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A Note From Paul Gross
December 7: 'Tis the Season to be Jolly Boy, are we runnin'! Runnin' to keep up! I know I've said this before, but I wanted to say it again: thank you for all your orders this holiday season. If it keeps going the way it has, this will be a benchmark in our holiday history here at Hocus Pocus. I did have some time this weekend to spend with my family, and we did it all: we hung the lights, we trimmed the tree, and the entire house looks like a giant invitation for Santa Claus! My son Max has now resubmitted his Christmas list for the umpteenth time. What am I going to say to him when he asks for a 72" plasma big screen TV besides "Yeah, right"??? Is this on the Christmas list of all 12 year-olds? Your suggestions and comments on this are appreciated. My oldest son, Cole, attended his first Winter Formal and boy, did he look dashing and debonair in his tuxedo. My younger daughter, Aimee, continues to travel with a fashion design company for whom she's working and is anxious to come home for the holidays. My oldest daughter, Renee, is working hard on finals as she prepares to graduate this year from U.C. Santa Barbara! It will be wonderful to have all the kids home for the holidays this year. It was good to hear from Paul Kozak today. As you may know, Paul is one of the entertainers and the emcee for the World's Greatest Magic Show in Las Vegas. Paul informed me that the show has consistently run for 8 months straight at the Greek Isles, and not one of the performers has had one day off! He also said that the schedule will change shortly and there will now be two shows back-to-back every day! If you're in Las Vegas and want to see one of the best magic shows ever, you need to see the WGMS! In other news, our very own Mike Giusti has just put the finishing touches on his Radio Show, "Mike on the Mike Show" for the Magic Broadcast, the Internet's first 24-hour/7 day per week radio show about magic. The first show deals with performance bloopers and unexpected moments, and it is very entertaining to listen to. To listen to the show, you can stream it with Winamp or in your browser. Simply click on the Magic Broadcast image below: Please do your best and try to support the Magic Broadcast; it has tons of potential, and we would like to see it grow! In other Hocus Pocus news, we are receiving new products daily, and Mike is working his fingers to the bone to get them on the site as soon as inhumanly possible. He begins to cringe at the sight of me walking towards his desk each day. Ha! So stay tuned for more soon. Make sure that you take it easy during the holiday rush. Until then, Paul ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ December 2: The Week After, Part 2 And the hits just keep coming! What a week we're having here. This HAS to be the busiest holiday season ever at Hocus Pocus. The phones are ringing off the hook and the packages are piling up so much, there's barely room to breathe or even time to eat lunch, but that's OK by us! Just take a look:
And this is just one small part of the shipping department! To top things off, we were visited today by none other than Criss Angel and David Baram. Criss is the driving force behind popularizing his very unique kind of magic to the masses. You've seen him on many television specials, including Mindfreak and Supernatural! David Baram is the president of The Firm, Criss' management company that represents many of today's top celebrities. He's also a magician in his own right. Criss, Dave and I spent most of the morning discussing a huge upcoming project is working on, and Hocus Pocus is honored to be a very special part of it! I can't reveal any further details about it at this time, but I will tell you that it is going to be a HUGE boon to magic! Stay tuned as I'll reveal more details about it when I am able.
From left to right: David Baram, Dexter, Criss Angel, and yours truly. Paul ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ November 30: The Week After I hope that you and your family had a great Thanksgiving. We certainly enjoyed ours. Robert Baxt was in town to take photos of his latest project with us at Hocus Pocus. Watch our web site for this to be released in the coming weeks. It's another piece of show business that Robert uses in every show and it has that touch of Robert Baxt all over it! We even convinced Robert to stay over and celebrate Thanksgiving with us! Anywhere Robert goes is a party on wheels! We were also fortunate in that Robert brought his props along for an impromptu performance. My son Max is still trying to figure out where all those coins came from.
