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Coach Mikki and Friends
The Most Courageous Thing You Can Do.. Is Be Yourself! - Coach Mikki
C'mon in and make yourself comfortable! Grab a cup of coffee and listen in as our Circle of Friends Guests share their stories! We hope to inspire you, make you laugh and maybe teach you something new.
Come as you are, no perfection is needed!
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Coach Mikki and Friends
Magic, Comedy and Jiu Jitsu life with Zach Waldman - S3E26
What's more magical than a magic show? How about a magic show that has you laughing? Join us as we sit down with the charismatic Zach Waldman, a magician and comedian. Zach shares his unique journey into the world of magic and comedy, from being inspired by the Burger King mascot as a child to performing on stages across the globe. Whether you fancy a squeaky clean corporate event or a risqué comedy club gig, Zach's got your entertainment needs covered.
But the laughs don't stop there. Zach dishes on his experiences of performing for celebrities and treats us to some of his most memorable stories, including the time he gave a magic performance to Pete Carroll, head coach of USC football, without having a clue who he was! And for all you business-minded listeners, Zach shares some golden nuggets on the importance of responding promptly to inquiries and forming relationships in the world of business.
Steering away from the spotlight, we shift gears and delve into the transformative world of Jiu Jitsu. Zach and I swap stories about how this martial art has not just improved our physical health, but our mental wellbeing too. We highlight the importance of women learning self-defense and share some hilarious celebrity stories involving Seth MacFarlane. If you've ever contemplated trying Jiu Jitsu, we wholeheartedly encourage you to take the leap. So join us for this fun-filled episode as we navigate through the intriguing worlds of magic, comedy, and life lessons.
Contact Zach Waldman
www.CoachMikkiandFriends.com
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We look forward to seeing you succeed! - www.KeepOnSharing.com - Code - KOS
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Join my guests on my YouTube Channel
Hey, I'm Coach Mickey and I'm so glad that you've joined us, and if this is your first time joining us, come on in and make yourself comfortable, and for those of you that join us on a regular basis, I am so glad that you do. I love your comments, your questions and your suggestions, and thank you so much for reaching out to all of my guests. We have so much fun and I love the fact that you guys really contribute to a lot of my guests and get something out of them, but not only reach out to them for many other things that maybe some of you want to do with. And this guest today I'm really excited because he's going to be so much fun. I have looked up his information and I have been to the Magic Castle, so I do know that you perform there. He also has performed for Seth MacFarlane, pete Carroll, kate Beckinsale, sugar Ray Leonard, and you are just like a plethora of fun because you are a magician and a comedian. Thank you so much for being with us. Zach Waldman, how are you?
Speaker 2:I am fantastic. I'm a lot better now that I'm talking to you, Mickey. How are you?
Speaker 1:Well, I have been looking forward to having you on because I love having a little bit of fun and what you do is a plethora of. I mean, you kind of combine both. I mean, who doesn't love magic and comedy? So yeah, I just want to start right off that. Well, first of all, my first question to you is I love the Magic Castle. I've had an opportunity to go. I've been invited a couple of times. I spent my last birthday there and had dinner and then walked around the Magic Castle, so that is just something that's dear to my heart, because it's just so warming. But I got to ask you how did you get started in magic?
Speaker 2:You know everybody asks that, and you remember Harry Anderson? He played the judge on Nightcourt. Yes, he was one of the greatest comedy magicians ever. That guy was just fantastic, and he always said in interviews that, no matter what anybody tells you, everybody that is a magician. They started when they were eight years old. That's what he that's. His theory is, everybody starts at eight, but for me I was actually younger. Honestly, magic has kind of always been in my life. The furthest back I can trace it, though, is to Burger King. Burger King they have like nowadays they have that. Well, they haven't. I don't know if they still show, but that weird mascot, that like doll, like King guy, that was like really creepy. Do you remember that? That's like the modern Burger King.
Speaker 2:When I was a little kid, you had McDonald's and Burger King. Mcdonald's had Ronald McDonald, and he did a little magic, but, you know, and he had a whole cast of characters, and they came out with the happy meal, and Burger King, as they always do, is always copying McDonald's. They came out with their own kids meal, and back then, the Burger King, as their mascot, had an actual guy called the Burger King. He wasn't, you know, he was like a regular dude. It wasn't like somebody. I mean, he had a King costume but his face wasn't painted or whatever. So it was an actual dude and he did magic. That was the Burger King's thing, as he did lots and lots of magic, and when they copied McDonald's happy meal, the prizes, the little toy they would give you inside, was actually a magic trick, and so, as far as I can remember, the first magic trick that I really remember getting was this little trick from a Burger King happy meal ripoff.
