A Year Gone By

"Time does not pass, it continues" - Marty Rubin

Okay seriously this is the craziest thing ever. We have lived in Myrtle Beach for exactly a year today! Where has the time gone?

I feel like we just moved in to our little apartment in the extremely hot July sun and had no furniture, with no idea what we were doing. Some days it still feels like that. But honestly to think of how much stuff has happened in a year is just crazy.

To start off we moved because of a theatre gig. We thought we were on top of the world but things didn’t quite turn out as we planned. The run was only from July 21 – October 12. And we didn’t make a lot of money and completely drained our savings, but we made it. Bills were definitely a new and difficult thing for us to deal with. Being a grown up is tougher than it seems.

Then right after the theatre gig ended, a scary thing came along. My grandmother got re-diagnosed with breast cancer and had to have a very quickly scheduled surgery which luckily I was able to go home for a week for that.

November was exciting for us, our 3 year anniversary came up and Brandon proposed that day and we decided to get married just 2 months away from that. Which of course brought lots of drama with why we were rushing. Because we can. That’s why we did. We wanted a winter wedding. My parents were okay with it. So what else mattered? Yes I was 18 but I can make my own decisions. And no I wasn’t pregnant. It’s just what we chose. So December was a whirlwind of wedding planning. Then came January which went by even faster.

The wedding and honeymoon came and went with the blink of an eye and pretty soon we will have already been married for 6 months. I still can’t get over that it’s already been half a year.

The next few months were kinda rough with Brandon’s grandmother slowly getting worse and then at the end of April we got a call saying we really needed to come home. We were lucky enough to be able to spend a week with her before she went to be with Jesus. So May ended up being a very tough month.

Then came our birthdays and then summer was here before we knew it and we are doing 4 shows a week. Now it’s staying up late and sleeping late not really actually waking up rested. And working at the magic shop every night we don’t have shows. It’s been pretty hectic to say in the least. But finally our savings is getting replenished. This summer has been awesome for us and next year will be even better.

So as far as I can remember that’s everything important but my goodness it’s been a year. Hopefully by this time next year I can say we are moving again but into a house. That would be a blessing!

As I look back, I see how truly lucky we are to have had such amazing people help us get started. We struggled, we cried, we thought we couldn’t make it. But we did. And we couldn’t have done it alone. Thank you to all the wonderful people who pulled us along and encouraged us to follow our dreams!

Jekyll & Hyde

Hannah Wagster & Hannah Lynne

Jekyll & Hyde: The famous story of a split personality. Who else has one? This girl. If you knew the real me, not just the stage me, you would know I really am too different people.

Most people get to meet Hannah Lynne. And that’s because she will actually introduce herself and talk to people and have normal conversations. Honestly she is the girl I wish I could always be. She is everything I’m not. Confident and ready to conquer every situation no matter what it takes. Truly not afraid of anything; always getting sliced and diced and super excited to jump out of the box to get her well-deserved applause.

But Hannah Wagster, the backstage me, is just the opposite. I am terrified of the dark and heights, I’m claustrophobic and about as shy as it gets. And you’ll never see me make eye contact when talking. I mean honestly how does it even make sense that I could be a magic assistant? I can’t stand for people to look at me. I’m getting embarrassed just thinking about it.

I can’t even begin to tell you what makes me switch personalities. Even when I’m greeting people before the show all dressed up I’m still in normal mode. So it isn't the physical change that affects it.
But the second I walk out on stage, she takes over and it’s all eyes on me and I know how to smile and keep the attention. I strut my stuff and have a blast doing it. I even hold that personality through pictures, autographs, and selling merchandise but then once the people are gone for the night, I’m like Cinderella after the clock struck midnight and the spell is over.

Now I just want to clarify, when I say you can meet either Hannah, I mean as a first impression. Family and friends kind of know a mixture of both. I can be very talkative and say what’s on my mind without caring what you think. But my fears of everything are still there.

I'd have to say the one thing that links us is obviously Brandon. Well and clowns. 

We are both afraid of clowns!

Band-Aids for Box Jumpers

"You're not a magic assistant until you shed blood"

In case you didn’t know, another term for a magician’s assistant is “Box Jumper”. We get the term from literally jumping in and out of boxes. Now some assistants take offense to this name but it describes what we do pretty well so I have no problem with it.

One of my biggest pet peeves is people perceive that my job is easy. Come on people I jump in and out of boxes for a living. It’s risky and very common to get hurt. But I've been pretty lucky thus far *knocks on wood*

Everyone says “Oh you get sawn in half, where are your scars?” as a joke. Trust me I have some. I still get cut by blades and swords regardless of how sharp they are.

