What a night. I didn't expect a Tuesday night at the Castle to be as wonderful as it turned out to be. We saw most of the act last night but I just had to see Dand Minkin's act on more time. His creativity is fabulous. I was joined by JC (of course) and Gentry Stanley the producer we worked with on the Discovery project a few months back. Gentry was looking good and healthy and dashing in his suit. I was surprised to find out he had worked with David on an MTV show a few months ago.
We also caught other acts but David's was once again the highlight, though Chuck Jones' act tonight was even better than it was last night.
The thrill of the night was to meet fellow Scotsman, Ron Wilson, long time Magic Castle entertainment director, president and many other titles. Though I am 300 years removed from Scotland my ancestry is my pride. We hit it off. With him was Milt Larson, the architect. He was the man who took the once 6000 sq ft house and turned it into 22,000 sq ft. He designed and built the place over the years adding this and that from various mansions, restaurants, schools, etc to the walls, tables, whatever at the castle. Being a handy man myself we clicked and spoke of various handy man things. Irene Larsen, founder of the castle, Bill Larsen's wife, was there looking as good as she ever did. She loved my stories about my children performing in my show and we hit it off well. She even shared a very funny joke with me that would be out of place in this blog. I learned so much about the history and lore of the castle as well as a few secrets and lost secrets (which I will write about later....not magic secrets mind you).
I have a long drive tomorrow so I will end here for tonight. Though I much more to add and photos to boot.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
Magic Castle 2
Slept in today...and why not we ran a late night last night enjoying a very robust and well attended evening at the Castle. Lunch saw us at a soup and salad place and dinner was at the Castle...very classy!
Since my traveling buddy, JC once apon a time lived inn the area we visited his old digs and met some of his old neighbors. He was overwhelmed when we arrived onto his old street. In fact, he stood in the middle of the street with his hands on his hips staring and pointing and telling me about who once lived here and who once lived there. I had to shout at him several times before he realized he was in the path of the truck. Getting over a pretty bad cold JC had a tough morning and had to rest quite a bit throughout the day. He seemed to improve as the day went on. His excitement about being here was apparent in his non-stop reminiscing.
The famous TV magician from the 1950s-70s, Mark Wilson was at the Castle tonight teaching classes in the Inner Circle room...area for members. We chit chatted with him quite a bit. I bought one of his illusions from him a few years ago. A number o other famous people within magic circles were at the Castle tonight...Shoot Ogawa, Chuck Jones, David Accer, David Minkin, Gold Finger and Dove, and many others. Though in general it was a very quiet night and unlike last night it was easier to get into shows. JC and I did some performing for lay people as well and brought a few smiles out. After all the castle should be a complete magical experience. One couple were turned away from one the only show that filled up a full room tonight so JC and I did a few things for them. It was a lot of Fun.
Only disappointment was a buddy of mine from the Discovery shoot a few months ago was supposed to show up but work held him up and he couldn't make it. The embarrassing thing was he called while I was in a show and I thought my phone was on vibrate...it wasn't I rushed to get it turned off...first time I've blushed in a long time.
Tonight was also the once a month time for potential members to audition for the board and hopefully become a member. The main bar area was packed with folks from the yuong (21+) to the middle aged waiting to be judged on their skills. You could feel everyone's nervousness.
Though we left at 10:45 two hours earlier than yesterday I am more tired today and look forward to the sleep. I miss my family but I must admit the hotel is quieter than home.
Since my traveling buddy, JC once apon a time lived inn the area we visited his old digs and met some of his old neighbors. He was overwhelmed when we arrived onto his old street. In fact, he stood in the middle of the street with his hands on his hips staring and pointing and telling me about who once lived here and who once lived there. I had to shout at him several times before he realized he was in the path of the truck. Getting over a pretty bad cold JC had a tough morning and had to rest quite a bit throughout the day. He seemed to improve as the day went on. His excitement about being here was apparent in his non-stop reminiscing.
The famous TV magician from the 1950s-70s, Mark Wilson was at the Castle tonight teaching classes in the Inner Circle room...area for members. We chit chatted with him quite a bit. I bought one of his illusions from him a few years ago. A number o other famous people within magic circles were at the Castle tonight...Shoot Ogawa, Chuck Jones, David Accer, David Minkin, Gold Finger and Dove, and many others. Though in general it was a very quiet night and unlike last night it was easier to get into shows. JC and I did some performing for lay people as well and brought a few smiles out. After all the castle should be a complete magical experience. One couple were turned away from one the only show that filled up a full room tonight so JC and I did a few things for them. It was a lot of Fun.
Only disappointment was a buddy of mine from the Discovery shoot a few months ago was supposed to show up but work held him up and he couldn't make it. The embarrassing thing was he called while I was in a show and I thought my phone was on vibrate...it wasn't I rushed to get it turned off...first time I've blushed in a long time.
Tonight was also the once a month time for potential members to audition for the board and hopefully become a member. The main bar area was packed with folks from the yuong (21+) to the middle aged waiting to be judged on their skills. You could feel everyone's nervousness.
Though we left at 10:45 two hours earlier than yesterday I am more tired today and look forward to the sleep. I miss my family but I must admit the hotel is quieter than home.
Magic Castle !
Sunday started at 4:30 AM. JC was running late so our drive to LA didn't start until close to
6:30. Being Sunday, however, made for easy driving and we made Hollywood in just over 7.5 hours. Most of the central valley was cloaked in fog and to our surprise the mountains that separate the central valley with the LA Basin had snow on them.
It is cooler here than it was last year but I blame that on Global warming. I also blame global warming t my need to go on a diet.
After resting up we made the Castle just before 6PM. Dennis Forrel, balloon artist/magician/producer met us there. He would hang out with us for most of the night. To our surprise Tippy Hedren (The Birds) was at the castle and Tony Curtis was having a book and art signing event there. Though I didn't stand in line to meet him I did have a moment with him where as he was being wheeled by (he is chair bound) a young lady stopped to shake his hand, he kissed hers. He looked up at me, I gave him a thumbs up and he gave me a smile. He gave me a foot to head look over, I was wearing my tweed jacket, wool vest, sottish hat look. In the modes of meeting people I felt like we had met.
When JV alerted me Tippy was there I walked over to meet her. Sleep deprivation and my slow mind was trying to formulate a greeting (I wanted to avoid say, "loved you in Birds.) She was speaking with someone and I though I had a few seconds more before she would turn to meet me. My mouth got tied up because I tried to say, "I don't mean to interrupt." "Excuse me." "I loved you in the Birds." "I loved your work." It's nice to meet yoy." etc. But what came out was an amalgamation of all those phrases and sounded like a babble. She laughed. We shook hands and I apologized for beign tongue-tied. She walked away laughing.
I performed impromptu magic quite a bit and my nail in nose was a hit. I did the balloon swallow as well and it quieted the room I was in. Tippy saw that and now I think she is convinced I am weirdo.
I was brought up on stage to assist Matt Marcy, comedy magician. It was the late show and he had a few drunk heclers. The portion I helped with went very well and I got lots of back slaps and "good jobs" from the audience after the show.
Saw John Carney, Brandon Scott, Kerry Ross, Matt Marcy, and Danny Cole do their stuff. Danny's Show was as creative and original as always. A couple of his new things interfed with the execution of a couple of his old things. But, wow, what a creative guy.
Also met Hugh O'Brien who played Wyatt Urp on TV along time ago. He was one of JC's magic students many years ago.
Slept in late this Monday morning so we missed the free b-fast. Going to hit some local places for shopping and eats.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Gold Sox and Canada
Our calendar is filling (PTL).
Here is the Public summer tour (private and corporate shows not listed):
I also want to mention that we are in negotiations for many dates beyond what is listed.
June 12 Gold Sox Baseball Game (In between innings entertainment and Strolling) Marysville, CA 6pm.
June 21-23 Tehema Libraries (Red Bluff, Corning and Los Molinos) Though we rarely do shows this small any more Sally at the T.L. took a chance on us 15 years ago when we were trying to get know in our area and has booked us every year. 10 AM
June 28-July3 Swift Current, SK Canada Frontier Days
July 6-10th Laurel Co Fair in London, KY (our 3rd year).....mmmm love them Weaver's Hot Dogs and can't wait to visit Sanders Cafe (KFC birthplace in Corbin). These people are the reason we want to move to Kentucky.
July 12-25 Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green, KY (our 3rd year) We love the Jones and Gonzales family they too are why we love KY. Great fun!
August 2-15 Quassy Amusement Park, Middlebury, CT (our 2nd year)...always a pleasure to see the great folks of CT and of the Quassy family.
August 17-23 Delaware County Fair NY...the manager Gary and his family came to see us perform at our unprecedented second year at Ulster Fair last year and booked us on the spot for 2010...BTW that's what Quassy did the year before.
September 16-19 National Cattle Congress in Waterloo, IA (our second year). The history of this event is amazing and the people are aways very good audiences.
We are still working on bookings for WI, MI, NC, IN, and possibly TX. We will post them when things are inked in and not just penciled in.
Those in the know (this will sound cryptic to some): The DVD was FedExed today......they will have it in their hands tomorrow morning. What an adventure.
Let me know via email Kent@victorkent.com if you can come out to the Magic Castle on Sun the 31st or Mon. or Tue. Going down to play.
Here is the Public summer tour (private and corporate shows not listed):
I also want to mention that we are in negotiations for many dates beyond what is listed.
June 12 Gold Sox Baseball Game (In between innings entertainment and Strolling) Marysville, CA 6pm.
June 21-23 Tehema Libraries (Red Bluff, Corning and Los Molinos) Though we rarely do shows this small any more Sally at the T.L. took a chance on us 15 years ago when we were trying to get know in our area and has booked us every year. 10 AM
June 28-July3 Swift Current, SK Canada Frontier Days
July 6-10th Laurel Co Fair in London, KY (our 3rd year).....mmmm love them Weaver's Hot Dogs and can't wait to visit Sanders Cafe (KFC birthplace in Corbin). These people are the reason we want to move to Kentucky.
July 12-25 Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green, KY (our 3rd year) We love the Jones and Gonzales family they too are why we love KY. Great fun!
August 2-15 Quassy Amusement Park, Middlebury, CT (our 2nd year)...always a pleasure to see the great folks of CT and of the Quassy family.
August 17-23 Delaware County Fair NY...the manager Gary and his family came to see us perform at our unprecedented second year at Ulster Fair last year and booked us on the spot for 2010...BTW that's what Quassy did the year before.
September 16-19 National Cattle Congress in Waterloo, IA (our second year). The history of this event is amazing and the people are aways very good audiences.
We are still working on bookings for WI, MI, NC, IN, and possibly TX. We will post them when things are inked in and not just penciled in.
