Dan's Secret Diary

I just want to say that I wrote a really interesting blog and something got messed up with the internet connection when I clicked “publish” and it got lost – so now I’m upset – I’ll re-write it when I’m not so bummed out, just wanted you all to know I was thinking of you…

One thing that seems to plague me a lot seems to be the whole thing of being “misunderstood”.  Now I’ll be the first to admit there is plenty that I do on purpose that has obvious intention behind it – no way could it be mistaken for anything other than how I’m presenting whatever it may be.  Often times this is something that is in a more tongue and cheek way or sarcasm.  Rarely is that mistaken for me being serious.  But.  BUT.  When the time comes where I am being serious or just trying to be “normal” or laid back – trying – whatever I say or do or how I say or do something gets so blown out of proportion it causes more of a stir than when I’m actually TRYING to stir up trouble.  Its weird how it works that way.  I really don’t think anybody understand me, I really don’t.

I remember a few years ago I was doing a benefit show.  I volunteered my time for a good cause.  We did a nice big show in a very nice performing arts center to a packed house.  It was great.  A day later I got a call from one of the producers wanting to clarify something with me that I was in fact NOT  a satanic worshiper.  Apparently there was a high school boy – yes high school aged boy – at the show and apparently one of my illusions frightened him so much and just shook him to the core that he ran home after the show and told his mom I did a crucifix type sacrificial thing where I was on a cross and had  blood coming from my mouth and my stomach and I had something satanic happening with my exposed chest or something and then I beat girls on stage or something like that.  I mean the most far out Salem witch trial-esque downright lie you could come up with.  Well they called the theater and complained and were asking for a formal apology from me.

Of course I offered to write the apology but I made it clear that I will apologize for my performance the actual way I did it and will write it out exactly how it was performed in the letter so that it is clear what actually happened.  Basically saying I’m sorry that your son is an idiot and thought I did “this” when I actually did “that”.  Well it never came to that point.  Some people are idiots and are bullheaded.  Some people are just plain wrong and whatever WRONG conclusion they jump to they stick with it feeling they are correct in their incorrect assumption.

At this point I’ve gotten used to it but it still surprises me.

Hey everybody!  Happy belated Valentine’s day!

It is finally “summer” here in Vegas!  haha…well that’s because we only have like two seasons…HOT…and “warm”…luckily my blood is still pretty thick from growing up in Minnesota plus with my frequent Canadian endeavors it keeps me from becoming a total wuss with cold.  Its funny seeing people out here all bundled up with a winter jacket and a scarf, etc while I have on just a light hoodie haha

LOTS of new projects I’ve been working on…my garage has been once again turned into a mad labratory…most recently was finishing “Danny Scarecrow” …he’s going to be part of the bird act from now on along with new spouts of shock, wonder, and maniac sudden bird appearances and disappearances…here he is to say hello…

I had a great time in Minnesota actually last weekend where myself and my friend Reza did some shows.  We did a run of shows through Minnesota last year and they went so well that we were brought back again for this year.  It was a lot of fun, the crowds were great, and aside from getting stuck in the snow and having to get a tow truck to pull us out with a winch around 2 trees – HEY it went off without a hitch!!!

I thankfully have some downtime over the next month to catch up on some much needed work including…ugh…taxes.  But I’ll be heading to Wyoming next month to the CamPlex in Gilette – yeah like the razors – with Masters of Magic.  I’ll be debuting Danny Scarecrow there as well as some other really cool stuff I’ve been working on!

One of these cool new “things” I got to show to my neighbor’s kids.  Every time they come home and Im’ working the garage they always like to come by and say Hi and watch me work on stuff or look at the doves, etc.  So yesterday they wanted to see a magic trick so I visibly cut my arm off and put it back together for them – they loved it.

If you haven’t noticed the web site has had some updating done – this is to help you navigate around much better – hope it works haha…

Well gotta get back to work in the garage on the next project…ta’

Danny Boi

Had a great show last night at Texas A&M in Corpus Christi…loved that little big city too, wish I could have spent more time there.  It was for their “Up All Night” event and it was a blast!  The audience was great and even some local magicians came out to see the show.  We got to chat and talk shop afterward at the local iHop – yeah we’re cool.

