For all his business acumen, Carl Pohlad can't make
money move any faster than John Hughes can. And when the cards are on the table, not even Donald Trump can trump the former St. Paul math teacher.Among wizards of the business world, Hughes has carved a profitable
niche as a mercantile magician. With Hughes in charge, coins placed beneath four playing cards inexplicably will end up under one of them. Or he'll isolate and identify a card selected mentally by a spectator. Nearly
always, his tricks and his spiel are linked to his client's business - a clear case of targeted marketing.
Hugbes, 36, prefers the name Hondo. Even his brothers and parents sometimes call him that. Hughes and a
college roommate appropriated the nickname from former basketball star John Havlicek.
Hondo, the full-time business magician, evolved from Hondo, the part-time math-teacher magician about five years ago. Hughes felt
unappreciated and undervalued after nine years at St. Paul's Cretin High School, so in 1984 he made the switch. Since then, he has combined sleight-of hand with brisk, irreverent patter and a savvy sense of business
strategy to expand his client list. His earnings from magic appearances last year totaled nearly S 100,000. H:C also has performed dozens of free promotional shows.
Last week Nabisco flew Hondo to Hawaii, his most
lucrative gig so far: $10,000 plus expenses.
Hondo gets more than a little fun for his money. Last week, before heading for Honolulu, he donned tuxedo, blue bow tie and blue cummerbund for an appearance at the
Radisson Plaza Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. Through a bearded smile, he told 260 employees and retirees of the First Bank System that magic is based on "illusion and deception, terms very familiar to the
banking industry."
Next he borrowed a $100 bill from the wallet of Jerry Fischer, chief financial officer, asked him to.......
Hondo continued.......