Those in the know (this will sound cryptic to some): The DVD was FedExed today......they will have it in their hands tomorrow morning. What an adventure.
Let me know via email Kent@victorkent.com if you can come out to the Magic Castle on Sun the 31st or Mon. or Tue. Going down to play.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Updates and Pictures:
Recently we performed an all school invitational show at the Municipal Auditorium in Oroville, CA in our hometown. We introduced a few of our new things for 2010 including our Tribute to Eddie Foy and the Seven Little Foys. Titus, my disabled son's, class came to the show and his teacher took these pictures. We designed the costumes to match the Foy's costumes of 1913.
Eddie Foy and the Seven Little Foys.Updates:
2010 rehearsals are in full swing and James has arranged the music for the opening number to be recorded by a small orchestra. The current version we have taped done on the piano has my part out of sinc with how I sing...not sure the musical term so watching it on tape is very awkward...
Please keep magician JC Dunn in your prayers he has been hit hard by that chest cold going around. He and I are planning a trip to LA this weekend, a tradition we do yearly.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Wowzers! Magic Castle H1N1 Canada TV
"Wowzers", as the gang from Scoobie Doo might say.
First "Wowzer": I am heading south to Hollywood this coming Sunday through Tuesday (Jan 31- Feb 3) for my once a year pilgrimage to the Magic Castle with my good friend and magician buddy, JC Dunn, life time member. It's always a treat to see old friends and make new ones and catch the wonderful acts. If you are in the area please let me know so we can meet up and share a little magic at the Castle.
Second "Wowzer": While down in Hollywood it was my hope that JC and I could go to the Children's hospital down there and cheer a few sad faces up with some tricks. But, just moments ago, I was informed by the Volunteer Services at the hospital that due to the H1N1 virus all activities like oura are currently banned. The woman explained that they didn't even get to do Christmas...No Santa Claus due to the H1 N1 hysteria.
Third "Wowzer": Things are shaping us for us to perform our show in Swift Current, SK, Canada the last day of June through the first weekend in July. There are a few hoops to jump through to get our animals through...turns out our snakes and bunnies are fine but our doves and cockatoo will have to be "papered-up" (health and import documentation) and possibly vet inspected at the border. Then there is the whole tax thing. And for our first time I might asked to be paid in Canadian dollars since the US dollar has fallen through the basement....thank you Mr. Bush, Obama, and Bernehke. I just read that many countries are choosing the Canadian dollar over the American dollar as investments. OK, I'll stop whining.
Fourth "Wowzer": A production company, once again, has expressed interest in using our family for a possible Docu-drama TV show. It would be blast to do a TV show, not to mention the exposure for our show and a boost for bookings. We are doing some home video taping of our rehearsals, practices and show related stuff for the producers. Even some interviews....we learned a lot form our past experiences that might help make this one's results better. I've learned, like a puppy whose had his nose slapped a few times too many, to not get my hopes up since TV is a very fickle media. We may still be "Too Sweet for TV".
Fifth "Wowzer": On the note of "Too Sweet for TV": I written a manuscript that we will either send off to be published or self publish via lulu.com about our family, our show, and our travels; the ups, the downs, and everything. Our family history and story is weaved around the thread of our four days with Discovery Studios and their taping of our family and show only to be left on the cutting room floor because we were "Too sweet for TV". Imagine that, by those standards most of the 1950s-early 1960s TV shows, and the Brady Bunch would never have been allowed on TV. Unless of course Greg was a drug addict, Marcia and Jan were lesbians, Cindy had a part time prostitution thing going with Peter as her pimp and Bobby was rock star who was struggling with his weight while Mr. Brady was having an affair with a guy (wait....never mind too easy) and Mrs. Brady was a closet drunk who had relations with Gerhaldo the pool boy...and they didn't have a pool. Boy do have an imagination! I should be a network boss.
On another note: our most ambitious expansion in a long time is going very well. Our new show for our three show rotation is going very well....Mami has been added to juggle a plunger, a spatula, and a baby doll (representing a wife-mother juggling life) and perform a very cool Seance Illusion, Jim is adding some new balancing and more extreme juggling, Amelia has added that new Mind reading affect I discussed in my last entry, Olivia is making TWO snakes magically appear, Miles will be doing more with he walking globe and adding a couple of new bull whip stunts and lasso tricks, Titus will make animals appear with specially made props to compensate his disabilities. We will also do a three man fire-eating routine. We have put our Impaled Illusion into the show and Cynthia gets to be the lucky one to balance then get impaled by a sword. And finally we have the whole salute to vaudeville with our tribute to the Seven Little Foys...dancing, singing, 1910s jokes, and original Foy music with some music rewritten by James as the Sheet music for certain songs are no longer available.
First "Wowzer": I am heading south to Hollywood this coming Sunday through Tuesday (Jan 31- Feb 3) for my once a year pilgrimage to the Magic Castle with my good friend and magician buddy, JC Dunn, life time member. It's always a treat to see old friends and make new ones and catch the wonderful acts. If you are in the area please let me know so we can meet up and share a little magic at the Castle.
Second "Wowzer": While down in Hollywood it was my hope that JC and I could go to the Children's hospital down there and cheer a few sad faces up with some tricks. But, just moments ago, I was informed by the Volunteer Services at the hospital that due to the H1N1 virus all activities like oura are currently banned. The woman explained that they didn't even get to do Christmas...No Santa Claus due to the H1 N1 hysteria.
Third "Wowzer": Things are shaping us for us to perform our show in Swift Current, SK, Canada the last day of June through the first weekend in July. There are a few hoops to jump through to get our animals through...turns out our snakes and bunnies are fine but our doves and cockatoo will have to be "papered-up" (health and import documentation) and possibly vet inspected at the border. Then there is the whole tax thing. And for our first time I might asked to be paid in Canadian dollars since the US dollar has fallen through the basement....thank you Mr. Bush, Obama, and Bernehke. I just read that many countries are choosing the Canadian dollar over the American dollar as investments. OK, I'll stop whining.
Fourth "Wowzer": A production company, once again, has expressed interest in using our family for a possible Docu-drama TV show. It would be blast to do a TV show, not to mention the exposure for our show and a boost for bookings. We are doing some home video taping of our rehearsals, practices and show related stuff for the producers. Even some interviews....we learned a lot form our past experiences that might help make this one's results better. I've learned, like a puppy whose had his nose slapped a few times too many, to not get my hopes up since TV is a very fickle media. We may still be "Too Sweet for TV".
Fifth "Wowzer": On the note of "Too Sweet for TV": I written a manuscript that we will either send off to be published or self publish via lulu.com about our family, our show, and our travels; the ups, the downs, and everything. Our family history and story is weaved around the thread of our four days with Discovery Studios and their taping of our family and show only to be left on the cutting room floor because we were "Too sweet for TV". Imagine that, by those standards most of the 1950s-early 1960s TV shows, and the Brady Bunch would never have been allowed on TV. Unless of course Greg was a drug addict, Marcia and Jan were lesbians, Cindy had a part time prostitution thing going with Peter as her pimp and Bobby was rock star who was struggling with his weight while Mr. Brady was having an affair with a guy (wait....never mind too easy) and Mrs. Brady was a closet drunk who had relations with Gerhaldo the pool boy...and they didn't have a pool. Boy do have an imagination! I should be a network boss.
On another note: our most ambitious expansion in a long time is going very well. Our new show for our three show rotation is going very well....Mami has been added to juggle a plunger, a spatula, and a baby doll (representing a wife-mother juggling life) and perform a very cool Seance Illusion, Jim is adding some new balancing and more extreme juggling, Amelia has added that new Mind reading affect I discussed in my last entry, Olivia is making TWO snakes magically appear, Miles will be doing more with he walking globe and adding a couple of new bull whip stunts and lasso tricks, Titus will make animals appear with specially made props to compensate his disabilities. We will also do a three man fire-eating routine. We have put our Impaled Illusion into the show and Cynthia gets to be the lucky one to balance then get impaled by a sword. And finally we have the whole salute to vaudeville with our tribute to the Seven Little Foys...dancing, singing, 1910s jokes, and original Foy music with some music rewritten by James as the Sheet music for certain songs are no longer available.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Princess Amelia's New Mentlist Trick
Princess Amelia, our family's mentalist, always wants to try new ways to read peoples minds. She currently does five differetn routines on stage during our show.
Below is a routine she and I developed over the last 24 hours.
Imagine this. You are invited on stage. You give us a dollar bill and as a receipt a quarter of the bill is torn off and given back to you...it contains the serial number of the bill. The rest of the bill is imeadiately wadded up and burned...all hands shown cleaning empty. As it burns Princess Amelia (no one stands near her) looks into the flame and then writes the serial number of the dollar bill onto a whiteboard. You read the number aloud confirming it is the same number of the bill that burned. Never once does she touch the bill nor does she ever get to look at the bill. She writes the number in full view of the audience and all is open for inspection (the white board, the pen, the ashes, the can the bill was burned in, and the surviving quarter of the bill that you have been holding the whole time.
Well, when she performed it for the whole family to get their reaction it was a hit. No one knew how she did it and all of them have been around this kind of stuff their entire lives.
Quiet cool!
Friday, January 22, 2010
Press Release from Quassy Park about us...
Hi Victor
Here’s where I’m headed with the 2010 story
Thanks again for the help
RON
MIDDLEBURY, Conn. – It will truly be a family affair this summer when Victor Kent, his wife, Mami, and seven children perform at amusement parks, fairs and festivals across the United States.
“It will be great to have the entire family on the road,” Victor said from his home in Oroville, Calif., where the Kent Family Magic Circus has been rehearsing for its 2010 tour.
As the veteran showman discussed the upcoming excursion, he was extremely excited to announce that the couple’s 12-year-old son, Titus, would be part of the act this year.
“Titus is disabled and will be joining the show on tour for the first time,” Victor pointed out. “He loves it (performing) and is doing an all-school show this week in our hometown in front of his special ed class and other students.”
The Kent Family Magic Circus returns Aug. 2-15 to Quassy Amusement Park’s Lakeside Theatre after a highly-successful, two-week run at the park in 2009.
“Mami has not performed as a regular with the family for 13 years,” Victor asserted, as she stayed home to care for Titus. She will be doing some juggling as well as an audience-participation “haunted house illusion” in the new production.
A Little Vaudeville
Also new to the Kents’ repertoire is an opening segment in tribute to Vaudeville legends Eddie Foy And The Seven Little Foys.
“It’s basically a short opener for our 2010 show,” Victor said of the production. Foy was a soft-shoe comedian in the glory days of variety entertainment during the early 1900s and worked with his seven children as well.
