Performers wow crowds during first day of Abbott's Magic Get-Together
COLON – Street performers, stage shows and an all-around positive vibe helped get the 2023 Abbott’s Magic Get-Together off to a strong start Wednesday.
Standing-room-only audiences filled Abbott’s Magic Co. and – a few blocks away – Sterlini Magic Mfg. & Theater, for matinee shows. Meanwhile, performers such as Odd Cory & Juju, Jania Taylor and Captain Sean drew crowds outside various downtown locations for their respective street performances. Opening day was capped by the evening showcase stage show at Colon High School with a lineup consisting of Jeffery Jene, Steve Chezaday, Michael Trixx and Richard Hughes.
Byron Center resident Sarah Williams had the good fortune of scheduling her family’s summer vacation on Palmer Lake at the same time as the Get-Together. Williams said it was a nice surprise to find out the annual event was taking place during their stay.
“This was the only week my son doesn’t have football practice so we knew this would be our vacation week and when I started doing more research about a possible rental, it caught my eye that Colon is known as the Magic Capital of the World, so I thought that alone was kind of neat,” she said.
Williams said the family typically heads north for vacation but a decision to explore a different part of Michigan brought the family to St. Joseph County and their first-ever visit to Colon.
Williams’ daughter, 12-year-old Jasmine, was called up on stage to aid headliner Jay Blackwell with a trick during the matinee performance at Sterlini’s. She gingerly stood on the chest of Ashton Blackwell as he lay on a bed of nails. Both survived the feat, incidentally.
Sherwood resident Cheryl Proctor has attended previous Get-Togethers. Wednesday, however, was special because it marked her granddaughter’s first Get-Together.
The two were also at Sterlini’s, scoring front-row seats for Jay Blackwell’s show.
“My granddaughter likes magic and it’s not a far drive from Sherwood, so it was an easy decision what to do today,” Proctor said. “I like it because it’s not real expensive and everything is close together.”
Her granddaughter, 6-year-old Ellie Cole, provided a hand to Blackwell, who befuddled the youngster and the audience alike with a trick involving soft-foam balls.
Blackwell made some audience members cringe when he hammered an iron nail into – and later extracted from – his right nostril. As part of his “Human Blockhead” trick, Blackwell also used a power drill to drill a screw into his nostril.
Later, Blackwell threw knives toward an assistant, creating a 10-knife outline around where she had stood in front of a piece of plywood.
And for good measure, Blackwell concluded his act by eating fire.
The performer who goes by the stage name Odd Corey joined Blackwell on stage for a few eyebrow-raising tricks of his own. For example, he captivated the audience by sticking the 19-inch blade of a sword down his throat.
Afterward, he said spending the week in Colon is a good mix of work and play.
“I’ve been coming up here for years and I love Colon so much, nothing I do here feels like work to me,” he said. “I was born in Maryland and I live in New Orleans, but Colon is definitely a home for me.”
Odd Corey, in fact, said he recently bought property in Colon and eventually plans to build a place to live.
Abbott’s Magic Get-Together continues through Saturday. A full roster of events, times and location can be found online at: www.magicgettogether.com.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Performers wow crowds during first day of Abbott's Magic Get-Together
