It has been a little over thirty years now, and SZELES is more in love with performing and making people laugh than ever before.  He travels the country entertaining at fairs, festivals, schools and private functions.  The venue and the scenery may change, but one thing remains constant: SZELES' love of hypnosis and entertaining.

SZELES was interested in magic earlier on because he thought it was real, but he soon learned that performance magic is sleight of hand.  For SZELES, the real magic was the magic of the mind.  SZELES, who some may remember as the "Rainmaker" on Pier 39 in it's early days, decided in the late 70's that he would branch out into stand up comedy. But back then he just wasn't comfortable with it. Serendipitously a friend gave SZELES an audio course on self-hypnosis, and SZELES at just about that time, he also happened to catch the "Hip Hypnotist" Pat Collins on television.  He thought: Wow! I can do that!  After graduating from the Clement School of Hypnotherapy in San Francisco, SZELES began his career in hypnosis. It came naturally to him, so he combined his comedic talents with his certification in hypnosis, and thus his career was born. From corporations to colleges, high schools and private parties (some for very famous people) SZELES dazzles his clients into a state of relaxation and unforgettable fun.

The year was 1973 and James Szeles had just graduated from high school.  He started worked as a manager for several local drive-ins, and besides his passion for movies and rock n roll music, he also had a love for magic.  He would mentor his young cousin John in magic and would drive the kid around from magic shop to magic shop, helping him with his tricks.  But all the while, an inner gnawing was eating at him; something bigger was about to unfold in his life, he could feel it, but he didn't know what it was.

In 1974, knowing that there was not much of a future for him in Detroit, SZELES took his savings, packed up his black van and headed West to Los Angeles and a job at the second floor magic shop on Hollywood Boulevard.  He worked for Ralph Lane, an old Vaudevillian Magician whose shop was next door to the Vampire Museum.  There was a picture on the wall of the shop that read:
Ralph - I told you I'd come back! Harry.

It's a well known fact that many of us start out in life on a pre-determined path.  There are the kids who know from day one that they want to be a doctor, scientist or a teacher; then there are the dreamers, those kids who aspire to be greater than the sum of themselves, the ones who want to pioneer outer space, walk on the moon for find a cure for cancer.  There are also those of us who seem to lost on the road of life.  No matter what they undertake, it simply just doesn't feel like the right fit; there is an underlying gnawing or yearning deep within them that cannot be readily identified.  It remains within them, unsatisfied - waiting to awaken their soul.  Sometimes, some of us never awaken to realize our full potential; but for some of us, life itself knowingly leads us down the path we should take.  This is what happened to a young man from Michigan.