“We found some old footage of them performing, so we’ve incorporated a little dance and some jokes – not to mention a ton of money on authentic costumes and music from the era,” Victor explained. So we would get it right many hours of research were involved.
The Kent Family Magic Circus kicks into high speed from there with the tempo and style of shows audiences have raved about.
“We’ve simply added more talent and some new stuff for this year,” Victor continued. “One new act is the $100-100-foot rope challenge, which is one of the funniest routines we have.”
Escape Artist
Up to four audience members – children or adults – have the opportunity to tie up 9-year-old Victor Kent Jr. with 100 feet of rope. If the young escape artist can’t get out the mangled series of knots encasing him in the time allotted – the same time it took to tie him up – the Kent family will pay out $100 to each participant in the rope-tying act.
“I haven’t spent a dime as yet, except for the rope,” Victor quipped.
The other Kent children taking the stage this summer are: Jim, 20, Cynthia, 18, Miles, 16, Amelia, 7 and Olivia, 4.
Both Jim and Cynthia became members of Victor’s magic show before they were 5 years old. As for Victor, he has been performing since he was 7 and became a professional entertainer as a teenager.
“As each of our children joined the show, it meant leaving a toddler crying at the door when we left to go perform,” he said of incorporating the youngsters into the act. “It broke my heart leaving them behind, so I found ways to put our toddlers in the show. Some of them took to it like fish to water, while others were a little goofy onstage.”
‘Jugglin Jim’ – A Phenomenon
While performing at a summer fair, Jim, 10 at the time, met a juggler who started teaching the youngster some routines.
Enthused about his newly-discovered art, Jim worked up an act of his own and began performing in the family’s show in 1999, bringing variety to what was generally a magic-only performance.
Today he is known as “Jugglin’ Jim” and wows audiences with a variety of stunts using pins, flaming wands, spinning tops and a unicycle.
Quassy audiences were awe-struck last summer when he balanced a wheelbarrow and six foot stepladder on his chin. (This year they will have a 10' ladder with them.)
Between shows, Jim entertained the park crowds as a stilt-walker and juggler, engaging guests along the walkways and in the restaurant with his unique talents.
The Kents will again bring their unique walk-around style of entertainment to the park again this summer with, stilt-walking, juggling and costume character appearances in between the stage shows.
The Act Is Born
In 2003 the Kent Family Magic Circus was officially born, making a transition from what was formally known as the Kent Family Magic Show.
“By the time the kids turn 10, they each decide which direction they want to go with the show,” Victor reflects.
Cynthia turned to clowning but is also an integral part of numerous illusion acts. The current production is billed as being a “magical, Vaudeville, variety, circus-like show.”
Meet ‘Indiana Miles’
Then there is “Indiana Miles,” who has become a master of the bullwhip by snapping a finger trap out of Victor’s mouth with a single stroke.
“He has caught me accidently with it (whip) on occasion,” Victor said of the act.
The most memorable incident was when the fall of the whip hit Victor on the head.
“The fall (the long part that connects the whip body to the cracker) came around my head and face, and as the cracker made its ‘crack,’ it hit the finger trap. It was a once in a lifetime shot and quite hilarious.”
A startled Victor was uninjured by the miscue though the cracker of the whip – traveling 900 mph – left some “road burn” on one cheek.
Victor, Jr., Amelia and Olivia all have their place in the show as they assist with illusions and some of the circus-style acts.
“Because the kids have grown up knowing we have to be on the stage, they are ready when it’s time to perform,” Victor said of the children.
No DVDs or iPods
The family performs around 300 shows a year, with a huge schedule usually piling up during the summer months at amusement parks, fairs and festivals.
And while countless hours are sometimes spent in the van between stops, the children are not entertained with DVDs, video games or iPods.
As a result, Victor says, they are forced to do “old-fashioned” things such as keeping journals, reading, drawing pictures and occasionally listening to old time radio shows on cd.
Cynthia, an AP student, has had a massive amount of summer homework to take with during recent July and August tours. The other Kent children are also expected to keep up with their studies in between shows.
“Our children attend a Christian school from kindergarten through grade six,” Victor said of their education. They are home schooled during grades seven and eight and then go to public high school.
“They go to high school for different reasons,” he pointed out. Jim went for band, while Cynthia, a natural hurdler, attended for sports. Miles, on the other hand, is the athletic captain for the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) at school.
Academically, the Kent children are all 4.0 students.
“We have what we call the first-time obedience rule in our household,” Victor noted, “so if I’m counting out loud the kids know it’s too late.
“As a Christian family, we base our beliefs and attitudes on our faith. In large families such as ours, the older kids help a lot when it comes to taking care of the younger ones and the young kids learn to respect their older siblings. That makes traveling a lot easier.”
During the extended periods away from home, Victor calls Mami at least three times a day.
The family also collects butterflies during its summer tour – acquiring them in as many states as they can.
Numerous families they have met throughout their travels have also adopted the Kents through their Web site blog.
What To Expect
The Kents will be rotating three different shows during their 2010 Quassy appearance, allowing guests to return to see different illusions and circus-style acts.
“It doesn’t matter what you perform, so long as you entertain the crowd,” the veteran performer noted. “Someday we’ll settle down in one location as the kids develop outside interests. I’ve learned to constantly adjust and accept wherever God takes us.”
For more information about the Kent Family Magic Circus visit www.kentfamilymagiccircus.com.
For more information about Quassy Amusement Park visit www.quassy.com
Here’s where I’m headed with the 2010 story
Thanks again for the help
RON
MIDDLEBURY, Conn. – It will truly be a family affair this summer when Victor Kent, his wife, Mami, and seven children perform at amusement parks, fairs and festivals across the United States.
“It will be great to have the entire family on the road,” Victor said from his home in Oroville, Calif., where the Kent Family Magic Circus has been rehearsing for its 2010 tour.
As the veteran showman discussed the upcoming excursion, he was extremely excited to announce that the couple’s 12-year-old son, Titus, would be part of the act this year.
“Titus is disabled and will be joining the show on tour for the first time,” Victor pointed out. “He loves it (performing) and is doing an all-school show this week in our hometown in front of his special ed class and other students.”
The Kent Family Magic Circus returns Aug. 2-15 to Quassy Amusement Park’s Lakeside Theatre after a highly-successful, two-week run at the park in 2009.
“Mami has not performed as a regular with the family for 13 years,” Victor asserted, as she stayed home to care for Titus. She will be doing some juggling as well as an audience-participation “haunted house illusion” in the new production.
A Little Vaudeville
Also new to the Kents’ repertoire is an opening segment in tribute to Vaudeville legends Eddie Foy And The Seven Little Foys.
“It’s basically a short opener for our 2010 show,” Victor said of the production. Foy was a soft-shoe comedian in the glory days of variety entertainment during the early 1900s and worked with his seven children as well.
“We found some old footage of them performing, so we’ve incorporated a little dance and some jokes – not to mention a ton of money on authentic costumes and music from the era,” Victor explained. So we would get it right many hours of research were involved.
The Kent Family Magic Circus kicks into high speed from there with the tempo and style of shows audiences have raved about.
“We’ve simply added more talent and some new stuff for this year,” Victor continued. “One new act is the $100-100-foot rope challenge, which is one of the funniest routines we have.”
Escape Artist
Up to four audience members – children or adults – have the opportunity to tie up 9-year-old Victor Kent Jr. with 100 feet of rope. If the young escape artist can’t get out the mangled series of knots encasing him in the time allotted – the same time it took to tie him up – the Kent family will pay out $100 to each participant in the rope-tying act.
“I haven’t spent a dime as yet, except for the rope,” Victor quipped.
The other Kent children taking the stage this summer are: Jim, 20, Cynthia, 18, Miles, 16, Amelia, 7 and Olivia, 4.
Both Jim and Cynthia became members of Victor’s magic show before they were 5 years old. As for Victor, he has been performing since he was 7 and became a professional entertainer as a teenager.
“As each of our children joined the show, it meant leaving a toddler crying at the door when we left to go perform,” he said of incorporating the youngsters into the act. “It broke my heart leaving them behind, so I found ways to put our toddlers in the show. Some of them took to it like fish to water, while others were a little goofy onstage.”
‘Jugglin Jim’ – A Phenomenon
While performing at a summer fair, Jim, 10 at the time, met a juggler who started teaching the youngster some routines.
Enthused about his newly-discovered art, Jim worked up an act of his own and began performing in the family’s show in 1999, bringing variety to what was generally a magic-only performance.
Today he is known as “Jugglin’ Jim” and wows audiences with a variety of stunts using pins, flaming wands, spinning tops and a unicycle.
Quassy audiences were awe-struck last summer when he balanced a wheelbarrow and six foot stepladder on his chin. (This year they will have a 10' ladder with them.)
Between shows, Jim entertained the park crowds as a stilt-walker and juggler, engaging guests along the walkways and in the restaurant with his unique talents.
The Kents will again bring their unique walk-around style of entertainment to the park again this summer with, stilt-walking, juggling and costume character appearances in between the stage shows.
The Act Is Born
In 2003 the Kent Family Magic Circus was officially born, making a transition from what was formally known as the Kent Family Magic Show.
“By the time the kids turn 10, they each decide which direction they want to go with the show,” Victor reflects.
Cynthia turned to clowning but is also an integral part of numerous illusion acts. The current production is billed as being a “magical, Vaudeville, variety, circus-like show.”
Meet ‘Indiana Miles’
Then there is “Indiana Miles,” who has become a master of the bullwhip by snapping a finger trap out of Victor’s mouth with a single stroke.
“He has caught me accidently with it (whip) on occasion,” Victor said of the act.
The most memorable incident was when the fall of the whip hit Victor on the head.
“The fall (the long part that connects the whip body to the cracker) came around my head and face, and as the cracker made its ‘crack,’ it hit the finger trap. It was a once in a lifetime shot and quite hilarious.”
A startled Victor was uninjured by the miscue though the cracker of the whip – traveling 900 mph – left some “road burn” on one cheek.
Victor, Jr., Amelia and Olivia all have their place in the show as they assist with illusions and some of the circus-style acts.
“Because the kids have grown up knowing we have to be on the stage, they are ready when it’s time to perform,” Victor said of the children.
No DVDs or iPods
The family performs around 300 shows a year, with a huge schedule usually piling up during the summer months at amusement parks, fairs and festivals.
And while countless hours are sometimes spent in the van between stops, the children are not entertained with DVDs, video games or iPods.
As a result, Victor says, they are forced to do “old-fashioned” things such as keeping journals, reading, drawing pictures and occasionally listening to old time radio shows on cd.