Speaker 2:And I still have it. I was going through my drawers. I'm like I still have this thing and my brother was my brother's a really well-known jazz and blues sax player. But he did magic as a kid and so when I was getting into it he had magic tricks around and stuff and would show me things. But you know, I think it's just one of those things. All little kids like magic. Most of them don't do much with it, and then there's a handful of us that make it our careers. So there you go.
Speaker 1:Well that's fun. That really is fun. Now you combine it with comedy and I've looked at some of your YouTube videos and one of the things I appreciate about you is that you do a lot of clean comedy. And I'm not a stick in the mud, I mean, I love all comedy, but I prefer clean comedy because after a while some of the other stuff kind of wears on me after a while. So I really appreciate the fact that you can do what you do and still keep it to a point where everybody can enjoy it.
Speaker 2:Well, I have to sort of correct you. Most of what I do is corporate events and really high end private parties like the celebrities you were mentioning. But one of the things that makes me different than a lot of comedy magicians is I do straight stand-up comedy, with no magic as well, and I am actually my show. The content of it is dictated on who and where I'm performing. So the truth is, if you see me at a comedy club, I might be one of the filthiest comedians you've ever seen. So I appreciate you saying it, but it's in my case. Everything I do is customized. So if I'm working a comedy club in Vegas, I'm filthy. If I'm doing a senior living facility in Rancho Cugamanga, then I'm squeaky clean. I don't know why I chose Rancho, it's just a funny town name, rancho Cugamanga, but yeah, no. So basically I run the gambit from squeaky clean for corporate events to really dirty comedy clubs. So yeah, I'll invite you to a show. I'll invite you to the right show. What was that?
Speaker 1:But that's good, though it makes you well-rounded because you can tell or make it for the audience that you're performing for. Because I know and I want to get to that right away, and, as you guys know, as my circle of friends, you'll be able to find all the ways to connect with Zach and they'll all be down in the description below or, if this, in the podcast, it'll be embedded in there too, and I highly recommend it. But that's another thing I want to ask you too, because you actually travel quite a bit and you will tailor-make to, like you said, corporate events or to celebrities or to even private events, to come out, and so you're very approachable to be able to have someone come and hire you for their event.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think one of the things that makes me different than a lot of magicians and it's the advice I give a lot of magicians is that I started doing magic when I was a little kid, started getting paid gigs as a teenager and she I might have been 12, but 1213 somewhere in there. And when I got to college I stopped doing magic about probably at the start of my junior year somewhere around there, and I was like I am done with magic. I've always loved stand up as well, since I was a little kid and you know they had the big comedy boom in the 80s, right. So you know back then on cable every other channel with stand up comedy and he's evening at the improv or Rodney Dangerfield's young comedian special. So boys had a passion for stand up and I was like you know, I think I just want to do comedy, I don't think I want to do magic anymore and taking that break from magic to focus only on comedy when I returned to magic a few years later, it made me a way better performer Because I learned how to entertain people without any of the tricks, and I think so many magicians, they're locked into the world of magic and they're not as well rounded and a lot of times you know they're they're just doing tricks.
Speaker 2:They don't. The entertainment value is pretty low. They're just guys doing tricks, and so that's always my advice is learn how to be entertaining without the magic you know. By the way, comedians can fall into the same thing as well. If you're a comedian and you're just never leaving that bubble and you're on the road all the time, you know, that's why so many comedians jokes are about hotel rooms and airports, because that's where they're spending all their time. So by just you know doing a lot of different things in life, it gives you a wide variety of things to talk about and you're exposed to a lot of different ideas and and people, and so I think that I think that's been key. Also was was really, you know, making sure that I continue to do things outside of comedy and magic to feed what I talk about on stage.
Speaker 1:Well, when you do corporate events, and again, when you're, you know when you come out to perform to whether it's a celebrity or an event you get again you have to tailor make it. So that has got to be. You have to be more well rounded, because you can't use this I'm assuming you can't use the same material that you used it, like you said, in a place in Vegas if you're doing a corporate event. So you've got to really tailor make everything. But that makes that makes you good, because if you're able to do that, it's like speaking. It's like, well, give me a topic. If you can only speak on one topic, you know that kind of limits you to what you can do, whereas if you can speak about anything, whether it's your life experiences or or something else, that's going to open up a lot more doors for you. And I can ask you how many of your real life experiences that you do incorporate into your, into your routine.
