Congratulations on the talent show and dropless routine! Your card magic is really good. I watched that queens trick many times over to try and catch your trick. your sleight of hand is insane.
I agree with you about modified not blowing up like it use to, maybe it's just that lag period between the fall and spring that dulls the spirit of the bag. I hope we are all just hibernating and honing our skills. By the time USO, Worlds and Euro's rolls around everyone will be back in the spirit of the game.
The snow here in Rochester has completely melted, the birds are chirping and the smell of Footbag lingers.
I can name one thing that we all get from Footbag for our hard work and that's a strong community. Wherever you roam footbaggers will be there to give you a couch to sleep on.
Enjoy California and your new job at Google, see you at Worlds.
Last night was my final show with my performing group. The Maryland crew and Mike Toolan drove 3 hours to see me perform - amazing. A good session followed. The 4 of them coming out means a ton. I am happy to have such great friends in footbag. The final ticket count was over 500.
The girl who wrote the above article is doing a follow up. She asked for my thoughts on the show. This is what I wrote to her, and I thought you might enjoy it.
Last night's show was a mix of ups and downs, as is every performance. There were times when I opened the curtains radiating all the confidence my body could muster, and there were times when some hiccups in the show pulled on the edges of my smile. Overall, I think we put on a good show for people and I think they enjoyed it, but I don't think I've ever walked out of a show thinking it was all perfect. Last night makes me want to do another show just because I know we can get it all down super smooth. I know that if the applause was strong last night it could only get stronger if we were more polished.
Last night, upon seeing my sagging shoulders after the show, my friend told me the performer is always the hardest on themselves, and that's probably why I was the one last night replaying the negatives instead of the positives. However, I feel that it is this "always striving for more" attitude that makes the group better. We do not revel in our successes but rather search for ways to make our show better from year to year. The worst part is that this time that process can't occur. I woke up and watched the tape from last night, stopping myself from writing down all the things we would change for next year. Because this time, there is no next show.
In general, we did end on a good note. I have to remember the audience doesn't know where you meant to stand, what you meant to say, and I think true professionalism radiates when mistakes turn into better things than you could've planned. I think the Out of Hand name is tied to memories of quality performances by local talent that doesn't just roll in for the night and leave. Our jokes about State College life and the University were not scribbled behind the curtain, but rather are just fabric samples of the lives that we have woven in this city for the past 4 years. I am not so sure about lasting impact, but for 2.5 hours we had people enjoying themselves.
My efforts here can be summed up in one story from last night. A kid in the lobby before the show ran up to me and wanted to show me a magic trick. He had seen me perform on the street and was so proud to show me his trick. I laughed as his empty hand produced a pile of 5 quarters, and his nervous shakes took me back to my first tricks for someone besides a mirror. If that kid gets into performing and has half the fun that I've had I consider all that I've done here worth it. If someone in the audience had a bad day and we took away their worry for just a little bit, it makes the practice worth it. If some kid sat there and said "hey, I could do that" - and then goes out and entertains others, then I'm happy to have helped ignite that spark.
The best part of it all is that 500 people came out and took a risk on a couple kids who like to do magic tricks and juggle. 500 people made me know that the hours of practice, hanging up flyers, and doing magic on the street were not for nothing. In a world where the world's best talent is a few clicks away people came out and saw it live. When the radio crackled backstage and I heard the theater manager say, "a line of 25 people - looks like we'll sell this out", I might have been the happiest kid in State College.
So at the end of the day, I owe it to the hundreds who took a risk on a couple students who wanted to share their art forms. There's some famous quote about people not remembering what you said or did, but how you made them feel. I hope that we made people feel like they were part of something last night. The applause may fade into the wooden walls of the theater but it still echoes in my life, giving me the courage to go out and share the hobbies that have made me who I am. And while the curtain may of closed on Out of Hand for now, I have a strange feeling that the stage lights will one day warm up once again.
The show was so awesome, Dave. Everyone loved the show. I am so glad that I was able to come and see it before you graduated. I can honestly say it was well worth the four hour drive!
That is awesome about the little kid. Way to inspire munchkins to do magic
Here is a routine from my State Theater show. This is mentalism (or like, mental magic). If you spend the 20 minutes watching please spend the 30 seconds messaging me about what you thought.
That last trick was ridiculous. The only way I can think that you did it was by preparing who would be on stage beforehand, but I doubt you did that.
The book tricks were great. The tricks were executed pretty fast, so I think it took a little of the shock and awe factor away, but still very impressive.
I wish I could have been there, it looked like a blast.
Here at Penn State University, where I go to school, there are many choices to fill the mandatory 3 credits of gym. You can perfect your breast stroke, fly fish in a nearby river, and even spend a week sailing. There are awesome courses like ultimate Frisbee and rock climbing, but these are reserved for the summer sessions of school which I never attended. Lastly, there are some interesting ones like yoga or tai chi, but the popularity of these courses means that they are filled before any normal first, second, or third year student can even dream of scheduling them.
There is a legendary class that echoes through the halls of penn state gymnasiums like a sweaty secret, placed on the course rosters of a lucky few. It’s a gym class with only about a hundred spots a semester, which is nothing in a school of 40,000. A class that some love and swear by and others limp out of daily, skipping it whenever they get the chance. Polls of seniors graduating rank it as one of the classes you “have to takeâ€
By the time USO, Worlds and Euro's rolls around everyone will be back in the spirit of the game.