Cynthia, an AP student, has had a massive amount of summer homework to take with during recent July and August tours. The other Kent children are also expected to keep up with their studies in between shows.
“Our children attend a Christian school from kindergarten through grade six,” Victor said of their education. They are home schooled during grades seven and eight and then go to public high school.
“They go to high school for different reasons,” he pointed out. Jim went for band, while Cynthia, a natural hurdler, attended for sports. Miles, on the other hand, is the athletic captain for the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) at school.
Academically, the Kent children are all 4.0 students.
“We have what we call the first-time obedience rule in our household,” Victor noted, “so if I’m counting out loud the kids know it’s too late.
“As a Christian family, we base our beliefs and attitudes on our faith. In large families such as ours, the older kids help a lot when it comes to taking care of the younger ones and the young kids learn to respect their older siblings. That makes traveling a lot easier.”
During the extended periods away from home, Victor calls Mami at least three times a day.
The family also collects butterflies during its summer tour – acquiring them in as many states as they can.
Numerous families they have met throughout their travels have also adopted the Kents through their Web site blog.
What To Expect
The Kents will be rotating three different shows during their 2010 Quassy appearance, allowing guests to return to see different illusions and circus-style acts.
“It doesn’t matter what you perform, so long as you entertain the crowd,” the veteran performer noted. “Someday we’ll settle down in one location as the kids develop outside interests. I’ve learned to constantly adjust and accept wherever God takes us.”
For more information about the Kent Family Magic Circus visit www.kentfamilymagiccircus.com.
For more information about Quassy Amusement Park visit www.quassy.com
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Update: Recordning Studio plus
A few weeks ago I discovered Cynthia was blessed with an awesome singing voice. We wanted to add her version of "Down to the River" to our show. But we needed two part harmony to go with her. To hire singers for the road is expensive in so many ways. So we went into Wylde Side Studios in Oroville, an honest to goodness professional recording studio in Oroville, CA and had Cynthia record the song then record the harmony. Using computer software the harmony recordings were altered to sound a bit different from her voice and voila we had her harmony section. We will continue to search for a couple of good male voices to harmonize with her and record them. But for now this will do.
The Bear in the green room.
It's a secret but we have several big things in the works that I hope to share with you all soon.
Buddy, JC, and I will make our yearly pilgrimage to the Magic Castle in Hollywood Jan 31-Feb2 come and lets us sup.
Don't forget God loves you all and has a plan for your life if you let Him. He's never let us down and has changed our lives. Give Him a chance....and I'm not talking Religion for I'm talking relationship and changing of you from inside out.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Show #1 a Success
Though the Municipal Auditorium is an echoey building it is an honor to perform in one of the oldest and honorable buildings in Oroville. It's a pale shadow of what it was; it once had a facade that looked like a giant juke box and had a second mezzanine level. But with the history of what was once known as the Exposition Building, built to house the annual Orange and Olive Festival of 100 years ago, and has seen famous vaudeville act, boxing tournaments, and the march off of the Dough Boys en route to the battlefield in WWI, it was and honor to perform there.
We produced this show for the school children on Oroville and invited all the schools..at only $2.00 a head it's not like we are going for a gold mine or a profit. We just like to take this time each year (during our slow season) to give the community an inexpensive way for schools to have fun. A lot of the stuff in our show can't be done on school grounds anymore due to the zero tolerance for fire, machete, axes, etc. Hard to believe kids in this area used to take squirrel guns to school with them and go shooting rats near the river on their way home. So much has changed.
Today's show went well. With so much new stuff there were glitches but the audience was generally unaware of them. The biggest glitch was the need for everyone in our cast to be mic-ed up. The opening Foy routine played well but with the echoey building the music over played the singing voices in the opening song. The jokes, and silliness got laughs and the dancing was charmingly bad...exactly what the Foys did a hundred years ago.
Victor's $100 rope tie challenge ended with me relinquishing $400 of products from out magic shop as Victor failed to get out of the rope but only because the ropes were hung up in his pants and he refused to drop his drawers so daddy had to pay.
Mami, aka Juggling Mama, juggled well and received much applause from the welcoming crowd. her largest audience in 13 years.
Titus was thrilled to perform his animal tricks as his class room showed up with full enthusiasm. It was nice to have him in the show. During the show he like to watch the show but his view was blocked by a backdrop and that set him to crying. Fortunately the audience was unaware as the music drowned out the crying. Had he been able to see the stage better he would've been happier. This is one of the difficulties of working with a special needs child.
The local news showed up and filmed nearly the whole show and interview many kids from the audience and then me afterwards. I will see if I can get the footage.
A good start to what promises to be our best year ever.
We produced this show for the school children on Oroville and invited all the schools..at only $2.00 a head it's not like we are going for a gold mine or a profit. We just like to take this time each year (during our slow season) to give the community an inexpensive way for schools to have fun. A lot of the stuff in our show can't be done on school grounds anymore due to the zero tolerance for fire, machete, axes, etc. Hard to believe kids in this area used to take squirrel guns to school with them and go shooting rats near the river on their way home. So much has changed.
Today's show went well. With so much new stuff there were glitches but the audience was generally unaware of them. The biggest glitch was the need for everyone in our cast to be mic-ed up. The opening Foy routine played well but with the echoey building the music over played the singing voices in the opening song. The jokes, and silliness got laughs and the dancing was charmingly bad...exactly what the Foys did a hundred years ago.
Victor's $100 rope tie challenge ended with me relinquishing $400 of products from out magic shop as Victor failed to get out of the rope but only because the ropes were hung up in his pants and he refused to drop his drawers so daddy had to pay.
Mami, aka Juggling Mama, juggled well and received much applause from the welcoming crowd. her largest audience in 13 years.
Titus was thrilled to perform his animal tricks as his class room showed up with full enthusiasm. It was nice to have him in the show. During the show he like to watch the show but his view was blocked by a backdrop and that set him to crying. Fortunately the audience was unaware as the music drowned out the crying. Had he been able to see the stage better he would've been happier. This is one of the difficulties of working with a special needs child.
The local news showed up and filmed nearly the whole show and interview many kids from the audience and then me afterwards. I will see if I can get the footage.
A good start to what promises to be our best year ever.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
First Show Of 2010
After a forced relaxation of nearly one month we perform our first show of 2010 on Friday the 15th. We will introduce and test run our "Salute the Vaudeville and Eddie Foy & the Seven Little Foy". Over the past year a ton of research on the Foys including Internet research, Foy's Autobiography (very rare and hard to find), and the Foy Biography (also rare and hard to find), as well as researching their early music and obtaining original sheet music and even an old Vitaophone video of the Young Foys performing was found. Chasing down music original to the Foys was tough work but we found some in mp3 format on line, others we had to have musicians recreate from the sheet music and one piece, "Greatest Father of the All" the first song in our routine, written by Bryan Foy and William Jerome, had to be recreated by James (my son). He wrote it by ear and had a Friend play it on the piano keeping that old 1900s feel.
Then of course there is the costumes. We took old photos of the Foys in 1913 and found or made patterns that best reproduced the costumes. We then hired a seamstress, Jane Miller, and had her make the costumes up. Finding the right shoes has been a task and we are still in the process there but for now everyone is in patten leather black.
Next each of the kids had to learn to tap dance. And though they are still new to it, and it shows, it's all good, because that was the charm of the Foys...they weren't great dancers either. As they matured a few got pretty darn good. Victor Jr. will even be doing his Foy Counter part, Irving's, Cossack dance. Miles will attempt his rendition of Eddie Foy Jr's Rubber man dance.
We've kept the humor and even added the idioms and language of the era. Cynthia will tell a joke Madeline Foy used to perform in the form of a gruesome version of Little Red Riding Hood. Victor will do an old Eddie Jr mind reading joke. Jim will play the guitar in the form of Richard Foy's mandolin playing for the "Bye Bye Baby" closing song.
Finally since Foy was famous for his drag (entirely different to today's drag) I will appear as Eddie did with his kids in that 1913 publicity picture. Eddie was in his 50s when he undertook this venture with his kids and I am in my 40s. He was famous for his physical, acrobatic dancing. I think the age disparity helps put me as a lousy dancer in line with him as an old dancer thus equalling us out a little bit.
We will video the show for educational purposes but will not post it unless it is in some way outstanding.
Then of course there is the costumes. We took old photos of the Foys in 1913 and found or made patterns that best reproduced the costumes. We then hired a seamstress, Jane Miller, and had her make the costumes up. Finding the right shoes has been a task and we are still in the process there but for now everyone is in patten leather black.
Next each of the kids had to learn to tap dance. And though they are still new to it, and it shows, it's all good, because that was the charm of the Foys...they weren't great dancers either. As they matured a few got pretty darn good. Victor Jr. will even be doing his Foy Counter part, Irving's, Cossack dance. Miles will attempt his rendition of Eddie Foy Jr's Rubber man dance.
We've kept the humor and even added the idioms and language of the era. Cynthia will tell a joke Madeline Foy used to perform in the form of a gruesome version of Little Red Riding Hood. Victor will do an old Eddie Jr mind reading joke. Jim will play the guitar in the form of Richard Foy's mandolin playing for the "Bye Bye Baby" closing song.
Finally since Foy was famous for his drag (entirely different to today's drag) I will appear as Eddie did with his kids in that 1913 publicity picture. Eddie was in his 50s when he undertook this venture with his kids and I am in my 40s. He was famous for his physical, acrobatic dancing. I think the age disparity helps put me as a lousy dancer in line with him as an old dancer thus equalling us out a little bit.
We will video the show for educational purposes but will not post it unless it is in some way outstanding.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Happy New Year!
2009 Was a record years in many ways for the Kent Family Magic Circus.
It had it's ups and downs and it's sideways.
But I will say more on this soon.
For Now have a Happy 2010 and you may you be bless and may you bless others.
Forgive all those who have wronged you.
Love those who love you.
Love those who hate you.
Forget harsh words said against you.
Swallow you pride.
Don't be lazy.
Serve. Help. Aid. Guide. Share.
Be generous.
Endeavor to be the best you can be.
Honor God.
Cheers and may you find true Joy in 2010!
It had it's ups and downs and it's sideways.
But I will say more on this soon.
For Now have a Happy 2010 and you may you be bless and may you bless others.
Forgive all those who have wronged you.
Love those who love you.
Love those who hate you.
Forget harsh words said against you.
Swallow you pride.
Don't be lazy.
Serve. Help. Aid. Guide. Share.
Be generous.
Endeavor to be the best you can be.
Honor God.