Speaker 2:Oh, almost all of it. I I've always been that way very self deprecating, and a lot of times, you know, when I especially if I'm traveling and I'm someplace that I haven't been to before, you know you have a different way of looking at it. You know there's things that are that are quirky or unique to that town, and so a lot of times, as I'm exploring, whatever city I'm in, by the time I hit the stage I've got jokes about just being in the city, like, hey, what's going on here in in Salt Lake City? I noticed whatever, whatever. And that gets a laugh because they, they know what I'm talking about. And so, yeah, even up to the the beginning of the show, I'm kind of I'm talking about things that are happening right at that moment or maybe that day. Yeah, I take most things out of my life, whether it's observations or stories or whatever it is. Yeah, I've never been good at like just concocting fake stuff. You know Well when you're genuine it makes it easy because you can just.
Speaker 1:it just comes right off the top of your head. Yeah, I could ask you so what is what's some of your favorite things that you really like to do? I mean I know you like the magic and the comedy, but I mean, like, when you wish, what do you prefer? Like, what's your favorite thing to do that really gets you excited when you go to perform?
Speaker 2:Well, the comedy is. I hate to say this because they're so close, but I tend to gravitate more toward making people laugh. The comedy has always been more important to me than the trick. It's like I mean, I want the magic to be really strong as well. You know, you can fall into that thing to where there's the magic is pretty mediocre, but the comedy is great and I never wanted to be like that either. But so it's like maybe 51 49 in favor of comedy, but I think just overall, it's the reactions, whether they're laughing or they're amazed. You just that's what you're really doing it for. Is that the just great audience response? So it's yeah, you know, gun to my head, I'd probably say the comedy and getting people to laugh. You know, and besides, when they're laughing you can get away with all kinds of things magically. You know, mr Action, they're laughing and I'm you know I'm stealing a bunny. I don't have a bunny, but you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Well, I know I'm putting you on the spot here and you're you're set up for it. Do you have anything? Because, again, we didn't go over this, so I'm going to be honest, I'll put this on me Do you have anything that you could? You could present right now, or we just going to weigh it?
Speaker 2:Oh well, I hadn't thought about that. I mean, if you want to edit this and give me a second to go grab something, I'll grab a deck of cards. I'll show you something quick, sure.
Speaker 1:Let's do it. Let's do it.
Speaker 2:Give me one second. Magic is one of those things. I mean everything's better in person, right? A concert comedy, something different about being in person for it. So I'm always reluctant because I feel like, oh, this is, people are going to think you're in on it or that I can see the card or whatever it is. So you're just going to have to trust me that this is exactly the way it would be, as if I was standing in front of you. And so I've got. I've got a deck of cards here and I'm trying to. I want to do something that's visual for you. Okay, I got something for you. What I'm going to do for you is exactly what you would see if you were here with me in person. I'm just going to riffle through the cards and really all the cards are different.
Speaker 2:There's a big trust factor doing a trick virtually like this. But you could trust me, I'm a magician, I'm not a. I don't ever lie. Despite what people think about magicians, I never lie. I cheat and it's like say stop for me, perfect, go ahead, look at that card and can you see it? Because I can't see what I'm seeing. I'm looking at your pretty face, but you've got it, yeah, and I'm not even going to use the deck.
Speaker 2:I'm going to show you that magic has gone, high tech. This is X Ray film. This, along with my stupid microphone, along with my specially trained eyes. I can look into your soul, mickey, and I can tell you your card is, it's not a heart, not a heart, and let's see. I could tell you it's not. It's not a diamond. So let's see. You take a look. It's not a spade, so it has to be a club. I'm going to go ahead and snap my fingers and take a picture and shake it. Shake it like a Polaroid picture and with any luck, it should develop Just like that. How did we do? Do we get it? That's it.
Speaker 1:I love clubs.
Speaker 2:All right, little. Yeah, it's. I never know what the camera is. If they could, if you could see the card. So I'm glad that worked out. We, we hadn't talked about that ahead of time, so I'm glad I know.
