Remembering Dan Garrett (1951-2023)
Dan Garrett’s unexpected passing from a sudden cardiac event marked both the end of a magical era in the state of Georgia and the conclusion of a career that influenced performers around the world. Daniell Edward Garrett was born in Valdosta, Georgia on September 5, 1951, and spent most of his childhood in Douglas, the county seat of Coffee County. His childhood revolved around many interests including magic, acting, schoolwork, piano lessons, playing with his kid sister Janice, and even competing in and judging 4-H Club poultry contests. In 1969 Dan’s academic prowess took him to Georgia Tech where he majored in physics and was involved with DramaTech, the student drama club. It was there that he met Dr. Charles Pecor who not only directed him in several productions but also encouraged his magical development. At the Baptist Student Union Dan met a young Georgia Baptist Hospital nursing student named Carol Jordan. Their romance would lead to marriage on April 1, 1973, just a few weeks after their respective graduations, soon after which they established a home in Decatur, Georgia. During his college years and early adulthood Dan’s magical network began to grow. His connection with Charles Pecor led him to longstanding friendships with J.C. Doty, Tom Mullica, John Miller, Bob Carver, and Duke Stern. He took private lessons from Vernon and Slydini, attended lectures and competed at conventions, and over time his career goals evolved in a magical direction. He became the store manager of M&M Magic in Forest Park, Georgia, where he worked for a decade before selling his partnership stake to perform full time. It wasn’t long before Dan became well-known throughout the magic community, lecturing and performing for generations of magicians. He wrote for and published effects in The Linking Ring, M-U-M, Genii, Apocalypse, The Trapdoor, The Minotaur, and many other publications. He published dozens of books and videos on his own magic and that of others. He became National President of the Society of American Magicians in 1994, an experience which he valued for the rest of his life. He was an MIMC in The Magic Circle and on the Board of Directors of FFFF, where he was a co-“Guest of Honor” (along with Gene Anderson) in 2005. Perhaps his favorite accolade was a quote from David Copperfield who said, “Dan Garrett has one of magic’s most entertaining and creative minds.” Dan had many noteworthy performing experiences. One was his appearance as the “Magical Burger King” at a special event at Gator Bowl Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, where he landed midfield via helicopter. He was one of a team of magicians assembled to perform at the 2001 U.S. Presidential Inaugural Balls. And he was one of a small handful of magicians to be featured on “A Day of Magic” on CNN Headline News in 2002. In my own life, my relationship with Dan was one of mutual respect and the natural ebbs and flows of men with many overlapping interests and strong opinions. Dan performed shows that my family and I attended during different seasons of our lives, from a show as “Dan the Wizard” when my daughter was little, to an appearance at Atlanta Magic Night in more recent years. It seemed that he would always be part of the magic environment in this part of the country. It is because of Dan’s influence that many of my own magical career experiences happened at all. I was honored that his widow Carol asked me to lead Dan’s memorial service, where he was eulogized by Rolando Santos, Mark Merchant, David Ginn, me, and others. (The video of the service is linked at the web site of SAM Assembly 30, www.atlantamagicclub.com. It can be accessed directly here.) Funny, skillful, witty, and now most of all, missed. Farewell, Dan, and thank you.
