Chapter 6.
Friday morning
I woke up around 9 a.m., Jennifer and Sally were still sleeping. We were going down for breakfast today, so I made myself a coffee from our suite coffee maker and sat on the balcony taking in the calmness and beauty of nature. It’s so quiet and peaceful out here. No traffic noise like you hear at other hotels; just birds chirping and squirrels running around.
I started thinking about Julie and her story. Jennifer and I were talking about her last night while we watched Sally at the Water Park. It seems like you think you have everything together, then in an instant, it all comes apart. Imagine living in an NYC apartment for one month and the next living in your car.
I often think about our own financial stability. What will happen if Jennifer gets sicker from the cancer and must miss work? I know I couldn’t afford to support all three of us from what I make on blogging. We didn’t have any savings and had to borrow money to make this trip. How will I pay the mortgage or the car payments? My eyes aren’t good, so there aren’t many jobs I can do to make more money and Sally is only 14.
As all of this starts to scare me, I quickly stop thinking about it and say to myself, “Don’t worry, everything will be okay. I have faith.”
But exactly who saved Julie and her family? Was it faith that she ran into Roy or was the interaction planned by good people helping others and Roy just happened to find Julie? If someone helps you out, are they blessed and thus sharing their blessings with you, or are they maybe just good people?
Jennifer joined me on the balcony with her cup of coffee. We talked for a while, and she said she didn’t feel right. I told her I would bring back a take-out box for her and to take it easy for the day.
I woke up Sally, and we went to breakfast, The Hungry Magician (buffet), of course. After eating and bringing food back for Jennifer, Sally and I changed and headed over to the Complex. We had reservations to see the magic show at Houdini’s Theater at 10:30.
We headed to the nearest Zipvator and proceeded to travel to the Complex. Oh, by the way. I forgot to mention the way to get back from the Complex. Each of our hotel’s Zipvator Stations has its’ own unique number. This is important to know when you go to the Hotel Family Zipvator Station at the Complex to come back. If you forget, it’s no big deal. You may just have to walk a little more to get to your suite.
Once we arrived at the Complex, we boarded the Circle Shuttle. This slower moving, but convenient form of transportation takes you around the perimeter of the State Fair and offers stunning views along the way. Each 20-passenger, roofless vehicle stops at each major platform of the Complex for on/off boarding: (The Welcome Center & Harmony Theater platform, Show Town & Dark Room platform, The Dark Room & State Fair platform, and the Continents & Show Town USA platform). It travels on top of all the buildings and runs continuously. The Show Town & Dark Room platform also hosts the Couples Hotel and Mayberry Town Zipvator Stations, where guests staying at the Couples Hotel or Mayberry Town travel back and forth to the Complex. Once you reach your stop, ours being Show Town & The Dark Room, you exit the vehicles and take the escalator down. This works the same way if you want to go from one end of the Complex to the other.
We entered Show Town and headed around the Comedy Co. building and passed The Journey Through Sports attraction, Authors’ Nook and The Broadway Theater to get to Houdini’s Theater, which is adjacent to The Hologram Theater. We walked up to the front of the Theater, which is sloped to provide guests with a better view of the Show Town parades that take place twice daily.
As we walked up the entrance to Houdini’s Theater, employees were verifying all the guests by using the finger scanners. They had six to seven lanes, and people were moving fast. I’ve been in theme parks where the finger and biometric scanners could be a little slow, due to guests having sunscreen lotion or oil or food grease on their fingers. Since everything at the WOE is enclosed, there is no sunscreen lotion, and this system was fast.
Once our fingers were scanned, we were handed a little piece of paper that printed on the machine, called a show receipt. It had our names, the name of the show we were seeing, and the row and seat number of where we were going to be seated on it. When you reserve a show, you also reserve a seat (unless seats are randomly selected), so we knew where we were sitting. Many people like that there is no VIP seating for any show, any time, even in the Harmony Theater. The seats and seating capacity are available first-come, first-taken when you reserve. Each Theater will show you a map of all their seats. You merely touch or click the ones you want. If there are any conflicts with seating once inside, the ushers have portable scanners and bar code readers to scan your finger or receipt to make sure you are supposed to be where you are now seated.
