The Dynamic Deception

I had the opportunity about a month ago to go on a whirlwind tour with a magician by the name of Ken McCreedy. It was a 20 day adventure where I got to learn how to:

1. Locate the venue and people responsible for holding the show.
2. Locate the places we would be accommodated for those one or two night stays.
3. Find the downtown area so we could see the specialty "mom and pop" shops as well as Walmarts and malls located on the other side of town.
4. Manage my time effectively so I wouldn't have to slow down or back peddle.

The illusions for the show fit in the minivan we were traveling in. So we kept compact and moved efficiently. Along with Ken, I took care of loading in, setting up speakers and mike, sound check, setting up different props and then running the music at the correct cues as the show went on as well as assisting and tearing down during intermission and costume change. Whew! Then packing it all up again!

It was an ad on Kijiji that sparked my interest and since I had already had some experience with the Danny Zzzz show I thought this would be fun. I didn't have to spend any money, I just had to be able to perform. I had two days of practice and then we were off to Timmins.

We had 15 shows in 20 days! It was quite the tour! The first show was on a huge stage (Ecole Secondaire Theriault). It was probably one of our most biggest crowds with seating for over 1500. It was packed that night and I was SO nervous because I had no idea what to expect. I'm sure Ken had a better idea than I did! I can hardly recall now if it was good or not.

The next couple shows were in Kapuskasing (Knights of Columbus) and New Liskeard (Ecole Secondaire Ste. Michael). We had a break of a day to wander around New Liskeard before heading to Renfrew (Renfrew Recreation Centre) the next day. From there we did Pembroke (Fellows High School), Brockville (Brockville Collegiate), Carlton Place (Carlton Place Arena), Smith's Falls (Royal Canadian Legion #95) and Perth (Perth & District Collegiate). The two open days we had spent one of them in Perth the next day and then went back to Smith's Falls to spend the night while we took the trip into Ottawa for the following day. It was a fun day and a nice break from the show.

The last leg of the tour we were in Cobourg (Cobourg West High School), Orangeville (Orangeville District S.S.), Sutton (Black River Public School, Bracebridge (Bracebridge High School), Huntsville (Riverside Public School) and finally North Bay(West Ferris Secondary School).

It was said that one of the stages we were on had hosted back in the day the Mysterious Harry Houdini. I could feel the very presence of Houdini around me the whole time I was doing the tour. How he did it without having music must have been a REAL trick. Music is integral for the show we performed.

I had in my mind an idea of what to expect and there were a lot of unexpected things that occurred. I was delighted by the people and the sights I met while traveling from one city to the next. I felt homesick after a while though. (Kind of like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.)

Magic - does it exist? I say there is still something to be said for the unseen and that we all have within us the capacity for great things and to amaze people with or without sleight of hand. I managed not to get a cold-sore (unfortunately, for Ken and the stress he was under, he got a decent sized one) and I only caught a cold on the last leg of the tour. When I got home I could hardly talk but I had managed to make it to the last show without losing my voice and we were complimented by a lady in the audience that said we were..."as good of magicians as Penn and Teller". That's funny!

To round off this blog, I would say that I did learn a lot - not just about the business but people as well. It was an amazing experience and I realize there are some times where silence is golden and keep in mind what you say to people because you'll never know who you're offending by your off-handed words. Words are more powerful than any magic could ever be!