Big Daddy Cool is dead. Long live Johnny Beyond!

What a journey to get to this point. As many of you know, I was nearly taken out by Covid-19 in 2020. As a result I reprioritized a lot of things in my life. One of them was to set the character of "Big Daddy Cool" Johnny Dellarocca aside. I had decided to retire from performing on stage and focus on writing and podcasting, but then some opportunies came my way that coudn't be turned down.?

Fast forward to now and I am almost back to performing at the frequency of pre-pandemic. But as I stepped back onto stage as just "John" there was a slight branding issue among my target audience. Was I an author, artist, magician, storyteller or podcaster? Of course the answer is yes, but in today's world creatives and entertainers are expected to be more siloed. In short, clients didn't know what they were booking me for and the need for a return to stage persona was evident.?

However, returning to "Big Daddy Cool" after some many changes, and nearly 100lb weight loss journey just seemed like a step backwards creatively.

I polled friends and fans and the stage name that resonated with most was a character name I first thought about using in college; Johnny Beyond!

There are a lot reasons why I never carried through with the notion and instead became "Big Daddy Cool." but many of those reasons no longer existed and I was finally free to be an even more complete and authentic version of me. Make no mistake, Johnny Beyond is a stage persona, but he is the most "me" I've ever been onstage and it is very freeing.?

Up first for Johnny Beyond is a brand new stage show called Beyond Smoke & Mirrors that co-stars Ella Kazaam and Debra Cadabra and will be presented in workshop at the Palace Theater in Gallatin, TN opening July 22!??

Your continued support will make this possible as Johnny Beyond takes me and you with me into the bright future!?

Big Daddy Cool is dead. Long live Johnny Beyond!