Interview with Bold Journey Magazine
A few weeks ago I completed an interview with Bold Journey magazine. Here’s the link to the full interview. https://boldjourney.com/news/meet-joe-m-turner/
Mississippi Moments: Interview by Marshall Ramsey
Speed and Swagger: Ten-Minute Trainer Guest Spot
Several weeks ago, I recorded a guest appearance on “The Speed and Swagger Ten-Minute Trainer,” a weekly podcast produced by Speed Marriott and Derron Steenbergen (aka Swagger). Their focus is primarily on issues relating to media sales, but with general applicability for sales and marketing. (I met Speed when we both spoke at the Mississippi Association of Broadcasters conference in January.) Click on the image below to watch the episode. #podcast #sales #media #magic
Interview in CanvasRebel
CanvasRebel is a web-based magazine that does spotlight articles on a variety of creatives and business professionals. They approached me for an interview several weeks ago and this is the result. CanvasRebel: Meet Joe M. Turner Note: I appeared in a partner publication interview a couple of years ago. That interview can be found here: ShoutOutAtlanta: Meet Joe M. Turner, Professional Speaker and Corporate Magician/Mentalist
Art, Commerce, and Mistaken Premises
In his thought provoking and inspiring page-a-day book Secret Agenda (Hermetic Press, 2010) the great magical artist-teacher Roberto Giobbi addresses the subject of “Commerce Versus Art” with an entry for April 16 that begins with these words: Commerce is about taking. You take more money, more market shares, more work, more customers, more frequent turnover, more profit, more power, etc. Art is about giving and communicating with an audience, experiencing something unique with them. The artist shares passion, emotions and ideas. He invites the spectators to join him in his “life workshop” and shares his work with them. These lines are representative of many similar kinds of comments and assertions I’ve seen and heard from fellow performing artists over many years. The tension between meaningful artistic value and crass commercialism is a favorite topic for artists. I often agree with many of my peers about the way certain specific programs, products, or performances might be categorized. I certainly believe there are meaningful distinctions to be made in the way we attribute different kinds of value to those things. I think, however, that the way the distinction is framed above is fundamentally flawed. So I will respond with that favorite philosophical test: we must check our premises. Commerce is not about taking. The first sentence contains the first flawed premise. Commerce is not about taking. Theft is about taking. Commerce, on the other hand, is about exchanging; i.e., trading value for value in a way that benefits both parties, satisfying the desire that each of them has for something the other has. Because it allows for exchange, the meeting of need, and the satisfaction of desire without war or violence, I contend that commerce is itself a beautiful invention, a worthwhile institution, and one of the great achievements of humankind. The word begins with “com,” obviously suggesting that togetherness and interaction are in play. The rest of the word comes from “mercium,” or merchandise — or to put it even more generally, it refers to some productive output that has a shared value. To portray commerce or business as being purely about taking, or to suggest it is intrinsically an outgrowth of greed, or to frame it as inherently evil because it includes the concept of profiting from one’s productive output is not only mistaken but also reveals a blind spot on the part of the performer who is also seeking to profit, materially and/or psychologically, from his or her performances and self-expression. The producer of a business venture is compelled to express his or her creativity and drive in much the same way as the performer. The accusatory words used to describe commerce in the next sentence seem to spring from the mistaken premise that only the seller benefits from a sale. More money? One doesn’t receive more money unless one sells more items to more people who want them, or unless the item purchased is deemed to have more value by the purchaser, who wouldn’t otherwise trade their resources for it. More market share? How is it a bad thing if you have something that attracts the interest of a larger audience? Every performer wants more market share, too! More work? More customers? Neither are negative; we all seek them. More frequent turnover? This particular item in the list isn’t defined enough to critique. Turnover in staff? In inventory? In equipment? As for staff turnover, it can be argued that the only thing worse than the cost of losing a productive team member is the cost of keeping an unproductive one. In other cases staff turnover is often related to people growing beyond their current role and intentionally seeking a better opportunity, which is hardly a bad thing for the employee. If it is related to people quitting because they prefer different work, or a better wage, or even a better manager, then bring on the turnover! More power? More power to do what? To serve more people or families? To grow different lines of products or services? To express creativity through new designs, research, or manufacturing of novel solutions to problems? The idea of gaining more power to affect or influence one’s audience, environment, or circumstances isn’t intrinsically wrong or we wouldn’t teach our children to read. The question is, to what end? What is the objective of the wielder of the power? All of these things can be made negative by abuse, of course – by either workers, managers, or executives who do not treat all of the roles with the respect rightfully due to each. So also can the stage be abused by artists whose ego and aim are misguided or malevolent. But a considered review of the listed ideas reveals that none of them automatically deserves the implied scorn. Art and commerce are both about giving, communicating, and experiencing. Let’s look at the next segment, focusing on the characteristics of the artist. “Giving” and “communicating” and “experiencing” are all excellent and admirable… and they apply to the merchant or business owner as much as they do to the artist! If not, we wouldn’t have such things as departments and staff dedicated to public relations, charitable giving, marketing departments, advertising, or customer experience or employee experience initiatives — all of which are immensely important to businesses large and small all over the world. I would venture that we all know multiple business owners who make regular charitable donations to groups or organizations to which they feel a connection. I suspect nearly every business person we know has spent hours thinking about how to communicate more effectively with his or her tribe. Many business owners and leaders spend more time and resources learning to and attempting to communicate with their audiences than many performers have ever attempted! Further, I think that most business owners, operators, merchants, managers, and employees are always looking for ways for their transactions to be as mutually rewarding as that of a performer whose audience applauds with joy for the
7 Things About Magic That You Should Have Learned In Business School – #2
#2 – Mystery is valuable. It’s one of the primary rules of magic: don’t reveal the secret of the illusion. If you tell the audience your secrets, then the wonderful moment you created for them only seconds ago will lose a lot of its impact. Mystery, in the context of magic, is not about lying or deception. Magic is not about “fooling people.” The whole point is to create an experience that doesn’t seem possible. That unexpected mystery is a captivating element that engages interest and it should not be squandered. Mystery is too valuable to be squandered. In business, if you create an experience in working with you and in experiencing your product or service that surpasses expectations of what people generally consider possible, then you will have created a rare and beautiful mystery. Don’t spoil it by letting the process become the narrative. Keep your secrets secret, and let your customer focus on what you made them feel, not how you made them feel it. What about you? Certainly the secret formula to Coca-Cola is a classic example of a valuable business mystery. Can you think of any others? What about your own business – without exposing it, do you have a secret that helps you preserve some mystery for your audience? Let me hear from you in the comments!
