I’ve had the privilege of working with many of the geniuses of entertainment: the performers and creators, the doers and the dreamers.

Once a year, 50 VIPs from ETIX Corporation gather to have their annual pow wow. In the tallest building in St Louis, One Metropolitan Square, situated in St. Louis, MO 63102, I was invited to entertain people who had come from New York City, NY, Sacremento, CA, Seattle, WA, Pittsburgh, PA, and all across the country. Here are some of the highlights.

This year it took place in St Louis right next door to the Gateway Arch. Standing their entertaining this group, I could turn my head and look out the windows from the 42nd floor of the Metropolitan Square, and right there was the arch—so close I could almost touch it.

ETIX is in the entertainment industry, which explains the next strange thing that happened…

There were two magicians there. One, Tyler (the one seen in the photos on the right without glasses), was a kids magician, identified himself as a magician halfway through my first effect. Another, Ryan Dutcher, is an illusionist (the sort of magician that performs on stage typically with large boxes and large illusions, like Siegfried & Roy or David Copperfield). Ryan came up to me after the show as I was about to leave, and only then told me that he was a magician.

The true test of a magician, the mark of a professional, is that he can entertain not only the layity but also the initiated in one blow. Or maybe it’s the other way around. I’m proud to say I passed that test standing 1,000 feet high standing next to the arch.

There’s a big difference between performing magic for a lay audience and performing magic for magicians. Both the layity and the initiated want to see something new, but this “something new,” means one thing to a layperson who can name three magicians of the top of his head, and another thing to a magician who can name 20 magicians of the top of his head.

American magicians are connoisseurs of magic, and having consumed so much more of it, can often be interested in technical innovation more than innovative entertainment. After all, it was the magic that grabbed them first. Fortunately, both Tyler and Ryan were some of my favorite guests at this event.

In 2006 Jon Finch began performing in St Louis as a DJ for Fortune 500 company Complete Music, and performed magic at 1356 Public House. As one of the most popular magicians in St Louis, he now travels the country sharing his special brand of magic, mind reading, and comedy with important people like you.