Speaker 1:But thank you so much. I love it. Like I said, I love magic to me. It just I like the magic in anything. But you see, somebody do magic to me. There's that sense of wonder. That's my favorite, that's my favorite thing about magic. And I know it takes a lot of time and effort and preparation and you know an expertise to do it. But the outcome telling you from someone like me who enjoys it I cannot tell you how much it makes it thrills me. You know I never leave a magic show. Oh my gosh, I'm just just that sense of wonder. It's just, it's so thrilling for me. So I love, I love to see stuff like that. It's great.
Speaker 2:Oh, I appreciate that. All magicians appreciate people that love magic. That's always nice to hear. It's funny because, you know, sometimes you'll hear like, oh, I hate magic, and it's usually from people that have actually never seen it. Funny enough, very few people have been exposed to really high level professional magicians. They have an idea in their head of what magic is. Maybe they remember from when they were a little kid or it's just an impression they have. You know, it's kind of like when people make fun of mimes right, like everybody loves to make fun of a mime. But I don't know if you remember Shields and Yarnel. They were huge in the 70s and they were amazing, you know and you know.
Speaker 2:So my whole thing is I never I like to disparage an entire genre of any form of entertainment because I feel like, all right, maybe I'm not super into opera, but I bet if I went to a really great opera I'd be amazed. I'd be like wow, this isn't my thing. I don't really know anything about it, but when you see people performing at a really high level, no matter what it is, I find it entertaining. And because the comment I also get is often when people are telling me they don't like magic. It's usually because they're saying you know, I really don't like magic, but I like you. And so it's like yeah, because you've probably never seen anybody like me. Most people haven't been to the Magic Castle and they don't realize you know what, what really strong magic can can be like. And you know and you were asking me what I like more comedy magic what I like doing the most. The truth is, my favorite type of show is what we call a formal close up magic show, which is a group of maybe 30 or 50 people All gathered around my table and I'm doing close up slide of hand magic where everybody's involved.
Speaker 2:And the Magic Castle for the people that don't know, it's a private club for magicians and you have to audition to become a member and then you have to audition again to perform in the various showrooms. I've been a performer there since 2000. I became a member in 01, started performing in 02 there and we have three main roles. We have a lot of theaters, but there's three main ones Close up, parlor and Palace. Basically a small theater, a medium sized theater and a large theater. The small theater only holds between 20 and 30 people and it is, even though it's the smallest theater at the castle.
Speaker 2:It's definitely the most popular. It's the one at the end of the night Everybody's like. What I really liked was that, that close up show, and I think it's because they know it's all about the theater and I think it's because they know it's all this pure slide of hand. It's happening inches from their eyes, the magic's happening in their hands. And because it's so intimate, I get to interact with everybody in the audience and joke with them and get them involved. So that would be my favorite type of show to do is a formal close up magic show for a small group like that. I love doing that.
Speaker 1:That's fun. That's fun. I got to ask you because I know you've worked with quite a few celebrities. I mean, you've, you've performed for a lot of celebrities. How different is that compared to and I'm just going to use a magic castle as an example, I mean because you're, again, you said, a smaller room. So when you, when you are hired by a celebrity, does that, do you just? I mean, is it anything different with that? I mean, is it? Does it make you a little bit more nervous? Are you just going there and do your thing? And it's not a big deal?
Speaker 2:No, it doesn't change anything. I think I've performed for so many celebrities at this point that I don't really get starstruck, and I've been doing this my whole life. I used to work in radio, I used to be on the Howard Stern show back in 1997. So we had a never ending stream of celebrities coming in. So I've been around celebrities for many years and, if anything, I might give them a little bit of a harder time than a regular person, because I think people are so always treating them with with kid gloves that they like that somebody's actually goofing on them, you know, giving them a hard time. So, yeah, no, I treat them like anybody else, maybe a little worse.
Speaker 1:Well, they're just people anyway. I mean, it's just that they have a different job than we have. That's how I always see it. Yeah, so. No, I don't get it. So it is fun.
Speaker 2:I do love meeting these people, especially people that I really admire. You know I performed for Smokey Robinson and his whole family. I've loved Smokey since I was a kid. And you mentioned Seth MacFarlane love Seth, great guy and I've got yeah, it's so. It is fun, especially when they're people that you really admire and like a lot.
Speaker 1:So I'm just going to ask real quick because we haven't had a chance to cover. So how can people reach you if they're looking to hire you for an event or they want to come and see you perform?
