12 States Already This Year

Wow! Just looked over the past 3 months’ schedule and I’ve performed in 12 states already. I’m not sure if that’s a lot or not, but it sure feels like it.

This last weekend, I performed at St. Martin’s University in Lacey, WA and at Maryville University in St. Louis, MO.

The show in Lacey, WA was a little ways south of Tacoma. This was my first trip to the Pacific Northwest and I loved everything about it. Here’s a shot from the airplane:

Soon after I saw this mountain range and snapped this photo, we flew over Mt. Ranier, but for some reason I didn’t get a picture of it. Had I taken a picture, it would have looked something like this:

The only things I would have liked more are a) clearer skies and b) more time to enjoy it! When I stepped out of the SeaTac airport, I immediately could feel there was something different about the air. It just felt and smelled fresher and cleaner. I had an urge to wade in a stream – possibly go mountain climbing. I decided to just get some Chinese food instead. But my fortune was pretty interesting:

The show at St. Martins was a great time – I played in a tiny little Student Activities Center to a crowd of about 50.

I woke up the next day to catch an EARLY flight out of a rainy SeaTac Airport. Had a layover in Salt Lake – my first time flying through there. I was amazed at the beauty. Mountains completely surround the airport. It’s impossible to get the beauty in a phone picture from the airplane:

It was a strange thing waking up at the crack of dawn in Seattle, getting on a plane, and getting off the plane in St. Louis only to find that it was almost show time. The fact that St. Louis was cold and rainy just like Seattle only added to the time warp feeling!

The show at Maryville College was for Sibz Weekend. Great crowd – somewhere around 200-250 I think! After some last minute shuffling around of lights and sound (they had to completely rotate the chair/stage setup to face a different direction an hour before the show!), we had a great show with great reactions and some cute kids onstage! The program board people at Maryville are super nice and a lot of fun. This was our third time hanging out and I hope there will be more!

This week, I head to Rochester, MN to hang out in the booth at NACA Northern Plains on Thursday and Friday, then I fly to Connecticut to perform at Western Connecticut State University’s sibs weekend!

In other news, I was recently accepted by Armed Forces Entertainment, an organization “dedicated to bringing our troops stationed overseas the very best in up-and-coming entertainment.” They will send me on a tour to perform for men and women in the US military stationed overseas when they have an appropriate request and slot. I am really looking forward to the opportunity!

peace, love and time warps,
mk

Albertus Magnus and Wilmington!

I recently flew to Connecticut to perform at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven. The show was fun but a couple challenges may have opened some doors.

First, my road case has 4 catches. 2 on each side of the lid. This apparently presents a problem for the TSA, because after the last 3 or 4 flights my case always seems to be unlatched and OPEN when I get it. Here’s a shot of the case on the carousel in Hartford:

So I took the case to Cabbage Cases to see what advice they had to offer. We redesigned the case to solve the problem, so some good will come out of it! ALSO – they replaced the bent catches on my old case free of charge. Cabbage is awesome!

Also – there was a glitch in the sound system at Albertus Magnus that prevented me from using the wireless lapel mic that I always use. So I did the whole show from a handheld corded mic on a straight stand. I normally don’t do this, but I’ve been wanting to make it a goal for some time now. I learned that almost all of the show works just fine from a handheld mic on a stand. The only thing that causes problems is the multiplying bottle trick. So what was adversity at face value could be a valuable lesson in that I can perform my show from a handheld mic if I need to.

Upon returning to Columbus, I attended the premiere of my friend Ty Pierce’s first feature-length film, Misdirection. I was blown away at what a great job he did with this movie. With a limited budget and lots of friends as talent in the movie, he really made it work. I was proud. Here’s a shot of me at the premiere enjoying a nice imperial stout at Studio 35.

Last night I performed at Wilmington College in Wilmington, OH. I was fortunate enough to perform there just last year for their sibs weekend, but they had me back last night to perform for the students. And since its only about an hour and a half from home, a lot of friends got to come see the show too!

I debuted a new trick during the afternoon in which I borrow a cell phone or an ipod and magically get it inside a balloon! It’s been a ton of fun performing the trick! I’m working on a way to fit it into the show!

There was a slight mishap before the show involving the glass from the multiplying bottles trick:

But we got the glass replaced and we’re all good! I can’t believe the support I’ve been receiving on Facebook lately. I really appreciate all the love. Here’s a link to my Facebook page if you’re not already a fan:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-Kent/16270130518

Later this week, I fly to Seattle to perform in Lacey, WA at St. Martin’s, then the next day, playing Sibz (yes they spell it with a ‘z’) weekend at Maryville in St. Louis!

