'The all-knowing Conjurer welcomes you' -- to the State Fair
Sep. 9—With the push of a button, a chime sounds and the Conjurer Fortune Machine comes to life.
"The all-knowing Conjurer welcomes you. Here is what I see for your future: Conjurer says use great caution with what you write on the internet, for it turns out Facebook posts sound a lot different when they're read out loud in court. Now take your fortune card and good luck in your future."
The young man who pressed the button smiles broadly, takes a fortune card that's passed through the glass window.
"I thought it was a machine at first, but when I got up close I knew he wasn't because I saw the hair on his arms," he says, walking away but still grinning.
A couple approach the box and the man presses the button. The Conjurer, with mechanical like movements and gestures tells them, "Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right. And the other person is the husband. Now take your fortune card and good luck in your future."
The couple walk away laughing.
It's Thursday, opening day at the 2022 New Mexico State Fair, and the Conjurer Fortune Machine is set up adjacent to the Petting Farm, on Main Street, at the end of the walkway from the west side entrance to the fair. By 1 p.m., the Main Street is packed with people enjoying the high-tech equipment and people in uniforms as part of Law Enforcement Appreciation Day.
Depending on personal tastes, visitors have plenty to choose from, including jugglers, stilt walkers, musicians, performing seals, animal displays, art exhibits, product presentations, midway rides and food — lots of food.
Many attended the annual opening day Unique Foods Contest. This year, six vendors at the fair offered a range of creations, from a sundae called the Unicorn Fart, to a Peanut Butter Carmel Apple Avalanche.
This year's winner was Gil Stewart, owner of the Native Cafe, for his Pueblo Meat Pie. It was Stewart's 11th year as a vendor in Indian Village, and his eighth year competing in the Unique Foods event.
Certainly, there was no shortage of curious fairgoers willing to push the button to "activate" the Conjurer Fortune Machine, whose name in reality is Robert Smith, an Albuquerque resident and graduate of Cibola High School with a degree in communications from Eastern New Mexico University.
He describes himself as an independent entertainer, and the Conjurer Fortune Machine, he says, "is inspired by the Zoltar Speaks machine in the (1988) movie 'Big.'"
Smith, who has been in the entertainment biz for 25 years, most of that time as a magician, said that about 10 years ago he was looking for a new act, "something that would stand out and was a little more unique in the fair market."
A friend suggested he recreate something like Zoltar Speaks, with Smith in the role of the fortune teller.
"I'm like, no, that sounds like the most ridiculous idea ever, but I took a chance on it and here I am 10 years later, after debuting it at the Ohio State Fair in July of 2012."
Prior to COVID, Smith was performing 400 shows a year at state and county fairs, conventions, trade shows, corporate events and other venues. Business is picking up again and he's up to 250 shows a year.
The act has changed over the years. Smith used to deliver more serious verbal fortunes and the fortune cards handed were more on the humorous side. "That wasn't resonating as well with people," he said, "so now I say something funny and leave it to the fortune cards to provide something more meaningful."
After 10 years, Smith has committed to memory an assortment of witty "fortunes," and as people approach the booth he quickly ascertains which witty fortune to provide. And he has something for everybody.
Seeing a teenage couple, the Conjurer Fortune Machine offers up this piece of advice to the boyfriend: "Use caution with whom you fall in love; for while love starts out grand, divorce starts out at 10 grand."
A younger child may hear "you can have anything you want in the world — so long as you clean your room and listen to our parents."
A father lifts his 16-month old daughter so she can push the button: "I see that in your future you will be taller."
While most people quickly catch on that the Conjurer Fortune Machine is not animatronic, there are plenty who get fooled, particularly during nighttime performances when the light from inside his box gives his skin a plastic-like appearance.
Smith offers up a more personal fortune: "My ultimate goal is one day to have a mold of my face made and used in real mechanical conjure machines. I'd have one in my living room so people can come in and be, like, 'That's really weird —that's you in a box.'"