Since we were a little early, we were to stand in the show queue area where we were entertained by a magician performing close-up magic before the Theater doors opened. At 10:15 a.m., they’d let us into the Theater. The magician was working the waiting crowd, and cameras were showing the tricks on screens around the waiting queue area. Man, was he good! He came over to us and asked Sally to pick a card. She chose the four of spades. He said to her, “please write your name on the card,” which Sally did. Then he said, “Now, rip it up into tiny pieces.” She did. “Place the tiny pieces in this silk scarf and roll it up.” After Sally did this, he tucked the rolled-up silk in his balled-up hand, so that you couldn’t see it anymore. Then he asked Sally to blow on his hand. After she did this, he opened his hand, and the silk and card pieces were gone.
“Wow,” Sally said, “That was cool. Where’d they go?”
“It disappeared,” said the magician, “But watch!”
He pulled a new deck of cards out of his shirt pocket, unwrapped the plastic, shuffled them and then said to Sally, “Now, pick any card from the deck and look at it.”
Sally picked a random card and turned it around to look at it.
“Oh, my gosh! That’s my card!”
I couldn’t believe it myself. It was indeed the four of spades, and Sally’s name was on it. That was truly amazing! Everyone around us and those watching on the video screens applauded.
Now it was 10:15 and the doors opened. Remember, there are absolutely no cameras, videotaping, or pictures during the show. They discourage talking to others during the show for everyone’s enjoyment. Once they tell you to leave, that’s it. If you cause a scene, you may not be able to make a reservation in the future. They take this very seriously. Almost all these shows are broadcast on their closed-circuit channel, so you can watch them live in your suite.
The Show and the Showman
The time is 10:30 a.m., the live band started playing and our illusionist, Roger Minselli, started his show by riding a motorcycle on stage. He revved it up several times and rode it around the large stage for a minute, he then rode off into the audience on a portable ramp that was lowered into the middle aisle. He raced up the ramp until he reached the back of the theater. Then the female assistants brought a huge box on a portable stand onto the stage. After spinning it around a few times to show the audience there was nothing in the back, they took these long sticks and waved them around under the box and stand to show there were no mirrors under it as well. They then unlocked and lowered all the panels of the box and spun the box around again to show us there was nothing in the box either. They closed all the panels except one, which was facing the audience, the lowered panel made a ramp into the box. All of this was happening as the band played quick-tempo, upbeat music.
Once the box was ready for Mr. Minselli, he revved the engine loudly in the back of the Theater and took off toward the box opening at an incredible speed. He must have been going 30 mph. He raced down the ramp and up the stage and up into the box. He hit the back of the box, and the whole thing exploded! All the walls of the box had unlocked from the top and opened to the stage to reveal Mr. Minselli was gone! The assistants came back over to the box and spun the box once more and then snapped the panels back into place, so you couldn’t see inside. A hook was lowered and connected to the top of the box, which was then lifted into the air. The portable base was moved to the side. Several assistants walked around under the box to prove that there were no mirrors or false bottoms. Then the box that was lifted into the air was lit on fire. Within 20-seconds, the box was engulfed in flames. Another boom sounded, and again, the panels flew open, and Mr. Minselli took off out of the box on his motorcycle and rode around the stage. He got off the bike and took off his helmet, “Ladies and Gentlemen, please put your hands together and welcome Illusionist Mr. Minselli,” The announcer excitedly proclaimed.
What a start to what turned out to be a spectacular show. One hour later, we were all standing on our feet for over three consecutive minutes showing our appreciation and excitement. Honestly, I have never seen a show so unbelievable before. I couldn’t honestly tell how anything was done, and I practiced magic when I was a teenager and used to read about how the big illusions were done. I mean, this show was truly remarkable. The illusions, the music, the lights, the whole production!
As we all walked out of the theater, many guests wanted to visit and meet Mr. Minselli in an exclusive meet and greet area outside the Theater. Sally wanted to meet him since she loved magic so much, so we decided to wait. After about ten minutes, Mr. Minselli appeared in new clothing and started to shake hands and pose for pictures. There was a professional photographer there taking pictures, and you could get one for free. We just provided the assistant with our room number, and they sent the pictures of Sally and Mr. Minselli right to our account. After our picture, we waited around until the rest of the guests had met him. I then went up to him and told him again how he did a remarkable job. He thanked me and said he loved doing what he did. I asked him how long he’d been performing here at the WOE.
