Mo Magic Weekly — Issue #22: The Warning I Ignored at 17...

I just got my hours cut at BJ’s this week.

So now I’ve got a decision to make.

Go find something new…

or go back to something I used to do.

Restaurant magic.

But here’s what’s different now—

I’m not the same person I was back then.

I graduated with my degree in Computer Science.

I’ve been building CodeBreeze Solutions LLC.

Writing this newsletter every week.

And learning how to think long-term.

Funny thing is—

that restaurant idea…

that’s actually where this all started.

I was 17… a junior in high school.

Friday nights, I was getting paid to do magic at a pizza place—
Villa Maria Restaurant (New Milford, CT)

$50… tips… free pizza.

And beer.

I thought I made it.

The place was packed. Energy everywhere. People laughing.
And me… walking table to table with a deck of cards trying to figure it out.

It felt like a dream.

But looking back…

it wasn’t just a restaurant.

It was a party spot.

And at 17… you don’t think about that.
You just think: this is awesome.

That one spot turned into more.

In the 90s, I was doing 5… sometimes 6 restaurants a week.

Different places. Same setup. Same energy.

The magic got better.
The money got better.

But the environments stayed the same.

And now…

here I am again.

Thinking about going back into a restaurant once a week in New Haven to make up the difference.

But this time…

it’s different.

Before I ever got that first restaurant gig…

I was studying.

Reading books on restaurant magic. Learning how to approach tables, how to manage crowds, how to build reactions.

And I remember reading something that stuck out:

Be careful around alcohol.

At 17, I laughed it off.

That’ll never happen to me.

I wasn’t thinking about environment.
I wasn’t thinking long-term.

I was thinking about getting reactions… getting paid… being in the game.

But here’s the truth—

when you’re in those environments consistently…
they start to shape you whether you realize it or not.

That warning I read?

It was real.

And after five years in prison… I understand it in a way I didn't back then.

So if you’re a younger magician reading this—

be careful where you perform.

Not just because of the crowd…
but because of what repeated exposure can do over time.

The magic will always be there.

Protect yourself first.

With my hours getting cut… and the economy tightening…

I’ve been thinking a lot about how I move.

Because this is where people either panic…

or get proactive.

Here’s the lesson:

You don’t wait for perfect conditions.

You adjust… and keep building anyway.

So here’s what I’m doing right now:

I’m staying in motion.

And I'm still DCA'ing (dollar-cost-averaging)

into crypto when possible.

Steadily.

It’s actually been holding up pretty well lately—
considering everything going on right now.

Not all-in on one thing.

Not sitting still either.

Just stacking small, consistent moves that build over time.

💡 Simple rule:
When things tighten up—
don’t freeze… adjust.

The crazy part is—

while I’m thinking about picking up a restaurant night…

my digital marketing is actually starting to work.

I just performed for a group of 30+ Yale students at a house party.

They found me by searching “magician New Haven” on Facebook.

I showed up.

I did the gig…

Got paid. Got a tip. (Thank you Rebekah!)

and woke up the next day to my first Google review for Mo Magic.

That one moment?

That’s not luck.

That’s consistency starting to connect.

The newsletter.
The content.
The positioning.

It’s all working together.

Not hype.

Just showing up… over and over again.

👉 Build. Launch. Grow.

If you need a website or marketing that actually brings people in:
👉 https://codebreezesolutions.com

Looking back…

it wasn’t just pizza and a few bucks.

It was the environment.

At 17, I didn’t understand that.

I do now.

That doesn’t mean you hide from the world.

It means you move through it with awareness.

And by the grace of God…

I’ll be 10 years alcohol-free this June.

That didn’t happen by accident.

It took time. Growth. Hard lessons. Faith.

Maybe I’m not going backwards.

Maybe I’m just going back…

with a different foundation.

God doesn’t waste seasons.

Even the ones we didn’t fully understand at the time.

Ever taken an opportunity that looked good at the time…

but hit different in hindsight?

Hit reply—I read every one.