So excited for both shows! Until next time,

peace, love and shards of glass,
MK

A Neat Trick for the Office

This is unrelated to anything. But I just stumbled upon it while trying to abuse the crack that is Red Bull to stay awake.

Go get a binder clip – you know the little black clips with the metal “wings” that you use to hold thick stacks of paper and opened bags of potato chips together?

Now fold the clips back like you’re about to clip some paper with it.

Put the open end – the black end in your mouth just inside your lips.

Squeeze the clip open.

Inhale.

It makes a neat sound. That’s all.

You’re welcome. Now back to my Red Bull.

Lander University in Greenwood, SC

I grew up visiting Greenwood, SC at least once a year. My grandparents moved there when I was a kid, so the small town outside of Greenville, SC was very familiar to me when I visited to perform at Lander University last night.

I was scheduled to arrive the day before so I could spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa and my aunt and cousins who live there as well. I missed my flight leaving Columbus, which put a damper on the hanging out with family. I thought I was early, but it turns out, I looked at the ticket wrong and I was actually 1 minute too late. When I arrived at the gate, the plane was sitting there, they had JUST shut the door and they were pulling the bridge away. So I got on the next flight out 3 hours later.

Little fact: I always sit by the window. I’m not a big guy, so I rarely feel cramped. And I like to lean my head against the side of the plane if I’m taking a nap. But my seat to Greenville sucked. Here’s an example of a bad airline seat:

Arriving in Greenwood was pretty neat, as I recognized a lot of the buildings and establishments I had been to as a kid. My hotel was across the road from the Blockbuster where I remember picking out movies with my cousins to watch at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.

Everyone at Lander was really friendly and into what I was doing. We had a pretty good turnout and the auditorium was nice. Here’s a shot of the auditorium when I arrived:

And here’s another shot of the theater right before doors opened:

I’m looking forward to spending the weekend at home – possibly some St. Patty’s day debauchery before heading out to perform at Albertus Magnus in New Haven, CT.

I would love to write more, but I’m absolutely exhausted.

Peace, love and sleeping on the plane,
MK

I Cut My Thumb at Ferris State

This week, the Showoff Show and I headed up to Big Rapids, MI to perform at Ferris State University.

I drove 4 hours up to Lansing, MI the night before to pick the guys up at the airport. We stayed the night there in Lansing, then drove the 2 hours to Ferris State in the morning. Here’s a brief video of the trip:

I was performing my rope trick and must have gotten into it too much. Either that, or someone sharpened my scissors when I wasn’t looking, because they sliced through the rope much easier than expected and cut right into my thumb! I felt it happen, but tried to hide it because I didn’t see any blood. I had two people onstage with me. I’m not sure if they saw it or not, but I looked down and there was blood all over the rope and it was dripping onto the stage. I think at that point, I laughingly told the girl to my right “I cut myself.” She immediately was worried but I told her “I think it’s okay.” Then I asked the stage manager for a band-aid over the microphone. No one came for awhile – after the show someone told me this was because they thought I was joking. Meanwhile, I went on with the show. Several more props became stained. Then the stage manager brought me out a band-aid and all was good. The cut’s not that bad – just in a tough place – turns out it’s kind of difficult to do my act with a band-aid on your left thumb. Who knew?

The show was a hell of a lot of fun. The Showoff Show was great and people really loved them. I really enjoy performing with them.

Here are some photos that Evan Young took from the show:

The Rope Trick

The Chicken Trick

A Serious Talk

Another quick funny story. This was a college-appropriate show. In other words, it wasn’t the show I perform for sibs weekends or corporate events. Near the end of the show, I heard what sounded like a little kid. I said, “Wait – did someone bring a three year old to the show?” Everyone laughed. It got quiet. From the back of auditorium: “I’m FIVE!”

Peace, love and childhood education
MK

Starting off 2009 With Some GREAT Shows

Hey Everyone!

It’s been forever since I’ve written on here and, sitting in a diner with a couple friends in Hartford, CT, I decided I needed to be a little more diligent about it.

Last year ended really well with the Blue Angels performance and there are lots of things to be excited about in 09.

First off, voting is JUST NOW ending for the Campus Activities Magazine Reader’s Choice Awards. I was nominated for two awards. In addition that excitement, I had a showcase at NACA Nationals, which is kinda like the Disneyland of Campus Activities. I had a great time – more about that later. This blog is starting to sound like a clips show on a sitcom when the writers were on vacation so they turn the whole episode into a bunch recaps of funny stuff that happened before. Let’s talk about some shows I’ve done so far this year.