He said, “About three years now. I worked in Vegas for about ten years before this.”
I said, “Which do you like better? Here or Vegas?”
He said, “Here, by far!”
I explained that I was doing a ten-year anniversary, behind-the-scenes article about the WOE and wondered if he would be interested in an interview. He said, “Sure, I’d love to. Let’s go back to my dressing room and talk.”
After the assistant took down our personal information (for security reasons, I’m sure), we followed him through a private corridor that led backstage to his dressing room. There was another show for him starting at 12:30 p.m., but he had some time backstage to kill beforehand. So, we started talking about him and the show here.
“How long have you been an illusionist/magician?” I asked him.
He said, “About 25 years.”
“How has the magic career treated you?”
“Better now that I’m here. Much better.”
I asked him how so.
He said, “The entertainment business is very competitive and cut-throat. You must start out traveling around the country, playing in small venues, and staying in cheap motels. It’s the same as a band, comedian, or any other act. You have to get your name out there until you get a break.”
“A break? Like a steady gig?” I asked.
“Yes, someplace where you can stay for a while and make some money. A break may be to get on TV and get some name exposure. But even then, even if you perform at larger venues and make more money, the touring is relentless and exhausting. Most every entertainer would love to have a steady gig in the same place and not have to travel on a bus and stay at different hotels every night. In this business, even if you get a steady gig, you can be cut and thrown away, just so a business owner can save a few hundred dollars by hiring another act, or performer.”
He continued, “Once I got a steady show in Vegas, I thought I had it made. Thought I made the “big time.” But it doesn’t take long before someone else comes in and replaces you. If you don’t continue to buy new illusions and update your show, then you can become stale quick. I had five different employers in ten years. How do you get comfortable if you’re not sure you will even have a gig a year from now?”
Mr. Minselli continued, “The gigs become less desirable, and the pay becomes less each time I was hired by another casino. By my tenth year, I was living in a motel room and divorced. My wife left me because I couldn’t afford much of anything at that point and money was the focal point of all of our arguments. There’s so much competition, and you need money, so you’ll take almost anything. The casinos are always wanting to make more profit. Now, they want you to ‘rent’ the theater yourself and pay them. Imagine having to pay your own rent for a 1,200-seat theater? I mean, you’re now taking all the risks, and they’re just collecting a check from you.”
I asked him how he got here.
“Believe it or not, I ran into a talent scout for the WOE two weeks before my last contract ran out and no other gig was in place. His name was Jack Train. He approached me after my performance and handed me his card. He told me he had watched several of my shows and wanted to know if we could meet the next day for lunch and talk. I told him absolutely!”
A known fact is that the WOE accepts very few unsolicited audition tapes or requests for employment. They prefer to find you. They employ 25 talent scouts that work around the world, and they use word of mouth and other means to find you. In most cases, by the time they first talk to you, they’ve already watched your performance multiple times and spoke to others about you as well. All undercover or in the background.
They want to catch you in your ‘natural state’ you could say. They may start to consider a particular act or a performer and find something they don’t like and move on. You wouldn’t even know they were watching you.
Mr. Minselli continued, “Our lunch the next day was great. Very relaxed, and he made it that way. He was so calm and down to earth. He asked me about my career, just like you’re doing now. I told him everything. Then he thanked me and said he would get back to me. Four days later, Jack called me and invited me to a meeting to talk again. We met with two other WOE employees over dinner and talked more. At the end of the meal, Jack offered me a temporary job performing at the WOE. The job was for three months, and they would pay for my room, board, moving expenses, and a nice salary. I, of course, accepted.”
“For the first month, I did a few illusions on the World Stage on a five-day a week schedule and did some close-up magic at the Mystic Restaurant (the restaurant next to Houdini’s Theater). While working about 20 hours a week doing that, I was developing a new show for myself. They helped me build a few new illusions, which they paid for, and I rehearsed after-hours in the theater. They provided everything: the assistants, show director, costumes, I mean everything. I worked with a very talented team to develop my new show.”