Branding, Acting, and the Given Circumstances
Branding, Acting, and the Given Circumstances Sometimes we talk about the art of acting as if it were somehow dishonorable, and about nothing but lying and ego. But the reality is that great acting is about the truth, and understanding that can affect the way you make decisions about your brand and your real life responses to change and challenge. In my college acting days, I read A Practical Handbook for the Actor by Melissa Bruder et al. This little book transformed my approach to acting by boiling down much of the Sanford Meisner technique into its most accessible components. It dispensed with a lot of the esoteric emotional exercises and helped focus the actor on the questions at the heart of any scene. Who are these characters, and what do they want? In providing a way to answer those questions, the book first introduced me to a formulation of Meisner’s definition of acting, and it has stuck with me ever since. Generic Viagra https://www.wolfesimonmedicalassociates.com/viagra/ In short, acting is the art of living truthfully within given circumstances. The Given Circumstances In the theatre, the given circumstances can include the words of the script; the choices of the director with regard to blocking, style, and characterization; and the physicality of the set, costumes and props. Sometimes the director chooses to be flexible and allow changes to the given circumstances, but sometimes they are solid boundaries. The magic of acting, though, is that there is nearly infinite room for creativity and expression even within what may seem heavily constraining limits. In fact, some of the most memorable moments on film were improvisations by actors who, in character, reacted most honestly and authentically to changes in their given circumstances. From Jack Nicholson’s “Here’s Johnny!” in The Shining to Dustin Hoffman’s “I’m walking here!” in Midnight Cowboy, there are numerous film examples of amazing, high-impact moments created by actors committed to their purpose and the authenticity of their reactions. Accutane online https://advicarehealth.com/accutane.html In the past couple of weeks, I’ve watched several friends encounter difficult changes in their given circumstances, including lost jobs, problems with children, and the loss of their spouses. Other friends have had happy changes including signing new contracts, landing huge new clients, and having children – or in some cases, grandchildren! All of them will make new choices and they will take new actions as a result of the changed circumstances. Regardless of the nature of the changed circumstances, though, the actions they take will illustrate who they really are. What are their core values? What is, ultimately, their personal brand all about? Authentic Actions Illustrate Character In the same way that people illustrate their values and personal brands through their actions in changing circumstances, so also do organizations and corporate brands. Sometimes the changing circumstances are a function of the economy, or technology, or a change of leadership. Sometimes the new circumstances are a function of a crisis brought on by a customer service or public relations misstep. That there will be changes in the given circumstances is inescapable. That we deliver insights to our audiences by how we perform in the given circumstances is undeniable. Human beings instinctively process stories and characters based on the actions they take as the plot unfolds. Authentically motivated, value-driven responses to changing circumstances are the hallmark of top performers, whether on-stage or in the market. We are all actors because we all take action. When you act with authenticity that is driven by your goals and values, and you will captivate and amaze your audience.
Pride Goes Before the Fall – So Stay Proud!