A Svelte Robert Baxt. Friday morning, and the big season has finally begun; the phones are still ringing off the hook and the orders are coming in faster than we can keep up, but trust us, we will. Just to give you an idea of how busy it's been, we've shipped over 500 packages since Friday! We've had to order a couple of new computers and hire additional part-time help just to keep up with all the activity around here. What started out as a "small business" many years ago has turned into something much more. It has surpassed my wildest expectations! For that, we must thank all of you. I'd also like to thank all of you for all your well-wishes, emails, and letters. They really made our week here amidst all the magic and mayhem. If all this activity in November is any indication, the upcoming month of December promises to be an exciting one. If you are planning on making your purchases before the holidays, do so now before the last-minute crunch and deadlines. Remember, you are the reason we are here, you are the most important factor in our business, and we continually recognize this by providing you with special promotions, sales, emails, incomparable products, and what we believe is the best possible customer service anywhere! Before I go, I wanted to leave you with a heartfelt message we received from our good friends over on the other side of the pond, Colin & Sharron Rose: Dear Paul, Colin & I just wanted
to say we have been reading the 'Message from Paul Gross' pages and they are
almost as addictive as the Product Pages! But your recent message really
'hit the button' and we both wanted to empathize with your thoughts and
feelings about what you do.......we have always felt truly blessed to be
able to make our living from Magic and like you....... to be able to create
our Magic together as a team, we are living our dreams on a daily basis, and
again, like you we have the Magic Happy Holidays to all our American Friends! In Magic & Friendship Colin & Sharron Rose Paul ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ November 23: Thanksgiving How fast the year's gone by, and I have a lot to be thankful for! I have a beautiful wife who supports and believes in me and what I do every single day, I have four healthy children who I am very proud of, lots of close family, and true friends I can count on! I'm thankful to be able to do for a living what I enjoy the most. Hocus Pocus has grown exponentially (in leaps and bounds) every single year, and none of this could have been possible without you. So I thank you, our loyal Hocus Pocus family! As this year comes to a close, on behalf of my staff and I, we promise you that the best is yet to come! There are so many new projects and plans in the works, we are all very excited to be able to bring them to you! So, as you sit down with your loved ones for your Thanksgiving meal, remember what and who you are thankful for. Take time with your family to enjoy them and enjoy what you have. Don't get too caught up in the Holiday Hubbub; stay safe and enjoy this time of year! Below are some of the comments we've received about this blog. It looks like it is becoming a very popular edition to the site. Here are a few: Dear Paul,
Great Offering! Yours, Lawrence Lemon Miami ********** Paul, Dr. William Jarvis
**********
Hey Paul,
I've been meaning to tell you that "A
Note From Paul Gross" is a nice touch to your web site. I've been
fortunate enough to visit your shop the November 2 note gave those who
may never have the opportunity to visit you shop a virtual tour. I have
enjoyed reading them all. Well done, keep them coming.
Your Friend & Patron,
Patrick Bryan ********** I just “found” your message page. (I usually leap right into the product listing) Great idea! I enjoyed being able to put faces with names and a visual of your operations with the name Hocus Pocus. While this wasn’t a true interactive experience, I felt as though there was a “connection” made which made Hocus Pocus more “human” and real.
Thanks –
Ron ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ November 15: Castle Capers II! What a weekend! Around noon on Friday, we arrived in Hollywood, California and had lunch at the world-famous Musso & Franks. What a party it turned out to be. In fact, I'll just show you:
Starting left center clockwise: R. Paul Wilson, Pete Biro, my son Max, my son Cole, my daughter Renee, me, Robert Baxt, Carl Ballantine, Gerald Kirchner (obscured), Chuck Kirchner, my wife Betty, Lou Hirschorn, and Joe Porper.
Mike steals Carl's cigar!
Carl receives a gift from Max! R. Paul Wilson, Pete Biro, and Joe Porper showed us several of their new releases, which you'll see appear on our web site first. In fact, the rumors are already flying around the Internet about how cool these new products really are. I agree!
