Students rewarded with magic show

The imaginations of Sisters Elementary School students were teased by the illusions and tricks of Mr. Magic last Thursday afternoon. The elementary school student body was treated to a special magic show as a thank you for all of the hard work students put into a three-week fund-raiser that will provide new play structures for the school's playground.

According to elementary school principal Jan Silberman, elementary school students worked extremely hard on the fund-raiser and were very deserving of the magic show. To enable the children to see Mr. Magic's tricks better, the student body was divided into two groups by age for two presentations.

Magician Roger Smith, AKA Mr. Magic, from Sunriver, has been entertaining children and adults alike with magic shows for almost 30 years.

"I started out obviously doing birthday parties a long time ago. Then, I started doing adult shows. I perform all over the area," Smith said. "I just got a booking last night with a funeral home for their Christmas party."

Some tricks are more suited to children than adults, and "the humor sometimes changes a little bit, depending upon whether it's adults or children and whether it's an event where people are drinking," said Smith. "Otherwise, magic is magic."

During his presentations Smith went to great lengths to involve elementary students, as well as their teachers, in his shows.

"We'll have adults today help, as well as some of the kids," he said. Three of the student helpers were the fund-raiser's top money earners: first place winner Andrew Stevens; second place money-raiser Cammi Benson; and third place winner Andrew Mayes.

Third grade teacher Craig Benton demonstrated the degree to which adults enjoy participating when he came on stage to assist Mr. Magic with a rope trick.

Getting people involved is what is fun about magic, Mr. Magic said.

"Obviously, it's fun to watch, but it's more fun when you get people to come up and help, and adults enjoy doing that," said Smith.

For a schedule of Smith's holiday magic shows and more information about his magic go to http://www.mandrgames.com.