The Christmas Show of the South

Long time no post. Life has been a little hectic lately but this blog should explain why.

If you haven't heard already the Mr and I are currently enjoying the incredible opportunity of performing in The Carolina Opry Christmas Show. Our rehearsals started in October and the show opened on November 2nd. Aka I'm already Christmased out and it's not Thanksgiving yet. With that being said I just wrapped my first 3 presents of the year so that's exciting.

As of this moment we have already done 26 shows, we have one more tonight and then 46 after that. It's definitely been a change adjusting to 8-11 shows a week. And we're still doing Thunder & Light on top of that. Luckily we only have one show with 3 in one day. Which is coming up soon because it's the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

It's kind of crazy that in this show we aren't just doing the magic, we also come out to sing in the finale. It's been such an incredible experience performing with this stellar cast. If you've never seen this show before, this is a good year to start a new family tradition! It's running through January 2nd so even you can't catch it before the holidays there's still some chances to see it. 

You can see the schedule and purchase tickets below! We really hope to see you at one of our shows!

Click Here for TCO Christmas

Escape From Reality

Two weeks ago Brandon and I went on a MUCH needed vacation. We haven't had one in close to 2 years and that was way too long. We chose one of our favorite places to visit, Pigeon Forge. It's essentially Myrtle Beach in the mountains with a lot more shows and country music. Also a few magic shows.

We chose there because our biggest inspirations in magic live there. Brandon is obsessed with looks up to Terry Evanswood more than any other magician. It was Terry's show that made Brandon want to try to bring magic to Myrtle Beach.
The first show we got to see was Darren Romeo's at The Smokey Mountain Opry. I always say if I learn one new thing from a show it was worth watching. Well I definitely did. Those assistants had their nude character shoes bedazzled and they looked awesome! So we are going to bedazzle my black shoes with some black rhinestones probably this next week. I can't wait until they're done!

We were lucky enough to get to attend Terry's show twice. He performs at the Wonderworks and has the longest running show in PF. The first show we just watched, the second time we sat towards the back so we could take notes and trust me I took LOTS. Not of Terry but his assistant Natasha.

For years people have always asked me what assistant do you look up to the most? And then they will proceed to name off a few of the famous like Joanie, Jinger, and Pam. While I do look up to the greats, I always give the same name and it's Natasha. People usually don't know the name off the top of their head but once I start explaining, they completely understand. Terry and Natasha worked together for quite a long time and their chemistry is seriously untouchable. Brandon and I are a couple and ours isn't that great on stage yet.

I took some notes on costumes, choreography, and facial expressions but my biggest note simply wrote "Holy crap Natasha's hands!" You see for magic assistants, the hands are everything. They direct the eyes. They are something I definitely want to work more on. Deanna Shimada did it best in my opinion thus far but Natasha has got it nailed down. The way her fingers are pointed and the fluidity of her moments are definitely something I can take notes from.
I'm very sad to say that we saw 2 of her last shows as Terry's assistant. She is moving across country with her new baby and starting a new chapter of her life. I know I'm not the only one who will greatly miss her but I know we will keep in touch and cross paths again in the future.
I asked Terry how he felt about losing his leading lady after so many years and he simply said this, "The only good thing about Natasha leaving is that I no longer have to worry about when she's going to leave."
I want to make that much of an impact.

Our trip seriously was an escape from reality. We got to be entertained as opposed to entertaining which is always a nice change and we just got to have some time for us. Now we are re-energized and ready to get back to work. The website is about to be completely redone so we are super excited about that! Also hoping to maybe to get a logo designed for here and revamping maybe? Be on the lookout for some new stuff here soon!

Married to Magic

Love and magic have a great deal in common. They enrich the soul, delight the heart, and they both take practice.

My life is a  constant fight for balance.
The marriage and the magic seem to both want to take number one importance in our lives. Obviously one SHOULD be first but some days that doesn't always happen. And I guess that's okay. It's better than it was. My life honestly used to be like The Prestige. First off, if you haven't seen that amazing movie... go watch it. Right now. Anyways, the wife says this quote and honestly I have never felt more connected to a movie ever, "Maybe today you're more in love with magic. I like being able to tell the difference, it makes the days it is true mean something."
Magic has a funny way of not just being a job, it's a passion. And those people that it touches aren't like most people. Magic literally has a part of their heart that sometimes is too hard to give away.
At first, this wasn't something that I grasped. I didn't realize that the boy I wanted to date that would become the man I married didn't live like most, didn't leave work at work, didn't have two separate lives. Brandon is magic. He lives it, he breathes it and I've learned to do the same. It's part of everything we do. Somehow magic is snuck into every conversation. There are hints of it in our decorating. It's in our DNA. It will never not be there.
People often ask if magic is what brought us together. No definitely not, I HATED magic. A magician from my childhood was responsible for that. But something about Brandon was different. His magic intrigued me as much as he did and I realized that you can't have one without the other. He did multiple tricks on our first date and from there it was history. I wanted to be apart of all of his life but getting into the magic part took some convincing, there were other assistants in the way at first.
Magic hasn't always been good to me, it's broken my heart more times than I can count. At one point Brandon and I had broken up and magic was the only thing that held us together and that was one of the hardest points in my life. At that point I honestly don't know what I held on more for but I'm glad I did. It's caused strain on our relationship and our marriage. It's not an easy life style to live but luckily Brandon and I honestly never grow tired of each other so we thrive on being together all the time. I hear so many couples ask how we can work together and I can't explain it, it just works. We were meant for this life, we were meant for each other. And while somedays I ask for a break from talking about magic it never really does cease, I'm bound to bring up something about it.
Nothing thrills me more than performing hand in hand with the love of my life. Yes I'm married to magic, as a person and as a career. To me Brandon will always be the most magical thing in my life.
 

