Todd Diamond is one of my favorite performers. When I first saw a clip of him performing, I fell in love with his style. I got his e-mail from his website and I wrote him about some of the things he was doing and he was so kind and generous in his response. He could have just answered with a quick reply, but instead wrote pages of advice, etc. He didn't even know who I was. From my note, he knew I loved the art and he treated me like a long term friend.

Todd sent out an e-mail today to with an announcement that quite frankly, made me sad. I asked if I could share it and he gave the OK.

From Todd:

"The art of magic was something I always loved and respected, however over the last few years things have changed. I am here to announce my retirement from magic, this does not mean I am quitting the art and quitting performing this simply means I am not going to perform for a living anymore. After 12 years of doing this for a living and having TV specials in Indonesia, traveling the world, two instructional DVD projects and making my sole income from magic I have decided to change direction.

The direction I am changing to has many reasons, one my wife and I want to have a child and I don’t want to travel as much, two we have just purchased an amazing home and I would much rather be home with my wife and future child then traveling and finally I have grown to dislike the art I once loved. The main focus of this announcement is going to be on the art I once loved so much.

I started magic like the majority of magicians when I was a young boy; I loved it and was amazed by the thinking behind it. My quest to become a magician was not as traditional as most; I went to see Copperfield when I was twelve (I am now 36). On the way home I told my parents I wanted to learn the card trick that he did on the big screen. My journey began there, I was determined to learn grandfather’s aces and in the process I learned a lot about the art of magic. I then realized I had this skill and the rest became history.

Over the last 3 or 4 years I have noticed a major change in the direction magic is going. Not that it is bad, but it definitely is not for me. I don’t have the patients for dealing with every kid on the block thinking they are a magician because they purchased the current hyped trick and then opening a YouTube account. THIS IS NOT A MAGICIAN!

I studied my art through books and my elders, today the elders are nonexistent for the young kids, and instead they can download magic and learn from that. Like I said” that is not necessarily a bad thing” I just don’t care for it. I grew up learning from my teachers who have been in the business for a very long time. I learned from Phillip Kampf, Scott Hollingsworth, Frank Price, Jimmy Fingers, Kenneth Havard, James Dimmare and a few others along the way. These people understand the art of magic and understand that you have to pay dues and work hard to get anything from this art. They also understand that it is an art and not just some easy form of entertainment that can be bought or downloaded.

I am basically fed up with the trivial stuff that I see happening with magic. When I watch magic on TV I laugh, I think to myself that our art has turned into a joke and that layman must think we are just bored individuals that think we are cool. We are overpaid geeks, simple as that. I am sure I am going to offend a ton of magicians and that is not my intention. My intention is to point out that we put are putting out material that is the same recycled crap and on TV it is the same. How many times are we going to see origami, sub trunk, billiard balls, vanishing bird cage, stupid card tricks, and my favorite, people that have no experience on TV and it shows with their patter. The above lists of people are people that have many years of experience and understand the art, however most of them you will not know. Their skill, entertainment value and understanding for the art will surpass the majority of you that are reading this!

I love magic and always will, my library is huge and I will use it for me, not for anyone else. I will still study, however I will not perform for a living and will not continue the lifestyle of an entertainer. I will continue to do shows but not promote them; I will have a lifestyle of family and hopefully a steady income soon. I have been fortunate enough to put aside enough money to not stress about money for a while; however the bottom line is that I have outgrown a business that I use to love. It has become tainted with anger and hate towards the new way magic is coming across. Ask yourself this question, how many times have you told people what you do for a living and they reply, really? I know that it happens to me all the time, what an insult. If we are perceived that way why would I want to be in the business? People don’t understand that we can make a living doing magic and that hurts our image overall.

I want to say goodbye, however I know I can never completely leave this business and art form, but I am definitely retiring from being a full time performer!

My websites will still be up, I am available to discuss this further with anyone that is interested to do so and for those that are interested I am offering a very special deal on both my DVDS. Until they are all gone I will sell both DVDS together for 30 bucks shipping included. I have 70 of the !@#$ Street Magic DVDS left and just under 100 of Magic from the Grave. Once these are gone that is it! If you want to purchase them you will need to purchase them from a retailer.

To purchase, you will have to PayPal me directly at tpdmagic@gmail.com and in the comment section please put retirement special both DVDS for 30.00

This is not a publicity stunt to sell DVDS to be honest I just want to get rid of them so I don’t have them in my house.

To the fraternity, thank you and I hope that magic will give you everything that it has given me over the years.

Todd Diamond
http://www.tpdmagic.com
http://www.magicfromthegrave.com

Well...
He has been talking about doing other stuff for awhile now.
Plus, he said he is not really leaving for good.

And I agree with his thoughts on magic today.
I am sick of not seeing any creativity on TV magic.

Randi

Thank you Chris, I do wish him well.

But in my opinion he is dead wrong in his action.

Personally, I refuse to allow how others represent themselves and what they do, define me and what I do.

Tony Iacoviello

Thank you everyone, however Randi is correct! I am still going to perform from time to time, just not for my living, I love the art, but I am sick of the way it is over the last few years. I have done everything I ever wanted in this business and have made some good investments.

Tony, Why am I dead wrong in my actions? They are my opinions and thoughts and my actions. LOL I am not allowing anyone make this decision for me, in fact I did not tell anyone even my wife about the email I wrote. It is my decision to move on and accomplish new things. Magic doesn't define me and neither does the actions of others, this is simply how I feel about our art at the moment and what I want to do.

I have other business ventures that I enjoy doing besides magic, I am still planning on performing from time to time, but it will not be my sole income after 12 years of it.

So Tony how do you feel when people ask you what you do for living and you say magic and they look at you like your crazy and that is if you do magic full time as a job?

This was not an easy thing to do, however after making the decision I feel better and happier than I have for years. The road made me tired, miss my wife( almost got divorced) and loose contact with people I truly love. It is a very difficult life style and with all the other stuff going on in the industry I just felt it was time to do other things and not just magic.

Thanks for the comments and Chris thanks for sharing it here on the Café. I am a pretty laid back guy, that is why when I sent the email I put my private email address for anyone to respond if it did get out on the internet. I sent this message to all my friends in the industry with the exception of a few that I would rather tell on the phone or in person, which I have yet to do. My wife broke down and cried as she knows what a hard decision this was for me.

Todd Diamond

Todd

Thank you for the response. I do wish you well, and your feeling better shows that you made the correct decision for yourself. Congratulations!

And no, I am not introduced as a magician, I am a psychic! But I’m comfortable with who and what I am, and have no problems telling people what I do.

Tony