Writing this blog has been a fun opportunity to share my adventures as a working magician. It has been a full year since I have put up a blog entry. Since I have been unable to perform live, there just wasn’t much to write about. The era of Covid has been very difficult for everyone, but it hit live performers especially hard. For most of us, performing is not just a job, it is what we live for.
I have lost people I knew to Covid. Most notably, on April 28, 2020, Roy Horn of the Siegfried and Roy magic duo, died from complications resulting from Covid. Siegfried Fishbacher followed not long after, succumbing to pancreatic cancer on January 11, 2021.
It hit even closer to home. My nephew contracted it. He recovered. A close friend is in the hospital with a breakthrough case as I write this. This is not over.
I used to work in the CNN building, and would occasionally ride up the elevator with Larry King. We are both the types that talk in elevators, and we would typically gab on the way up. He was quite friendly. He died on Jan. 23, 2021 from sepsis resulting from Covid.
When my husband went into the hospital with severe sepsis at the height of the Covid crises here in Los Angeles, it was terrifying. I was not allowed to go in and see him. I had to wait to hear word while waiting outside on what was an extremely hot day. He is fine now, but the doctors said he was a couple of days away from dying if we had not brought him in. It was not caused by Covid. A mosquito bite got infected.
Others that we collectively “know” that we lost from Covid include Mary Ann (Dawn Wells), Darth Vader (David Proust), notorious murderer and music producer Phil Spector, Broadway Star Nic Cordova, Country music legend Charley Pride, actress Carol Sutton (Steel Magnolias), actor Mark Blum (Mozart in the Jungle) presidential candidate Herman Cain, acclaimed playwright Terrance McNally, and so many more, famous and not. It is estimated that the total death toll in the U.S. is actually closer to a million people.
I did do a few Zoom shows during Covid, but that is just not the same. My last shows were in February of 2020, and I did not do my first live show until July 2021. We did do some Santa and Mrs. Claus visits over Zoom, and they were fun, but nothing like being able to directly interact with the kids.
I eased into live performing. My very first show was not technically live. I performed it at the school the kids went to, but they were remote. I did magic over Zoom, and the kids could request the balloon animals they wanted, I made them live over Zoom, and they drove by to get them. It went well, but still, nothing is like having a live audience. More recent shows have been fully live, and a lot more fun for me.
I did get to do a Fourth of July event with a talented fellow balloon twister, Justeen Ward, pictured above with me. She has also been doing face painting for much longer than I have and we got together and she gave me a lot of great tips and pointers. She is a singer and in a musical group called the Honeylulus and does characters and so much more. She is quite talented and generous as a performer.
Now I look forward to shows where I can see the audience and their smiling faces live. I got vaccinated as soon as I could. For the sake of your family, friends, and yourself, please get vaccinated. It is the only way we can beat this horrific disease.