More about Smoke and Mirrors

Here is the Historic Theater in Everett where we performed.



The evening started with the energy of a packed house. Actually, the lower level was at capacity, while there were only a hundred or so people in the balcony. The folks attending this magic show would best be described as a family audience. They were pumped to see the show and the cast could feel the energy from the green room speakers.

From backstage Brian made the opening announcements and introduced me. I love to MC and like to think I take it very seriously. As an MC, I have been trained to accept the responsibility for the tone and pace of the show. It's important to keep the show moving along from act to act and calibrate the energy of the audience between the acts.

At the last moment, I decided to do the "The Ping Pong Ball on the Nose". I hadn't done it in over a decade, but It came off fine. I thought that it was a good quickie to get the show stated.

Everyone did a nice job, and the audience was over the top in their reactions. Between Don's act and Philemon, I performed my coin routine. I love being in the spot light, there's really nothing like it. You can't see a damn thing yet I try and make everyone in the audience feel like I'm looking right at them. Near the end of the second half, before Brian closed the show, I performed "The Dean's Box" with the help of a couple of kids.

I love to ad lib and improvise. I think a lot of the risks I took comedically paid off in huge dividends. I look forward to reviewing the video footage of the evening and perhaps I'll post a bit of what I did that night.

I'd like to thank Brian Cook for the opportunity to be in the show for the 2nd year in a row.