I suppose that it must be nice to be booked by a magic club overseas. One (well this one) has to be very careful when talking about the various places one has been invited to, that it is not put down to boasting. Well, to be perfectly honest, there is no need to boast. If you are lucky enough to get these invites, and by lucky, I mean lucky, I have found that it gives me a thrill, and makes the old stomach turn over. If the invite is from a country that has never seen me, but only read my articles, I have now to put my act (for want of a better word) where my mouth has been all these years. I suppose if you are working in the UK, then should your act die on stage, getting home is no problem. However, it is a long way in these circumstances from Australia, Singapore or Moscow (there's me boasting again in a subtle way). Trying to be as honest as possible, 'cos I know from experience that no one in our profession tells 'Porkies' about the amount of shows and fees they are supposed to earn, I most certainly could not afford to go to these places (always economy) whilst I still had the normal twelve to fifteen shows a week (what was that I was saying about 'porkies'?). I needed the money from local shows, and it was only when I retired and people who read my articles and wanted to see this idiot who, for over thirty years, had been writing (really nothing much magical) in magazines, that I was able to go, no fees just all expenses paid including accommodation (though some of the tents were small). Selling one's lecture notes does bring in some extra cash, but you have to be at great pains that you are invited to these places and doing it for love, as someone is going to let the immigration people know that you have no work permit (I had this happen when two disgruntled magicians, feeling snubbed, advised them that Henrique was working on their shores, well a little inland to be correct). Lucky for me my contract stated that I was to receive no fee, just my expenses. Mind you, during the customs search he did see a little surprised that I needed six dozen thumb tips as spares; ditto the fifty firing wands. However, he did accept that anyone could be forgiven for wrapping up his precious tricks in dozens of eggbags. Anyone who has not done the Earth's circuit will not know about going through the time zones, which is known as jet lag. If you are like me, and thank goodness there are not many like me, then the thrill of meeting your reception committee from the magic club at the convention is so great then you can be forgiven for having travelled well over twelve thousand miles trying to push this excitement to the limit. Unfortunately your body does not share the same excitement as your brain, which might be the reason for going rapidly floorwards in either a dead faint, tiredness or, in my case (no, not a close-up one) it being part of the act. I cannot explain how drained one feels, and, despite crashing out at the first opportunity, when you're fully conscious you know that you have the same journey again in reverse to get back home, knowing that there will be possibly X number of days washing up to do. Boy there is nothing like washing up to bring you down to street level giving that uncomfortable feeling that you're not so great as you like to feel (or like to think). I was, of course, aware that one has to pay airport taxes, but resented the fact that one also needs to pay a departure tax from the country you are leaving. You have the right to refuse paying this, that is if you have no objection to spending a couple of nights in jail, which means that you still have to pay this tax happy in the knowledge that you have missed your planned flight home. I bet our government ministers do not have this hassle. Would I do it again? You bet your sweet life I would. Could I do it now? Nope. Somehow it is different flying off to Spain or wherever for a holiday, and being over twenty-one paying highly inflated insurance. |
