Magic Festival - Day 12

Only one more day to go! So if you have been planning on catching some magic - Saturday is your last chance.

Today was a busy one for us with 'The Wizards of Aus' shows at 11, 2, and 7.30pm. The 11 was very crowded despite a small number of bookings, the 2pm only had 4 seats sold in advance but ended up with around 50, and the 7.30pm was totally sold out. It was great doing the show in the evening. Totally different atmosphere and Brendan (our tech) said it was the best show yet! Very pleasing as my parents were in the audience... ;)

We had the usual impossible turnaround and from the moment the last person left the theatre we spent less than ten minutes clearing our gear and bumping in 'MagiComedy' with a special Italian episode. Again, very few pre-sales but a LOT of walk-up traffic! Anthony DeMasi, Lee Cohen and Enzo Ficco put together a fun show that really has the makings of something very special. I can see them taking that show to all the Italian Clubs year after year. The audience absolutely loved it, and Enzo got some sensational reactions for both his Al Cappuccino act as well as his tribute to his uncle 'Blumen'. The trio finished off with a fun pizza prediction that really wrapped the show off well.

Following that, we spent 15 minutes changing the studio into my multi-media setting for 'Something About Needles & Razorblades'. (We only spent ten minutes yesterday and some props weren't set, so we spent extra time tonight!)

We had one lady refuse to come up from her seat (I don't blame her... the lady who did come up almost freaked out when I sliced through my finger inches from her face as the blood dripped into her lap). My Needle Thru Arm finally worked to my satisfaction, and I had one volunteer almost faint... he was the one in 'Insanity' who was standing behind the broken beer bottle. After it was revealed I think the realisation that, if the dice had rolled his number he would have stabbed his own hand, suddenly hit him. He became very flushed and had to go back to his seat.

Actually, despite the rain it is very hot working in Studio One. At the end of every Wizards show both Sue-Anne and I are sweating, and our Munchkin is invariably quite hot. And when I do the escape at the end of 'Razorblades', the heat hits me hard and, in combination with the plastic bag taped over my head, really becomes a huge challenge.

So, only three more 'Wizards' tomorrow, one 'MagiComedy' and one 'Razorblades'.

We're doing all 5 shows making our total for two weeks 42 shows... plus helping out on countless others. Has it been worth it? ABSOLUTELY!

Life will seem so much duller come Monday...

PS: I did get one great compliment emailed to me about 'Something About Needles & Razorblades' that really made my night though:

I have seen quite a few magic shows over the past year but nothing like your show. Laughing one minute, squirming the next….great stuff.