"To love a person is to see all of their magic, and to remind them of it when they have forgotten."

Weird Things Magic Assistants Do

Or atleast what I do now that I'm a magic assistant. People have agreed with me on some of these things though!

We can relate anything to magic. We go somewhere and see something that looks like what we do, we take a picture with it. Like this weird dude thing at Ripley's and the Bed of Nails at WonderWorks. Yes, I'm white. Shut your face. I'm a ginger.

Injuries are the best thing that could possibly happen and we kinda get way too excited over them. Sprained your ankle? Got some awesome new bruises? Time to post a photo on Facebook. No pain, no gain. We worked hard to earn our stripes. We are magic assistants. Hear us roar.

We are as interested in boxes as cats are. 
*Sees le box* CHALLENGE ACCEPTED *Crawls inside to see if body fits*

In all photos we take, we pop our knee. This drives my brother in law crazy. To quote him...

"When a camera points at you, is there some weird reflex in your right leg that makes it pose?"

Doesn't matter where you are: on the beach, at a concert, in Disney World... That knee is gonna pop.

Any floor is a stage. What does a large open hard floor/stage mean? Gotta dance. I wonder how many pirouettes I can do across here...

We love sparkles. Every article of clothing that is seen with sparkles on it, "Can we use this?"
Ya'll my first email after starting magic was sparklemagic16@noneyabusiness. Ok not that address exactly but I don't want anyone messing with my stuff.


So I had thought of more in the shower this morning but because I don't have waterproof paper I wasn't able to write them all down and I forgot. So if anyone can think of any more, feel free to comment and let me know! I can always edit the post. Thanks! I hope you enjoyed it!

Half A Decade of Magic

All month I've been patiently awaiting the 27th of March to mark my 5 year work anniversary and counting down all last week, Friday finally arrived and I FORGOT! I feel so dumb. I mean we did have 3 shows that day and then made the 3 hour trip to Columbia but still I had been waiting forever for that day! What's even worse is I just realized last night that I missed it... *facepalm*
I cannot believe I've been sucked into the world of magic for this long already! It seems like just yesterday I was arguing with Brandon that I would be a good assistant and I don't care if I get hurt trying to jump in and out of the boxes. He had to trust me that I could do it.
I've been searching and searching, honestly I used to have it, the picture from my very first official show with Brandon. I was wearing my pink dress and a silk rolled up into a flower in my hair with a bobby pin. It was as ugly as it sounds, trust me. And the show was beyond awful since the audience just didn't care but hey I was a magic assistant. I finally got what I wanted.

The oldest photos I can find are from this show at my 16th birthday party

Magic wasn't quite what I expected it to be though. There's a lot more to it than it looks. So many hours of rehearsal. Lots of trial and error. Which is always embarrassing during a show. The whole idea of trying to leave feelings offstage and pretend like everything is just great and you weren't trying to kill each other behind the curtain.
Over these past 5 years I have done things I would have never done on my own. I've performed for thousands of people. Signed lots of autographs. Travel to amazing places. Entertained at some really unique events. Performed along side with some of the most talented people I've ever met. And most importantly I've made some of the best friends. Magic is a pretty dog eat dog world so if you find a good friend, stick with them.
I've changed so much over these past 5 years not just as a performer but as a person. Obviously my looks have changed, you don't go from 15-20 looking the same. My attitude has changed. Growing up with divorced parents you tend to be a little rough around the edges and don't put up with a lot because you don't trust a lot but I'm still learning to get better about this. My confidence has increased. Yes I get more compliments and confidence as Hannah Lynne than as Hannah Wagster but slowly it helps. Our relationship has changed. When Brandon and I first started working together, we broke up within 3 months. We could not figure out the balance but now we do it pretty well. (I think that's what I'm going to blog about next.) To me atleast all of these changes are good.

