Artist Spotlight: Sam Catoe

Meet Sam Catoe– a comedian, mentalist and self-published author hailing from The Middle of Nowhere (Flat Creek). In his interview with 29seven20, he takes a moment to contemplate becoming a preacher, share his thoughts on David Copperfield, and bend spoons... with his mind!

_____________________________________

How long have you been dabbling in magic? I started learning magic in 2001 when I had foot surgery and couldn’t walk for two months. I wasn’t able to get out of the house, and you can only watch so much TV and read so many books before you get sick of it. You get stir crazy. At least I did. So, I bought a magic book and a few tricks and started learning magic to keep my mind occupied. About six months after I started learning how to perform coin magic (there’s still a place in my heart for coin magic– I love it), I discovered mentalism.

Several people have influenced my magic: Richard Osterlind, Mark Strivings, Jon Saint Germain... the influences aren't always in doing tricks because I do think about what I’m doing and why I’m doing it (what is my goal with it, what do I want to do with it, what sort of message am I leaving behind, do I even want to leave a message, that sort of thing). These guys have heavily influenced my thinking. As far as the effects that I perform, I choose those based on what I want to do. I’m still not completely happy with the set and will probably never be, to tell the truth.

Did you have a mentor as you were learning the art, or are you self-taught? I didn't really have a mentor. When I started learning magic, I talked to a retired magician. Then I went to mentalism, and he really couldn’t help me with that–I had to figure that out for myself. I was a member of a magic society in Columbia and was the guy that other people came to when they wanted to know something about mentalism. It was weird because I'd only been in it for a year or so, but I knew more about it than most of the people there. I'm not 'self-taught' though. Few are, even though they may claim to be. You learn from books, videos (yes, there are magic videos out there) and other magicians. I’ve actually learned more by watching seasoned performers than I have from books, but most of the effects I learned from books. One or two I created myself, but the ideas that helped me create them came from the written word.

So- what is mentalism? There are two branches of mentalism– the first is performance mentalism that's performed onstage and often is the recreation of psychic phenomena via the use of magical techniques. A lot of performers do mental magic, which employs gimmicks, sleight-of-hand, and other such means. Unfortunately, the premise of the effect is often somewhat stupid and complex. It may be something like: choose a card from the deck, put it in another deck, hold that deck in your hand, and the performer then tells you the card you chose. Many of the top performance mentalists do straight mentalism. The techniques involved may be the same as mental magic, but often blend other disciplines dealing with the psyche such as psychology, reading body language, and muscle reading to carry out their effects (muscle reading is determining an object or number written on a chalkboard that someone is thinking of by using the muscles of their own body to tell the performer what they are thinking of. It is a very interesting technique, but it’s also very difficult to learn).

Another branch of mentalism is psychic readings– this branch includes tarot readers, rune stones, people who read auras, and even people that talk to the dead. Most of these people give readings for entertainment. Few of the readers I know actually read someone’s fortune. Most of them tell me the readings they give are based on the current state of the person they're doing the reading for. This is the area that gets the most criticism– because there have been hundreds upon hundreds of con artists who pose as tarot readers just to fleece the desperate and gullible. Interestingly enough, many of those “frauds” are sometimes the most successful. Some of them even carry through with their performances under the auspices of being preachers like Peter Popoff, who was discovered to be getting the information that was “coming from The Lord” from his wife. She was reading the information from cards that had been filled out earlier and telling him the answers via a radio transmitter he wore in his ear. He made millions. Maybe I should go into preaching?

David Copperfield– misogynist? or misunderstood? Misunderstood, I think. Here is a guy who makes millions of dollars, has friends out the [wazoo], and yet can trust only a very few people. From what I've heard, he's shy and introverted. I think it would be very hard for him to have a relationship with a regular woman unless he knew her before he became rich and famous. I mean, how do you [relate] to someone who comes up saying 'I used to watch you on TV when I was a little girl'? You can [hook up], sure– but there's a big difference between the two.

You're also a writer– how long? what's your style? I just recently started writing again. I’ve had the story that I’m writing banging around in my head for more than a decade. I think it actually started forming when I was in college in the early ‘90s. Back then I actually did a bit of writing outside of the classroom. Morbid poetry mostly, but a few short stories. None of it was ever published except in the college paper once or twice, but some of it was good enough to submit for one or two of the English classes that I took. Who would ever believe that “Creative Writing” could actually be a class in college? Most of them were graded with an ‘A’ or ‘B’. My book reviews weren't so well received and got a ‘C’, but I think they would've been better if I'd actually read the books I was writing about.

