Underprivileged children were the guests of honour as a magic show cast its spell with grand illusions, dancing and comedy at Federation University’s Founders Hall on Wednesday.
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International Entertainment’s The World Festival of Magic is a variety magic show where all tickets are sponsored by local businesses and distributed to community groups.
The Lions Club of Ballarat is the host organisation for Ballarat, with money from ticket sales donated to charity.
One of the show’s stars Michael Boyd said magic was in the family, with his great grandfather and grandfather both travelling showmen.
“My grandfather was a magician so he passed on those secrets and I was hooked,” he said. “But the illusions performed these days are very different to then, they’re more high tech, fast-paced, with amazing costumes and choreography.”
While Boyd has performed all over the world, the show marks his 10th year performing with the company in Ballarat.
“It provides underprivileged children with the opportunity to see a live show and bring magic into lives to help them forget their daily troubles and let them live in the world of fantasy,” Boyd said.
“For a lot of them, it’s their first time they’ve ever seen a theater show, so just seeing the lights and the smoke, and hearing the music already is exciting for them let alone all the big illusions.”
Boyd said one of the best things about being a performer was seeing the children’s reactions.
“They just are really wowed by the magic and they still believe you can disappear and reappear and you can float,” he said.
“But it is also fun to see adults turn back into children and relive their childhood.”
The Lions Club of Ballarat’s Trevor Petrie said while the SES and Lions Club would receive a percentage of ticket sales, the 3BA Christmas Appeal was the major beneficiary.
“Peter Caligari and 3BA do a magnificent job and we’re really proud to be part of that,” he said. “We get a kick out of doing this each year, together with other things such as selling Christmas cakes and raffle tickets, and some of the people that benefit are some of the people you’ll see here (at the show).”
The magic show is on a two-month tour around Australia and held two performances in Ballarat.