Envy Me

[Garrette]

I knew Lance Burton was from my area (Louisville, Kentucky), but I didn't know it about Mac King.

Not until this morning anyway.

They're both performing Saturday night in Louisville to kick off the local "Crusade for Children."

It's free. 10 minutes from me.

I'll take both my boys and maybe my daughter. She'll want to go because we are, but I'll try to dissuade her as she has no real interest.

Anyway, I've seen Lance do a couple of things (never his big show, though) and I've got a couple of Mac's effects and one of his books (can't recall the name; cover art is an illustrated face with the skull opening like a can and the brain showing).

I"ll tell you how wonderful it was later.

[Azrael 5]

Make a sentence out of jammy you git;)

Hmmm...and you owe me a favour,so...autographs???:D

[Brown]

Originally posted by Garrette
Anyway, I've seen Lance do a couple of things (never his big show, though) and I've got a couple of Mac's effects and one of his books (can't recall the name; cover art is an illustrated face with the skull opening like a can and the brain showing). This is probably Mac's "Tricks with Your Head." The face on the cover is his own, and the "brain" is actually a smaller version of his face.

In his show, Mac does one of the better tricks, using his own head, of course. It always gets a gasp and a laugh.

[Garrette]

Sorry, Az, I read your request too late for autographs, plus there was no way I could have gotten them anyway.

Brown, you're right: it's Tricks With Your Head. I couldn't remember it because it's not one of mine after all. I gave it to my boys last year. When I told them who we were going to see my older one (13 years) said "Oh, he's the one who wrote Tricks With Your Head." Smart lad. I trimmed his nightly lashes down to five.

Turns out it was televised locally. I was on for a nanosecond or two.

The whole thing was a charity kick-off in the form of a variety show. The first hour was a few local talents performing some not-bad stuff like dancing and singing, etc. interspersed with local celebrities introducing and thanking the annual big donors.

The last hour was the magic/humor bit.

Lance emceed the last hour, only performing between and after the other two. (Turns out that Marty Pollio is also a Louisvillian and was there. He's really a combination juggler/comedian/ex-mime with a tiny bit of magic thrown in. I'd seen him once before on a cruise without realizing he's a hometown boy.)

Lance opened with a caged bird production that was, imo, done only averagely well, followed by vanishing the same which was much better. Then he repeated the same effect but assisted by about 7 kindergartners and first graders. The effect itself was so-so but Lance was so engaging and had such fun with the kids it didn't matter.

Then Marty Pollio who is a very drily very funny man. He does a great "pull a hat out of a rabbit" thing that takes a second for the audience to realize but then has them rolling. Then some minor "joke" tricks followed by a neat feat with a cigarette and finally with a hat which obviously has its roots in his mime days. Impressive stuff. He closes with a long and semi-humorous juggling bit that is impressive but not mind-blowing.

Then Lance again who did the "Saw a Lady in Half" bit that was itself only mildly impressive but which was fun anyway because of how he obtained and engaged his young (about 16) volunteer.

Then Mac King who stole the show. Very very funny. He opened with a signed card routine that was hilarious (if perhaps a little too risque for a charity called "Crusade for Children") and made even more so because his female volunteer messed it up by signing the back of the card instead of the face which Mac did not realize until well into the trick. It was an honest mistake and not planned; Mac almost couldn't talk from laughing and he almost appeared to be blushing. They started over and it was funner the second time. Its climax included a tied-thumbs bit with him still getting entangle around both a chair and the volunteer.

Then he did an extended and very impressive rope trick. Very little in it that wasn't basic but his presentation was so smooth and so funny it was a near masterpiece.

Then he ended with what Brown referred to: he vanished his head to great applause.

Mac got the only standing ovation of the night.

Then Lance closed it out with a humorous "I'm going to show you how the sword-box really works" routine which turned into a surprising transposition involving Mac and Marty.

Mac was obviously the better magician. Lance was a huge success anyway because he's so personable.

It was fun, too, before the show to hear people around us talking about how they knew Lance and Mac back in the day. The lady behind us claimed to have been his high school teacher and to have known he would be great back then. He apparently was whiz-bang at the high school talent show.

That's it.

You may continue envying me.

[SteveW]

Does Mac still do the "pretty damned amazing" bit? I saw him when he was just starting out years ago and I still remember that line.

[Garrette]

SteveW: This marks the only time I've seen Mac King perform and he didn't do/say anything like that. Remember, though, that it was not a full blown show for him. He had perhaps 25 minutes total.

If he had a tag-line (or combination tag-line) for the night it was:

"Howdy. {pause} I'm Mac King."

Doesn't appear funny in writing/reading it, but it became very funny in context.