Posts Tagged ‘magician’



Jan4

The 7 Biggest Mistakes Upward Awards Night Planners Make, & How to Avoid Them!

By Harris III | 2 Comments

Upward BasketballIf you read the title of this post, and you’re reading this, then you and I probably have something in common.  That is, we both believe in the ministry of Upward Unlimited.  Over the past 12 years, I’ve had the opportunity to see literally tens of thousands of people who are hearing the truth found in the gospel because of this incredible program.

After meeting so many Upward league directors, I know that it takes a lot of commitment to pull off a successful season.  I respect each of you for your willingness and desire to serve, using such an awesome tool.  It’s always an exciting moment to see the final event…the Awards Night Celebration.  Through my twelve years of experience with the Upward program, I’ve come to learn just how important this event is, in that your venue is filled with kids and their families, many who have no idea how much Jesus can radically change their lives.

With that in mind, I’ve written this post with the hopes that you too will be able to finish strong and well by making your Awards Celebration a huge success!  At the same time, I also understand that writing something like this requires a great deal of credibility.  That’s why it’s important for you to understand that in years of working with Upward Unlimited, I’ve had the opportunity to play a major role in almost 500 different awards nights with a combined attendance of over 250,000 people.  I’ve had the privilege of being part of some of the most creative and successful Awards Nights in the country.  Nonetheless, I’ve also been a part of some the least effective.  Through that, I’ve come to learn through time and experience exactly what it takes to make an Awards Night a success.  That’s why Upward Unlimited, including founder and president, Caz McCaslin, has continually endorsed our ministry and efforts through each of those past twelve years.

I encourage you to read through this post and learn from the experience I’ve gained.  Not only do I believe that your Awards Night will be much more professional and organized, but also more effective.  It’s a long post, but the results that will come from studying and learning from these mistakes is far greater than the moments it will take to read them.  I really do believe it is that important!   READ ALL

Dec9

7 Reasons Why EVERY Kid Should Learn a Few Magic Tricks

By Harris III | No Comments

Learning MagicAnyone who has seen our live show has probably heard the story about how a little box of magic tricks changed my life forever.  When my grandmother gave me a magic set for Christmas when I was nine years old, I never could have predicted what a huge impact it would have on my future.

Let’s face it…not every kid is going to be a professional magician and travel the world as a Master Illusionist.  However, I do believe that there are at least 7 HUGE reasons why every kid on the planet should learn a few tricks, and get a little into magic, even if it’s only for a season… READ ALL

Sep2

9 Year Old Isaac Talks Magic Tricks, Video Games, Twitter, Apple, Steve Jobs, and AT&T.

By Harris III | 1 Comment

I love doing video blogs/interviews. I love talking to others and learning about people. But usually I’m interviewing music artists, high-profile speakers, authors, pastors…mainly leaders. I decided to sit down and talk to a kid, and I can’t wait to do it again.  After all, even kids are leaders for some.

Meet my friend, Isaac. He’s one of our members on illusionism.TV.  He talks about his Twitter profile, experience with Apple and AT&T, and plenty about his love for video games.  If you’ve ever wondered what it might look like for a performing artist, (me), to get upstaged and outperformed during an interview by a 9 year old kid, this is what it looks like.  Enjoy this 5 minutes of non-stop entertainment:   READ ALL

Aug19

Out of a Forest

By Harris III | 2 Comments

A few weeks ago, a friend sent me this INCREDIBLE short film. It made me smile, wonder, and even gave me chills. It has a special quality to it that is hard to describe. It’s captivating, and enchanting.  I hope you love it as much as I did…   READ ALL

Aug18

I’m finally rich!

By Harris III | 5 Comments

Book of Eli

In my last post, I told you how much I loved Inception, and how I believe that real “inception” actually happens every day.

Last night, my wife and I enjoyed another incredible film, Book of Eli.  I didn’t get to enjoy it on a massive digitally projected screen or with state of the art surround sound, but I still liked it.  Not only did I like it, I found it convicting.

There’s a scene in the movie where Denzel Washington’s character gets asked about the “old world”, which in case you haven’t seen the film, would be in reference to the current world that you and I live in today.  His response was simple, yet profound:   READ ALL

Aug16

Can “Inception” actually happen? To you?

