“On waking, he found himself on the green knoll whence he had first seen the old man of the glen. He rubbed his eyes—it was a bright sunny morning. The birds were hopping and twittering among the bushes, and the eagle was wheeling aloft, and breasting the pure mountain breeze. “Surely,” thought Rip, “I have not slept here all night.”
And so it begins… I know it looks ugly but it’s all part of the process. Gathering decks of cards, metal cups, jumbo dice, unusual props and unseen secret devices together. Then slowly but surely putting them back in order, each prop taking its proper place to re-create an evening of wonder that will bring together a group of strangers and will unite them in a shared experience… an evening of wonder, a reason to smile once again.
It’s been way too long to go without seeing those smiles. I need to see them and I think… no, I know… my audience needs them too.
Of course, I know my job is not like the life-saving work of our healthcare professionals or the courageous and dedicated first-line employees who braved the pandemic delivering groceries and kept the supply chain moving. My job is to create smiles and deliver a sense of wonder…. it’s what I do… and I believe that kind of magic is needed now more than ever before. And so the magic must return to our lives.
Yes… The Magic is Back.
“He looked round for his gun, but in place of the clean well-oiled fowling-piece, he found an old firelock lying by him, the barrel encrusted with rust, the lock falling off, and the stock worm-eaten.”
I have to say after almost 17 months… I do feel a little like Rip Van Winkle… the hair, the beard, the once familiar props in need of repair and refurbishment. Magic was not made to sit in a case for such a long time… it was made to be performed and to be shared with an audience.
But slowly it’s coming back… the sequence of the tricks, the order of the decks, the cadence of the delivery, the words of the stories… ah the stories. And soon I’ll be back in front of an audience… seeing the smiles on their faces and best of all the look of surprise in their eyes:
“All stood amazed, until an old woman, tottering out from among the crowd, put her hand to her brow, and peering under it in his face for a moment exclaimed, “sure enough! it is Rip Van Winkle—it is himself. Welcome home again, old neighbor. Why, where have you been these twenty long years?”
It’s good to be back.
Interested in seeing the show? Tickets for Miracles and Other Deceptions are on sale now.
Excerpts from Rip Van Winkle” a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819.