“I stayed in the short-term Entertainer’s Village section in a nice apartment. Food was always available free downstairs, along with a pool and recreation. It was wonderful and stress-free. I took the Rail Shuttle back and forth from the Entertainer’s Village to the Complex every day. After the first month, I started my new show here, in the Houdini Theater, once a day for six days a week. The third month, I went to two to three shows a day for four days a week.”
“In your spare time, you practice and rest. After the three months were up, they pulled me into the show producers’ office and told me what they liked and didn’t like about me and the show. We discussed changes, and then I was offered a Residence. A Residence means you are a Resident Entertainer and can live on the property as long as you and they continue to work well together. They provide everything for you, and you continue to perform to expectations. If things change and they are not happy, then they will work with you. As a last resort, they put you on probation, and if that doesn’t work, they could ask you to leave. But that is rare. We love being here, and they provide so much.”
“I was moved into the Residence Village, where I associate with rock stars, big-name comedians, and so forth. It’s nothing to eat dinner, swim, or play poker with people I’ve idolized since I was a kid.”
“You get used to it really quick and then feel spoiled, that’s for sure. Since being here, my ex-wife and I remarried, and we now have a beautiful daughter named Destiny. I’ve had three new shows since then, with the WOE paying for everything. All I do is practice hard, perform well, and enjoy what I do. After two more years, we’ll move from our large apartment to a small house, also in the Entertainer’s Village. My wife is also one of my assistants, and loves it here.”
“That’s so remarkable,” I said to Mr. Minselli.
He said, “Yes, I am truly blessed to be here, to have a home, and an extended family. We absolutely love it here and wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Mr. Minselli said he needed to get ready for his next show. I thanked him for sharing his story, and he said, “My pleasure, Peter. It was delightful to meet you and your wonderful daughter, Sally. Please wait here for one moment while I get something.” He walked over to his desk and started writing on something. He came over to us and handed Sally a picture of him on stage, performing an illusion. The picture said, “Sally, best of luck and never let them know how you did it!”
After that, we headed back to our hotel, for Sally had a magician’s class to attend.
Friday morning
I woke up around 9 a.m., Jennifer and Sally were still sleeping. We were going down for breakfast today, so I made myself a coffee from our suite coffee maker and sat on the balcony taking in the calmness and beauty of nature. It’s so quiet and peaceful out here. No traffic noise like you hear at other hotels; just birds chirping and squirrels running around.
I started thinking about Julie and her story. Jennifer and I were talking about her last night while we watched Sally at the Water Park. It seems like you think you have everything together, then in an instant, it all comes apart. Imagine living in an NYC apartment for one month and the next living in your car.
I often think about our own financial stability. What will happen if Jennifer gets sicker from the cancer and must miss work? I know I couldn’t afford to support all three of us from what I make on blogging. We didn’t have any savings and had to borrow money to make this trip. How will I pay the mortgage or the car payments? My eyes aren’t good, so there aren’t many jobs I can do to make more money and Sally is only 14.
As all of this starts to scare me, I quickly stop thinking about it and say to myself, “Don’t worry, everything will be okay. I have faith.”
But exactly who saved Julie and her family? Was it faith that she ran into Roy or was the interaction planned by good people helping others and Roy just happened to find Julie? If someone helps you out, are they blessed and thus sharing their blessings with you, or are they maybe just good people?
Jennifer joined me on the balcony with her cup of coffee. We talked for a while, and she said she didn’t feel right. I told her I would bring back a take-out box for her and to take it easy for the day.
I woke up Sally, and we went to breakfast, The Hungry Magician (buffet), of course. After eating and bringing food back for Jennifer, Sally and I changed and headed over to the Complex. We had reservations to see the magic show at Houdini’s Theater at 10:30.
We headed to the nearest Zipvator and proceeded to travel to the Complex. Oh, by the way. I forgot to mention the way to get back from the Complex. Each of our hotel’s Zipvator Stations has its’ own unique number. This is important to know when you go to the Hotel Family Zipvator Station at the Complex to come back. If you forget, it’s no big deal. You may just have to walk a little more to get to your suite.
