This Shocked Me!

As an entertainer, it is always my goal for my shows to go as smoothly as possible, but I get asked quite often, “what is the strangest thing that has ever happened on your stage?”

One memory that pops in my mind was during a show at JK’s Pumpkin Patch. I brought a volunteer up on stage for a trick, a boy around 5 years old. I introduced myself to him and found out his name and age, probably throwing in a few jokes to make him feel comfortable on stage. As we began the trick, I turned to him to have him do “his part” of the trick when something strange happened. Within seconds, all I saw was him sprinting back to his seat as fast as he possibly could.

Here I am, standing on stage in the middle of a volunteer-based trick with no volunteer. It definitely took me a second to realize what had happened. As I started to think through what I was going to do next, I noticed there was an older boy sitting next to my now, former volunteer. Even though I usually pick a younger audience member for this trick, I had to think quick and keep the trick going. I decided to bring boy’s teenage brother up on stage to fill in for his younger brother. Even though I was a bit thrown off, we performed the trick well and moved right along in the show.

Unfortunately, I never got the opportunity to ask the boy or his family what exactly happened on stage. I will always wonder if he got scared, was just shy, or changed his mind about being a volunteer. That moment, although very strange, was good practice for thinking on my feet. Even though my hope is that my show goes on without any hiccups, sometimes entertainers have to be spontaneous.