Stripping
During the close-up competition one of the contestants walks out and starts talking about how some guy on 6th Street asked him to take off his shirt. Naturally he did what the man asked and he "kind of liked it." The contestant then asked an older lady to assist him, making sure to give her big hugs and be all different levels of creepy.
The one thing that did redeem his insanity for me was that at one point he gave me a genuine laugh: He was doing a card trick and was trying to find the lady's card. The card he wound up finding was one that said "meet me in room 215 after the show." He then made a big spectacle out of being embarassed and apologizing. It was hilarious.
To make all of this better, he had a thick Austrian or Dutch (yes I know, they aren't the same) accent that made everything he said sound a little strange.
Needless to say, he lost the competition. Something about him being too suggestive.
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| Like this, but without a shirt |
Beer
Suit and I walked into the room where the Stars of Close-up show and lecture was going to be held. Since we had just got done watching the close-up competition, we obviously needed some sort of alcohol. It being 11 in the morning, we decided to start with a few Shiners.
Now as soon as we walk in and start drinking our beers, a voice comes over the loud speaker. "I'd like to remind everyone that there is no food or drinks allowed in the lecture halls." In one deft and unplanned move, Suit and I both simply let our beers fall into the inner pockets of our jackets and sit down. A few moments go by and we decide to go outside, finish our beers, and then come back.
As we walk out the door this guy is rushing towards the lecture hall, obviously a bit flustered.
"Oh a beer! Can I have just a sip? No, no. I should get my own, right? I should get one. But I have to be on stage first! Should I get one?"
So Suit and I do the only thing you can do in that situation and feel good about yourself later: we told him to go get a beer. We followed him to the bar and they were out of Fat Tire, so he looks at us.
"Hey what have you got? Is it good? I'll have one of those." Didn't wait for a response at all, got his Shiner and *ran* to the lecture hall while drinking it.
I looked over at Suit and said: "That's who we're going to be."
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| Actually, this is who we're going to be. |
More Beer
I told you that story to tell you this one. After the lecture, we were hanging out with Chad (the guy from the last story) and he kept laughing about Suit and I having beers the entire time. Fast forward to the next day and Suit ran into Chad (while drinking a Shiner of course) and Chad couldn't get over the fact that Suit had another beer. He thought it was great.
So when I go to see the close-up show that Chad's in, I made sure to have a Shiner with me. After the show, Clay, Stucky, and I walked over to talk to Chad (Shiner bottle in my hand) and Chad looked at me and started laughing.
"That's great. Just great," he said smiling. "So...what the hell is that?!?!" He looked over at Clay who had a cream soda bottle. Chad was appaled. He was shocked. He didn't understand.
"Don't worry, Chad," I said. "That's not Suitcase."
He was quite relieved.
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| Stare into the face of evil! |
Don't Stop Learning
One of the most awesome things about the convention this year was that Jeff McBride was there lecturing (and performing!!!!!!!). Getting to meet him and see him perform was beyond amazing. He really takes magic to a whole new level. Even just being around him was inspiring!
During the President's Party (think after-party) we were waiting for the shows to start, and Jeff McBride is wandering around the lecture hall blowing plastic bubbles and getting everyone to do the wave! I've never seen so many people over 30 get so excited about bubbles. There are bubbles floating everywhere, people with cards doing things and everyone laughing and having fun when Clay looks at me and says
"Isn't this what you'd expect a magic convention to be?" He was right, we were being stereotypical goofballs.
But the real point of this story is that in every lecture that Jeff McBride was at (which was all of them) he always sat there with an open notebook just writing down notes. Jeff McBride, one of the best magicians in the world, took notes at every lecture. It was an amazingly humbling thing to see.
No matter who you are, you can always learn something new.
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| This man still takes notes. You should too. Now the masks are diamonds. |
I'm sure there are several other amazing and funny stories, but those are the ones that come to mind immediately. If you have a story from the convention, or have more to add to these stories, please drop them in the comments.
~Cameron Rivers, Kings To You Magic
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