Speaker 2:The best thing is to just go to my website, which is my name, zachwaldmancom, and, yeah, everything is there. You can. My phone number is there, my email is there contact form, videos, anything you'd want to know. It's at ZachWaldmancom. So, yeah, fill out the booking request form, give me a phone call and I'll help you out. It's funny, you know, as a business owner yourself I was talking to. I mean, this is a conversation I have regularly. Now I've got a piece of advice for any business owner out there Return people's phone calls.
Speaker 2:It is amazing how hard it is to get people to communicate anymore, even when you're not doing business. It's like we have more ways to communicate than ever and I think people have just somehow it's become acceptable to just ignore people. It's people fill out the booking form on my website. I call them and they're surprised. They're like oh, you called, you filled out the form saying you wanted to hire me. Like yeah, but you're the only one that's called me back. They're like and or they say I just assumed that that contact form went into the abyss and I didn't really expect you to call them. Like yeah, that's no, I'm here, this is what I do, and it's I was talking to a friend of mine who's also a magician and we were saying, like man, if a business would hire a full-time receptionist and they made it like a mandate in the office that you must respond to people when they call and email, people would love that business like overnight, because it's so rare these days to actually connect with the human.
Speaker 2:And you know it's like if I'm, essentially, my job is a sales and marketing job. You know I do all this myself, all my own SEO and you know my own newsletter, all these things and it's, you know, sales is about relationships ultimately, and it's really hard to form long-term relationships with people if you can't get them on the phone. And I get that a lot. People just want to email me. How much do you charge? It's like I don't even know what city you're in or how many people or what this is for, and it's amazing how hard it is to get people on the phone. But that's my business advice it's actually respond to people.
Speaker 1:And it's good advice. It really is, because even for the same, you know, for me, with podcasts and for what I'm doing, a lot of times it's you know I'll hear from the person and then I don't hear from them and I'm reaching out going did you receive this, did you receive that? And it's a gamble. And there's been a couple of times where I've logged on and I'm sitting there waiting and they don't and I'm like, well, why do we schedule this to begin with? So I am with you 100% on that. You know if you're gonna do something I know, at least go through that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you're the one doing them the favor, You're giving them exposure, you're learning about that. You're so sweet and it's like why would you not respond to this lady? That's crazy.
Speaker 1:I guess I formed a new way of getting stood up YouTube stand up, I get stood up on YouTube.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I thought ghosting was like just for dating apps, but now it's all over life. You mentioned that I'd perform for Pete Carroll. Do you want a good Pete Carroll story?
Speaker 1:Yes, I would.
Speaker 2:Okay, so I'm not from LA originally and I moved out here in 2000 and it was probably in 2001, 2002, somewhere in there. I'd have to look at the date. I used to perform magic at this place, a Universal Studio City Walk, and they said we have a private event if you're available. So I get there and the guy that hired me. His name is Pete nice to meet you, pete. People are coming over and asking for his autograph and stuff. And this is before. Everybody was taking selfies constantly, but people wanted pictures with him, wanted his autograph, and I'm like who are you? I had no idea who he is. So I'm the head coach of USC. I'm the opposite of you. I'm not a big football guy. I like to gamble on it, usually the Super Bowl. I like gambling degenerate. But I really don't know anything about football. And to show you how little I know, I didn't even know that the USC football program was that big of a deal. I'm just out of the loop on it, and so I have no idea who he is and I have to help him. I kind of, you know, really didn't care that much either, because it's not, I'm not into it, you know. So I thought, oh, that's cool. Head coach of the football team. So I do my show and it was for recruiting.
Speaker 2:It was their recruiting season and at the end of the show Pete Carroll walks up to me and gave me a really generous tip and he said hey, you know that trick David Blaine does where he levitates off the ground. I said, yeah, and especially back then everybody wanted to was doing that trick. And he said could you tell me how it works? I said, well, magician, you know I can't do that. And he's like you know, kind of hinted that he'd give me a bigger tip. He's like well, you know how much could I tip you to learn the secret? It's like you already tip me. We're good, I'm not. He's like you know what, I respect that. And he shakes my hand.