Because of the time change of 2 hours when I got back to my hotel room about midnight I was still wide awake – because it only felt like 10 pm for me.  My flight was the next morning (today) at 5:45 am – Texas time – so my wake up call was set for 3:30…aaaaaaaand guess who couldn’t sleep…yep, me.  Since I’m used to often still being up at 1:30 am in Vegas I couldn’t sleep but rather laid there on the hotel bed watching Manhunters on A&E…good times.  I finally fell asleep on the plane and then also when I got back home here to Vegas.

Now things are getting ready for the shows next week with Reza in Minnesota.  We’ve been invited back from the shows we did there about a year go so that’s always good when you get invited back.

I also have a lot of video editing to do with some new footage so I’ll spend most of the next few weeks updating my video content, etc.

That’s all for now…gota run some errand now that I’m awake again and catch up with some designing on the ol’ MAC…

Ta’

Danny Boi

Its been a long time coming and a long time overdue again for some updates on the ol’ secret diary…so I’ll try to fill ya’ll in but sadly I can’t say too much because the subject that’s been keeping me the most occupied since I came back from tour is something I’m not at liberty to speak about just yet. But…hopefully if all goes as it looks its going…you’ll all be seeing a lot more of my smiling face up close and personal…

After getting back from tour its been a hard adjustment, when you’re that close to a group of people it is really difficult to leave. I’ve spent most of my time occupying my mind and working on the secret project. I went to LA over the first weekend home and met with my manager and also had a gig out there so it worked out well. Then I went to Wisconsin for two more shows in Superior and the audiences were great! It was really cool to be there because it is right across the way from Duluth and I got to see the bridges that my grandfather built. No really…his company built them. I remember being a little kid – probably about 8 or 9 and I got to go on a job site up there and watch him tell everybody what to do. It was really cool.

It is officially February 1st in about 45 minutes from when I’m writing this. That means I can talk about the magazine I’m in! You can pick up your copy of Gothic Beauty featuring ME in it! So run over to Barnes and Noble and BDalton, etc and get one!

I also just got back from doing a show in Boston for the big parent company that owns Philip Morris. The best part was one of my good buddies lives in Boston, so he took me out and about and showed me around town and best of all showed me Salem! I’ve never been to salem so it was really cool to visit it and see some history!

Last Friday night I had a great time at Skizofrenia – if you’re ever in Vegas come out its an awesome goth “dark alternative” club and you can find me there every time I’m in town on a Friday…

This week I’ll be at the MGM Grand here in Vegas then off to awesome Corpus Christi for a show for Texas A&M – should be a great time! I actually need to get on updating my calendar on the web site…maybe tonight…

Speaking of web site – hopefully you’ve had a chance to bump around the new layout of the web site! I’ve been meaning to fix the navigation confusion for a long time, I just never had any time to get around to it. Well one of my new year’s resolutions – you could say – was to finally get on making the site much less confusing to get around. So I did. Simple row of buttons across the top – ta’da’…done.

Hope you guys like it!

I gota take off and finish painting some parts of a new prop that is in the garage and then off for more mischief…and sleep at some point in there…

Til’ next time kiddies!

Danny Boi

All good things must come to and end…

And the best gig I’ve ever had has once again come and gone – soooo fast   Yesterday was the last day of the Murray Hatfield “Illusions…Magic N’ Miracles” national tour of Canada.  Out of all the shows I’ve ever done and had this was always my favorite.  I did it about 5 years ago and was so honored to be asked back, I’m still in shock and so humbled and appreciated that I got to do it again…so thankful and a great way to start out 2010!

Now I’m sitting in my hotel room in Vancouver ready to fly back to the US to pick up on other projects I need to get started on.  I went though enormous withdrawl last time the tour ended and I’m fearing it will happen again.  Its not a bad thing, more like re-adjusting to going back to your old routine – if you had one.  I guess thankfully I don’t ever really keep regular hours so I don’t necessairly have a “routine” for my day.  It is just weird to go back home to be by yourself again when you’ve been so used to spending 24/7 on a tour bus with 12 other people doing 1-3 shows a day in some of the most amazing theatres and venues in the country.  Fuck what an honor!  I can’t even wrap my head around it.  This group was very close and we all got along so well – which is not as easy as it sounds or may seem – I’ve been having flashbacks about WGMS

I am excited to head home to Vegas to catch up with friends though and better yet see Temika!  What is weird that not many people know about entertainment is that your friends that you have are most likely in the biz as well…so they too are more often than not on the road much like you are.  So to go back home and see friends is a big deal, it is always great to be back in town at the same time as many of your friends so you can get together and trade road stories and just talk shop.

