Staff Writer
It was a magical evening for those who filled nearly every available seat in the Caribou Performing Arts Center Oct. 23, as “Marko, the Magician,” once again thrilled the very young and not so young with his repertoire of magic tricks and hypnotism.
“Just follow the directions,” said Marko the Magician, but regardless the results weren’t what they were supposed to be with these two young magic enthusiasts.
Sponsored by the Caribou Fire and Ambulance Department’s volunteer members, ‘Marko,” aka Mark Gagnon, proved once again to be a successful fund-raiser, with his slight of hand and constant commentary, drawing continuous laughter from his audience, Marko, presented one magic trick after another, each time requesting youth from the audience to join him on stage, to help with each of his thought-provoking magic tricks.
While the first half of the evening’s show was devoted to card tricks, making items appear and disappear and moving items from one place to another, it was the highly anticipated second part of the show that captures the audience and at times creates a most hysterical scene — the hypnotism.
“I will not ask you to do or say anything that would embarrass you or that would be in poor taste,” stated the master magician, as a large number of what was, this time, mostly teenagers, eagerly approached the stage and took a seat, allowing themselves to be hypnotized.
Again, with his steady comments and commands, Marko the Magician induced these participants into a restful sleep during which when awakened they became race car drivers, Elvis, and dancers; they carefully held pet rabbits, spoke Martian and claimed each other’s shoes as their own. At one point they found their feet seemed glued to the floor while another time found them reacting to a very sad movie then laughing hysterically.
Once again community members could be heard commenting while leaving CPAC how great it is that the CFD members sponsor this event each fall. Prior to the beginning of Saturday evening’s show, one could readily overhear any number of kids and adults stating that they never miss Marko’s show.
Caribou Volunteer Firefighter Capt. Jim Mockler was master of ceremonies for the magical evening.
Right, Caribou Firefighter Capt. Jim Mockler welcomed the full house in attendance to see, “Marko the Magician,” at CPAC Oct. 23. The returning Caribou native and his magic show was sponsored by the volunteer firefighters.
The Magician’s assistant.
Under the hypnotic spell of Marko the Magician these teenagers were a bit hit during the recent magic show. The hypnotism portion of the magic show never encounters a lack of volunteers.
Marko the Magician ran into a few skeptics during his performance Saturday evening at CPAC.
Dance as if nobody is watching. As a final act in the hypnotism program, teens received the suggestions that they were the best dancers around. The group were led through a variety of actions during Marko the Magician’s show held recently at CPAC sponsored by the Caribou Volunteer Firefighters. The eager participants found themselves, laughing, crying, sleeping, unable to bend their arms and legs and unable to get out of their chairs. They even believed they could yodel.
What’s a magic show without a little bit of ESP? Marko the Magician surprised these two audience members along with the rest, revealing he knew beforehand which color paper they would choose.
In the true manner of Harry Houdini, Marko the Magician allows himself to be handcuffed by a member of the audience.
Marko the Magician was upstaged by the magical ways of this young audience participant as she wasn’t sure if she cared to show the card she had selected.
