Professional Comedy Magician » Recent Shows

Magic Shows for Eagle Quest Foster Children

admin — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:48:10 +0000

A booking agent called and asked if I had 4 Thursdays in a row available in July, luckily I did. This was amazing considering I had 18 other shows booked for the month. Then the agent said it would be some drive time, about 2 hours each way for each of the 4 shows. Still OK. Then they said the shows wouldn’t pay as much as normal because it was a camp for foster kids. High adventure camps for troubled teens will usually pay pretty well because someone is paying a lot to have the kids there. But the foster youth programs don’t have much money to work on, mostly just from donors, so there you go. I decided what the heck and said sure – I’ll do the shows.

The camp was outside of Panguitch, Utah, and was really a camp. There were no buildings, just tents for the kids. There were a couple of porta-pottys. The kids stay a week in rain or shine and they take them to Bryce Canyon, a buffalo ranch, etc. I did the comedy magic shows around a campfire ring, there were about 20 kids ages 11-19, and 5 or 6 adults at each of the 4 shows.

All dressed in Eagle Quest camo t-shirts. The kids were great – they really got into the magic and were very grateful that someone would come clear out there to entertain them. I even took a rabbit to produce and they loved it. Eagle Quest had a different group of kids each week, so I basically did the same show 3 of the 4 weeks.

The last week they had younger kids there, ages 5 – 10. So the last show I did some different tricks that appeal more to them. After each show they lined the kids up and one at a time had their picture taken with me and the rabbit. They make a scrap book for each child at the end of the week and they wanted a picture of each kid with the rabbit. It was great.

I took my wife on week 4 for the last show, it was great. She talked a lot with the founder of Eagle Quest while we had dinner with them and while I did my show. He had some very heart warming as well as heart breaking stories about the kids they had worked with over the years. He had stories of kids that ran away from home and the only thing they took was their scrap book from Eagle Quest activities.

Most of the kids were not trouble makers and were truly victims of circumstance. Many had never spent a night outside of Las Vegas much less in a tent. One 18 year old pulled his sleeping bag out of the tent one night and stayed out until 3:00 AM just looking at the stars. He told the leaders he had never seen stars before, at least not like that. And he watched shooting stars – he had no idea they really existed. Of course the stars are astounding up in the mountains away from the city lights.

I was really glad I did the shows, I look forward to doing them every year if possible. The Eagle Quest people said they would really like to have me. After meeting the kids and hearing some of the stories I almost felt guilty taking any money. Experiences like this really keep you grateful for all you have.

Eagle Quest of Nevada I had 22 shows in July, it was a very...
The “Skunk Show” I was watching TV on a Saturday afternoon one time...
Robert Peterson When I was a teenager my mom dragged me to...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Scouting Show

admin — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:33:24 +0000

Wow every couple of years or so the Cub Scout theme for the month is magic or alakazam or something, I always get a ton of calls. This past April it was abracadabra and I wound up doing shows for 16 different cub packs. I did my “scout economy show” for them, a half hour show that’s a bit scaled down from the stage show with lots of interaction and fun. Then I usually stayed for another 20 minutes or ½ hour to show them how to do some simple tricks. Then of course refreshments. They all seemed to have a great time and I don’t mind not getting paid much because I love scouts so much.

I’m glad when I can do shows like that here at home and I don’t have to charge for travel and a lot of time. It was very interesting to see the difference in the various organizations – some were set up from the first moment with things for the boys to do when they arrived, games, activities, flag ceremonies, etc. and others were just kind of “let it happen”. Everything in between. But it all worked – the boys appreciate the adults working with them, and they will remember their scouting experiences.

The “Skunk Show” I was watching TV on a Saturday afternoon one time...
Sawing a lady in half! Many years ago when I was first getting serious about...
Magic Shows for Eagle Quest Foster Children A booking agent called and asked if I had 4...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Grey Eagles Veterans Show

admin — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:32:33 +0000

One of my favorite trips was to Sacramento with my dad to perform for the Grey Eagles. They are a tight knit club of veterans, they had vets there from WW2, Korea, Vietnam and even Iraq. I stayed with one of the veterans and his wife, Johnny and Betty Bristoe. My dad is a Bataan Death March survivor and POW of the Japanese from WW2. John Bristoe is a fellow POW from my dad’s outfit, thus the show for the group. I’m very sorry to say that Betty has passed away since then, I am very grateful to have spent time with her.

I took 2 doves – they always attract attention on the plane because you carry them on and they want you to keep the little cage by your feet. I usually take Harry my rabbit but it was a whirlwind fast trip so I decided to leave him home. The trip was fun with dad – he’s 89 and I always like when I can spend time with him. Dinner at the performance was excellent prime rib, the show went well and overall was a terrific time.

No related posts.