When I write a story, I need to have a general idea for where the story is going. That’s one reason why I haven’t finished the story I'm now working on. It was only recently that I finally learned where it was going. What I mean by 'finally learned' is that I have to learn from the characters what is happening... because I don’t actually know the story. All I know is the basic idea– the story happens while I’m writing. And sometimes something happens that I don’t know is going to happen. I've actually had to stop writing and laugh out loud a few times because I didn’t know that something was going to happen until it did. For instance, in the story I’m writing now, I knew the main character was going to meet his best friend during the story. I didn't know that his friend was also going to be his massage therapist. His friend is a GUY by the way– I knew it was a guy but never knew how they met until he walked into the room. It sounds strange, but it’s true. The characters tell me what they're saying and what they're doing. Sometimes I like what’s going on, sometimes I don’t. But I do try to let the characters live out their lives and see just where the rabbit hole goes... I think the rabbit hole I’m writing about right now is going to be a deep one. It’s already deeper than any other I’ve explored. More than that, I hope others will be able to read it and enjoy it.

So– what keeps you busy? Well, right now I'm keeping busy taking care of my wife, trying to get started in stand-up (who knows where that’s going), selling a magic book/manual- 'Illusions of Influence'- that I wrote and published this year (2008), and I'm currently writing a story that I've been working on in my head for the last decade and a half.

Where can we purchase 'Illusions of Influence'? This can be purchased from me only at this time. It is not available to just anyone however, so I will be requesting that interested parties prove some knowledge of magic before I will sell it. If you or someone you know may be interested in a copy, email me at scatoe@scgovdirect.com.

How long have you been doing stand-up? I started in October 2007. So far, the influences have been the people who listen to my comedy. The audiences and comedians who give their honest opinion of the work I do influence where I go right now. I perform more of a blue collar style, but that’s because I grew up in the country. I’m the son of a Springs employee, the grandson of Springs retirees, and most of my father’s family was dirt poor. My mother’s family was a mix of mill workers on one side and white collar on the other. Guess which one she went with after the divorce... yep– the mill workers. So I grew up blue collar and my comedy is about my life. Hence, my blue collar style for the moment.

How do you develop content for your comedy sketch? Write, write, write, and edit the living [crap] out of it. I haven’t yet really learned the art of writing comedy. It’s hard– much harder than I ever thought it would be before I ever tried scripting anything. That’s basically what you’re doing– you’re writing a script that you’ll follow when you get on stage. If you try to get up on stage and wing it, it’s usually not pretty. Or so I’m told. I’ve never tried that. I start out by writing what I want to say, then I try to cut out all the unnecessary junk and get to the point. After I do that, I take it to some friends and ask their opinion of the joke. I listen to their advice... I may not do what they recommend, but I still listen to what they have to say.

Ever integrate magic and comedy into the same act? Yes– most successful magicians do. There are a few successful performers that have no comedy in their act, but that's more rare than you would think. I can only think of one or two, and they perform a silent (non-speaking) act that is very elegant and deals mostly with birds and manipulating playing cards (manipulation means making cards appear and disappear and other such magical feats). Most silent acts have comedic elements built into them as well.

Do you perform regularly? I perform at Lancaster Tavern (Comedy Night most Tuesdays) and The Comedy Zone at Starz Tavern in Matthews, NC (the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month for Matthews Madness).

Who have you performed with over the years? Comedy: I've shared the stage with Joe Zimmerman, Carlos Valencia, Laura Major, Roy Haber, Fat Doctor, Kerry White, and Kurt Green just to name a few. Magic: I've played at numerous functions like summer camps, parties, a New Year’s Eve party (my first paying gig), a magic awards show in Columbia... I took second place in the first magic competition I was in, and was a regular performer at Cop-A-Squat coffee house. Most of the magic performances were not shared with anyone. I was the only entertainer, though I've been privileged to perform with several professional magicians, and honored to have met and gotten to know many more. I've known performers from across the nation and the world. It has certainly impacted the way I look at the profession of entertainer.

Anything else we should know? I collect shot glasses from places my wife and I have visited. I read a lot. Science Fiction, Stephen King, comic books, Get Fuzzy, comedian biographies, and some of the mysteries that my wife reads.
____________________________________________________________

Author's Note: You can catch Sam on most Comedy Tuesdays at the Lancaster Tavern, or the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month at The Comedy Zone in Matthews, NC.