Once we arrived at the Complex, we boarded the Circle Shuttle. This slower moving, but convenient form of transportation takes you around the perimeter of the State Fair and offers stunning views along the way. Each 20-passenger, roofless vehicle stops at each major platform of the Complex for on/off boarding: (The Welcome Center & Harmony Theater platform, Show Town & Dark Room platform, The Dark Room & State Fair platform, and the Continents & Show Town USA platform). It travels on top of all the buildings and runs continuously. The Show Town & Dark Room platform also hosts the Couples Hotel and Mayberry Town Zipvator Stations, where guests staying at the Couples Hotel or Mayberry Town travel back and forth to the Complex. Once you reach your stop, ours being Show Town & The Dark Room, you exit the vehicles and take the escalator down. This works the same way if you want to go from one end of the Complex to the other.
We entered Show Town and headed around the Comedy Co. building and passed The Journey Through Sports attraction, Authors’ Nook and The Broadway Theater to get to Houdini’s Theater, which is adjacent to The Hologram Theater. We walked up to the front of the Theater, which is sloped to provide guests with a better view of the Show Town parades that take place twice daily.
As we walked up the entrance to Houdini’s Theater, employees were verifying all the guests by using the finger scanners. They had six to seven lanes, and people were moving fast. I’ve been in theme parks where the finger and biometric scanners could be a little slow, due to guests having sunscreen lotion or oil or food grease on their fingers. Since everything at the WOE is enclosed, there is no sunscreen lotion, and this system was fast.
Once our fingers were scanned, we were handed a little piece of paper that printed on the machine, called a show receipt. It had our names, the name of the show we were seeing, and the row and seat number of where we were going to be seated on it. When you reserve a show, you also reserve a seat (unless seats are randomly selected), so we knew where we were sitting. Many people like that there is no VIP seating for any show, any time, even in the Harmony Theater. The seats and seating capacity are available first-come, first-taken when you reserve. Each Theater will show you a map of all their seats. You merely touch or click the ones you want. If there are any conflicts with seating once inside, the ushers have portable scanners and bar code readers to scan your finger or receipt to make sure you are supposed to be where you are now seated.
Since we were a little early, we were to stand in the show queue area where we were entertained by a magician performing close-up magic before the Theater doors opened. At 10:15 a.m., they’d let us into the Theater. The magician was working the waiting crowd, and cameras were showing the tricks on screens around the waiting queue area. Man, was he good! He came over to us and asked Sally to pick a card. She chose the four of spades. He said to her, “please write your name on the card,” which Sally did. Then he said, “Now, rip it up into tiny pieces.” She did. “Place the tiny pieces in this silk scarf and roll it up.” After Sally did this, he tucked the rolled-up silk in his balled-up hand, so that you couldn’t see it anymore. Then he asked Sally to blow on his hand. After she did this, he opened his hand, and the silk and card pieces were gone.
“Wow,” Sally said, “That was cool. Where’d they go?”
“It disappeared,” said the magician, “But watch!”
He pulled a new deck of cards out of his shirt pocket, unwrapped the plastic, shuffled them and then said to Sally, “Now, pick any card from the deck and look at it.”
Sally picked a random card and turned it around to look at it.
“Oh, my gosh! That’s my card!”
I couldn’t believe it myself. It was indeed the four of spades, and Sally’s name was on it. That was truly amazing! Everyone around us and those watching on the video screens applauded.
Now it was 10:15 and the doors opened. Remember, there are absolutely no cameras, videotaping, or pictures during the show. They discourage talking to others during the show for everyone’s enjoyment. Once they tell you to leave, that’s it. If you cause a scene, you may not be able to make a reservation in the future. They take this very seriously. Almost all these shows are broadcast on their closed-circuit channel, so you can watch them live in your suite.
The Show and the Showman
The time is 10:30 a.m., the live band started playing and our illusionist, Roger Minselli, started his show by riding a motorcycle on stage. He revved it up several times and rode it around the large stage for a minute, he then rode off into the audience on a portable ramp that was lowered into the middle aisle. He raced up the ramp until he reached the back of the theater. Then the female assistants brought a huge box on a portable stand onto the stage. After spinning it around a few times to show the audience there was nothing in the back, they took these long sticks and waved them around under the box and stand to show there were no mirrors under it as well. They then unlocked and lowered all the panels of the box and spun the box around again to show us there was nothing in the box either. They closed all the panels except one, which was facing the audience, the lowered panel made a ramp into the box. All of this was happening as the band played quick-tempo, upbeat music.