There is a flip side to this though because when you are on the road – because the magic world is so small – you run into friends who don’t live near you while you are on the road as well.  It has been great getting to spend a few moments catching up with my friend and amazingly talented magician Sean Farquhar as well as others such as Brian Cook, Ryan Joyce, Timothy Drake, and more.  The only thing I wish I did was bring my camera.  The iPhone has been great for these quick on the road updates but to actually grab a nice shot with your buddies – but you can catch up on my road photos on my facebook page if you like.

Not only do you see friends but you get to make new ones too…last night for example I met a young fan after the show and well…maybe I’ll let the following video speak for itself…

\”The Passing of the Boots\”

But as a wiser man than me once said… “when one door closes another one opens” so now it is time to get to work on the next projects.  I have several shows coming up in the midwest at some theaters with my friend Reza as we got brought back with our Altered Reality project as well as my own live show coming to Texas, Florida, California, and I actually forgot where else haha so keep your eyes on the web site: www.dansperry.com!

That’s it for now kiddies, I ordered some pizza to be delivered to the hotel room as one last hurah!

So here’s to 78 shows…22 cities…6 weeks…we’re not here for a long time but we’re here for a good time!

Happy New Year everybody!

I hope everybody had a fun and save new years eve last night!  I’ve had so much to be thankful for in 2009 I can’t really even think about trying to sit here and write them all down.  I just know that I wake up every day and feel truly blessed, even when its a bad day there’s still so much to be happier about.

As I write this I’m on the bus – yep we got wifi on the tour bus and its awesooooooome – and we’re on our way to British Columbia.  We were in Medecine Hat last night and I got to spend New years with the cast and crew and have an awesome dinner and great laughs as always.  I also got to see Temika which was fun too and nice to be able to spend it with her a year after we got engaged – it went by fast!

I also got to see some good friends of mine the other day in Winnipeg – Darcy Oake and Sean Fields came to see the show and chat for a bit, wish we could have had time to hang out longer but we had to get back on the bus and drive about 10 hrs – life on the road…

Looking forward to picking up the shows on the West Coast, especially in New Westminister – I remember that city from the first time I was on this tour and loved it.  Very cool town with a nice market right next to the hotel.  I also have a few more things I want to try to get into the act before the tour is over so its cruuuuuuunch time!

But until then I think its time to put on some DEXTER!

Ta’ Kiddies…

Danny Boi

Sooo it is Christmas time and I’m glad I’m in a place where there’s snow…Vegas is nice and all but winter – especially Christmas time can really SUCK in Vegas. I remember my first Christmas in Vegas was so surreal with seeing people decorating their houses with Christmas lights, icicles, take trees, etc – just really weird.

We’re on break from the tour right now and even though its a “break in the tour” I’m still busy busy working on projects. Mostly I’m catching up on everything I didn’t get to while on the tour: bills, design stuff, contracts for this spring, etc. Including getting ready for a run of shows with Reza and Altered Reality again. But more on that when I have more time to chat about it and we get all the dates nailed down. Right now we have two venues that want the the tour there on the same day so we’re trying to work it all out so we’re not jumping all over the mid-west but can actually go in kind of a loop rather than criss crossing all over the place and wasting gas and time and yeah money too – that’s important.

I still have a few Christmas presents to get later today plus getting papers to take to the US Fish and Wildlife tomorrow morning to bring Spike Bones to Canada. Also looks like I’ll be going to see the second movie in the Twilight saga tomorrow with some family members so that’ll be fun. I saw the first one and it was better than I thought – when they were advertising them for the theaters and stuff it didn’t look like a movie I thought I’d like but I was suprised I liked it.

I’m watching Paranormal state right now, its light out, have lights on, but I’m all alone at my mom’s house and I’m actually getting kind of creeped out! I saw the movie Paranormal Activity and it was soooo lame, I was really disappointed, I’m glad I streamed it illegally online because if I had seen it in the theater I’d be totally bummed.

