Mo Magic Weekly 🪄 — Issue #20: I Passed Out Learning My First Trick...

I literally passed out the first time I tried to learn magic.

Not joking.

I was 16… standing in a small shop in Brookfield, CT…
trying to blow up a balloon.

They handed it to me and said,
“Go ahead, we’ll show you how to make something.”

Seemed simple enough.

I’m blowing…
and blowing…

nothing.

Finally I get a tiny bubble…
so I push harder…

Next thing I know—

I wake up on the floor.

I passed out cold…
fell straight into a Hallmark card display 😅

Yeah… that was my start.

But the crazy part is…

that wasn’t even the beginning.

This actually started years earlier…

with two paper routes.

I was around 12… delivering papers every day.

A daily route… and a weekly one.

That was my first hustle.

And every once in a while…

I’d take that money…
hop on a train into New York City…

and go straight to Tannen's Magic Shop.

Not for tricks…

but books.

I didn’t fully understand everything yet…

but I knew I was hooked.

Then when I was 16…

I got a job at a hardware store in Brookfield, CT.

And one day, a customer came in—

Bongo the Silent Clown (John Mackiewicz).

He made me a balloon animal puppy right there.

And I remember thinking—

“Wait… you can DO that?”

But Bongo didn’t just show me something cool…

he pointed me in the right direction.

Told me where to get balloons.

So right after work…

I went.

(Yeah… that’s where I passed out 😂)

But I still took that bag of balloons home.

And I was determined.

Kept practicing…
kept failing…
kept going…

until eventually—

I figured it out.

That moment…

that shop…

that bag of balloons…

it all led somewhere.

Bongo introduced me to the Danbury Top Hatters—
an assembly of the Society of American Magicians.

That’s where I really started learning.

And it’s also where I met my good friend
Tony Spero.

Tony and I are still friends all these years later…

And years after that…

I ended up becoming president of that very assembly.

Funny how that works.

And if you're young and curious about magic—

the Society of American Magicians has assemblies all over the country.

It's where I got my real foundation.

👉 Find an assembly near you

Recently, Tony came out to New Haven for my birthday.

We were out… just hanging out…

and that’s where I filmed that “card under the drink” video.

Here’s a quick moment from that day—

(card under drink 👇)

What started back then…

in a small group…

learning the basics…

has now come full circle.

Still doing magic.

Just in a different place.

With the same people.

And something I don’t talk about enough—

Tony, Bongo, and a lot of people from that time…

have shown me tremendous support.

Not just back then…

but even through my tougher season…

and after.

That means more than people probably realize.

That kind of support…

stays with you.

That whole story?

That’s how everything works.

CodeBreeze didn’t start big.

It started the same way—

learning…
building…
figuring things out as I go.

Just like magic…

you don’t see the practice.

You only see the result.

If you’re trying to build something—

you don’t need everything figured out.

You just need to start.

Got a business that needs more visibility, more traffic, or more leads online?

Let's talk.

👉 Book a free consult

Last week we talked about awareness.

This week… it's about what you do with it.

Because once you understand inflation…

you can't unsee it.

Money sitting still?

Is losing value.

So the question becomes—

what do you do about it?

Here's the lesson most people never get taught:

Cash is a depreciating asset.

Just like a car loses value the moment you drive it off the lot…

dollars lose purchasing power over time.

That's not a conspiracy — that's just how fiat currency works.

The people who build wealth?

They don’t sit in cash.

They move it into things that hold or grow in value.

Stocks. Real estate. Commodities. Hard assets.

For me right now — Bitcoin, Gold, Silver.

Not because I have it all figured out…

but because I understand the direction things are going.

📖 Worth reading: The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous — whether you're into crypto or not, the first half is basically a masterclass on what money actually is and why it loses value over time. Eye-opening.

Still working. Still building. Still learning.

Not financial advice — just what I'm doing.

Got a message this week that made me laugh:

I get that.

Because honestly…

that was me trying to blow up a balloon the first time 😅

Nobody talks about that part.

The awkward beginning.
The part where you look dumb.
The part where it doesn’t click yet.

But that’s where everything starts.

“Do not despise these small beginnings…” — Zechariah 4:10

Looking back…

none of it seemed big at the time.

Paper routes.
Train rides.
A balloon that knocked me out.

But those were the moments that built everything.

And something else I’ve learned—

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord…” — Psalm 37:23

Some paths aren’t random.

Some people you meet…
some moments…

are placed in your life for a reason.

Nobody starts smooth.

You’re not supposed to be good at the beginning.

You’re just supposed to keep going.

Most people never get past that part.

The awkward stage.
The frustrating stage.
The part where nothing works.

But if you stay with it…

it turns into something.

Even if it knocks you out at first 😅

If this resonated—

📩 Reply and tell me: what’s something you tried that felt awkward at first?