Had a great time on the weekend performing at the beautiful Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre in Medicine Hat, Alberta!  It was a gorgeous facility, and a great audience!

For this gig, I brought in Okotoks’ up-and-coming close up magician, Chris Hogan.  Chris has been studying and performing close up magic in casual settings for many years now, but only recently began performing professionally.  I had a chance to watch him in action; not just executing technical sleight of hand, but interacting with the audience!

Chris provided the close up portion of the cocktail hour while I focused on setting up for the stage show.  In addition to giving me a chance to provide Chris with some on the job coaching and mentoring, I do admit I appreciated the company on the 6 hours of driving!

The main stage show was held on the rooftop facility, with a splendid evening view of the city and fresh night air.  Unfortunately, immediately after my opening act, thunder and lighting lit up the night sky.  I made a few quips about my special effects team, and then halted the show as the wind and rain toppled my prop setups.

In my decades of performing, I always know to have a contingency plan for bad weather.  But usually the bad

weather hits before the show starts, or at least there is indication of poor weather throughout the day.  In this case, we had to change our plans very rapidly, and move to our Site B, mid-show.

It did take about an hour to move the audience, bar, staff, and equipment to our indoor location, but everyone took it all in stride.  Despite the hiccups, I got a nice note the next day:

A pleasant drive, beautiful venue, and a great audience… that’s what makes it so fulfilling to be a performer!