Speaker 2:Then I get a call they want to hire me again and I thought, you know, okay, I realized at this point Pete Carroll is a big deal and that I'm naive when it comes to football. And so I had a VHS tape that taught how to do that trick and so I copied the tape A big, very big, big crime in the magic world, you know, bootlegging a VHS tape. Anyway, I, at the end of the show he tipped me again and I said look, I know it's against the magic rules and you really seem sincere in wanting to do this. Because there's a difference between going hey, how does that trick work? And you go I'm not going to tell you. And they go oh, it's amazing, they walk away versus somebody that's like, oh, I really want to learn how to do that, like a sincere interest. So I got this for you and he's thrilled, hires me a third time. And at the end of the show I'm like all right, that's the end of the show. The recruits are applauding and he goes well, wait a minute, there's one more thing. I want to do a trick for them. I was like oh, have you been practicing? He's like yeah.
Speaker 2:So Pete Carroll came out and levitated in front of all of the recruits. Wow, they went bananas, they were screaming. And then I still have it. He sent me a letter that said when we asked our recruits what they most enjoyed about recruiting weekend, inevitably they all said your magic show. We had like we had the highest recruiting rate in all of college football and it was like 99.5% or whatever it was. So we had the highest recruiting and we consider you our secret weapon in the college football recruiting wars. Fight on Pete Carroll PS. Thanks for teaching me how to levitate. And I still have that letter signed by an actual letter, not an email on USC letterhead.
Speaker 2:And so then I decided, well, I'm not from Southern California, I need a college football team to. Well, I think what it was is. I was in Vegas and I saw USC was playing and I'm like, well, I don't have an allegiance to any of these teams, so, just for fun, let me bet on USC. Well, that was the year I think they went undefeated, I think, and I won every bet I placed on USC through that end of the year. So, yeah, I got hired for the gig, I got tipped, and then I wanted more money betting on USC just because he was a good guy. And I decided to bet on him because I liked him, and then obviously the Seahawks and all of that, but really nice guy and it was just. It was a fun thing to watch the recruits just go bonkers when he started levitating. It was cool.
Speaker 1:Well, I love it because, well, magic brings out the kid and all of us anyway. I guess it's a sense of wonder and I can picture working with these guys. I know it's like they're all just they're like all big kids anyway, so I can imagine how magic must have really been fun for them for that weekend. That's awesome. What a great story too, and Pete Carroll always seemed like he was a really nice guy. So to hear that is even you know means even more you know. Especially when you're in the football world you hear so many different things. And how fun that he started to learn at 11. That's awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I graduated from University of Central Florida in Orlando and when I was there it was a very small football program. Now it's huge, and so now I do root for UCF if they're on. But we're going to be honest, I don't really care. I just don't really watch other than UFC, you know, mma and Jiu Jitsu. I don't really watch much sports.
Speaker 1:That's right. You actually are a martial artist. I did read it on your bio that you actually do train Jiu Jitsu, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm with 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu. My instructor is Eddie Bravo. I've been with him since 2007. I'm one of his longest term and oldest because I didn't start until I was 33, which is kind of late to begin, but hey, it's never too late. I see people they're 60 and they're just starting Jiu Jitsu.
Speaker 2:I learning Jiu Jitsu was one of the most important things I ever did in my life, and probably not for the reasons people would expect, but it's things like. The community, especially at 10th Planet, is just a really down to earth, warm and eclectic community. We've got people from all walks of life, but we all have this one thing in common that we do. And yeah, if you're looking for one of the most positive things you could do for your life, I couldn't recommend doing Jiu Jitsu more than enough. There's probably a 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu where you live. They're all over the world at this point. But even if there's not, find whatever Jiu Jitsu school is near you and sign up. You won't regret it. It's an amazing journey and I'll be going there tonight. I got my black belt about a year and a half ago and, yeah, I love Jiu Jitsu.
Speaker 1:Congratulations. Yeah, I agree with you 100%. Martial arts has been in my life for over 20 some years and same thing. But my style is Kempo and I know a little bit of Jiu Jitsu. But mine was Kempo and I got my rank in that but that's what brought me to football and that's how I became a D-line coach, because I know all hand to hand combat and I taught a lot of my guys you know just that alone to help me know my D-line. But you're right, it changes your whole life. It's just, it's always a part of your life and I can't even imagine, especially for what you do, because you said it's sleight of hands and different things. So have you found that having the Jiu Jitsu has enhanced your magic?
Speaker 2:It's made my entire life better. I don't think there's any part of my life that isn't better because of it. There's just things that you learn that are applicable to so many things. When you're out in the world, something comes up and lessons you learn from that crossover. You're like, oh, this is just like you know in jujitsu, I need to do this. You know like, for example, one thing that you learn in jujitsu in jujitsu Easy for me to say is learning to become comfortable in uncomfortable positions.