Pride Goes Before the Fall – So Stay Proud! I’m sure you’ve heard the idiom “Pride goes before the fall” sometime in your life. You may recognize it as coming from the Bible – Proverbs 16:18, to be exact. In the original context, it is a traditional two-part warning: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” But modern English usage has shortened it to “Pride goes before the fall.” It’s generally used in the context of warning people that overconfidence and hubris often precede defeat, humiliation, or setback… usually because the excess pride led to complacency or mistakes. A stuck-up person can be blind to his or her weaknesses and fail to acknowledge his vulnerabilities. Warning people to avoid that pitfall is good advice. There is, however, another way to interpret “Pride goes before the fall,” but it requires that we split the concept “pride” into two component parts. Zenegra https://www.wolfesimonmedicalassociates.com/zenegra/ One part is hubris and haughtiness. That arrogant, overconfident element is a vice and is what the original proverb is warning against. It is about not merely elevating your perception of yourself, but diminishing others as well. It is an unloving and unwise characteristic and certainly as deadly a sin as we’ve been taught. But I believe, as have many before me, that underneath the vice, there is a virtuous element of pride, specifically, the state of being pleased or gratified with the result of good performance, whether your own or someone else’s. Even Christians are taught that we should desire to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant.” That compliment is clearly intended to engender a combination of gratitude and pleasure at a job “well done.” Generic Ambien online https://www.gastonpharmacy.com/ambien.php The negative aspects of pride are, as always, a perversion of a virtue; that is, being proud to an extreme that goes beyond what is merited. Warnings against haughtiness are warranted. But it is both unreasonable and unwise to abandon the feeling of pride in true work and true value. If your work merits approval, then there is nothing wrong with being pleased that you’ve done a task well, that you’ve delivered the value expected of you, or that you’ve performed at a high level. In fact, I think that such pride in one’s work and one’s workmanship is a necessary component of a successful, prosperous society and a successful, prosperous brand. And that’s where the second interpretation comes in. When that virtuous pride is gone, your society will fall. When you stop taking pride in your work, your achievements will slow and stop. When you stop taking pride in your family, your relationships will weaken. When you stop taking pride in your community, your society will crumble. When you stop expecting others to demonstrate pride in what they do, overall quality of output will decline. When pride goes, a fall is sure to follow. It is smart to avoid hubris and arrogance. It is wise to avoid being unrealistic about your weaknesses and vulnerabilities. It takes humility to accept that you still need to improve. But in the same way you look at your shortcomings with an honest eye, you must also look at your achievements on their real merits, and take pride in doing a job well. You have a right to be proud of your brand and the things that you do to strengthen it. Enjoy your success – not in a haughty way, but in the context of building on your momentum to achieve more.
Miley, Justin, and Personal Branding
Miley, Justin, and Personal Branding I didn’t watch the MTV Video Music Awards last night. I spent the evening listening to old ragtime music on YouTube. But like a man sheltered safely underground while the tornado passes over, eventually one has to come out and walk through the wreckage. So this morning, like many Americans, I turned on the television and the computer and got a massive, if filtered, retelling of the award show escapades. Of course the Miley Cyrus “performance” at the MTV awards was the lead story in multiple outlets. This week we’ll see plenty of editorializing about this young woman’s choices and what they say about her, her family, and the culture in which she has achieved her notoriety. For now, though, let’s just look at two elements of the MTV Video Music Awards and consider what they mean for brands. The obvious story is the Miley Cyrus story. Her hyper-sexualized attire and movement got her in the news, probably in exactly the way she intended. Like Lohan, GaGa, Madonna, and a long line of others going back to time immemorial, she is happy to be discussed regardless of the content of the discussion. Her brand is (currently) built on notoriety and shock value. Rather than being damaged by the incident and the disapproving headshakes of commentators including myself, her brand is probably being strengthened in the eyes of her target audience. However, it will take a constantly increasing level of shock value to break through the ever shorter and more desensitized attention spans of that audience. Whether her body and her psyche are resilient enough to withstand that in the long term remains to be seen. We all know that this kind of behavior has limits and eventually, those limits will be reached. Was she amazing? In my model, she didn’t demonstrate an overt expertise, and she didn’t exploit any hidden properties of natural laws. She didn’t demonstrate an inexplicable connection with the thoughts of others, or the ability to predict the future. What she did – and what all shock performers do – is break the conventional norms. The spectacle of contradicting normal processes and accepted social mores is engaging, even though in this case it was done in a superficial way. So her act may have qualified as amazing on that basis, but because the message associated with that amazing act is questionable, the effect on her brand in the eyes of the public at large is mixed at best. In other words, that “twerking” is basically a conjunction for “not working.” Why JT Got It Right The other big story from the VMAs, though, was Justin Timberlake. His performances managed to break through much of the Miley Cyrus noise to get some positive press. Was Justin Timberlake amazing? He demonstrated quality skills and expertise, and he appealed to nostalgia by putting together a (somewhat) unexpected reunion with N-Sync. By reuniting a group that doesn’t officially exist anymore, he tapped into the “impossible experience” and gave people a fleeting taste of something they can’t really have anymore. He touched on two kinds of amazing – expertise and mystery – and elevated his brand in the process. Contrast this approach with that of Miley Cyrus, who gave people a look at everything and practically begged the audience to take it. Which approach elevated the brand more effectively? Which approach diminished the brand? Be amazing, but for heaven’s sake, be careful!
