Two Magic Shows in Dayton…With an Amazing Detour!

I haven’t been in Ohio in over 10 years. When one of my past clients reached out to me to do a magic show in Dayton, I had no idea that I would be checking off a major bucket list item.

Clients all connected…

Both of these clients in Dayton booked me for events last year…very similar events. They had each rented ocean front houses in the Carolinas and had me perform for their families. One did it, then recommended me to the other…who even recommended me to another for, you guessed it, the same kind of event. So, I took off my corporate magician hat (figure of speech, I really don’t have one) and put on my private house party hat (again, don’t have one).

Dayton Shows

So once my first client, Mike, reached out and booked me for his foundation in Dayton, he let my second client, Tom, know about it. Well, Tom was busy that week…getting married. So what did Tom do? He CHANGED THE DATE OF HIS WEDDING! I’m not kidding. He moved it to the same day as my other show, simply for me to be able to perform at the reception.

So I kicked off the day with the foundation show at Carillon Historical Park. Before the show, Mike took me over to one part of the museum where I got see the Wright Brothers plane, the 1905 Wright Flyer III. That was beyond amazing to see in person.

I performed the show, and after, a lady came up to me and said, “Could you fix your collar, it’s bugging me.” Weirdest show feedback I’ve ever gotten…but even more disappointing…she was right. And even more disappointing than that, she noticed it before the show and waited till after to tell me. But the rest of the show went great. I didn’t even use my collar.

Once that show was over, I went straight to the country club where the wedding reception was taking place. With a room full of 60 people, and my collar looking immaculate, I performed my show to one of the happiest audiences I’ve had all year. They were a perfect audience and getting to spend that time with Tom and his new wife, along with their family and very close friends, was amazing. They should have that wedding every year.

The Detour to My Bucket List

So, I should give you a small backstory. When Mike initially reached out, he was trying to book me to do a Christmas party last December. At that point, I was already slammed with Christmas parties and just couldn’t make it work. So instead, I talked with Mike about some possible options. We talked about doing the show in the summer. I said it’s typically much easier to book me for those months, and he was on board. Then, just to be funny, I said, “And bonus points if you can get me on Firestone Country Club South Course.” (My reason for saying this is because, as a magician in Charlotte, NC I’ve had clients get me on many golf courses in the area over the years.

Even smaller backstory. The first CD ROM game I ever owned was Microsoft Golf 2.0, which has instantly revealed that I’m older than 21. The game had two courses…Torrey Pines South Course and Firestone South Course. When I learned at the ripe age of REDACTED, I said, “That would be so cool to play those courses.” I was pretty much setting a goal. Well, 2021, I played Torrey Pines when I was in San Diego doing a magic show at a corporate event. So…that left Firestone. Back to the story.

When I made my golf jest, Mike said, “Yeah, unfortunately, I don’t have any connections there.” It instantly left my mind, because it wasn’t even there in the first place. Just a joke, as far as I was concerned…even though it would’ve been amazing. But…private country club, and a PGA course to boot. Well, about an hour later, I get an email from Tom. “I can get you on Firestone, no problem!”

“Say whaaaaa?”

So, as if the trip couldn’t be more amazing, I headed north a day early to put myself in Akron…because the following day, I had a 9AM tee time at Firestone South Course! Absolute huge bucket list item checked off. Couldn’t have worked out more perfect. And outside a few less than desirable shots, I was fairly pleased with my playing, shooting a score of REDACTED.

And yes, I told some Firestone employees about my corporate magician hat (mentioned earlier) and said I would “LOVE to do some events there.” (Just doing some nudging without using my elbow.)

The End.