Cheers and may you find true Joy in 2010!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
SF Variety Artists Holiday Get Together 2009
Last year was my first time attending Jay Alexander's holiday party for magicians, variety artists and circus performers. It was held at the Historic Lefty O'Douls Pup on Geary Street right off Union Square in SF. (The bar is nearly 100 years old and was started by Lefty O'Douls a player for the old SF Seals. The walls are covered in SF baseball memories and whether on purpose to make a statement or accident The picture of Barry Bonds' record breaking 73rd home run in the season is hanging in the bathroom. And because Marilyn Monroe was once Norma Gene DiMaggio her image and a statue of her adorn the joint too. The place is SF's baseball shrine. The food,in particular the corned beef and cabbage was spectacular. Drinks in the joint are outrageously priced whether spirited or not, though the food is fairly priced. )
The gathering seemed a bit smaller than last year and a few faces were absent. But in there stead I saw many new faces, for me (since I am a relative new face to this group myself...though being from the Sacramento valley I can't really lay claim to being a Bay Area Performer, though we do several shows in the area each year).
I was accompanied by my good friend Bill Jackson and my son Juggglin' Jim.
The event is a no host event though Jay was defacto the host. We all just had to buy our own food and drink, and I liked that, even though I am of Scottish descent (watered down with English, German, Canadian, Cherokee, Jewish, Irish, Black, and Japanese by marriage. Normally I don't like my Scotch watered down but in this case I suppose it's OK ;-) ) I joke often how Scottish folk are cheapskates...if you can't pick on yourself who can you pick on.
We arrived early in SF knowing that at 6pm parking is free on the streets...the meters turn off. So we pulled in front of Lefty's about fifteen minutes before 6 and waited around Bill's mini-van until the big hand was on the 12 and the small hand was on the 6. Then we locked up and slalomed around the homeless people that seemed to be spaced every eight to ten feet with various means of getting your attention where by getting it they would ask for your money. One gent dressed in rags and dirt used a puppet to garner attention. He didn't even try to be a ventriloquist, he just moved his lips, and so did the puppet, who was dressed just like his human buddy. There wasn't enough spare change in the collective pockets of everyone on the street to provide for the large number of beggars. I was astounded at the larger numbers this year over last. (SF has many programs to provide shelter, medical and even free paychecks for the homeless, and with the economy being what it is I suppose those factors have driven the numbers up. Seemed like there were even more than there were in the '80s when I worked in this town. Heart breaking. Sometimes scary.)
Since I had worked in SF many years ago I wanted to see my old haunts and my old work places so I took Bill and Jim on a quick walking tour. Though the downtown layout hadn't changed much the shops within that layout had. The book store, the Woolworths, the Izokaiya, the soup shop and many other places I loved to patronize back then were all gone. There were newer, sometimes hipper joints occupying there window fronts now. Such is progress?
Back at Lefty's we lined up to get our food; cafeteria style. Then Jay spotted me just as I spotted him and we waved briefly across the room. We joined him and his lovely family in the back. His wife and kids were with him. They also had another guest with them. Their family had recently taken up training dogs for people with special needs; guide dogs. The one they currently had was a beautiful white lab.
Like last year we were one of the firsts to arrive. So by the time the majority of the crowd came in we were rubbing our overstuffed bellies and picking our teeth (metaphorically speaking).
Two by two, one by one, and group by small group, people began to arrive and the small talk, catch-up talk, and introductions began. There were many new faces and a few old, or more correctly familiar...though my face was older. I participated in the small talk and even had a few deeper conversations I find more pleasure in watching people.
I will skip the details of any conversations as they will remain what they were private, even the superficial ones.
I was a little heart broken that I didn't get to chat with SF's most wonderful children's performer, a clown I met many many years ago at a fair. I will omit his name but I seemed to get the brush off from him and when I looked on facebook he was missing among my friends list so I man guessing somewhere along the road I upset him about something. I can't imagine what and since he brushed me off, though politely, I guess I may never know what it was I did and will never be able to make amends for it. Sad! (I do have to admit that I can brush people the wrong way sometimes...my personality has that brashness that come across smug to some or mean to some....unintentially.) But as the saying goes you can't make everybody happy all the time...unless your name is JC! (JC Dunn is the world's nicest man and couldn't make anyone mad with him if he was trying...and he would never try.) Still I will miss my former friend. He is an awesome performer and in my early days he gave me much good advice.
On a happier note I met some fabulous new faces like Jim Farrbinder (SF Ghost Hunt), Allen Gittelson (Mindbender), Sylvia Brallier (Comedian, hypnotherapist), Tobias Beckwith (Manager), Lawrence Lemon (Magician), Patrick Martin (illusionist) and many other's whose names escape at this writing. Plus I meet a number of familiar Faces Frank Olivier (many titles), Glenn (Big Al Capone- magician), Jay Alexander (Magician of the Mind and more), Brain Asman (Balloonist), Karen Quest (Cowgirl Extraordinaire), Mitch (magician), and many many others who escape my cerebellum at this time.
I have always found it strange that when this number of entertainers get together that at this event no one does any entertaining but that is the nature of this event. I hawever did do a trick or two for Bill, Jim balanced a chairor two on his face and Jay's son Max did a clever PTEO mentalism trick with the selected item appearing as a picture on his dad's cell phone. It was neat.
I've always like that trick as it is one of my friend JC's favorite tricks to do.
We had a long drive back to the valley so we snapped a few pictures and left arounf 9 something.
lawrence Lemon and the old guy.....
Karen Quest and the old guy...
Jim a t work....
Jay Alexander, His kids, me and in the back is Patrick Martin.
Tobais Beckwith, Sylivia Brallier, and an old guy....
The old guy and Frank Olivier.....
The gathering seemed a bit smaller than last year and a few faces were absent. But in there stead I saw many new faces, for me (since I am a relative new face to this group myself...though being from the Sacramento valley I can't really lay claim to being a Bay Area Performer, though we do several shows in the area each year).
I was accompanied by my good friend Bill Jackson and my son Juggglin' Jim.
The event is a no host event though Jay was defacto the host. We all just had to buy our own food and drink, and I liked that, even though I am of Scottish descent (watered down with English, German, Canadian, Cherokee, Jewish, Irish, Black, and Japanese by marriage. Normally I don't like my Scotch watered down but in this case I suppose it's OK ;-) ) I joke often how Scottish folk are cheapskates...if you can't pick on yourself who can you pick on.
We arrived early in SF knowing that at 6pm parking is free on the streets...the meters turn off. So we pulled in front of Lefty's about fifteen minutes before 6 and waited around Bill's mini-van until the big hand was on the 12 and the small hand was on the 6. Then we locked up and slalomed around the homeless people that seemed to be spaced every eight to ten feet with various means of getting your attention where by getting it they would ask for your money. One gent dressed in rags and dirt used a puppet to garner attention. He didn't even try to be a ventriloquist, he just moved his lips, and so did the puppet, who was dressed just like his human buddy. There wasn't enough spare change in the collective pockets of everyone on the street to provide for the large number of beggars. I was astounded at the larger numbers this year over last. (SF has many programs to provide shelter, medical and even free paychecks for the homeless, and with the economy being what it is I suppose those factors have driven the numbers up. Seemed like there were even more than there were in the '80s when I worked in this town. Heart breaking. Sometimes scary.)
Since I had worked in SF many years ago I wanted to see my old haunts and my old work places so I took Bill and Jim on a quick walking tour. Though the downtown layout hadn't changed much the shops within that layout had. The book store, the Woolworths, the Izokaiya, the soup shop and many other places I loved to patronize back then were all gone. There were newer, sometimes hipper joints occupying there window fronts now. Such is progress?
Back at Lefty's we lined up to get our food; cafeteria style. Then Jay spotted me just as I spotted him and we waved briefly across the room. We joined him and his lovely family in the back. His wife and kids were with him. They also had another guest with them. Their family had recently taken up training dogs for people with special needs; guide dogs. The one they currently had was a beautiful white lab.
Like last year we were one of the firsts to arrive. So by the time the majority of the crowd came in we were rubbing our overstuffed bellies and picking our teeth (metaphorically speaking).
Two by two, one by one, and group by small group, people began to arrive and the small talk, catch-up talk, and introductions began. There were many new faces and a few old, or more correctly familiar...though my face was older. I participated in the small talk and even had a few deeper conversations I find more pleasure in watching people.
I will skip the details of any conversations as they will remain what they were private, even the superficial ones.
I was a little heart broken that I didn't get to chat with SF's most wonderful children's performer, a clown I met many many years ago at a fair. I will omit his name but I seemed to get the brush off from him and when I looked on facebook he was missing among my friends list so I man guessing somewhere along the road I upset him about something. I can't imagine what and since he brushed me off, though politely, I guess I may never know what it was I did and will never be able to make amends for it. Sad! (I do have to admit that I can brush people the wrong way sometimes...my personality has that brashness that come across smug to some or mean to some....unintentially.) But as the saying goes you can't make everybody happy all the time...unless your name is JC! (JC Dunn is the world's nicest man and couldn't make anyone mad with him if he was trying...and he would never try.) Still I will miss my former friend. He is an awesome performer and in my early days he gave me much good advice.
On a happier note I met some fabulous new faces like Jim Farrbinder (SF Ghost Hunt), Allen Gittelson (Mindbender), Sylvia Brallier (Comedian, hypnotherapist), Tobias Beckwith (Manager), Lawrence Lemon (Magician), Patrick Martin (illusionist) and many other's whose names escape at this writing. Plus I meet a number of familiar Faces Frank Olivier (many titles), Glenn (Big Al Capone- magician), Jay Alexander (Magician of the Mind and more), Brain Asman (Balloonist), Karen Quest (Cowgirl Extraordinaire), Mitch (magician), and many many others who escape my cerebellum at this time.
I have always found it strange that when this number of entertainers get together that at this event no one does any entertaining but that is the nature of this event. I hawever did do a trick or two for Bill, Jim balanced a chairor two on his face and Jay's son Max did a clever PTEO mentalism trick with the selected item appearing as a picture on his dad's cell phone. It was neat.
I've always like that trick as it is one of my friend JC's favorite tricks to do.
We had a long drive back to the valley so we snapped a few pictures and left arounf 9 something.
lawrence Lemon and the old guy.....
Karen Quest and the old guy...
Jim a t work....
Jay Alexander, His kids, me and in the back is Patrick Martin.
Tobais Beckwith, Sylivia Brallier, and an old guy....
The old guy and Frank Olivier.....Friday, December 18, 2009
History can be fun.