I drove up to Alliance, OH in the snow in January to perform with the Showoff Show, good friends of mine and fellow BigName Entertainers at Mt. Union College. I performed my show first, and the Showoffs performed second. Here are a couple photos:

Then after my show, the Showoff Show surprised me with this:

It was a great time and I can’t wait to get back to Mt. Union!

After that I headed out to Massachusetts to perform at Bridgewater State College. This is the largest commuter campus I’ve ever seen. 10,000 students and most of them commute! So I was worried that having a weekend show there wouldn’t draw a crowd, but thankfully I was wrong. We had a great turnout and had a very fun show. The A/V tech told me a story about the last magician to perform there. They wouldn’t let him bring his appearing motorcycle in the building. When the performer was asked why he didn’t tell them about the motorcycle before hand, his answer was “It’s supposed to be a surprise!” hahaha Here’s a review from the Bridgewater State News about the show.

When I returned home, I immediately showered and headed downtown to perform for my friend Ricky’s going away party. Ricky was an athletic trainer for BalletMet in Columbus and left for Las Vegas to be a trainer for Criss Angel’s new show, beLIEve. Met some really cool folks and had a lot of fun performing in my home city for a change.

A day later, I flew down to Jacksonville, FL to perform at Jacksonville University. I got there early so I had time to have lunch downtown. I sat at a little microbrew on the river and ate outdoors on the patio. It was overcast but 65 degrees and NO one was eating outside. For Floridians, that’s FREEZING. The only other two guys on the patio were also from Ohio! Jacksonville’s campus was really pretty.

Now imagine that in the early evening on a hazy night. Before my show, I stepped outside and just kind of took it in. It was really nice to be out of the 10 degree Ohio weather for a day.

I almost didn’t get home the next day. Half the airports on the east coast were shut down. I had two delays and one cancellation, but finally made it home after spending most of the day in Baltimore.

It was a good thing I got back in time, because I had to drive 6 hours the next day to perform at Lock Haven University in Lock Haven, PA. The folks at Lock Haven are super nice. I really enjoyed hanging out with them. They did a great job of promoting the show, too. So much so, that my show was the most highly attended event of the year! We had more than 500 people come out! Here’s a video I took backstage:

Met a lot of really cool people in Lock Haven. Some of them, I even got the chance to hang out with again in Nashville a few weeks later:

From PA, my next show was at Rutgers University in Camden, NJ. This was my second time performing here. The first time was about a year ago. I saw some familiar faces and friends that I made a year ago at the show. Here are some photos of the show:

The sound and lighting at Rutgers Camden is done by Sonus and they do a hell of a job, as you can see from the photos.

The next day, I performed at Greene St. Studios in the Germantown area of Philadelphia. The venue and attendance was small, but I still had fun at the show. The audience was full of a combination of professional jugglers, magicians and mentally disabled adults. A challenging show to say the least. Here’s the entire show compressed to 01:35:

I had a lot of fun at this show. It was nice to do something different – different type of audience and venue. And had an amazing time after the show too.

After a couple days off, I performed back in Columbus, Ohio for a networking event. It was heavily tweeted about. Read some of the comments about this show on my Twitter Favorites. There’s a blog about it with photos and video here. Feel free to follow me if you use Twitter!

Funny story – If you’ve seen my show, you know about the box inside a box inside a box, etc. Airport security (TSA) had fun with me with these coming back from Philly. They put an inspection notice in EACH box. Too funny.

I know this post is getting long, but there are a few more things to write about!

I flew to Nashville, TN to showcase at NACA Nationals. I was the roving artist the first day of the conference. It was held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort, which was incredible!

I went to the conference represented by LGA and had a great time hanging out in the booth with the Showoff Show, Jeff Civilico and Dale K – showoffs, a juggler and a hypnotist, respectively. There was even a full page ad in the Conference program! Here are some photos!

I left the conference a day early to perform in Hartford, CT at the University of Hartford. Christian and Harris at Hartford were really nice guys and brought in an awesome crowd for me by using University-based opening acts that everyone knew. I have to say – both acts were top notch. Hawkapella is an all-male a cappella group who incorporates a lot of comedy and personality in their arrangements. I was impressed and they were a great opener. The second opening act was Stop Laughing Mom, a student improv group. They did several sketches and really got some great laughs – the perfect warmup for my show. The crowd at Hartford was really warm and laughed a lot.

