and I share it all in hopes that a few more, one by one, will jump on board and partner with us.

I may still be failing because my dreams haven’t yet been realized, but there are definitely no longer illusions of success in my life.  I have my eyes focused on a different prize, and I’ve got a strong feeling that as long as I dream big, some failure will always be in my future.

In a child’s handwriting:

“Dear Mr. Harris, The story you told us about following your dream really inspired me.  I learned that I need to follow God with my dream.  God has given me the dream of being a doctor in poor countries in Africa.  The only problem is that I’ve been trying to follow it my own way, not God’s.  Your story taught me a big lesson that I will never forget.  Thank you!”

From a teenager:  

“I enjoyed your show. I didn’t really know a lot about my salvation until tonight.  I sat in my chair and prayed for the first time in 5 years.  I was so filled with emotion I started to cry. I finally figured out what life was really about.  It’s about my purpose and meaning.  Thank you for opening my eyes.”

Most people who take the time to write usually mentioned what show they were at. I always find it interesting that they’re the shows I never really felt like “went all that great.”  Clearly, there is always a larger story unfolding that I can’t see.  To those of you who have taken the time to write me a note or letter, thank you so much. You will never truly understand the depth of encouragement your words play in my life.

It is an honor to be a part of something much larger than myself. May I, (or you!), ever take it for granted.

“Fix your eyes not on what you see, but what you don’t see. For what is seen is temporary, what is unseen is eternal.”     II Cortinthians 4:18

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Nice, huh?  How about you?  Have you ever had anything painful or embarrassing happen to you, while you were around or in front of a large group of people?

This morning, my assistant Beth got the following email in her inbox from Ben Birdsong, the Station Manager. It was completely unsolicited, and 100% unexpected:  

“Harris was amazing! Not only did he adjust his program to meet our needs, he was so easy to work with as a performer.  If more artists were this easy to work with, we would do a lot more events.”

What??  I’ll come back to that in a moment…

Ben went on with an endorsement saying, “You can’t go wrong with inviting him to your station’s event. I highly recommend him to you as aboth a highly skilled and polished performer that will amazing your audience, but also a compelling speaker who will challenge them in their walk with God.”

I genuinely appreciate not only Ben’s willingness to partner with us, but also for his great testimonial.  We have tons of feedback like this on our website, from all kinds of people.  Author John Maxwell, to Mac Powell from Third Day, to North Point, Andy’s Stanley’s church in Atlanta, have all said stuff like this about what we do.  It’s humbling, and a huge honor.  But that isn’t the point of this post.

“If all artists were this easy to work with, we would do a lot more events.” That shocked me.  I mean, I know there are artists, even some who claim to follow Jesus, who are highly demanding and incredibly difficult to work with.  But are there really so many of you out there that there are great people, who already share your same vision, that won’t partner with you because you’re “too hard to work with?”

Clearly, the answer is yes.  So to all of you other performers out there, take note! Get over yourselves, and recognize who’s hiring who.  You aren’t showing up to be served, you’re showing up to serve.  And unless you’re writing checks and paying the people who book you, try to show some gratitude, and be flexible along the way.

Honestly, we go out of our way to be over-the-top easy to work with.  If there’s something I can provide and carry with us on the road, so that an event host doesn’t have to provide it for us, we do it.  If I can design my material so that it can be performed in a wider variety of environments, I do it.  Me, and everyone who works for me, makes every attempt to be as professional and service-oriented as possible.  It’s why we’re here…to serve.

Do we have contract riders and lists of requests?  Of course.  But each one is designed with the intention of being as simple as possible.  And it’s not about our comfort, but about what we could use in order to serve hosts better.  The bottom line is that their event’s success is the driving force behind everything we ask for.

If you aren’t attaching my God or his name to your stuff, then so be it.  Do whatever you want.  (Though I bet this concept would revolutionize your business regardless.)  But if you’re saying it’s about Jesus, that means it supposedly isn’t about you.  So please stop with the side-show.

This isn’t about you.  Or me.  And even if you’re making it that way, I hate to be the bearer of the news, but your approach isn’t working out too well.  It turns out, your attitudes and lack of flexibility are costing you and everyone else not only opportunities, but their platforms.  If you change, “they’ll do a lot more events,” and you might get to be a part of them.

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What do YOU think?