Aye Jaye's Magical Art of the Schmooze

Besides meeting Penn Jillette, I did meet a few magician's with a lot of class at the Vegas convention. Being a magician should, in my humble opinion, go hand in hand with having a lot of class. But class is an interesting subject. Many people think that if your rich or famous, then you automatically have it. Nothing could be further from the truth. When I was working as a security guard for Muhammad Ali, I met a lot of rich and famous people. Some, I would say, had real class; others treated me like dirt and made me feel like a second class citizen.

But, one person I met told me the definition of true "class" and I've never forgotten it. She said that "making someone feel like they belong, when they are truly uncomfortable is true class." For example when at a high falootin' party in Hollywood, someone in her beautiful cocktail outfit, accidentally falls into the pool, the first guy to jump in so that the poor girl won't feel all alone, is the one with true class."

Well, I met a guy who would be the first to jump into that pool. His name is Aye Jaye, maybe you've heard of him. He is a performer, stand-up comedian, and member of the Clown Hall of Fame from Milwaukee. He has entertained millions at Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Rose Bowl, and Radio City Music hall. To put it lightly, he is a true professional.

One morning I was standing at the cafe inside the casino. He saw me standing there and rather than ignore this guy that he didn't know, he invited me to join him for breakfast. He decided to take it upon himself to make me feel comfortable throughout our breakfast. We even played keno in honor of his good friend Jay Marshall saying that the winner would buy. It just so happened that I won fifty dollars and was happy to pay. I was also happy to visit his booth in the convention and to purchase his wonderful book, THE GOLDEN RULE OF SCHMOOZING. The thing about schmoozing is that you should really enjoy it. I would say that Aye Jaye enjoys it thoroughly. If you read more than the title of his book you would see that the subtitle is called "The Authentic Practice of Treating Others Well." By that definition you may in fact call what he did that morning "schmoozing." I, on the other hand, would say that Aye Jaye showed a lot of class.