I've always liked history though I have a terrible mind for dates. However, I have a theory that memory is directly related to interest. Since I took up the idea to do a kind of tribute to Eddie Foy and his family in our show for the simple reason that he had 7 kids (really 8...11 if you count infantile death...and a soul is a soul) and I have 7. he and his kids toured and performed together. Seeing the Bob Hope movie about them got me interested in a unique angle or hook for next year. So I decided I should learn about the man and his family and so I paid handsome sums to get a hold of a biography and auto-biography of Eddie Foy. That and Internet research were the start. Turns out the movie was nothing like the real Foys. And so I wanted to know more.
I found an old Vitaphone (original talkies) of six of the seven younger Foys performing their vaudeville show "Chips of the old Block" ...that gave us an insite into what the little Foys grew into and I was able to see the kernel of their characters on stage.
I got a hold of 100 year old sheet music performed by the Foys...that gave me an insight into them as well.
In Foy's autobiography I discovered while performing in SF with his first wife (later to die in childbirth with the child) and a partner and his wife they decided to try their first and last try to be producer. Turns out he flopped at it. But that effort brought him to the gold town of Oroville, CA...my current home. It was 1882. That got me thinking. The State Theater here in town was built in 1928, I believe. So there had to be a theater preceding it. Turns out there were many. The American (the first theater in town), the Metropolitan, the Atkins, the Orpheum, and of course every honky tonk and dance hall had a kind of theater. So the research has to go deeper.
By process of elimination ((by date)) the Atkins and the theater in the Union Hotel were the only ones that (as of now) that could've been the theater Foy used. Here are photos of them now and then.
I found an old Vitaphone (original talkies) of six of the seven younger Foys performing their vaudeville show "Chips of the old Block" ...that gave us an insite into what the little Foys grew into and I was able to see the kernel of their characters on stage.
I got a hold of 100 year old sheet music performed by the Foys...that gave me an insight into them as well.
In Foy's autobiography I discovered while performing in SF with his first wife (later to die in childbirth with the child) and a partner and his wife they decided to try their first and last try to be producer. Turns out he flopped at it. But that effort brought him to the gold town of Oroville, CA...my current home. It was 1882. That got me thinking. The State Theater here in town was built in 1928, I believe. So there had to be a theater preceding it. Turns out there were many. The American (the first theater in town), the Metropolitan, the Atkins, the Orpheum, and of course every honky tonk and dance hall had a kind of theater. So the research has to go deeper.
By process of elimination ((by date)) the Atkins and the theater in the Union Hotel were the only ones that (as of now) that could've been the theater Foy used. Here are photos of them now and then.
the Atkins then
Vacant lot today
Orpheum then
Parking lot today. (Notice the then Exposition Center is now a shadow of what it was....it was retrofitted and mad earthquake safe....the second level was removed, the facade was removed ...the sloping path was cut into two levels)
Thursday, December 17, 2009
More on Oroville an Eddie Foy
In an earlier blog I wrote how Eddie Foy before there were seven little Foys to preform with had visited the town I lived in over 100 years ago. In fact, it was 1882 and he mentions how he did a one night stand at the Opera House there. The show he brought in was his first an last attempt to produce a road show. He didn't have the experience to run the business end of it and, though the show was good, it didn't bring in enough crowds to support it so it died.
Well, curious me wanted to know where that Opera House was and did it still exist today. So I went on a search and found the Atkins Theater and stables... remember it was still very much a "western" town then.
(There was an Odd Fellows convention and the arc and parade flaot was theirs. )
(There was an Odd Fellows convention and the arc and parade flaot was theirs. )Now, there were many small honky tonks and show rooms in bars and such but as of my research to date this would've been the only thing that can be called an Opera House back then. Today the building is long gone and there is a parking lot where this joint once stood. I am told by old timers that this place stood until the 50s and served as a movie house and then a plumber supply store and now a place to park your car.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Slow
December has been a slow month...in fact, the slowest moth we've had in years. We've had a record years in a every respect except one....the slowest booking one ever...December. January is always slow for us. We take that time to meet up with old friends make new ones, visit the Magic Castle, catch some basketball games, etc. And Bookings for February onward are looking great. In fact, we are working with a management group that might be able to expand our show all the way to Europe and Australia. But December is slow.
We have been rehearsing our 2010 program. In fact, nearly every day one of us is coming up with something new we want to try. In our Foy number Victor Jr saw the youngest Foy boy (albeit he was 17 in the film of their old show "Chips of the old Block") do a Cossack style dance and so he's been practicing it five times a day...Jim might do it too.. Jim is adding tumbler juggling and balancing even bigger things on his face. Cynthia has been practicing a very authentic melody, "Bye Bye Pretty Baby" for the Foy show I mentioned. The strain of the high 20's era singing voice is taking a lot of voice training for her. Then there is all the new magic. Anyone can go out and buy a trick and call themselves a magician...you've more than likely seen hundreds. But to create a moment the audience remembers, be it comical, serious, or touching is of little regard...that they are moved to remember you and the trick. So a lot of work goes into making the magic portions of the show magical, funny, etc but most of all memorable.
Still we have come off of non stop shows from May through November and the slow down is a bit tough. Maybe we should take it as a blessing and relax, but it's really hard to do.
So maybe I should take what time I have before things get busy again to clean my office....
We have been rehearsing our 2010 program. In fact, nearly every day one of us is coming up with something new we want to try. In our Foy number Victor Jr saw the youngest Foy boy (albeit he was 17 in the film of their old show "Chips of the old Block") do a Cossack style dance and so he's been practicing it five times a day...Jim might do it too.. Jim is adding tumbler juggling and balancing even bigger things on his face. Cynthia has been practicing a very authentic melody, "Bye Bye Pretty Baby" for the Foy show I mentioned. The strain of the high 20's era singing voice is taking a lot of voice training for her. Then there is all the new magic. Anyone can go out and buy a trick and call themselves a magician...you've more than likely seen hundreds. But to create a moment the audience remembers, be it comical, serious, or touching is of little regard...that they are moved to remember you and the trick. So a lot of work goes into making the magic portions of the show magical, funny, etc but most of all memorable.
Still we have come off of non stop shows from May through November and the slow down is a bit tough. Maybe we should take it as a blessing and relax, but it's really hard to do.
So maybe I should take what time I have before things get busy again to clean my office....
Thursday, December 10, 2009
The Circus (1882)
Picture source: Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/list/picamer/paCircus.html"John Robinson's great show arrived here yesterday morning and performed in the afternoon and last evening to full houses. A slight accident in upsetting the band wagon in disembarking that vehicle from the cars delayed the appearance of the usual street procession. People came into town from long distances, as they always will, to see the circus, and times upon the streets looked lively. John Lowlow, as a clown, has no superior, if any equal in the profession in America, and is not only entertaining to hear him , but instructive. He is one of the few of the higher artists in that difficult role. The circus absorbed many a dollar which had been put aside and long lain hidden for a rainy day and which had been earned by patient toil."
-Oroville Mercury News 8/4/1882
Came across the above article while researching Eddie Foy and Oroville's old Opera House.
Did a bit of research on the John Robinson Circus...one article mentions an elephant attack in 1841 in Ohio. Apparently there were three genrations of John Robinsons that ran the circus.
Well....back to my Foy studies.
-Oroville Mercury News 8/4/1882
Came across the above article while researching Eddie Foy and Oroville's old Opera House.
Did a bit of research on the John Robinson Circus...one article mentions an elephant attack in 1841 in Ohio. Apparently there were three genrations of John Robinsons that ran the circus.
Well....back to my Foy studies.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
"Too Sweet" who ever thought?
Before I get to my main point I just want to say it is cold!
Also thanks to buddy JC for a great lunch today.
Is it possible to be too sweet or too much of a well oiled machine? Well, if it is for TV the answer is yes. The producers at Discovery have decided that our family is "too sweet", "get along too well" and have "too well oiled of a machine" to be of interest to the network at this time. They would like us to be a bit more "New York" but don't want us to become that.
I said we would roll with it and so we roll on.
So that is the update on the TV thing.
I guess I should return the Porsche and the Rolex (Just kidding..I wear a Timex and my car is a 15 passenger van.)
Also thanks to buddy JC for a great lunch today.
Is it possible to be too sweet or too much of a well oiled machine? Well, if it is for TV the answer is yes. The producers at Discovery have decided that our family is "too sweet", "get along too well" and have "too well oiled of a machine" to be of interest to the network at this time. They would like us to be a bit more "New York" but don't want us to become that.
I said we would roll with it and so we roll on.
So that is the update on the TV thing.
I guess I should return the Porsche and the Rolex (Just kidding..I wear a Timex and my car is a 15 passenger van.)
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
December 2009
December has been, so far, very busy with the office chores of chasing the bookings for 2010.That includes updating the website (so far it has received over 24000 visits and 74000 page visits...that means those 24000 went on to visit enough pages on the site to drive the number up to 74000). The job is arduous since the kids are constantly adding stuff to their acts no to mention physically changing every day. There has been the whole choreography of the new numbers in the show. The new costumes. The new art. The new photos. The marketing packs design. their mailing. etc etc etc.
Then all the projects and opportunities that are up in the air and we await to see where they fall. The TLC TV show, the Dominican TV Show, the new management company out of FL that is taking over some of our booking work, the whole Foy Tribute, and the list goes on.
So you wonder, "what about the shows for this month?" We are doing our fair share but most of those will deal with the 2009 program and we can do that in our sleep.
I have started taking Prevacid for years of heartburn that I just won't stand for anymore..I suppose it is the price of capitalism (if the government doesn't take it away and give it to others.)
Below are a couple of new pix with the new costume for 2010. Note the custom jacket is based on the 1910's loose fitting vaudeville comedian and the addition of the top hat is all Circus with an Alice in Wonderland flare. It was a task indeed to find a good quality yellow bell "bull" top hat. Especially one that fit's my XL head. The tie is also turn of the century and based on the Foy pictures in his bio.
Jim has been taking music used by the Foys and adjusting them for us. We have found 100 year old (or near 100 year old) music sheets from their shows. Jim will create and arrangement and get a band or mini-orchestra together and recreate the music which we will sing and dance to. "Greatest Father of the All" (written by the eldest Foy boy, Bryan and William Jerome). "Bye Bye Pretty Baby" used by the Foy kids when they were young adults in their show "Chips of the old Block" (not a typo...of not off) and "My Chinatown", which needs a complete rewrite of the lyric in the verses due to what would be considered racist today.
Our seamstress, Jane Miller, is a remarkable lady doing all the costumes this year giving Mami a break. Since Mami has become Homeschool teacher for the kids extra work in the area of costume making would kill her.
Then all the projects and opportunities that are up in the air and we await to see where they fall. The TLC TV show, the Dominican TV Show, the new management company out of FL that is taking over some of our booking work, the whole Foy Tribute, and the list goes on.
