Thursday, January 28, 2010

Escape Magic



One of the very first books I ever read on magic was about Houdini. I fell in love with escape magic early on in life, although mom was not very keen on her 9 year old playing with ropes and handcuffs. Dad on the other hand was the one who would tie me up when I asked. It would sometimes take him 25 minutes to tie me up with 100 feet of rope and I would hop into the bathroom and escape in as little time as 2 minutes; he got tired of this game way before I did. The hard part about escapes, especially as a kid, is getting someone to tie you up(you can't tie yourself up)and a lot of practice is what is needed. Now I am able to play not only with rope but chains, antique handcuffs, regulation police handcuffs, thumbcuffs, neck restraints, straight jackets and more. Now, it is not hard to get volunteers to tie me up at each & every illusion show because they can't wait to see if I can get out. To see me escape from a straight jacket suspended upside down 4 stories above the ground check out youtube.com and search Wes Iseli.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Church Shows / Gospel Magic


Natalie & I are both Christians and as a magician I have run into people who think magic is evil. I have studied magic since I was seven years old and I have never seen anything done that could not be duplicated by either a magician or man. What we do on stage is entertainment, not evil. As a member of an organization called The Fellowship of Christian Magicians I have promised to use my gift as an entertainer and magician to spread the word whenever I can. We actually have gospel themed magic we can perform during church events with themes that involve "Everyone is the same in God's eyes," "If you choose the love of money over God you end up with nothing" & more. Natalie & I perform at churches all over entertaining and educating. We have performed during church services & Sunday school and at open houses, pot luck dinners, Easter celebrations, Harvest & other holiday parties, first communion parties, baptism parties, & much, much more. Remember us the next time your church is looking for a new fun way to get the word out.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Virginia Living TV Appearance, Take 2


Natalie & I were asked to perform our magic at the Virginia Living Television studio in Culpeper yesterday. This is our second time being interviewed by Virginia Living Television. This time we were asked to bring an illusion, some close up magic, and they also informed us that we would have another interview portion. We got to the location around 7:00 pm and got the illusion put together and waited around about 15 minutes while they finished up taping another segment. Then we were introduced to the staff and Natalie & I taped the Illusion first. It seemed out of context when you do it in an event like this because the set up for the illusion is missing, but it turned out great. Then we filmed the interview portion which was supposed to last only 12 minutes but it went on for 30 minutes, I think because every one was having so much fun. They told us they like to do one straight take but with 30 minutes of footage I assume it will end up being 2 segments. Afterward, everyone on the crew was very complimentary of us and they told us how much they enjoyed us and wanted us back soon. We talked about working on the road and magic for a while longer, then we packed up our sound system and the illusion and headed home. We left the studio around 10:00 pm. Natalie & I both had a great time.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Starting off 2010


This new year is starting off great! We have so many wonderful things in store for 2010. Natalie & I are definitely getting our names out because for the first time in my career I have as of today 107 shows already booked throughout the new year, which is an amazing head start. Natalie & I are now working on a new illusion show and I'm figuring out the logistics and a location for an underwater escape to be performed sometime this year. One thing I can promise you is that 2010 will have a lot of surprises, twists, and turns along the way.