I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped me become the magic assistant I am today! Without your help honestly I don't know where I'd be. Thank you to John Tudor, Joey Vazquez, Kohle Leaphart, Joe Daniels and of course my handsome husband... You guys are pretty much responsible for molding me hands on to perform like I do. There's so many assistant I look up to and wish I could thank personally for inspiring me, that's on my bucket list to meet some of the famous assistants I look up to!

Here's to another 5 years!

LAAMA Lecture 1.0

Guys, Life As A Magic Assistant shortened is LAAMA. It's like llama. They are so cool. Ok well I found this exciting anyways...
So last night I was finally pushed out of my comfort zone and did a shortened version of what I hope to become my lecture. It was pretty scary, I'm not gonna lie. Acting on stage is easy, but just talking to people is a nightmare to me. It's an introvert thing. By the end it was pretty easy but man did I get myself worked out about it. I was so nervous I didn't rehearse it because I knew that would just make things worse.

I tried to focus on the most informative subjects for if you are wanting to find an assistant for your show and how they should look, stand, act, etc. Eventually I would love to dabble more into things like history, different types of characters and things of that nature.
Brandon stood up there with me and gave input to keep me in line if I stumbled but now looking back at it I probably could have done it myself once I got past the first 5 minutes and next time I will but I needed my rock there for the premiere.
One thing I didn't think about before hand is how many people are uneducated in this subject so there wasn't as much agreeing and head nodding going on like there is at most magic lectures. My very first question was how many people have used an assistant before and only 3 or 4 raised their hand. I flat out told them I was disappointed, it really shocked me. Why would you not want someone to help you, even it's just as a stage hand? We make life so much easier for the magician!
My favorite thing were people's questions. They had so many! My favorite question was what do magic assistants talk about when they get together. Horror stories usually, comparing battle scars... but my favorite thing about hanging out with other assistants is we usually play in each other's boxes. If we have never been in that illusion before the other will walk you through how to position in it. Always a fun experience!

I can understand why so many magicians don't know that much about assisting, there is almost nothing about it to research. I've gotten my hands on a handful of books about them. There can't be more than 10 out there. There's only one real documentary, Women in Boxes, which is AMAZING by the way. Then there are few books out there that have excerpts about assistants. I've tried to track down a few radio interviews about them without much luck. There's just not many resources out there sadly. God bless Ann Patchett, I'm sure her writing is wonderful but she has made researching magician's assistants a whole heck of a lot harder by titling her book The Magician's Assistant.

 I'll keep everyone updated on how this lecture thing goes, I'd love to travel with it. We shall see. Hoping to work on my book soon. I have a few more MA books I will be purchasing soon to add to my collection and research in. I also want to be able to have a few things available for sale when I go around lecturing so I will be looking into some ideas soon. Any suggestions are appreciated!
Oh yeah, I got to break in my new costume yesterday! After 4 1/2 years I am finally rid of that pixie dress that has been my signature outfit and replaced it with this one. Hope you guys like it!

Thunder & Light shows are now weekly so please come check out the show. Every Thursday at 4! Hope to see you there!

It's Finally Happening!

So we have discovered recently that some people still think we are moving or have moved. Well that would be a negative. Guess you should have read the last blog ;)
We are staying and a lot of people have been wondering what could be so important to make us stay after we were all gung ho about leaving. Well now we can finally spill the beans!
Our dream ever since moving to Myrtle Beach back in July 2012 was to have our own theatre show, which we did at the time, or to work with the best theatre in town... Well after waiting what seems like forever, we finally got the call. Anyone ever heard of The Calvin Gilmore Theatre? How about "The Carolina Opry"?

Literally a month to the day of us moving, we received a call from the president of their company asking if we would be interested in performing some magic in a new very high energy show that they were trying out this fall. We received that call on a Monday, we auditioned the next Monday and were going to watch the show that Thursday. On Wednesday they called and asked if instead of watching would we like to go ahead and try performing with them. I'm sure you can guess what we chose to do! 

We're excited to announce that we are joining their show "Thunder & Light" featuring the amazing clogging group All That! from America's Got Talent. These are some of the most talented guys we have ever met and we are so thrilled to be working with them!

Here's an awesome review of the new show from TripAdvisor:

“Our group watched the new “Thunder and Light” show today at The Carolina Opry. We were absolutely blown away by the amazing talent of the “All That” cloggers, dancers, magic act... It was a high energy show, about 1 hour in length, that made the audience feel as though they were on stage with the cast!” 

Doesn't that make you want to come see the show?! We will post a picture of the schedule on our fan page and you can always go to their website www.thecarolinaopry.com or call 843-913-4000.

With our last theatre gig we only performed for 3 months and technically now we have already been with this theatre 3 months so I'd say this is already off to a much better start! This has all been brewing since September but anyone in theatre knows it's a process getting a new show off the ground.

Our next show is on January 17th so make sure to start out your new year with a bang and come see this amazing show! Our calender is already filling up so you'll have plenty of opportunities to see it again. We're so excited for this new opportunity and can't wait to see where it takes us!