VAUDHowdy! Happy Spring....

 

I don't know if the weather where you are is showing any hint of spring but I write this with my smartphone's weather-ap warning me of flood warnings in our area.   The dam here in town has had to release water several times over the past few days and the forecast calls for more cold rain for at least another week.  Makes it hard to practice the trapeze and tightrope when they are out in the elements.  But I'm not complaining. Things could be worse....
  
  
Japan-

 

Midori and Misato Join the KFMC for the Japan Fundraiser
Midori and Misato to help with Fundraiser Show for Japan
I don't know how many of you know that my wife, Mami, is from Japan and two of our seven kids (Princess Cynthia and Indiana Miles) were born there. We are fortunate that her family is located in southern Japan and are doing well.  In fact, they tell us they feel guilty because life in Osaka is "normal" as though nothing in the world has happened when just a couple hundred miles north there is pure hellish devistation.  We were living in Japan at the time of the Kobe Quake back in the 90s.  We are not rescue workers, doctors, or experts in affairs that could help with rescue or rebuilding but we were and are performers so we produced a fundraiser show to raise money for the victims.  That gave us the idea to do the same thing here for the Miyagi-ken (that's the prefecture in Northern Japan that you have been seeing on the news) .  On April 2nd at 6:30 PM the Kent Family Magic Circus with special guest performers from Japan will perform a benefit show at the CSU Chico BMU Theater.  Here is the link    http://www.chicojapan.org/Calendar.html .  
Tour now up to 13 states with several others in the pipe line.

 

WI, MI, OH, TN, KY, IA, CA, OK, VA, NY, MA, CT, TX   are the states we have booked at this time.  Not a record but if we can book a few more maybe we can break that record this year.   Though we have been doing shows over the colder months everyone in family agrees it's the long road tours that are the best.   It is amazing how much I don't miss being a home owner when I am on the road. And how much I hate it when I came back and realize the care takers didn't do as good a job taking care as I would've preferred. 
April 2 (morning show and second venue evening show), 5, 8-16
May 6-8
May 27-30
June 2-5
June 14-19
June 27-30
July 1-2
July 5-25
July 28-31
August 1-5
August 11-21
September 2-5

 

Victor Kent
Kent Family Illusion Show

 

The BMT has arrived

 

and the kids attack it like nobody's business.  The BMT is the "Big Metal Thing", a freestanding static trapeze needing now guy lines.   Not many venues can afford or does not have the space for the large flying trapeze.  So we had a custom made BMT made that allows the kids to present their "non-flying" routines on the trapeze.  It also allows us to add the dance lyra (a big metal hoop that artsy and aring stunts are
tr
Midori gives the lyra a whirl!
performed).  The weather has hampered their practice a bit but anytime a sliver of sunshine breaks through the are all over it.  For second generation circus they are more eager than I have seen multi-generational circus people go at it.  Our clients this year will be getting a real treat.   Two young college girls from Japan who will be performing with us for the Japan Fundraiser also have taken to the Lyra.   With a dance background and strong muscles they are naturals.
 
ol
Olivia on her customized smaller Lyra!
World's greatest Mom: 

 

titus
Mami and Titus on Stage
Some of you might be moms.  Well, I would like to introduce to you "Super Mom".  Her name is Mami Kent, born in Osaka, Japan 45 years ago I doubted her parents knew the significance of naming her Mami (pronounced mommy.)  She and fell in love with the English language as a child so her parents sent her to schools where she could learn to speak English.  From preschool to university she studied the language.  She won a scholarship from her university to go to America to study for a year.  It was during that year that we met at SF State University.  I knew by our second date that we would be married.  Two years later we were and on our honeymoon we conceived our first child.  Over the next 17 years we would have a total seven kids.  James (21), Cynthia (19), Miles (16), Titus (13, and disabled), Victor (9), Amelia (7),and Olivia (5). (It would had been nie kids but her last two pregnancies ended in miscarriages.) Mami is 45 and we live in California part of the time and Kentucky or the road the rest of the time.  We've been married 22 years!
  
If the shear number of kids alone isn't enough to qualify her for the title of greatest Mom then read on.
  
Our family performs a small magic-circus-vaudeville show that travels all over the US and sometimes ventures outside the borders. We most often perform at fairs and festivals but sometimes do theaters, churches, and the like.   At home she is already a superstar homeschooling two of the kids and taking care of our disabled son Titus who cannot walk nor talk (he has no fine motor control and is still in diapers)while running the household and taking care of the rest  of us.  Though the older kids help her so much with Titus and the household chores, it is our super mom that holds the family unit together and makes our house a home.  On tour she has to pack a smaller version of the house into our RV and manage to teach the kids, take care of Titus, and cook the meals.   Since I have to take care of the long drives, show setup and performances, not to mention the business end of it all so she manages the family and the domestic duties on the road. I shouldn't forget to mention that she even performs in the show.
  
