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.

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.

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.

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.

December video (Thimble Magic)

This is going to be a once a month feature on my blog. I will film a piece of magic and put it out on the internet and only here will you find the behind the scene story of the video.

This month I performed a thimble routine. This video was very spur of the moment. I have only been working with thimbles off and on for a little over a year and as I was playing with them while watching Christmas movies with Natalie while we were snowed in. After the movie, right before midnight, I found a piece of music that I thought was short and sweet for the thimble routine and I played with the routine for only about 10 minutes before asking Natalie to film it.

I think it turned out very well considering I only had a 1 minute song and 10 Minutes of practice.



I hope you enjoy!

Wes

Snowed in, December 2009

December is a very busy time of year for us with Christmas & holiday parties running the gambit; from huge extravagant events with caterers and ice sculptures to having a veggie plate and someone who drew the short straw to play Santa. We have lots of bookings not only with companies but also family reunions, lodges, and other organizations. Needless to say the weekends are our busiest times. Living in Central Virginia snow usually is not a factor until after Christmas. This year starting on Friday December 18th around 3pm - Saturday December 19th at 8pm we received a little over 2 feet of snow. Natalie & I were snowed in, we had 4 bookings for this weekend and all were rescheduled. Natalie & I just hung out watching Christmas movies, playing video games, and baking & eating cookies. We both shoveled so much snow it hurt to sit down or stand up. We finally were able to dig out on Monday afternoon once the roads were scraped, which was great timing because we were running out of groceries.

Giving back at Christmas

Natalie & I are so busy this time of year with company parties, family reunions, schools shows, private shows and more. In our spare time we get into the holiday spirit by doing our part to give back. This year we performed our 24 hour magic show to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network the day before Thanksgiving. We perform a free magic show for the Ronald McDonald house in Charlottesville each & every year. We purchase toys for the toys for tots program and we even pick a child from the angel tree program.

During the year we visit children's hospitals and nursing homes while we are on the road but we really step it up at Christmas time. The pictures above are of me performing at the University of Virginia Hospital children's ward for their Backstage Virginia television show that is broadcasted through the hospital and is taped in front of a live audience. We know we are truly blessed to be able to do what we love for a living. Even though our schedule is sometimes hectic, we know we are so lucky to be full time performers.

With the holiday season in full swing it can get very hectic. We all need to take time out to remember the reason for the season!