See that title of this post? That was what one of the students at Gideon Elementary School told my sister-in-law today because of me.
Last night I performed a magic show at that school, and apparently one student enjoyed it so much it literally became the greatest day of his or her life.
My sister-in-law Sandi Bassett who is the new head of the PTA at Gideon Elementary called me earlier this month to see if I might be interested in doing a magic show at their next PTA meeting. She told me that last year they were having some pretty low attendance at their meetings so she was looking for ways of encouraging more people to show up and I would be part of their first big event. After the show they also wanted me to make balloon animals for all the kids.
She wasn't really sure how many kids to expect. Since the attendance was low last year it could be anywhere from six to a couple dozen kids. I gladly accepted the invitation and began preparing a show. I'd just performed a new stage act for our Ward Talent Show last month, so I had to just dust off a few other routines to add to that for this upcoming show.
Oh, and I finally had to get around to making a costume. Thanks to Maria and her friend Sharla, I had a fancy new costume to perform in so I could actually look like a Magician for the school. I also sent a homemade head-shot (at the top of the post) of me and a "blurb" for the school's advertising for the show.
So last night was the performance. I was setting up on the stage behind the curtain expecting anywhere from six to twenty-some-odd kids to show up. The noise in the room began growing louder and louder as more people showed up and took their seats. By the time they were ready to introduce me, the room was filled with noise. When I finally saw the crowd as I was introduced, I looked out to a room filled with several hundred people!
And of course, every single kid wanted to come up on stage and help:
Overall, the show went really well. All the tricks worked, luckily, and there was plenty of laughter which is was what I was working for. Here's a reaction shot of one student who was helping me on a trick:
Near the end I brought out my new assistant, Bobo the Mind-Reading Monkey, who helped me with a few tricks.
Bobo even picked out my niece Lisa from the audience to come and have her mind read. It was actually almost an accident that I picked her out from the mass of kids surrounding the stage. She just happened to be sitting in the perfect location for the monkey to find her.
Immediately after the show they announced it was time for balloon animals (for a $1 each to the PTA,) and the kids rushed the stage before I had a chance to put anything away. I began shoving all my props back into the bags before the kids had a chance to run off with anything. Then, still dripping with sweat from my performance, I dived into balloon sculpting for the next hour. It was exhausting, but luckily a lot of really kind people stepped in to help inflate balloons and even help me with a few simpler items like swords and flower-stems.
Overall, it was a really great night. I was able to successfully perform to a large audience--my biggest ever as a magician--and keep them laughing and entertained, and then somehow make a hundred balloon animals. And to top it all off I found out that I had made it the "greatest day" for at least one audience member. I'd say it was pretty high up there for me as well.
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