While this cute little blood donation advertisement makes me laugh, it really is true. And if you haven’t bled while doing magic, I don’t know how you can call yourself an assistant. It’s about giving everything you have to make the performance perfect. Sometimes that just means getting hurt and sometimes it’s stupid stuff you can’t control. 

For instance I have 2 long scars on my right arm from wrist to elbow and what are they from? A button on Brandon’s sleeve. Something so simple but during choreography they sliced all the way down my arm two nights in a row.

How do you handle this in the middle of a show? Try not to get blood on your next costume while you’re changing, wipe the tears off your face, and walk back on stage with a smile. It’s all you can do.

The most common injury I’d have to say is bruises. I honestly can’t think of a time since I started working in magic that I haven’t had atleast one bruise on my legs. Or forehead, or arms; you name it. But hey, I welcome bruises they mean I work hard. Or it just means I’m clumsy. The picture above is of my worst bruise to date, I did that back in 2010 and had to be on crutches for a few days. We named it MeOW. Gotta make the best of bad situations.

So no, my job isn’t easy, but it is the best job out there and I wouldn’t change it for the world!

Now I'm A Movie Critic

"The closer you look, the less you'll see"

Last night Brandon and I had the opportunity to watch Now You See Me the magic bank heist movie playing in theaters. Thankfully I chose to not read any other magicians’ opinions before seeing it. I went in there with a clear mind knowing only what people not in magic thought and I knew they all loved it.

Honestly I was amazed. I absolutely love this movie. I would like to see it again. It’s definitely my favorite magic movie out there and I've seen all except Burt Wonderstone.

All these magicians are getting mad about the outrageous egos in the movie. HELLO! Look in the mirror. Magicians have bigger egos than anyone out there. And guess what, you have to have an ego to perform. You need a back bone. You have to have the courage and confidence in yourself to actually get on stage.

I believe all the characters were believable and interesting. But now I officially have a new favorite movie character. Henley Reeves is my new inspiration. Isla Fisher played her as the feisty red head ex assistant/escape artist. Her beauty, confidence, and control on stage were just fabulous. She has amazing clothes and moved with elegance. Yes, she’s just a character but she has the personality that I truly want to have on stage.

I think the movie as a whole did a better job of making magic look cool. Honestly we have the unfortunate label as being really geeky. Which we kinda are... but you do have to be smart to be a good magician. I think Burt Wonderstone did just the opposite for magic and made us look worse. I've talked to a lot of people who aren't in magic and they said that Now You See Me made them want to go watch a magic show.

So to all the magicians out there, yes it revealed a magic trick. Big deal, they all reveal atleast one. But it’s making people want to be entertained by magicians. Truly that’s all that matters in the end.

Now if you haven’t seen the movie. Go, like now! It won’t be a waste of money I promise you. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and the plot twist at the end will blow your mind. 

I assure you Magic + Bank Heist = Genius.

Summer Nights

As much as I love Grease, this post isn’t about it. Sorry if I disappointed you.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted but we’ve been busy getting ready for summer and this year it is going to be packed! We’re excited to be at 2 locations weekly for the whole summer. And it’s not just a small show. It’s got illusions! Yay!

Today will be our last rehearsal before we load up the cargo van to get into the first location tomorrow.

We’ll be doing 23 shows with the illusions so I’m sure I’ll have plenty of funny stories to come share on here throughout the summer. With that many shows you know the probability of them all going flawlessly is… well just not gonna happen. Especially since during the show I will be performing, running sound, changing clothes, and packing all at the same time. I don’t usually have to run sound during bigger shows so this should be interesting. Ok well that’s only for one show that I have to run sound. But still, I’m definitely going to have to make a checklist to do for each routine. My OCD won’t allow it any other way.

I know a lot of people come to Myrtle Beach to vacation so if you will be here and would like to see us, here is where we will be:

On Monday nights we will be at the beautiful Sea Mist Resort, but in order to see the show there you have to be staying there. And I promise you it’s one of the best in Myrtle Beach so you wouldn’t regret it. And the show is actually free to its guests! The show starts at 7:00 PM so don’t be late!

On Wednesday nights we will be at the new Cypress Campgrounds. The show is called “Rock This Town: Magic & Music” and while we are the featured performers, there will also be 2 awesome impersonators in the show. This show is open to the public and only $10 for adults and $7 for children. Shows at 7:30 PM!

Well there you have it, what we will be doing these summer nights. Also be on the lookout for some new Wagster Magic merchandise and Presto Pets is going to be in full swing this summer! So excited to get started with the madness. Hope to see you at a show!