The IMAGINATOR Unleashed
The Beginning: Before I get into the story of the IMAGINATOR I must go back to my infant days. I came form a family of seven. My Mom, Dad, two brothers, two sisters and I.
Before I was even born my parents were split divorced and split up. My dad took of and remarried leaving the five of us with our manic depressant mom who could never hold a job because of her condition. She was supporting us with food stamps and government aid. It was a treat if we ever stayed in an apartment more then six months. Usually we were evicted because my mother couldn’t pay the rent so there we were again. On the streets of Chicago looking for a place to sleep. Usually we would end up in a church or a homeless shelter. Our mom would send my brothers or sisters out to steal for food. I don’t really remember that part of my life much. Maybe perhaps It was because I was an infant. The other half maybe a mental block. All I can say as despite my mothers mental state, she was a very loving mom. She would hold us and just cry out of desperation, guilt, sorrow and pain. She really wasn’t on any condition to have kids in the first place. But we all accepted who she was and just went with the flow. One story I was told by my sister was the time when the nuns at the church wanted us to earn our overnight stay so they made us polish the church pews. I was to young to help, so my mother just sat their holding me, rocking me trying to calm me down.
Another story I was told was the one Christmas where we were at an apartment huddled of the stove for heat. we didn’t have any food, no Christmas tree, no presents, NOTHING! we all ended up going to church that morning all sad, depressed that Santa didn’t come to our house. After the service we went back home and experienced the true meaning of Christmas. All the nuns, church members and volunteers went to our apartment while we were at the service. It was like MAGIC! we suddenly had a Christmas tree, a table full of food. And Yes! Presents! We were all so happy that Christmas. Santa didn’t come, ANGELS did. A little time went by and we were still moving around the streets of Chicago. If I could explain our life to a movie I would say the “Pursuit of Happiness” staring Will Smith, would be a good description of how we lived.
A New Home:
Some time latter after moving around everywhere the last apartment eviction was the last that finally broke my mom. She couldn’t take it anymore. She was so unhappy that she couldn’t provide for us. She called a Taxi and sent us over to my Dads and step moms apartment . All of the sudden it was like every brother and sister for themselves. This was a new start, but ahead was a different set of challenges. Such as a new step mother who seemed as though she thought she was a drill Sargent. I think she watched to many Mr. Clean commercials, because she was the ocd when it came to keeping the house clean. every Saturday we had room inspection. We had to clean our rooms every early Saturday morning and when we thought it was clean enough we would call her up to our rooms and the room inspection would start. If we even as much had a shirt, sock or book not perfectly lined up or folded she would turn into the Tasmanian Decvil and tear apart our room like a tornado and than leave for us to clean it again. Ironically our sisters rooms were always perfect, but the boys always seem to have something she could spot out. I think she hated us boys.
One permanent burnt in memory that I remember is when my father took me to a magic shop. Ever since then I was hooked. From that day on I was doing card tricks for the family and friends. I would go to the library to check out books on magic to further my skills in the arts. One book in particular stood out, a book on Harry Houdini. The book explained some of Houdini’s techniques on escapes. Little did I know that this book would one day save my life.
Later on as an adult I found myself performing magic at theaters, restaurants and birthday parties for boys and girls, planting the seeds for the magicians of the future. I always knew to make it in the world of magic you not only had to be talented, but also different. I started to dabble with the idea of coming up with various characters and theming magic routines to them.
Some of my characters consist of: The Nerdician, The Kabuki Experiment and Professor magic. I also started getting into the larger scale illusions that can get a little expensive. I decided to clean restaurants as a side income to help pay for my grander illusions. It was at this time in my life that the book came into play from so many years ago.
While cleaning a particular restaurant in the middle of the night I went to make a phone call and discovered the phone lines not working. Before I knew it several men clad in ski masks and walkie talkies rushed in at me. They forced me to the floor and used riot cuffs to strap my wrists to the metal pole that ran along the bottom of the bar. My life began to instantly flash before my eyes as I thought this could be my last moments. Then it hit me, the book of escape techniques Harry Houdini used.
With one of the men standing guard over me I tried to relax and implement what I had read. When the others called for him to assist them I knew it was my chance! With a little blood shed I managed to get my hands free, however I noticed the shadow in the hall as the guard came to check on me. I quickly shoved my hands back in and when he turned back I bolted for safety. I ran to a nearby residence where I called the police and a few days later the thugs were apprehended. I could have been killed that night but magic saved my life.
There was no turning back now, I went full force into furthering my skills at magic. Not to mention suddenly found myself deeply active in various worth-while causes. I competed in competitions and receiver awards for my efforts but something was still missing. In 1996 I performed a special stage show where all proceeds were dedicated to the Memorial Foundation in honor of the seven children that perished in the tragic bus accident the year before.
I kept at this for over another decade before I finally realized I was all over the place with my passions. How could I manage to combine all my loves? I did professional DJing, dabbled in web design and of course the magic before I found what I was looking for in the art. Again my mind began toying with various characters and themes but it would be my own little boy who would finally provide the last clue.
As my son grew out of toddle stage and started playing with bigger toys, though by bigger I mean aged hardly size. LEGO provided the inspiration for what would be one of my newest and more creative characters yet, IMAGINATOR Man. Yes it was, to me, a perfect blend of creativity, color, fun and originality! Over the next couple years I honed and polished this idea, molded and created the character from the ground up.
I conjured up every aspect of this character. Original music scores, a hand crafted costume, it was all coming together to make this vision come to life. Trial and error, and a lot of practice and brainstorming was involved to create various illusions using the common Lego pieces found in most kids arsenal of toys. This also allowed me to come up with different ‘public service messages’ using my magic to drive home the intended message.
Moving music, attention capturing visuals, a unique character and magical effects customized to fit what ever it was I wanted to convey. Yes! IMAGINATOR Man was born, though under the name Lego Magic Man. The entire concept was supported and even worked on by my wife and son who helped practice, conceive and even design this moving ideal of mine. I decided to set Halloween 2010 as the debut date to unveil the new character.
Using my skills with videography & web I made several promotional videos to draw attention to the upcoming grand release. Never showing the actual character nor concept, we came up with funny and interesting shorts that left people asking... What is this about? Which was the intended idea. We wanted people to be curious and intrigued enough to find out.
Along the way I had some extraordinary people help me. I would like to give special thanks to Arthur Trace (http://arthurtrace.com/), a fellow magician & friend who’s professional expertise and insight was most helpful. Rev. Festus Johnson (http://www.myspace.com/revflj2) for his friendship and sticking with me even through some of the more off the wall ideas and difficult times. Morrice & Heyse Motors (http://www.barringtonmotors.com/) for donating the awesome muscle cars and location used in some of our videos. Brian Lee (http://makanigirls.com/) for his friendship and help with the audio and technical aspects.
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