Hello, hello. It's Bodine here.
And I know the title of this post seems a little boastful, to say the least.
It was Jeff Kutash, the famous Las Vegas producer/director, who told me I stunned the audience with the brand-new magic effect I performed at the Silver State Awards event. In fact, he claims I was the hit of the evening. (His words.)
I felt honored to be invited to perform at this event, as the audience was literally a "Who's Who" of the top Las Vegas celebrities, Hotel/Casino executives and Nevada politicians.
As you can imagine, the audience at this event has "seen it all." They've seen every great magic act in the world. So I knew I had to perform something truly special, something they had never seen before.
I was a last-minute addition to the agenda for the event, and I had only four days to invent something new and truly amazing. I set out to stun that audience.
And as you may know, I speak to corporate groups all over the country about "the structure of the generative creative process," which is a process that drives innovation and breakthrough results. So hey, I used that very process to develop a plan for coming up with a piece of magic to amaze and entertain the most sophisticated audience I've ever faced.
The magic I performed for them was totally new. In fact, prior to that evening I had never performed this piece of magic for anyone other than my wife! When I say it was "new," I really mean it. (I realized I had something special when, as I was practicing the effect, it surprised even me!)
As well, when I stepped out to perform at the Silver State Awards event, I was delighted to discover Wayne Newton and his family were in the front row just to the right of the center aisle, and the popular two-term ex-Governor of Nevada, Bob Miller, was in the front row on the left.
I love interacting with people from my audience, so when I saw Wayne Newton and the Governor positioned perfectly in the front, I was like a kid in candy store. I knew this would be great fun!
Gesturing first to Wayne Newton (and then to his wife, sitting next to him) I said, "I always make it a habit to interact with living legends every chance I get, but in this particular case I'd like to involve this beautiful woman right here."
After playfully involving Wayne Newton's wife, Kathleen, I then turned my attention to Governor Bob Miller, and involved him. He was playful and a little feisty, and he got a laugh with his response to my first question -- I love that! -- and the climax of the effect totally surprised everyone and got a huge response from the audience!
As I accepted their enthusiastic applause, I let out a huge sign of relief! I was one very happy -- and very relieved -- entertainer. And that special piece of magic is now the best magical effect I do.