We stopped by and visited Hollywood Magic, but not before saying hello to Houdini! My daughter, Renee, having just turned 21, couldn't wait for her first time at the Castle. She sang with Irma, and even got involved in the acts that evening!
That evening at the Castle, we enjoyed an excellent dinner and headed over to the Palace of Mystery where we saw the performances of Joseph Tran, David Deeble, and Jason Baney. All great acts, the highlight was watching the young Joseph Tran and his unique approach to the Shadow Box Illusion involving Barbie and Ken dolls. If you've seen Joseph's act, you know just how clever and cute this routine is. It never fails to get the crowd's reaction! Next up, we saw Doug Brewer in the Parlor of Prestidigitation. He borrowed my $100.00 bill without even knowing it was me and reproduced it one of the final loads in his Cups & Balls routine. Very clever. The next day was pure pandemonium. I have never been to a Castle Swap Meet that had so many vendors and buyers. I was able to pick up many antique and hard-to-find items, which you'll see popping up on the web site (if you haven't already). One of the things I am most excited about was finding and original Richard Himber Upside-Down Pail! I couldn't believe it! This thing is terrific, and if you've ever seen Richard Himber perform it (look on volume 2 of the Magic Ranch video series), you know what a head-scratcher it is!
No matter where you looked, there was magic, magic, magic everywhere! After a great 2 days of wheeling and dealing and seeing old friends, it was time to leave. I was happy to see that my other daughter, Aimee, was able to visit and spend some time with us from Santa Barbara (she's standing to my right). Can't wait until the next one in April! I appreciate all your comments and suggestions. Please keep 'em coming and thanks for taking time to read this page. Paul ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ November 10: Feedback We've gotten so many positive emails in response to the blog, that we've decided to post some of them here from time to time. Thank you everyone for taking the time to comment on it. We appreciate it more than you know! Hello HP –
I really like Paul’s message page. Thanks for posting it. It’s nice to put a face with the names from HP and to see the ‘behind the scenes’ of a place most of us can only dream of visiting, much less working at.
George Mullican Thanks, George! I wanted to take the opportunity to share someone with you. Anyone who knows Jerry Foster knows what a gentleman and consummate professional this man is! Never having a bad thing to say about anyone, Jerry is always upbeat, positive, and he never fails to share his experiences with anyone who asks. When Jerry sent these recent promo photos, we thought it would be kind of cool to post them here so everyone could see them. As you can see, Jerry has a very unique kind of act.
If you have any suggestions and/or requests of what you would like to see here, let us know. Simply email your suggestions to sales@hocus-pocus.com Also, if anyone out there knows how to set up an RSS feed (or if you can point us in the correct direction), let us know at support@hocus-pocus.com so you can subscribe to this page and be notified of any updates in the future. Paul ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
November 9: Castle Capers! We're gearing up to go down to Hollywood, California this Friday through Sunday to visit the Magic Castle and have lunch with some good friends, including Joe Porper, Robert Baxt, Mike Giusti, R. Paul Wilson, Chuck & Gerald Kirchner of Magic City, Louis St. Pierre of Hollywood Magic fame, and the legendary Carl Ballantine! One of the greatest experiences of my life was getting the opportunity to meet and know Carl. If you've ever seen Carl perform his classic comedy magic act, you know what we mean when we say he's tremendously funny. Trust me, this guy was just born funny! He's also a very keen cigar aficionado. We're currently working on a project with Carl that we're very excited about, and I hope to announce it very soon!
