Magical Monday --- A Show in the 'Hood'

When I first moved to Pittsburgh, obviously I didn't know very much about the different parts of the city other than the community I first moved to. As my entertainment agent continued to book me for shows, I was always more concerned about how to get there rather than what the show was for, how many people would be there, etc. So one of my first shows (probably the 3rd or 4th) in Pittsburgh, I was asked to go to a kid's house near downtown.

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So as I am driving, I turn onto the street of the house I am going to perform at, and it is pretty evident that this probably isn't the safest neighborhood. The looks I got from the people in the street let me know that I didn't belong there, nor was I wanted.

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So I pull up to the kid's house and knock on the door. Some woman answers the door by barely opening it with the chain still locked. On the contract I had the father's name, so I asked if he was available. She answered, "Who wanna know?". I told her I was a magician there to do a show for his child. Just then, the man pops up from hiding behind the couch laughing (not sure who he was hiding from?) and invited me in.

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So they escort me through the house and into the backyard. While I am setting up, all the neighbors are peering through their windows at me and people keep walking up and down the street trying to figure out exactly who I am and what's going on. When the show starts, the kid I was there for along with 3 of his cousins sat right in front of me...his mom, dad, aunt, uncle, and grandma sat back at the house watching from the porch.

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About 2 minutes into the show a handful of other kids show up and sit down. Then a group of about 15 teenagers. Then a group of 10 adults. As the show went on, more and more people from this neighborhood kept piling in. And they loved it! You could tell this was clearly nothing they were used to experiencing (unlike several suburban shows where they see a magician every time they go to a birthday party). I'm not sure I've had another crowd cheer so loud and have so much fun. In the end, I would estimate there were close to 200 people there.

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As I mentioned in the beginning, when I first moved to Pittsburgh I didn't ask what type of event I was going to perform at...only how to get there. I assumed this one was the child's birthday. It's probably a good thing I didn't ask before hand (as I may have turned down what turned out to be one of the best shows!). So what was this event for? Afterward, I found out that the child's brother (who was only 11) was shot and killed by standing in the wrong place during a drug deal gone bad. It happened right out front of the house as they were playing together. When the United Way came to help, the kid said all he wanted was a magician to come to his house. Hopefully he still remembers that day as well as I do!