I’d like to tell you a story, but you need to know 2 things first:
My brother was, at one time, very much into performing magic. We had an uncle who was into magic and my brother inherited all his old stuff.
My parents had a trailer and we went camping almost every weekend that the weather was half-way decent.
Okay, that’s the setup, here’s the story. It was determined that the camper’s (that’s the group of people we regularly camped with) were going to have a talent show one of the weekends we were camping. Naturally, my my brother threw his bunny-infested-hat into the ring and ‘volunteered’ me to be his assistant.
At that time, David Copperfield was the showman of the hour and one of the devices he used was a magic trick set to music. My brother being a showman, naturally we had to emulate that as well.
But what music to use?
Well, that’s how I was reminded of this little story. This particular song came up on iTunes this evening for me. We used Herb Alpert’s “Rise”.
We practiced and practiced until the work practice had lost all meaning. The song is 7 minutes, 37 seconds long so it was not easy to like the song at one point. I was so tired of hearing it.
“We’ve got the routine down”, I’d say.
“Let’s practice it one more time” was his reply.
So the weekend came for the talent show. My brother loaded all his magic equipment into his car and drove it to the campground (something he’d never done before).
Uh-oh… controversy!
It appears they may not be holding the talent show due to lack of the number of people entering. Cancelled due to lack of interest, I suppose.
“No problem” says my brother “tell them there’ll be a magic show tonight”.
So the night fell and the campfire was lit. I recall some floodlights being hung from trees toward the back of the group that washed out almost everything but were good for us so that everyone could see.
My brother had backed his car into the area so we could easily get at the tricks because most of them needed to be out of sight before they were shown. So I was wedged between his hatchback and a table while he performed the tricks.
The music started. The audience was enraptured. Every trick went off without a hitch. Applause was heard. As soon as the trick was done I stashed it in the back of his car due to the inevitable question “Can I see that trick again?”.
As soon as the show was over, all tricks were away and my older brother drove his car back to where our camper was parked so that no questions could be asked.
It took me a few years before I could listen to that song.
So that’s the memory attached to Herb Alpert’s “Rise”.
My brother was, at one time, very much into performing magic. We had an uncle who was into magic and my brother inherited all his old stuff.
My parents had a trailer and we went camping almost every weekend that the weather was half-way decent.
Okay, that’s the setup, here’s the story. It was determined that the camper’s (that’s the group of people we regularly camped with) were going to have a talent show one of the weekends we were camping. Naturally, my my brother threw his bunny-infested-hat into the ring and ‘volunteered’ me to be his assistant.
At that time, David Copperfield was the showman of the hour and one of the devices he used was a magic trick set to music. My brother being a showman, naturally we had to emulate that as well.
But what music to use?
Well, that’s how I was reminded of this little story. This particular song came up on iTunes this evening for me. We used Herb Alpert’s “Rise”.
We practiced and practiced until the work practice had lost all meaning. The song is 7 minutes, 37 seconds long so it was not easy to like the song at one point. I was so tired of hearing it.
“We’ve got the routine down”, I’d say.
“Let’s practice it one more time” was his reply.
So the weekend came for the talent show. My brother loaded all his magic equipment into his car and drove it to the campground (something he’d never done before).
Uh-oh… controversy!
It appears they may not be holding the talent show due to lack of the number of people entering. Cancelled due to lack of interest, I suppose.
“No problem” says my brother “tell them there’ll be a magic show tonight”.
So the night fell and the campfire was lit. I recall some floodlights being hung from trees toward the back of the group that washed out almost everything but were good for us so that everyone could see.
My brother had backed his car into the area so we could easily get at the tricks because most of them needed to be out of sight before they were shown. So I was wedged between his hatchback and a table while he performed the tricks.
The music started. The audience was enraptured. Every trick went off without a hitch. Applause was heard. As soon as the trick was done I stashed it in the back of his car due to the inevitable question “Can I see that trick again?”.
As soon as the show was over, all tricks were away and my older brother drove his car back to where our camper was parked so that no questions could be asked.
It took me a few years before I could listen to that song.
So that’s the memory attached to Herb Alpert’s “Rise”.