By Jonathan Cribb, Intern
It was a hot and beautiful Thursday afternoon at Glenvar Public Library, so why were so many kids and parents inside?
The audience gathered to see professional magician Wes Iseli perform a magic show for free. The event was to promote the library’s summer reading program for kids. And promote he did.
Iseli spent time talking about when he first wanted to be a magician and scrambled to the library to find books on magic and magic tricks, only to find a couple.
“I thought for a while that those were the only books available, and then a friend came to me when I was 19 and told me that magic is the third most written about subject in the late 19th century,” he said. “So now I spend four hours a night catching up on the reading I missed, but you don’t have to do that. You can talk to the people at the library to find any book you want.”
Along with his lecture on reading, Iseli performed magic to a captivated audience, which consisted of fans from 1 to 60 years old. He performed sleight of hand card tricks, disappearing acts, some pyrotechnics, and acts with a rabbit named Lucky and a Dove named Broadway.
Iseli used members of the audience as his best tool to create an atmosphere of wonder. Children of all ages scrambled to get their hand up to be called to the stage to be a volunteer. But Iseli had two assitants that he could always count on: his daughter Lana and his wife Natalie. Both performed magic tricks of their own and Lana had clear showmanship as the event continued.
“It’s a family event and we try to promote that,” Natalie Iseli said. “Lana has been doing this since she was four days old.”
It was clear to see that they enjoyed touring together as they traveled from one place to the next doing magic, even doing work on a television show The Carbonaro Effect on TruTV. The family even does 24-hour magic show to raise money for Children’s Miracle Network.
But for now, they move on to their next show happy as can be.
To learn more Glenvar Public Library events, visit http://www.roanokecountyva.gov/library and select the Glenvar branch.
