Comic magician Elliott Smith amazed and entertained an appreciative audience at the Aripeka Elks Lodge Saturday evening, Jan. 20. Approximately 100 people attended the one hour performance that was preceded by hors d’oeuvres, dessert and beverages.
Smith, who hails from Canada, has been performing his trademark brand of comic magic for over forty-three years.
“It all started when I saw my first magic show on television which starred the magician Mark Wilson. He touched and inspired me greatly. The spark was ignited, the dream began, the passion was kindled and the goal was set: I wanted to be a magician,” Smith states.
At the age of six, Elliott’s parents helped him reach his goal when they bought him a magic set for his birthday. He spent countless hours practicing, dreaming of someday becoming a full-time professional magician. He emulated the best – Houdini, Harry Blackstone, Senior and Junior and Doug Henning.
Smith’s performance on Saturday included the usual tricks with playing cards, pieces of rope and disappearing $20 bills. But he added comic twists to his feats of magic. These ranged from slightly risqué, such as doing a mock striptease, to slapstick, such as dancing around on stage in a tutu.
He also involved audience members in his show. He brought Patti Smith (no relation), a visitor from Delaware on stage to assist him in the “guess what card I picked” trick. Ms. Smith picked a card from a deck (the Ace of Clubs) and, with Elliott’s back turned, wrote the name of the card on a blackboard. She replaced the card in the deck. Elliott then proceeded to go around the room revealing cards that were hidden in various places such as under a chair. Each time it was the incorrect card. Then he started to do a strip tease. When he was down to his boxer shorts, he turned around and revealed the words “Ace of Clubs” appliquéd to the back of his shorts.
Another trick that amazed the audience required the assistance of Chick Anderson, of Hudson. Smith asked Anderson to lend him a $20 bill. Anderson folded the bill in half five times, handed the folded bill to Smith who magically changed it into a $100 bill and then “re-materialized” it back into a $20 note. But that wasn’t the end of the illusion. Smith had Anderson write the serial numbers of the bill on the chalkboard, then lit it on fire and it burned up. Later in the performance Smith opened up a small locked box revealing the same $20 bill, proving it by comparing serial numbers.
Linda Prescott of Spring Hill also got to participate in the show.
Mrs. Prescott commented, “I was excited to be up on the stage where I could observe the trick up close. Because I was close by, I could better observe his hand movements. I did not see or observe anything that indicated how he did the trick.”
“Elliott Smith is a master magician with amazing talent and performs unbelievable magic. While doing his tricks he made us laugh with many entertaining comedic antics,” said Mel Greene of Spring Hill, echoing the sentiments of the audience, in general.
The Aripeka Elks Lodge is an 861-member strong fraternal organization. The group holds private and public events, such as Saturday night’s magic show. Many of these are fundraisers to support various causes, such as homeless veterans, the Guardian Ad Litem program and the American Heart Association.
“We have dinners with dance music on Tuesday and Friday evenings, breakfast on the first and third Sundays, Bingo every Sunday and special shows monthly,” stated Mary Lavengood, Lodge Secretary.
Membership in the Aripeka Elks is open to anyone twenty-one years of age or older. Applications are available at the Lodge – 9135 Denton Avenue, Hudson.
To book Elliott Smith for a private, corporate or club performance or for more information call 727-231-1055 or email: info@seethemagic.com. You can also log onto www.seethemagic.com for more details.
To find out more about the Aripeka Elks Club call 727-868-2994 or email aripeka2520@tampabay.rr.com. Visit https://www.elks.org/lodges/ContactUs.cfm?LodgeNumber=2520 for lodge events and other details.