To give you an idea of a typical day on the road I will elucidate.  We may pull into a town, find the venue, and start the show set up at what could be any time of the day.  Regardless, Mami takes charge of the family matters and gets Titus's diaper changed, and the little ones out of the way of the unloading.  She may be cooking a meal, finding a DVD for Titus to watch and doing a lesson plans for the kids all at once.  If someone gets a bump or bruise she is called in as a nurse at the same time.   If we are in a tight pinch for time she may even throw in with the older kids and I and help with the unloading and setup.   Then she makes sure everyone is fed and ready to go out on stage.  In the midst of all this she will get Titus into his costume ( we have even developed some fun routines for him) and herself into her costume.   Then she keeps Titus happy backstage (being disabled he sometimes doesn't have patience to just wait.)  The she meets her cue or Titus' cue, they do their routines and before you know it she is back into her smock either getting the next meal ready, lesson plan prepared, or taking Titus for a walk (she pushes him around the venue in his wheelchair) to keep him happy.  I mentioned the costumes.  You know she made many of the costumes and her and I both share the duties of seamstress when costumes tear or get damaged.  Mami also has an integral part of the show design and routine ideas. After the shows and bedtime approaches she gets the little ones ready for bed.  That is no simple task with Titus.  He is nearly the same height has her and is very strong. We all help her the best we can.  Converting the RV from daytime to nighttime use is always a task. Then, when all have been bedded down she finally takes time for herself.  She is often first to wake and last to bed. Super-woman; super mom!
  
I should mention her cooking here.  I know in today's modern world some women don't like to be defined by domestic deeds.  But Mami is one of the most creative fantastic cooks alive.  Being performers we sometimes have cold months, sometimes referred to as "famine" months.  During these lean times over the years she has learned to take $100 and turn it into a month of great meals.  It amazes me.   And her baking is out of this world.  I mentioned that by our second date I knew I was going to marry her.  On that date she gifted me a tin with nutcracker artwork on it ( it was near Christmas) filled with five different kinds of cookies, fancy cookies. It must have taken her hours to make. On top of that she backed me an apple pie from scratch.  The pie had a weaved crust with my name and a heart in raised crust.  She had cut out the letters and heart in crust doe and put them on the weaved curst! The way to my hear was definitely through  my stomach. ( A blessing and a curse. ) On each of the kids' birthdays she bakes each of them a special something.  For example, she makes my eldest daughter a jewelry box made completely out of homemade sugar cookies (like a gingerbread house) and inside the box with it's working lid she places rings, bracelets, and necklaces made out of cookies but looks like toy jewelry.  Another example is the cakes she makes for my second youngest.  Amelia is into piggies. So every year Mami makes a different unique Pig cake or giant pig cookie.   She somehow even manages to make these special confections while we are traveling using the tiny RV oven.  On top of the special deserts for their birthdays she also cooks them their favorite dishes for their birthdays.  Remember, seven kids, seven times a year (eight counting me) she bakes a special desert that often takes painstaking time and a special meal EVEN while on the road.
 
New Illusion:

 

New original Illusion.  If you like illusions you will love this new one. It was custom built for shows in South America. The first part is going to sound familiar but then it gets way out of control cool!  It starts off with the "Twister Illusion" ; that's where a person's head is twisted round and round and their body ends up wrung out.  Very visual.  The twist is here.  The magician removes the box containing  the  head and places it on a separate table...you can see under and around the table.  You see the girl or guy's head ...heck it can even talk to you. To prove it is really severed the box is moved around the table.   It's placed back on the box containing the body and then the untwisting begins.   But wait, in an instant the person has vanished an is now standing amongst the audience. The props are designed as though they are made of bamboo.  It's a beautiful prop and a great trick and is part of the 2011 season. 
 
The Move

 

  We announced we were moving to KY in January.  But the weather across the country has stopped the gargantuan trek in it's track several times.  Every date we set for the move ended up having major storms along our route. So we have had to come up with a new strategy.  We will be keeping the California house and buying a smaller home in Kentucky.  The property we are looking for will have a large workshop and storage room.  We will keep unit one there and unit two in California. We can flee weather and earthquakes whenever we see fit.  It also keeps our friends and family on both sides of the country happy.
Jim Turns 21

 

You may have met him at one of the conventions this year.  He was the guy wearing the red scarf balancing things on his face....anything and everything on his face.  Well, he can drink legally now.  But having relatives who have died or suffered greatly due to alcohol he is choosing not to.  One relative has less than 10% of her liver use left due to her inability to moderate. But thankfully family has intervened and saved her life.  Still, March 3rd  was a great day for Jim, but a scary one for me.  Victor Kent has two grown kids and one is 21. You know how hard that is to say, let alone believe.  And what did he get for his birthday.  What else? A very rare Egyptian scimitar for his juggling act.  
In This Issue
Japan
Tour Dates
The BMT is Here
World's Greatest Mom
New Illusion
The Move
Jugglin' Jim Turns 21
 
Offers to perform in Korea and Hong Kong.  Bitter sweet news here.  We had two offers to perform in Asia this year. Sadly we would have had to cancel all of our spring and summer gigs and upset all of our clients to do it.  The Kent Family does not do that.  In our history we have only had to cancel two shows.  Once, because the car broke down and the tow truck driver took 5 hours to find us. And second, due to a non-show related major injury the day before.  In both cases we honored the contracts later for free. We have an ethical code we just can't break.  Beyond that we have had inquiries from England, Canada, Switzerland, and others.  We will see how those pan out. We will have a Canada tour in 2012. 

 

KentFamily Magic Circus

888-867-7077

www.kentfamilymagiccircus.com