When I heard from our local library that Brodini was going to perform, I made it a point to be there. And I was.
Brodini does comedy magic shows for kids. What I saw, though, wasn't just kids lovin' it. Every adult in the room enjoyed seeing their children get bug-eyed and bedazzled. And many, like myself, were probably recalling their first experiences of being mesmerized by a live magic show. Or at least in my case, that is what I was thinking about.
His name is Graylyn Morris, but his stage name is Brodini.
Brodini's name is taken from his two early sources of inspiration. Marshall Brodien played Wizzo the Wizard on the Bozo Circus show when Graylyn was a kid. The second part of his stage name came from a source that has spawned hundreds, if not thousands, of magicians. Morris read a book about Houdini (like many of us did) and watched the famous Houdini movie starring Tony Curtis as the master magician and escape artist. With such admiration for Houdini, it was easy to later name himself Brodini in honor of the man.
"My show is all audience participation. What I like most about kid shows? The kids are the show! I explain in every show, if I can do magic you can too…"
Brodini says he learned from books, which is what I did, too. I borrowed books from the library and my parents even make some of the tricks for me. For example, Brodini opens his routine with an egg bag, a standard in which the magician makes an egg appear from an empty bag. My mom made one for me. And my father built a miniature "set" for levitation. Instead of levitating a woman, I levitated one of my mom's Barbie dolls. It was a pretty cool illusion.
For Brodini, "it's all about the kids!" You can see it in his eyes how it flows from his heart.
My biggest takeaway from Brodini's show was not how "amazing" or talented he was. (Yes, he's very natural at sleight of hand, and the rest of his tricks are mind-baffling for those who have never performed magic.) Rather, what I came away with was how ordinary people like you and I can use the gifts we have and make a difference in other people's lives. That was the real magic that I saw. Graylin isn't trying to be David Copperfield or Penn & Teller. He's just a human touching young hearts and firing up their imaginations.
Related Links
No comments:
Post a Comment