Once the box was ready for Mr. Minselli, he revved the engine loudly in the back of the Theater and took off toward the box opening at an incredible speed. He must have been going 30 mph. He raced down the ramp and up the stage and up into the box. He hit the back of the box, and the whole thing exploded! All the walls of the box had unlocked from the top and opened to the stage to reveal Mr. Minselli was gone! The assistants came back over to the box and spun the box once more and then snapped the panels back into place, so you couldn’t see inside. A hook was lowered and connected to the top of the box, which was then lifted into the air. The portable base was moved to the side. Several assistants walked around under the box to prove that there were no mirrors or false bottoms. Then the box that was lifted into the air was lit on fire. Within 20-seconds, the box was engulfed in flames. Another boom sounded, and again, the panels flew open, and Mr. Minselli took off out of the box on his motorcycle and rode around the stage. He got off the bike and took off his helmet, “Ladies and Gentlemen, please put your hands together and welcome Illusionist Mr. Minselli,” The announcer excitedly proclaimed.
What a start to what turned out to be a spectacular show. One hour later, we were all standing on our feet for over three consecutive minutes showing our appreciation and excitement. Honestly, I have never seen a show so unbelievable before. I couldn’t honestly tell how anything was done, and I practiced magic when I was a teenager and used to read about how the big illusions were done. I mean, this show was truly remarkable. The illusions, the music, the lights, the whole production!
As we all walked out of the theater, many guests wanted to visit and meet Mr. Minselli in an exclusive meet and greet area outside the Theater. Sally wanted to meet him since she loved magic so much, so we decided to wait. After about ten minutes, Mr. Minselli appeared in new clothing and started to shake hands and pose for pictures. There was a professional photographer there taking pictures, and you could get one for free. We just provided the assistant with our room number, and they sent the pictures of Sally and Mr. Minselli right to our account. After our picture, we waited around until the rest of the guests had met him. I then went up to him and told him again how he did a remarkable job. He thanked me and said he loved doing what he did. I asked him how long he’d been performing here at the WOE.
He said, “About three years now. I worked in Vegas for about ten years before this.”
I said, “Which do you like better? Here or Vegas?”
He said, “Here, by far!”
I explained that I was doing a ten-year anniversary, behind-the-scenes article about the WOE and wondered if he would be interested in an interview. He said, “Sure, I’d love to. Let’s go back to my dressing room and talk.”
After the assistant took down our personal information (for security reasons, I’m sure), we followed him through a private corridor that led backstage to his dressing room. There was another show for him starting at 12:30 p.m., but he had some time backstage to kill beforehand. So, we started talking about him and the show here.
“How long have you been an illusionist/magician?” I asked him.
He said, “About 25 years.”
“How has the magic career treated you?”
“Better now that I’m here. Much better.”
I asked him how so.
He said, “The entertainment business is very competitive and cut-throat. You must start out traveling around the country, playing in small venues, and staying in cheap motels. It’s the same as a band, comedian, or any other act. You have to get your name out there until you get a break.”
“A break? Like a steady gig?” I asked.
“Yes, someplace where you can stay for a while and make some money. A break may be to get on TV and get some name exposure. But even then, even if you perform at larger venues and make more money, the touring is relentless and exhausting. Most every entertainer would love to have a steady gig in the same place and not have to travel on a bus and stay at different hotels every night. In this business, even if you get a steady gig, you can be cut and thrown away, just so a business owner can save a few hundred dollars by hiring another act, or performer.”
He continued, “Once I got a steady show in Vegas, I thought I had it made. Thought I made the “big time.” But it doesn’t take long before someone else comes in and replaces you. If you don’t continue to buy new illusions and update your show, then you can become stale quick. I had five different employers in ten years. How do you get comfortable if you’re not sure you will even have a gig a year from now?”