Gota go for now and work on a new prop I’m bringing on the second leg of the tour for Western Canada, more on that later, ta’

~Danny Boi

Got to sleep in today which is good – don’t get to do that very often and most of the time its by choice…successful people don’t get successful from sleeping in – that’s my philosophy anyway – not sure if its working for me yet but I like to keep hopeful…

Was up late last night working on a project I’m uber excited about…the Crimson Deck Second Edition: Resurrection. I’m also super super excited to have many artists I’m fond of collaborating with me on the designs of the court cards, aces, jokers, etc. Below is a teaser card of what one of the jokers will look like originally drawn by my talented future wife Temika, I then brought it into photoshop and added all the bells and whisles and graphical elements – we make a good team as you can see…

Teaser Joker for Dan Sperry's Second Edition Crimson Deck

Besides myself and Temika I’m very excited to also have renown tattoo artist and designer Carl Schneider and Sara from The Goodbye Girls artistic duo coming along for the crazy ride! No release date yet as I’m currently super busy on tour but look for them to come out some time in early 2010!!!

Did I mention this coffee is delicious? Well. It is.

I watched the premiere of Psychic Kids on A&E last night, I thought it was retarded…just downright retarded…give me Paranormal State any day. Which they did, by having it come on right afterward so that’s all that was saving it.

-Ok i’m back…you can’t tell but I wrote that all like 5 minutes ago, I just discovered that Spike has destroyed a bottle of sunscreen so I had to clean him and it up…what a jerk…turn my back for 2 seconds to talk to the people and look what he does. I’m guessing this means he wants his own blog…hey now there’s an idea! I’ll put that on my list of things to do along with the baby stinky official web site which I’m sure will never happen. I need to hire a PA I think haha…

Ok gota go edit and upload some fun videos from the tour, more later…

Danny Boi

wow so that first leg of the tour went by F’N fast!!! As usual, wish it would never end. Right now I’m back in Toronto killing time in my hotel room – thinking about painting my nails and watching that new Twilight movie in a not-so-legal-fashion via the Internet. I also have to pack which will be interesting since I didn’t fold my clothes or anything like that last night – instead I just kind of threw everything in my suitcase.

This morning the rest of the cast and crew got dropped off in Ottawa, which is where we were last night, then me and Dave the tour bus driver drove to Toronto where I’ll get dropped off at the airport here tomorrow – ah the fun of flying with birds internationally. Luckily Dave is a really cool guy and we knew each other from the first time I did this tour about 5 years ago. Dave drives tour buses professionally – yes its a real job – and he’s been with tons of top major bands and productions. Today when we got here we grabbed some lunch in the restaurant that’s connected to the hotel here and he told me stories about how he drove for Nickleback’s first tour and kept getting hired back and got to see them evolve from this little group into the huge touring production they are today. Really cool road stories he shared.

The other night we did some shows for the Shriners…

So before the show I’m wandering around trying to find a Timmy Hos and I stop in the restroom in the lobby of the venue and as I’m standing there relieving myself an odd looking figure catches the corner of my eye…and look who was standing right next to me…

show me on the doll where...

So tomorrow I fly to Minnesota where I’ll get to see SPIKE BONES!!! I miss him like crazy go nuts, I was going to take him on this first part of the tour but last minute issues came up and he couldn’t get into the country, just a long and dumb story. So I haven’t seen him in a number of weeks and I can’t wait to get into mischief with my little buddy.

While back at home I’ll also be catching up on tons of design work I have to do on some projects that are coming out, but can’t really talk about them…what I AM looking forward to is getting more than 4 hours of sleep at night, I kind of forgot what that feels like.

I also got a call from my good buddy JBayme the other night, he runs Theory11.com which is a site for magicians and they were running a contest for some bad magic photos, he caught me at about 5 minutes to show time so I had to quick come up with something from things I found backstage, well I couldn’t use much so me and Timo threw this idea together as kind of a Hans Klok-esque moment of a bad/cliche’ magic photo…enjoy…

Bad magic photo

and YES those are little chest hairs we decided I need to draw on myself…

Well on that note I’m going to sign off and get ready for the evening of packing…hope everybody is getting excited for Christmas!!!