Carl Ballantine in one of his more "cerebral" moments. While there, we'll also be attending the semi-annual Magic Castle Swap Meet, as we're always keeping our eyes out for great bargains and antique collectibles for you, our loyal Hocus Pocus customers! We also enjoy seeing our old friends and some of our customers there as well. We'll definitely be snapping photos and keeping you up to date right here, so stay tuned. We've finally finished construction on the second tier to the warehouse to accommodate all the shipping materials and new products coming in each day to insure that you receive your orders in the fastest, most professional manner possible. It really helped us out as we are constantly running out of space, even in our 6,000 square-foot building! The holidays will be here before you know it. Listen for those Christmas tunes to hit the radio waves soon but not before you've sampled some Thanksgiving turkey! Paul ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ November 2: Election Day! It is, of course, Election Day! Don't forget to get out there and vote. It doesn't matter who you vote for or how you vote, the most important thing is that you exercise your right! We had a special treat today! Dan Harlan stopped by with two of his new products: The Jug and My Word Dan is well known for his other great products like the Band Shark DVDs, CardToon, and Premium Blend DVDs!
I want to thank everyone who emailed and called us with their compliments and thoughts about this particular blog spot. We've had tons of compliments and inquiries as to what the store looks like, both outside and inside, so here are a few teasers:
And that's just one corner of the warehouse! Recently, we've added new space (including a second tier) to accommodate the immense amount of products and packages arriving for the holiday season! Although it can be a little overwhelming at times, we love it and also love this time of year!
It's easy to get lost in the warehouse! In fact, it can drive you a bit insane. Right, Mike?
Actually, he's like this all the time! Keep checking out this page as we'll be updating it often. If you have any suggestions or even special request, we'd be happy to hear them! Don't forget: Go out and vote! Paul ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ October 28: We've got you covered! This is a new feature of our web site that functions as a Blog, and that means it will be updated to reflect changing events, information, and of course, opinions. Blah, blah, blog! I thought I'd start off by officially introducing you to Hocus Pocus. Over the 30 years I've been in the magic business, I've received literally thousands of requests to post pictures of the shop, staff, and merchandise we carry. Well, we've got the merchandise covered, that's for sure, so allow me to update you further about the business. What does Hocus Pocus look like? What does its staff look like? Is Hocus Pocus a real brick & mortar shop or what they are now calling a "click & mortar shop?" Hocus Pocus originally opened on November 8, 1974. I remember the day as if it were yesterday. In fact, I was performing all over the country before I decided to open a magic shop. Don't believe me? Just look at this picture taken almost 30 years ago: what I wouldn't give to be that thin and have that much hair again!
My early influences were Mark Wilson, Harry Blackstone Jr., Jack Gwynne, Channing Pollock, and a few others. I started out like most everyone does: performing children's shows and birthday parties before graduating to become the official magician of such companies like Bank of America, Pepsi Cola, Holiday Inn, and Comfort Suites. I then turned my attention on the business side of my profession. And that was the day Hocus Pocus was born.
The Official Hocus Pocus Magic Shop! I have been extremely fortunate in that this business has given to me so much, including the opportunity to meet my mentors and make many new friends both here and abroad. I believe that has transcended over into Hocus Pocus, where I surround myself with those who are the best in the business, including Mike Giusti, who is in his own right a talented comic magician in addition to maintaining the Hocus Pocus web site with his creative graphics and Internet knowledge. He's also the guy you see in all our ads and on the web site with that rubber face of his.
Then there's Jason London, a classy entertainer with loads of product knowledge inside that Rolodex in his head. His first love is close-up magic, and if there's something he likes or dislikes, he's sure to let me know. The shipping department is one of the most dedicated in the business. They bust their hump each and every day to make sure that all orders go out in a timely fashion. You'd be hard pressed to find a harder working team of individuals. The most important thing I want you to know is that Hocus Pocus is committed to providing you with the best choices of products along with the best customer support possible. We all work hard each and every day to make sure that you are happy, and we hope you keep visiting and considering Hocus Pocus for all your magic needs. Above all else, your satisfaction is guaranteed here at Hocus Pocus. If you find this page helpful, email us and let us know: sales@hocus-pocus.com I appreciate you taking the time to read it. More to come, Paul |
