John Hotowka - Wit and wisdom
John is a fellow of the Professional Speaking Association and a member of the Magic Circle.
The variety and humour in his presentations have made him one of the most entertaining and magical after dinner, business and conference speakers on the circuit.
Hotowka is pronounced ‘Hot~Ow~Ka‘ (it’s Polish)
Despite the fact he hasn’t won an Olympic medal or climbed the south face of Mount Everest in a pedalo the boy has ‘done’ good.
John’s parents were hard working immigrants, his father Polish, his mother Italian. They sacrificed a lot to send John to Grammar School and on to Bradford College, where he studied dispensing optics and took up magic as a hobby.
For seven years he was an optician by day and magician by night performing close up magic to the diners in the restaurants of Bradford. He was one of the first to perform restaurant magic in Europe and lectured to magical societies on the subject.
In 1989 he decided to pursue a full-time career in magic, targeting the corporate market.
Since then he’s travelled the world from Manchester to Milan, Derby to Dubai, Hull to Hamburg and from York to New York performing his magic at corporate events, product launches and exhibitions.
He has helped to sell almost every imaginable product and service, the least likely being industrial heat exchangers, caravan chassis, greetings cards, commercial vehicle contract hire, lead aprons and sewing thread.
He’s also a member of The Mile High Card Trick Club (open only to those who have performed card tricks* on a Boeing 747 in mid flight).
Despite exhibiting at almost 20 shows per year, he found time to evolve into a conference and business speaker and has performed and presented for the world’s biggest companies (PriceWaterhouse Coopers, Hallmark Cards, Lex Autolease, Croda International for example) in some of the oddest locations!
He’s motivated audiences at the top of the Berlin Telecom Tower, on a container ship in the middle of the Atlantic and travelling at speed on the Orient Express.
He’s a sought after speaker on the corporate circuit and popular in education helping young people to develop entrepreneurial and life skills.
* … and only card tricks