So you wonder, "what about the shows for this month?" We are doing our fair share but most of those will deal with the 2009 program and we can do that in our sleep.
I have started taking Prevacid for years of heartburn that I just won't stand for anymore..I suppose it is the price of capitalism (if the government doesn't take it away and give it to others.)
Below are a couple of new pix with the new costume for 2010. Note the custom jacket is based on the 1910's loose fitting vaudeville comedian and the addition of the top hat is all Circus with an Alice in Wonderland flare. It was a task indeed to find a good quality yellow bell "bull" top hat. Especially one that fit's my XL head. The tie is also turn of the century and based on the Foy pictures in his bio.
Jim has been taking music used by the Foys and adjusting them for us. We have found 100 year old (or near 100 year old) music sheets from their shows. Jim will create and arrangement and get a band or mini-orchestra together and recreate the music which we will sing and dance to. "Greatest Father of the All" (written by the eldest Foy boy, Bryan and William Jerome). "Bye Bye Pretty Baby" used by the Foy kids when they were young adults in their show "Chips of the old Block" (not a typo...of not off) and "My Chinatown", which needs a complete rewrite of the lyric in the verses due to what would be considered racist today.
Our seamstress, Jane Miller, is a remarkable lady doing all the costumes this year giving Mami a break. Since Mami has become Homeschool teacher for the kids extra work in the area of costume making would kill her.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Grandma Kent
Here is a photo of Grandma Kent Circa 1895.
And they aren't Adidas...they're Reebox.
If you are surpirsed about her wearing sneakers...well, she was ahead of them all back then, a true visionary. her maiden name was Adidas.
OK I'm Lying. In the 2010 season we are doing a tribute to the Foys. Eddie Foy, the father of the performing group of seven kids known as the Seven Little Foys, performed a clowning drag character in the show. We wanted to keep some of that authenticity so with much ado we have carefully created a look similar to his back in the day. Below is how the look came out untouched. Because "Drag" hold completely different connotations today We decide to go with a more clownish look to reflect the clowning feel that Foy was famous for.
And they aren't Adidas...they're Reebox.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Eddie Foy played Oroville in 1882
I edited this one because I had a typo in the title....Eddie Foy "P"layed in Oroville in 1882...not he layed in Oroville...which would be bad grammar.
A second note. After speaking with an old timer I discovered that the Opera House that once stood in Oroville stood where the lower parking lot for the Municipal Auditorium is today. It apparently was around up to the late 1940s or 50s. Gonna hunt down a photo.
If you have been following our blogs or our advertising you know that our 2010 season will have us presenting a special tribute to Eddie Foy and the Seven Little Foys. Eddie Foy was an acrobat, dancer, singer, comedian, actor born in 1856. He performed all over the United States mastering his arts. I have a bunch of historic material and to my surprise as I was reading his autobiography I learned...from his pen to my eye....that he had performed in my current home-town here in Oroville, California back in 1882. Forty six years before there was a state theater. He refereed to the theaters in these "former gold rush" towns as opry houses so I will have to find out where it was and what is standing there now. He also mentioned a number of other towns that I really never thought of as having a theater of any kind back in the late 1800s.
A second note. After speaking with an old timer I discovered that the Opera House that once stood in Oroville stood where the lower parking lot for the Municipal Auditorium is today. It apparently was around up to the late 1940s or 50s. Gonna hunt down a photo.
If you have been following our blogs or our advertising you know that our 2010 season will have us presenting a special tribute to Eddie Foy and the Seven Little Foys. Eddie Foy was an acrobat, dancer, singer, comedian, actor born in 1856. He performed all over the United States mastering his arts. I have a bunch of historic material and to my surprise as I was reading his autobiography I learned...from his pen to my eye....that he had performed in my current home-town here in Oroville, California back in 1882. Forty six years before there was a state theater. He refereed to the theaters in these "former gold rush" towns as opry houses so I will have to find out where it was and what is standing there now. He also mentioned a number of other towns that I really never thought of as having a theater of any kind back in the late 1800s. By the way it was in 1913 that he and his kids took to the vaudeville stage and became famous enough to have a movie made about them starring Bob Hope in the 1950's. Though the movie was very very historically inaccurate it was how I found out that 100 years ago another man set out with his seven kids to perform. 
Friday, November 20, 2009
Brushes and Name Droppings
Over the years I've meet many famous people but four encounters stand out...perhaps because with three of them I didn't actually get to meet them.
Ronald Reagan:
Once apon a time over 20 years ago I worked for the Donatello Hotel In SF. It was an upscale joint and on a certain evening so long ago Ronald Reagan was slated to give a speech there. It was a fundraiser of sorts and it was after his presidency. Well, my co-worker and I (I should mention that even though she was an anti-Reaganite she still wanted to see him and when she had seen him she was just as excited as a true-blue Reaganite) stood outside the hotel near the back entrance...as close as we dared since we knew there would be secret service. His car pulled up and after a couple of suits with ear-pieces came out, out stepped the very tall Reagan. He was much taller than I expected and he was fit. I called out his name and he turned and gave me an my co-worker a smile and that famous Reagan wave. It was cool.
Janet Jackson:
Miss Jackson if you're nasty (reference to one of her songs). Again it was during my Donatello Days. Across the street from my hotel stood another ritzy joint and apparently Miss Jackson and her entourage was staying there. Well, it was a daily deal with me to take a stroll after eating my dinner or lunch while at work. SF is such a fascinating city to walk around. As I was coming down the hill past the side entrance of the hotel across the street I noticed a steady trickle of people exiting out the door and walking to the unmarked bus parked on the street 50 feet away. My path would put me next to the bus in about 30 or so steps. Just as I reached the 20 or so step mark I noticed a lovely woman coming out the door, Janet Jackson. At the same time we noticed each other and it was in the next second that she ran to the bus and got on it before I could even wave, nod or rush up begging for an autograph or ask for a costume malfunction. By the time I reached the bus the doors closed an it began to pull away.
Jimmy Stewart:
Ever wonder why Jugglin' Jim is James? Well, I admired James Stewart a lot. His whole life in Hollywood without a scandle. He was a WWII vetran bomber pilot and considered it duty and an honor to serve and never bragged or searched for book deal. He was a conservative and good friend of Ronald Reagan. He was married once and stayed that way. Back in the radio days he actually left the show Six Shooter because the sponsor changed to a cigarette company and he thought it a bad idea to market cigarettes in a show that had such a large children audience. Well, when I heard he was going to be at the Monterrey Film Festival back in my college days I knew I had to go. Though I couldn't afford the cost of the benefit dinner in his honor I could afford to be in the audience of the showing of Harvey, celebrating it coming to video tape. His limo ran late so the ushers sent everyone inside except for the press. I became a member of the press real fast. They let me stay with a knowing wink. I was able to get a great picture of him.
I mailed it to him and he autographed it (in gold ink) and sent it back....It hangs in my office.
Alex Trebek:
While living in Nara, Japan the USO (a client of mine) called me up and asked if I would be willing to show Mr Trebek around Kyoto....a town he really wanted to see. We met at the Bullet train station and spent the whole day hanging out, eating, and shopping. he really is a very nice man.
Ronald Reagan:
Once apon a time over 20 years ago I worked for the Donatello Hotel In SF. It was an upscale joint and on a certain evening so long ago Ronald Reagan was slated to give a speech there. It was a fundraiser of sorts and it was after his presidency. Well, my co-worker and I (I should mention that even though she was an anti-Reaganite she still wanted to see him and when she had seen him she was just as excited as a true-blue Reaganite) stood outside the hotel near the back entrance...as close as we dared since we knew there would be secret service. His car pulled up and after a couple of suits with ear-pieces came out, out stepped the very tall Reagan. He was much taller than I expected and he was fit. I called out his name and he turned and gave me an my co-worker a smile and that famous Reagan wave. It was cool.
Janet Jackson:
Miss Jackson if you're nasty (reference to one of her songs). Again it was during my Donatello Days. Across the street from my hotel stood another ritzy joint and apparently Miss Jackson and her entourage was staying there. Well, it was a daily deal with me to take a stroll after eating my dinner or lunch while at work. SF is such a fascinating city to walk around. As I was coming down the hill past the side entrance of the hotel across the street I noticed a steady trickle of people exiting out the door and walking to the unmarked bus parked on the street 50 feet away. My path would put me next to the bus in about 30 or so steps. Just as I reached the 20 or so step mark I noticed a lovely woman coming out the door, Janet Jackson. At the same time we noticed each other and it was in the next second that she ran to the bus and got on it before I could even wave, nod or rush up begging for an autograph or ask for a costume malfunction. By the time I reached the bus the doors closed an it began to pull away.
Jimmy Stewart:
Ever wonder why Jugglin' Jim is James? Well, I admired James Stewart a lot. His whole life in Hollywood without a scandle. He was a WWII vetran bomber pilot and considered it duty and an honor to serve and never bragged or searched for book deal. He was a conservative and good friend of Ronald Reagan. He was married once and stayed that way. Back in the radio days he actually left the show Six Shooter because the sponsor changed to a cigarette company and he thought it a bad idea to market cigarettes in a show that had such a large children audience. Well, when I heard he was going to be at the Monterrey Film Festival back in my college days I knew I had to go. Though I couldn't afford the cost of the benefit dinner in his honor I could afford to be in the audience of the showing of Harvey, celebrating it coming to video tape. His limo ran late so the ushers sent everyone inside except for the press. I became a member of the press real fast. They let me stay with a knowing wink. I was able to get a great picture of him.
I mailed it to him and he autographed it (in gold ink) and sent it back....It hangs in my office.
Alex Trebek:
While living in Nara, Japan the USO (a client of mine) called me up and asked if I would be willing to show Mr Trebek around Kyoto....a town he really wanted to see. We met at the Bullet train station and spent the whole day hanging out, eating, and shopping. he really is a very nice man.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
There and back Again---And so the 2009 Season Comes to an End
There are still bookings for us this year. We will perform all the way to very last breath 2009 has to breath (that means New Year's Eve)...we always do. But the 2009 Fair-festival Season is over for us. It was long, it was hard (sometimes), it was relentless, it was AWESOME!
Though technically the fundraiser show we did for the school in Madera on Friday wasn't a festival nor fair, and neither was the show at Hemet Valley Mall where we made Santa Appear, nor are the shows tonight or tomorrow for Jubilee on the Ridge in Paradise, but since they came on the heals of the fair and festival season I considered them part of the season. The crazy travel schedule sure felt like it too.
We left our NorCal lair and drove the 4 hour drive to Madera and performed the fundraiser show for Lincoln Elementary. It was their first time doing it and it went over big. Bigger crowds then they expected and more money than they were counting on. The pre-sales of tickets had them worried because they were scant. But the door sales surprised them pleasantly.
