Toronto was dripping in velvet, chrome, marble and beautiful madness at the Living Luxe Design Show. A full-scale collision of design, fashion, art, lifestyle, runway moments, immersive installs, luxury brands and enough visual temptation to short-circuit a disciplined man. Canada’s premier luxury design experience for a reason. I rolled in for a couple hours thinking, “Do I belong here?” Classic mistake. Then I found my brother Anthony @anthonydidomenico the man who made this whole appearance happen — and his guy Dre @drepaoofficial …and suddenly the gears started turning. Next thing you know I’m reading minds in the middle of a luxury design spectacle. I met live painter Julie Amlin after complimenting a gentleman’s hat (Merado, elite hat energy), then wandered into the orbit of the crew from Houser Fine Cabinetry and started bending reality for them too. That’s the funny thing about wonder…it doesn’t care what room it’s in. Boardroom. Ballroom. Showroom. Same rules apply. You bring people a moment they can’t explain…and suddenly strangers become believers. Massive respect to everyone who built this beast. The team behind Living Luxe didn’t make an event; they built an atmosphere. And Alexandra came through clutch capturing the chaos. 📷: @bright.sova Anthony; grateful for you, brother. More elegant trouble soon. #TorontoEvents #LuxuryLifestyle #MindReader #magic #luxuryexperience Music by: @altajmusic

Another one that went long…hopefully my handstand-brain and out-of-breath delivery will have you rethinking everything you think about creativity. And if not, that’s okay. I had an amazing rainy Sunday spent in the company of some phenomenal thought-leaders in my field. It was a treat to be a part of it, and I’m stoked to see what comes next. If you take the time to watch these musings, thank you. It means the world, As always, Thanks for believing. xx, -AK

Recently, thanks to my friend @jh.magic I heard @danharlanmagic ask @jaredkopf : “So what keeps you doing magic then…?” To which Jared replied, “Because, it’s the mother of freedom and truth.” There was a time when I was sort of delightfully oblivious to the role I was playing: That of the professional interruptor. This sort of ‘Artful Dodger’ type of lad, brace-faced, sweater vests and neon ties. I’d float around — analyzing, gauging, while lamenting my own ‘coolness’. I’m really grateful that I didn’t have terms like “cringe” or “try hard” polluting my desire to have a more adept understanding of this weird collection of skills that are blanketed by the term “mystery arts” or “magic”. Conjuring if you will. Thinking back now, I realize how dreadful and unpleasant my presence must have been at certain times for very many people. I pulled cards, and lemons, and other random objects out of my pockets, out of my fly, out of my shoes, and so on. I’d spit-up cards, moments before people were going to eat. I had props that were weathered and work by hundreds of performances, destroyed by greasy kid-fingers and drunken adults. But not quite having the money to replace them, or worse, being too caught-up in wanting to perfect my craft…I ignored the obvious. Luckily, I retired from performing as a close-up magician, that bounced from table-to-table, one step-up from a rose salesman, with enough time to take a moment to take a breather, and take a long look at what I was projecting. What I was creating. What I was saying. What I was doing. And… Most importantly, What I was leaving behind for the people who were (un)fortunate enough to be ‘graced’ by my presence. The truth is, I was blessed to make contact with the right amount of the right people. Because eventually, I began getting engaged for various events and exciting reasons, that allowed me to control the narrative a little more. There was opportunity for me to create tiny moments of theatre, and to do things that, on occasion, even left people in tears. Caption continued in comments…

This one went long, but I think it’s important so I just left it uncut and long. If you hear anything that gives you a new thought, or adds some value to your life then it will all have been worth it. Otherwise, I’ll try to stay a little more concise next time. Just kidding, You know I’ll talk even more next time 🤣 🤫 🤷‍♂️ Thanks for believing, Here I go again! -AK P.S. I chose to cut down yesterday’s video to fit under 3mins bc this platform doesn’t show vids longer than 3min to new audience…An important CHUNK was left out… So to those of you kind enough to care, and considerate enough to ask me… YES - I will in fact be a last-minute add-on at this year’s @thelivingluxedesignshow 🙌 😁 🎉 STOKED. #begoodinreallife #philosophy #entrepreneurship #journey

I’ve spent a stupid amount of time in my life trying to make things sound more complex than they needed to be, as if adding extra syllables, smoke, and psychological jazz hands would somehow make the thing more valuable. It doesn’t. Most of the time, it just makes you harder to understand. And if people can’t understand what you do, they can’t say yes to it. That’s was my realization today. Not in some grand spiritual thunderbolt kind of way. More like a steady, slightly humiliating drip of truth right on the forehead. This past weekend was good for that. Good conversations. Good rooms. Good reminders. I’ve always had this fascination with rooms full of people who are further along than me. I don’t trust comfort. Comfort makes you soft. Familiar rooms can turn into velvet prisons if you stay in them too long. Getting better often looks much less glamorous than your ego hoped. It looks like: making the call, sending the pitch, simplifying the ask, accepting that “does he do card tricks?” may be a more useful question than the entire symphony that was playing out in my own head. That line made me laugh, but it also did me a favor. Because yes... I do “card tricks.” And mind reading. And live performance. And audience connection. And atmosphere. And all the other strange little arts that happen when you spend enough years trying to make the impossible feel personal. But none of that matters if the person on the other side can’t quickly understand the value. That’s the game. Not dumbing yourself down. Not flattening your soul. Just learning how to communicate clearly enough that the right people can open the door. Follow the journey. I'm rebuilding publicly. No fake guru nonsense. No chest-beating mythology. No pretending the road back is a straight line. Just reps. Rooms. Conversations. Awkward asks. Unexpected green lights. And the occasional reminder that if you’re the smartest, safest, most accomplished person in the room…you may be standing in the wrong damn room. Anyway. That’s where my head’s at. If you’re out there building something too, here’s a reminder I needed myself: 1.State it simply. 2.Change rooms. 3. Take the next right step

Content is safe. Live performance is not. Which is exactly why I need to get back to it. Documenting the comeback starts now. Huge thanks to @kentaxell for the insight and wisdom earlier today. Big shoutout also to @calebfasthairstyling for always helping me feel fresh and reborn. What are you hiding from? What are you putting off? #reallife #realmagicisinyou #journey #adventure

It’s giving Hunter S. Thompson inside a snow-globe… if he was sober…and had a cute dog 🤷‍♂️

Take your time, but hurry up—we’re thirsty here. #Skit #bartender #comedy #serverlife

Buckle up ladies & germs…it’s about to get robot. 😬