Speaker 2:When people first begin, they're not used to just having somebody on them smothering them. And for people that don't know, jujitsu is like wrestling, but with submissions. And so you know, the first time you've got a full grown adult holding you down and pinning you and you're just being smothered, you feel like you can't breathe. When people first start, a lot of them they'll tap out or, you know, give up just from that pressure and then over time, you, you know, you'll be tangled up and twisted up like a pretzel and totally relaxed and breathing normally. And so I think learning that, learning to be OK when you're in an uncomfortable spot is one of those things that crosses over to all other parts of life. That's just one example. It's yeah, I love it. It's been great.
Speaker 1:I agree with you, yeah, and martial arts becomes a way of life, you know, regardless of what style it is. And I love jujitsu, I've got a couple of friends that that instructors in jujitsu and they, you know it's every martial arts has something to offer and I'm a true believer that if every, especially every woman, every woman, there's two things I think every woman should have Triple A and learn martial arts, things that are a necessity for a female.
Speaker 2:Triple A is great you got to. I always have to remember to see if there's a triple A discount, and they're almost always.
Speaker 1:Well, Zach, you have been so much fun and I love everything that you do and I'm so excited to have you on and I'm going to look for you. I'm definitely going to look for more of your videos, but if I have an opportunity to get to the Magic Castle again, I definitely will come and watch you perform. But is there anything else you'd like to add with our circle of friends before we go?
Speaker 2:Well, first of all, you have an open invitation to the Magic Castle Anytime you want to go. You reach out to me and I'll take care of that for you. And I just performed recently, so it's going to be a bit before I'm back there, but I'd love to have you. And other than that, no, I think I think we about covered it. It's I've got stories for days with celebrities, so I can tell you one other quick celebrity story, just because you mentioned Seth MacArthur.
Speaker 1:Please do Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yes, seth was great, he I was performing. I met him I used to be the house magician at a restaurant in Beverly Hills called Crestation, and that was where I first met Seth and he ended up hiring me for his housewarming party. And I do a trick where I borrow a hundred dollar bill and he pulls out a hundred and I asked him to write his name on it and instead of writing his name he wrote Sean Hannity. And I take the bill and I do the trick with it and you know, I give it back to him. And he gave it to me as a tip and I said you know, that's really nice of you. And I said I'm glad you wrote Sean Hannity on this instead of your name, because if you had written your name on it I'd want to keep it, but now that you wrote Sean Hannity on it, I can't spend it fast enough.
Speaker 2:He was, he was taking a drink right as I said that and he literally spit his drink out, laughing, and so making a guy that's made me laugh so hard for so many years spit his drink as a comic. There's nothing better than people spitting out what they're drinking. So just a short one for you, since you had mentioned him specifically. When you said his name, I was like oh yeah, but yeah, great guy, and no, if you ever want to talk again, let me know. I can talk forever. I love it.
Speaker 1:I love, I would love to have you back. I really would. This would be. This has been so much fun and I'm sure you've got more stories that we can cover. Yes, I would love. I same here. Open invitation come back, and if there's anything I can do for you where you're going to be somewhere, please let me know so I can let my circle of friends know where you're going to be, Because I know for a fact they're going to want to come and see you. You know, no matter where you are.
Speaker 2:My glasses keep fogging up on me. What is he doing? No, I really appreciate that. Thank you so much. And yeah, if anybody out there is having a corporate event you know sales meetings are kind of my specialty, but I do trade shows as well. Right now it's all company holiday parties this month, but I also do private parties. You know, weddings, bar mitzvahs I'll show up anywhere. So, yeah, just go to ZachWalmancom, let me know if you have an event coming up, I'd love to entertain you. And other than that, I just really appreciate you spending this time with me. It's been really nice. You have a wonderful personality. It's very you're very easy to talk to, and that's I really appreciate that. So thank you so much and I hope you have a beautiful rest of your day.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Zach.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for being with us today. I will again, you guys. Information will be down in the description and if you listen to the podcast, look for it. I'll be embedded in the podcast so you can reach out to Zach. I highly recommend that you do. It's going to be so much fun. I mean, you can't, you can't just sit down and talk to Zach. You can't go wrong. Comedy and magic my gosh, that's my favorite. So I mean anything that makes you smile, right, that's what we all need in the world. So remember, you guys, most courageous thing you can do is be yourself. I look forward to seeing you next week. See ya.