From Hartford, I flew to Birmingham, AL to perform for the American Foundry Society’s Southeastern States Conference. The hotel was cool. I didn’t see any of Birmingham whatsoever. My hotel was connected to a mall and the show was held in the hotel, so I literally saw nothing else. The AFS people were really fun and we all got drunk in the hotel bar after the show.

The next show was Pittsburgh, PA at Duquesne University for their Casino Night. I don’t have any photos from this show yet, but the stage was big and the crowd was kinda splotchy at the beginning. By the end of the show, it was pretty full. All of Duquesne’s show choir was in the audience because they were performing after me. At one point the entire show choir got up in the middle of the show. Then 10 minutes later, they came back. Only MILDLY distracting. haha Some good friends in Pittsburgh got to come see me perform, which was nice. And my hotel had a cool view of the soon-to-be replaced Mellon Arena, where the Penguins play.

So now, I’ve had an ENTIRE WEEK off, which is MUCH NEEDED. Tomorrow, I leave again to meet up with the Showoff Show again in Lansing, MI. From there, we head to Ferris State University in Big Rapids, MI to perform together.

And if you haven’t seen my latest video, take a look!

There. Now you’re all caught up on 2009. I will try to blog more often from now on. I promise.

peace, love and novel blogs,
MK

I Was Nominated for Two Reader’s Choice Awards

Campus Activities Magazine has released the nominations for their annual Reader’s Choice Awards and I was nominated for an award in both the “Best Small Venue Performer” and “Newest Rising Star” categories!

Voting is open this month, so make sure you go vote!

http://campusactivitiesmagazine.com/awards

My good friends, the SHOWOFF Show, were nominated in the Best Live Novelty Artist category, so be sure to vote for them too!

My Visit to The Blue Angels

I spent last weekend in Pensacola, Florida to visit the U.S. Navy Blue Angels. “The Blues” asked me to come down and perform for their Christmas Party.  I’m sure they had no idea when they called me how much of a NERD I am for aviation.

I spent the afternoon hanging out with the men and women of the Blue Angels at their squadron at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola and got to see what their daily operations are like.  As I was walking up, the 4 diamond planes were finishing up their practice.  I got some great video of that (see below). Then I got the opportunity to walk around the hangar and meet with the pilots, the air crew and many of the nice folks I met back in August in Cleveland.

Here’s a clip of the pilots finishing up their daily practice and then me running into them in the hallway. If you’d like to see the video in high-quality, go HERE and click “watch in high quality” under the video window.

Vote Michael Kent for Newest Rising Star

Hey Everyone!

I sure am looking forward to Thanksgiving!  I’ve already had a couple Thanksgiving Dinners – a couple more to go.  Interesting note – the following question has come up twice this week: What’s the difference between a yam and a sweet potato?  My guess was that a yam is a yam until it goes to prison and gets a nickname.  But that’s just a guess.

One of the things I’m most thankful for this Thanksgiving is all the love and support I’ve received from fans and friends.  All of the great people that have expressed interest in my work have made it so much fun to do what I do.  I have just ONE more small favor to ask of you this year.

Campus Activities Magazine is holding their annual Reader’s Choice Awards.  Will you vote for me for #10 – NEWEST RISING STAR?  I’d be forever grateful!  Don’t forget to put your name and info at the bottom or the ballot won’t be counted!

Link: http://www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com/rca1.html

VOTE MICHAEL KENT for NEWEST RISING STAR!

Thank you SO much!

ALSO – Vote for my friends – the Showoff Show! for #8 – BEST NOVELTY PERFORMANCE/ LIVE!

Gratefully,
MK

On-Site Showcase Selection Winner!

On Saturday night, I was selected to perform a showcase at the NACA MidAmerica Regional Conference in Peoria, IL!

At the conference, they leave one of the final spots in the showcase open for what is called an “on-site showcase selection” which means that students vote for who they’d like to see in that spot. More than 300 students voted, and they selected me! It was a GREAT honor to get the vote and I really appreciate the support of everyone.

I performed three excerpts from my hour show, including “Seeing Into the Future,” “The Money Trick,” and “Stars.” I really enjoyed it, but the 15 minute showcase went by in the blink of an eye!

Thanks again for voting for me!!! I should have some video of the showcase highlights up soon, so check back next week for that!

Next weekend, I’ll be showcasing at the NACA Northeast Regional Conference in Hartford, CT!