The audience, the stage,
the lights, the time,
the anticipation, the murmuration,
the feeling in the air
as the lights begin to fade…
and then the Magician appears
into a white spot-light of illumination –
all eyes are looking at him,
he has everyone in a trance,
the Showman begins to tell his story,
and the music starts to play,
as the Mentalist leads us all
in an unforgettable and tremendous dance.

The Showman is a true master of his art;
the Magician is a true wizard of his magic;
the Mentalist has so much to think about
and has to be ten steps ahead of his audiences;
the Storyteller is weaving together
and telling a tale to everybody,
but he is also having to adapt
to the seemingly random choices and responses
of his ticket-paying gathering –
however, every second, the Conjuror
is undoubtedly in control:
he never once shows any sign of nerves,
stage-fright, or not knowing what is happening
and what is going to happen –
because they know that things are playing out
just as they predicted they would,
and everything and everybody
is following their blueprint for the night,
and the pieces of the puzzle
that they have laid out and fragmented deliberately
are coming together according to their plan
and their pattern.

The Showman asks his audience for their trust,
and as a member of their audience,
and because you want to be
under the Magician’s spell as much as possible,
and for as long as you can,
you not only want to give the Mentalist your full-attention,
but you also want to give them
your cooperation and participation.

Being in the audience of a true Showman is a gift;
being there when the lights go down, and the show begins,
is magical in and of itself;
being hypnotized and entranced
literally gives people a lift;
listening intently to the Mentalist’s incantations,
and willingly going on a journey to another place,
and feeling as if you are in a different state of being –
as if you are dreaming;
when you leave the theatre, after the show has ended,
figuring out what happened, and when,
is sometimes hard to recount and tell.

Every second of the Magicians performance is amazing;
every colour, every word, is precise and meaningful;
every person selected at random from the audience
and who gets to tread the boards of the stage
with the Mentalist has an unforgettable experience;
every sound, every visual,
is fascinating and electrifying;
every time the Magician comes into the audience
and literally overcomes people
with their touch and presence,
being so close, is phenomenal;
every act, after the fact,
feels like it happened in a flash –
even at the interval of the show,
you can’t believe that the time
you have been in your seat in the theatre
has gone by so fast.

At the end of the show,
when the performer comes back onto the stage
to take a bow and enjoy a rousing
and roaring standing-ovation,
the Conjuror, the Magician, the Mentalist,
leaves the stage – but then reappears
to connect the dots back to the first thoughts
that they had verbalized,
the first pieces of the puzzle:
and when they reveal the true message
that makes everything that has come before,
everything they have shown and demonstrated –
like a conductor of music
with an audience of instruments
in front of them and under their power –
everybody feels something profound,
and when the artist, the star, the entertainer,
the virtuoso leaves the stage for the last and final time
the cheers and the response is electric –
and, in truth, you don’t want the magic to ever end.

When the show is over,
and you, the audience,
have to leave the theatre,
everyone is awash with great and magnificent emotions –
and as they walk away,
everybody cannot wait until the next time
they are in the audience, and can be a witness,
to the entrancing showmanship
of the remarkable Showman.