Everything I've ever loved became a career!
It's TRUE!
When I was six years old, I drew and drew; not just colouring with (yuck) crayons, but pictures of Fred Flintstone, Bat Man, Superman, the little Irish guy from "Lucky Charms", Yogi Bear, and many more. I started off drawing them on the green chalkboard that my parents bought me, but I hated the fact that I had to erase the images before I could draw more, so I switched over to using a ball-point pen, drawing on the card-board inserts from my dad's newly dry cleaned dress shirts, which he lovingly provided me with, knowing that I would put them to good use. Then I would colour the images using coloured pencils.
My teachers seemed to think that I was some sort of savant, deftly drawing pictures in the classroom (as per each assignment) but they seemed amazed that I included details like folds and wrinkles in the shirts of the characters, for example; this seemed like the right (or natural) thing to do, since there really WOULD be wrinkles in actual clothing. At home, I continued to copy (sometimes tracing on "onion paper") Bat Man and Superman from comic-books, and then colouring them. This is really how I taught myself how to draw, except that originally I would do the drawings on my chalkboard. Seemed to me, (originally) that one second Bat Man had a round head, then, after a quick observation, I erased the image and drew it more squared off, just as it was back then! It was like one moment I couldn't draw, and the next second I COULD! That's the only way I can explain what happened, early on in my formative years. I must have been "advanced" in other ways too, as I was always placed into "advanced" classes for English Literature, and later on in French class. I remember the nurses being amazed by the drawings of Fred Flintstone I did on the hospital ward's chalkboard, (I was "in" to get my tonsils and adenoids out) along with my impressions of comedian George Burns, complete with plastic cigar and eye-glasses! This came naturally for me, but apparently wasn't "normal" for a six-year-old. I enjoyed, even back then, entertaining the sick kids on the ward!
Eventually, in my late teens, when I was encouraged to enter into collegiate training for a career, I naturally selected cartooning; I was passionate and apparently good at drawing cartoons in High School too, even drawing for our year book. I was placed into the Graphic Design program of Dawson College, (probably because there weren't enough applicants) rather than my first choice, Commercial Art. By my third year, those in charge DID see fit to transfer me into the third year Commercial Art program, as I didn't have the discipline or accuracy required for the Graphic Design program, it was finally determined! I was much happier in Commercial Art, and its more illustrative curriculum. Right out of college, I managed to get a job in my hometown of Montreal drawing a nationally syndicated newspaper comic-strip, taking over from the original artist. there were three of us alternately drawing the strip, "Winnie Witch and the Giant Potato". I also was given the opportunity to do animation for TV commercials, at the same studio where I drew the strip. In my spare time I freelanced doing Graphic Design and newspaper layouts, but I was happier drawing (by then) my own local comic and Political strips! My original love of art and cartooning thus became a few different related careers, which earned me a fair living, as by then (my early twenties) I was on my own, having moved out from my parents place a few years earlier.
Magic was another passion and hobby I was actively involved with since aged fourteen, which eventually became a very lucrative career, or rather several magic-related careers! Because I was a natural "ham", (ironic for a Jewish man) and LOVED performing for others, (including singing and playing guitar at some colleges, coffee-houses, and parks and recreation events in Montreal) performing magic came naturally to me as well. I practised and practised sleight-of-hand with playing cards and coins, perfecting routines which I thought were entertaining, as in my mind, ENTERTAINING my audiences (which included my parents and High School chums) using magic was most importantly, not just "showing off" my skills, but ENTERTAINING my audiences, which meant making them laugh as well as being astonished. My first "public" performance was in High School, in front of hundreds of other students. This cool little afroed-dude in the front row kept calling me "Houdini", and this continued daily in the hallways, "Hey, Houdini!" he called at me. I was flattered and grateful, as I nodded to him in acknowledgement. Eventually magic also became a career, shortly after I relocated to Winnipeg, Canada in 1981. I accepted a full-time Graphic Design job for a newspaper, (and later, an advertising department as Illustrator) in Winnipeg, but magic was my true passion, so a month after moving there, I approached a few restaurants and bars and procured my first regular magic jobs. I did table-to-table (close-up) magic for the patrons of the restaurant; I accepted no tips from the patrons, as the restaurant, "Gabby's", paid me a fee for a couple of hours of "walk-around" magic. this lasted a couple of years until the restaurant changed hands. At the same time I was doing walk-around magic for an after-hours bar, plus a stand-up (or "Platform") show, complete with doves, fire, and mind-reading! My hours started at 1:00 a.m. and went on until the wee hours of the morning! (Sunday-morning) I was working my full-time (Monday-to-Friday) illustration job at the time, and making just as much money on the weekend also doing magic at birthday parties, corporate events, plus the two regular magic jobs! After a year of this, I was mercifully let go of the illustration job, as they replaced me with a laser-scanner which knocked off triple the amount of images than I could draw by hand, thus making the technology more financially viable than keeping me hired on. I was already established locally with my magic, so this was not a problem for me, neither financially nor otherwise; in fact, I enjoyed performing magic more than the drier graphic design job, and my bank-statements reflected this success. I went on to purchase a couple of houses in Winnipeg between 1981 and 1994 just with my magic earnings alone, let alone from freelance illustration and caricatures, which I was also doing during this time. Of course, my TV-show (which ran for nine years) as well as weekly television appearances on another kids' show didn't hurt things as well, helping me gain more notoriety.
Thus, yet another passion/hobby became a career!
Of course, when your hobby becomes a career, you have to "play by the rules", in other words, sometimes you're not your own person anymore, and you MUST listen to what your boss, or even AGENT demands of you, and it's not always fun, but if you can do it without feeling like you're compromising TOO MUCH of yourself, (or even not too stressed out) well then you'll have the BEST OF ALL WORLDS!
Of course, when your hobby becomes a career, you have to "play by the rules", in other words, sometimes you're not your own person anymore, and you MUST listen to what your boss, or even AGENT demands of you, and it's not always fun, but if you can do it without feeling like you're compromising TOO MUCH of yourself, (or even not too stressed out) well then you'll have the BEST OF ALL WORLDS!
Only my singing and guitar-playing hobby never really took off, although I would often include a few audience-participation original tunes in my children's magic-show presentations, plus I've released a dozed or so CD's and music downloads of original material online. Some people say my voice, guitar, and stylings are similar to singer/songwriter Cat Stevens, and I'm flattered by this.
Maybe sometimes a passion/hobby should remain just that!
Buy my autobiography, Magic Mike Likey: A Man for every Occasion from Amazon...