By Harris III | 3 Comments

Inception

The film Inception? Incredible. Loved it! One of the best movies I’ve ever seen, and one of my favorites of all time. BUT…

What if I told you that “inception” actually happens? To you? Every. Single. Day.   READ ALL

Jul20

How Changing Your Perspective Can Dramatically Change Your Life

By Harris III | 3 Comments

I bet you’re missing out on so much of life, just by how you currently see things.  There’s so much to gain by just changing your perspective every now and then.  My recent trip to Nicaragua was a strong reminder of that.  Few things bring more perspective than international travel to a third-world country.

Do you need to change your perspective?

Mona LisaThe famous artist, Leonardo Da Vinci, (who painted the Mona Lisa), was known for changing his perspective before considering one of his masterpieces 100% complete.  Apparently, when Da Vinci was supposedly 99.9% finished, his final step was to look at his painting in a mirror.  Simply by changing his perspective and how he saw the painting, he would notice needed changes in the painting that were impossible for him to see before.  Turns out, perspective is a really powerful thing.

I’ve always struggled with this.  Judging others is something I used to do a lot of.  My pride, arrogance, and selfishness always allowed me to look at other people and situations and immediately jump to conclusions.  I’d think, “That guy has READ ALL

Jul12

What I’ve learned from Social Media

By Harris III | No Comments

A couple of weeks ago, I made an urgent request for help.  We found ourselves in quite a pickle, after violence sprung up in Thailand, and our tour there got cancelled last second.  (Click here to read about that.)  So rather than sit around for a month or two, we decided to go out and use our talents, and serve anyone who was willing to let us show up and do what we do.

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.   READ ALL

Jun15

Jesus Got Struck by Lightning!

By Harris III | 10 Comments

What do you make of a huge statue of Jesus getting struck by lightening?  I mean, if God is in control of that flashing light from the sky, why would he allow it to happen to a statue of his only son?  Definitely stirs up conversation, huh?

That’s what happened recently in Ohio.  I’ve driven by this statue what seems like hundreds of times while traveling that stretch of interstate on tour.  Here’s what the news article had to say:

MONROE, Ohio – A six-story statue of Jesus Christ was struck by lightning and burned to the ground, leaving only a blackened steel skeleton and pieces of foam that were scooped up by curious onlookers Tuesday.

The “King of Kings” statue, one of southwest Ohio’s most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati.

The lightning strike set the statue ablaze around 11:15 p.m. Monday, Monroe police dispatchers said.

The sculpture, about 62 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the base, showed Jesus from the torso up and was nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way the arms were raised, similar to a referee signaling a touchdown. It was made of plastic foam and fiberglass over a steel frame, which is all that remained Tuesday.

You can read the whole article here, on Yahoo! News.

Apparently, the statue cost about $400,000 to construct.  Maybe it was allowed to be struck by lightening because God might not be cool with wasting a whopping $400k on concrete? For the record, I have no idea. Just wondering. I’m also not saying that God always causes natural disasters.  But I’m not sure how you could deny that certainly “allows” them.  Again, I’m just wondering…

They’re also already making plans to rebuild it, wasting that kind of money, plus more, all over again.  I mean, I’m not God, so I won’t pretend to know or always understand what he does, or why he allows certain things to happen, but I do know of a whole list of better uses for a few hundred thousand dollars.

And, I’m not the only one. A lot of them are a book called the Bible….maybe this church should read it.  If they do, they might learn a lot about Jesus, the guy they’re making statues of, and in the process, how he encouraged us to live.

What do you think?

Jun14

To Arkansas and Back in a “Swagger Wagon”

By Harris III | No Comments

If you follow my wife or I on Twitter or Facebook, you’ve likely heard about all the vehicle problems we’ve been having lately.  We tour in a Toy Hauler. It’s like a moving truck + tour bus + RV.  We definitely got the “lemon”. We’ve had nothing but problems, very few of which the manufacturers have dealt with.  We keep getting shrugged off by both Chevrolet, (the makers of the chassis, cab, and engine), and Gulfstream, (the company who converted and built it out).  It’s been an absolute nightmare for the full four years we’ve owned it.

Anyway…we had an event in Arkansas last night at Harding University, and it was out of commission.  We couldn’t make repairs over the weekend, so we ended up renting a vehicle to get us to Arkansas and back.  Tried to find a cargo van, but couldn’t. And every rental car company in Nashville was out of SUV’s.  So, we rented one of these…and yes, I drove it with pride:   READ ALL

« Older Entries