Just like every other art form, magic brings all sorts of people together from different sorts of interests and skill sets, much of the joy of this adventure was learning about people in road trip like circumstances.
BUT we'll start from the beginning ^^
Friday I met Greg Wilson at 845 Am to pick up the truck from the rental place. It was nice! it was a Ford 650 double cab, and the trailer was near container sized. So we had plenty of room, comfort, horse power, and trailer wise we didn't have to take down props to transport them, that's a big time saver.
After picking up the truck we went to the Wilson's warehouse and me and bob one of his long time helping people loaded up the truck, it took a few hours, and then I was done for the day.
After returning home I felt a little under the weather, so I took a nap. I awoke around 5pm feeling worse... So I left my room to go eat... Ended up eating at the CSUN living area Cafeteria Geronimo's ... got there just before 7pm and grabbed some chow and talked to my mom on the phone about CSUN and the upcoming weekend for a bit.
Food helped but I was still feeling it... Went back to my room, watched an episode of Master chef on hulu and hit the hay around 10pm... then around 11pm... the parties start. It's the first friday on campus, of course there is going to be parties. The noise was pretty ridiculous, it wasn't music it was just people talking right out my window, and I swear there was a 3 hour long tumbling routine going on upstairs. I did get one laugh in, I swear some one fell down the stairs at like 3am.
Any who the next morning I had to be up by 5am, and at the ware house by like 6am... luckily I can pull that off though.
AND I did, I made it and I met up with the cast and Crew!
Included in our cast:
Greg Wilson, host of the two shows and our magician.
Bob Marino, professional musician and teacher by profession, but for this gig he would be our sound, and lights, and liaison to the theaters we would visit.
Oscar, I can't spell his last name, but be an assistant on stage and would be our leading guy back stage, and driver for the journey.
Emilie Livingston, gold medal winner in Pan Am Olympic Gymnastics and professional dancer, she would be our primary assistant and box jumper through out the show.
Tera Strand, Graphic artist and professional cos play model, she would be also assisting in our show.
(Also along for the ride was Iako, Greg's wife)
Also booked for out show:
Darik: I didn't get a chance to talk to him, but he has traveled tho world doing what he does. Comedy, Juggling, step, and unicycling. I didnt get a chance to watch his show from the front, but I definately heard a lot of laughs.
Chipper Lowell: I met Chip last year at Great America, he's a wonderful guy and a comedy magician who has put him self a great act together.
Back to the action here, this was my house during the day for Saturday and Sunday... Sexy right?
This was the venue in Bakersfield. Amazing! apparently it's the biggest public theater in the entire state of California. The tech team there to greet us were actually 8 girls and one boy all from the theater department of the local high school.
They were a big help, and to me it's always inspiring to see young people so driven, and have such an understanding of tech.
Through out this show I had some costume changes.
Here was part of one of them, Bell hop, before I discovered the hat.
Here was another, the light flashy trench coat of excalabur.
The show went on with no glitches, and no one got hurt. I also got to help out Chipper Lowell with his show, which added to the comedy of his show.
After the show, packing back up and saying our good byes we said good bye to the team at the theater, we drove from Bakersfield to Kettleman city to meet up at Harris Ranch for dinner.
Yes that is a 302 Mustang, sexy new mustang... oh ya, and Harris Ranch.
Here is our team at dinner... Im sorry the picture was blury, I was going for candid and ninja not high quality photographer dude.
After Eating at Harris we got back on the road. I was the Navigator on this one... and fyi I do have an odd way of getting around. I took every one from 5 to 101 to 152 to 680.... and pause here!
I took us from 680 to 880 through Milpitas. And yes I was literally less than an eighth of a mile from my home. Talk about an odd experience. There was this feeling of nervous anticipation that rose and rose the closer I got to my home... then when we got off the freeway going towards 880 instead of my house, there was this feeling of sadness. Very odd and surreal, that I would have the feeling of excitement of going home appear and disappear in moments, and then the feeling of excitement for the rest of my trip would return soon after.
Any way we stayed the night in Union City.
Next morning we were on the road by 830, and got to Castle Rock school's newly refirbished performing art's center by 9am.
Here's the theater, a very different venue than the one in Bakersfield.
We also had a team of helpers in Oakland from the theater, they were very different than the one in Bakersfield... none the less we appreciated them being there.
Show once again goes well, we close up shop, take some photos and say our good byes, and we are back on the road by 3:30pm.
Here is me with Bob Marino, quick side note, he has worked with Harry Blackstone, and Jerry Lewis as a musician and a composer... not only famous, but a great guy.
Here is Oscar! he really a big back bone in our production, he keeps me motivated and I consider him my friend.
Emilie! She's great a true talent and professional...has also met Wayne Gretzky... Im Jealous
Tera! She has a great ethic and work attitude... also super cool and can really strike a conversation.
Any who we return to the LA area (still weird for me to say) around 10 15, most of us say our good byes and then Oscar and I get right to unloading the truck. I get Oscar to his car by 2, and we go our separate ways.
I drove back to where I thought my place was... and then my GPS started acting super weird, sending me in a random direction, and then I'd travel for a long time and then realize the reception to my GPS's satellite is gone, then Id get back on what ever free way I could find and start heading in the right direction, then my GPS would get me to turn around, then stop working again.
Long story short I ended up about 10 miles from my place... I stopped using my GPS and started using my instincts... I returned to my place around 315 am WOO!!!
Long trip, but wonderful life experience that I loved getting!
Wow, you packed a lot in a weekend. Great commentary and pics...keep them coming.
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