Mr. Minselli continued, “The gigs become less desirable, and the pay becomes less each time I was hired by another casino. By my tenth year, I was living in a motel room and divorced. My wife left me because I couldn’t afford much of anything at that point and money was the focal point of all of our arguments. There’s so much competition, and you need money, so you’ll take almost anything. The casinos are always wanting to make more profit. Now, they want you to ‘rent’ the theater yourself and pay them. Imagine having to pay your own rent for a 1,200-seat theater? I mean, you’re now taking all the risks, and they’re just collecting a check from you.”
I asked him how he got here.
“Believe it or not, I ran into a talent scout for the WOE two weeks before my last contract ran out and no other gig was in place. His name was Jack Train. He approached me after my performance and handed me his card. He told me he had watched several of my shows and wanted to know if we could meet the next day for lunch and talk. I told him absolutely!”
A known fact is that the WOE accepts very few unsolicited audition tapes or requests for employment. They prefer to find you. They employ 25 talent scouts that work around the world, and they use word of mouth and other means to find you. In most cases, by the time they first talk to you, they’ve already watched your performance multiple times and spoke to others about you as well. All undercover or in the background.
They want to catch you in your ‘natural state’ you could say. They may start to consider a particular act or a performer and find something they don’t like and move on. You wouldn’t even know they were watching you.
Mr. Minselli continued, “Our lunch the next day was great. Very relaxed, and he made it that way. He was so calm and down to earth. He asked me about my career, just like you’re doing now. I told him everything. Then he thanked me and said he would get back to me. Four days later, Jack called me and invited me to a meeting to talk again. We met with two other WOE employees over dinner and talked more. At the end of the meal, Jack offered me a temporary job performing at the WOE. The job was for three months, and they would pay for my room, board, moving expenses, and a nice salary. I, of course, accepted.”
“For the first month, I did a few illusions on the World Stage on a five-day a week schedule and did some close-up magic at the Mystic Restaurant (the restaurant next to Houdini’s Theater). While working about 20 hours a week doing that, I was developing a new show for myself. They helped me build a few new illusions, which they paid for, and I rehearsed after-hours in the theater. They provided everything: the assistants, show director, costumes, I mean everything. I worked with a very talented team to develop my new show.”
“I stayed in the short-term Entertainer’s Village section in a nice apartment. Food was always available free downstairs, along with a pool and recreation. It was wonderful and stress-free. I took the Rail Shuttle back and forth from the Entertainer’s Village to the Complex every day. After the first month, I started my new show here, in the Houdini Theater, once a day for six days a week. The third month, I went to two to three shows a day for four days a week.”
“In your spare time, you practice and rest. After the three months were up, they pulled me into the show producers’ office and told me what they liked and didn’t like about me and the show. We discussed changes, and then I was offered a Residence. A Residence means you are a Resident Entertainer and can live on the property as long as you and they continue to work well together. They provide everything for you, and you continue to perform to expectations. If things change and they are not happy, then they will work with you. As a last resort, they put you on probation, and if that doesn’t work, they could ask you to leave. But that is rare. We love being here, and they provide so much.”
“I was moved into the Residence Village, where I associate with rock stars, big-name comedians, and so forth. It’s nothing to eat dinner, swim, or play poker with people I’ve idolized since I was a kid.”
“You get used to it really quick and then feel spoiled, that’s for sure. Since being here, my ex-wife and I remarried, and we now have a beautiful daughter named Destiny. I’ve had three new shows since then, with the WOE paying for everything. All I do is practice hard, perform well, and enjoy what I do. After two more years, we’ll move from our large apartment to a small house, also in the Entertainer’s Village. My wife is also one of my assistants, and loves it here.”
“That’s so remarkable,” I said to Mr. Minselli.
He said, “Yes, I am truly blessed to be here, to have a home, and an extended family. We absolutely love it here and wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Mr. Minselli said he needed to get ready for his next show. I thanked him for sharing his story, and he said, “My pleasure, Peter. It was delightful to meet you and your wonderful daughter, Sally. Please wait here for one moment while I get something.” He walked over to his desk and started writing on something. He came over to us and handed Sally a picture of him on stage, performing an illusion. The picture said, “Sally, best of luck and never let them know how you did it!”
After that, we headed back to our hotel, for Sally had a magician’s class to attend.