Since we were carrying our newest illusion and also Christmas themed stuff for the Santa arrival show on Sat. we put them in the show.
This is how the opening of the show went. Miles dressed as Milo the Clown walked out on stage and did some Schtick to get the audience hyped up. Then while waving his arms about befitting his deed he noticed a rope hanging from his sleeve...he pulls it. And Pulls it and pulls it etc. It gets stuck. So he pulls hard and one of his legs raises. Upon inspection he finds the other end is in his shoe. So he pulls it until the rope out his sleeve is pulled through put near the end it gets stuck and his other leg lifts. He finds the other end is now stuck in that shoe....?????
So he pulls that end (what is this a three ended rope?). Again all the rope is gathered up through that pant leg as he pulls and out but it gets stuck again. Soooooo he pulls real hard and out pops his underpants. With that cue the curtain opens to a scene with a Christmas tree, various other decorations and a large doll house. The tree gives him the idea to decorate the house so he opens the house up and removes a box of decos. The house is empty. He takes a long string of fuzzy garland and decides it's perfect. But being a clown silliness takes over and he does a silly striper dance with it. Jim walks out and taps him on the shoulder. That snaps Milo back into attention for the task of decorating the house. He gets a hammer and begins to tack the garland up (with all the appropriate hitting of the thumb, etc) Mid way across the roof of the house pops up and I am standing int he house yelling, "Whose making all that noise?" The surprise went over really well and got a gasp from the audience. Miles' Milo was a hit too.
We were done and loaded by 10pm and drove the 5.5 hours to Hemet in SoCal. (Actually we made it to Perris...20 miles away.) We stayed at a hotel in Perris and got a restful 3 hours sleep. We were at the Mall in Hemet by 8:30AM. The kids started setting up and a few moments later our producer from Discovery Network showed up to get more video and audio for the project the network is doing about us. One piece of footage was the personal interviews of each of us. My interview was down at a parka cross from the mall. It was early so there wasn't much noise....OK there was. We had so many retakes because just as I spoke a helicopter flew by, or a motor cycle drove by, of a group of kids from a party getting set up across the park squealed, or the helicopter again, or a motor cylcle, or a car with no muffler, there was no end. Did I mention the ambulance, fire truck and other emergency vehicles that passed as well. Somehow we eeked out an interview. The rest would be done in the mall offices.
The show went over well. Though not the biggest crowd to ever come out (the first two years we did this the crowds were well over 300) it was a good sized crowd: about 180 people.
The mall had us play MC for a puppet group that performed a beepop program before us....very fun...nice folks too. We also sprinkled the show with drawing give-aways with the climax of a Wii system (we would let Santa choose the ticket for that one).
Finally we made Santa appear. The method to make him appear I will not share but his exuberance caused him to really put energy into his entrance in such a way that the surprised looks on James and I weren't fake....that translated to the audience and they exploded.
Discovery also filmed Victor's 100 ' rope tie challenge.
Loaded up by 2;30 we were on the road again...this time NORTH!
In Bakersfield I handed to controls over to Cynthia (who in spite of the ankle came with us for the Discovery interview and ran our sound) and she drove us to Modesto. I dozed for around 15 minutes during that time but the little voice in me wouldn't let me sleep. In fact, every time I tired to sleep I was jerked away by that voice. The doze was enough because when I retook control I was fine. Cynthia was asleep 5 minutes after returning the controls. My neck still hurts from the doze...how can anyone sleep in a car. (I did once. I have a friend, Bill, who is one of the scariest drives I know. While on a magic tour trip 14 or so years ago I did most of the driving. But all that driving and performing and very little sleep made me hand over the controls to him on that our. Exhausted and believing it would be better to sleep through this and hope to survive than to stay awake and be scared....I slept.)
We ate at BK on the way back and i have to be honest...I AM SICK OF FAST FOOD! I think all of us are.
All in all it was a good trip. Amelia got the sniffles on the way home.
Though technically the fundraiser show we did for the school in Madera on Friday wasn't a festival nor fair, and neither was the show at Hemet Valley Mall where we made Santa Appear, nor are the shows tonight or tomorrow for Jubilee on the Ridge in Paradise, but since they came on the heals of the fair and festival season I considered them part of the season. The crazy travel schedule sure felt like it too.
We left our NorCal lair and drove the 4 hour drive to Madera and performed the fundraiser show for Lincoln Elementary. It was their first time doing it and it went over big. Bigger crowds then they expected and more money than they were counting on. The pre-sales of tickets had them worried because they were scant. But the door sales surprised them pleasantly.
Since we were carrying our newest illusion and also Christmas themed stuff for the Santa arrival show on Sat. we put them in the show.
This is how the opening of the show went. Miles dressed as Milo the Clown walked out on stage and did some Schtick to get the audience hyped up. Then while waving his arms about befitting his deed he noticed a rope hanging from his sleeve...he pulls it. And Pulls it and pulls it etc. It gets stuck. So he pulls hard and one of his legs raises. Upon inspection he finds the other end is in his shoe. So he pulls it until the rope out his sleeve is pulled through put near the end it gets stuck and his other leg lifts. He finds the other end is now stuck in that shoe....?????
So he pulls that end (what is this a three ended rope?). Again all the rope is gathered up through that pant leg as he pulls and out but it gets stuck again. Soooooo he pulls real hard and out pops his underpants. With that cue the curtain opens to a scene with a Christmas tree, various other decorations and a large doll house. The tree gives him the idea to decorate the house so he opens the house up and removes a box of decos. The house is empty. He takes a long string of fuzzy garland and decides it's perfect. But being a clown silliness takes over and he does a silly striper dance with it. Jim walks out and taps him on the shoulder. That snaps Milo back into attention for the task of decorating the house. He gets a hammer and begins to tack the garland up (with all the appropriate hitting of the thumb, etc) Mid way across the roof of the house pops up and I am standing int he house yelling, "Whose making all that noise?" The surprise went over really well and got a gasp from the audience. Miles' Milo was a hit too.
We were done and loaded by 10pm and drove the 5.5 hours to Hemet in SoCal. (Actually we made it to Perris...20 miles away.) We stayed at a hotel in Perris and got a restful 3 hours sleep. We were at the Mall in Hemet by 8:30AM. The kids started setting up and a few moments later our producer from Discovery Network showed up to get more video and audio for the project the network is doing about us. One piece of footage was the personal interviews of each of us. My interview was down at a parka cross from the mall. It was early so there wasn't much noise....OK there was. We had so many retakes because just as I spoke a helicopter flew by, or a motor cycle drove by, of a group of kids from a party getting set up across the park squealed, or the helicopter again, or a motor cylcle, or a car with no muffler, there was no end. Did I mention the ambulance, fire truck and other emergency vehicles that passed as well. Somehow we eeked out an interview. The rest would be done in the mall offices.
The show went over well. Though not the biggest crowd to ever come out (the first two years we did this the crowds were well over 300) it was a good sized crowd: about 180 people.
The mall had us play MC for a puppet group that performed a beepop program before us....very fun...nice folks too. We also sprinkled the show with drawing give-aways with the climax of a Wii system (we would let Santa choose the ticket for that one).
Finally we made Santa appear. The method to make him appear I will not share but his exuberance caused him to really put energy into his entrance in such a way that the surprised looks on James and I weren't fake....that translated to the audience and they exploded.
Discovery also filmed Victor's 100 ' rope tie challenge.
Loaded up by 2;30 we were on the road again...this time NORTH!
In Bakersfield I handed to controls over to Cynthia (who in spite of the ankle came with us for the Discovery interview and ran our sound) and she drove us to Modesto. I dozed for around 15 minutes during that time but the little voice in me wouldn't let me sleep. In fact, every time I tired to sleep I was jerked away by that voice. The doze was enough because when I retook control I was fine. Cynthia was asleep 5 minutes after returning the controls. My neck still hurts from the doze...how can anyone sleep in a car. (I did once. I have a friend, Bill, who is one of the scariest drives I know. While on a magic tour trip 14 or so years ago I did most of the driving. But all that driving and performing and very little sleep made me hand over the controls to him on that our. Exhausted and believing it would be better to sleep through this and hope to survive than to stay awake and be scared....I slept.)
We ate at BK on the way back and i have to be honest...I AM SICK OF FAST FOOD! I think all of us are.
All in all it was a good trip. Amelia got the sniffles on the way home.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Veterans Day Parade
As is a tradition we went to the Veterans Day Parade in Oroville, CA....we want the little ones to see and understand the important roll the military and veterans (in particular) have in the freedoms we have (but are quickly surrendering to the slow socialization but many who hate the military in the first place.)
The amphibious vehicle was the little ones' favorite.
The back of Mami, Victor and Amelia's heads as it goes by.
These guys were fun too.
The amphibious vehicle was the little ones' favorite.
The back of Mami, Victor and Amelia's heads as it goes by.
These guys were fun too.Who says Cali doesn't have Fall colors?
I think the thing the young ones liked the most was the candy thrown out by the paraders. We tried to teach them about each group as they passed. The national guard was their with their modern equipment and the veterans with their historic vehicles and equipment were present as well.
I think the thing the young ones liked the most was the candy thrown out by the paraders. We tried to teach them about each group as they passed. The national guard was their with their modern equipment and the veterans with their historic vehicles and equipment were present as well.
You did know that Veterans day is the anniversary of the end of WWI?
The armistice was signed the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month...our parade started at 11 AM PST.
Back home it's now my once a week (during non-tour days) lunch with my good magician friend JC Dunn as the older ones load the trailer for the shows this coming weekend.
Back home it's now my once a week (during non-tour days) lunch with my good magician friend JC Dunn as the older ones load the trailer for the shows this coming weekend.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Blue Grass Fundraiser Santa
Tonight my kids did someothing pretty cool. Jim put on a bluegrass gospel show at our church. His plan was to have friends from his old college to come an djoin him. But they flaked. One was worried about their car not making it, two had rides with him. One other changed plans at thelast minute...and of course they changed their plans at the very last minute. But Jim scrambled and got his good friend Lucas and his Church-Worship group buddy Mr C and with a little begging Princess Cynthia to join in. The final product was only somehting God could have orchestrated. If the old college chums had come we would not have herad the great melody of Cynthia and the Harmony of the others with her.
We have to ad this song to the show...
This Friday we will be in Madera, CA to perfrom a fundraiser for a school down their. New stuff to add to the show then. If you are in the area email me for the school address.
Saturday we will be at the Hemet Valley Mall to make Santa appear. It's our 5th visit over the last 6 years. We have new illusions for this show as well. ...plus a couple we have only used in our theater shows.
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