Steve Warburton is going to perform a special magic trick next week, turning one performance into three.
The former Stettler resident, now based in Ontario, is doing a limited engagement of magic shows in Alberta, and took the time to come back to his old stomping grounds to do a show at Stettler Elementary School on Monday, March 21. He'll be performing his Non-Smoker 4 Life act at the Stettler school, but earlier in the day will be performing his Magic of Critical Thinking act at Big Valley School.
As a final performance, he'll take the stage at the Performing Arts Centre later that evening, where he'll put on a "family-friendly, audience-participation-based show."
Warburton, who wrote for the Independent between 2001-03, was born in Saskatchewan and grew up in Calgary, where his family still lives today. It was while living in Calgary that he was "bitten by the magic bug" at the age of 10.
"Even when I was in Stettler, I supplemented my income by doing magic shows," Warburton recalled. "I remember doing a birthday party at the (SRC), and a couple of backyard birthday shows. I did a Christmas show or two."
In the decade-and-a-bit since leaving Stettler, Warburton has improved his act and is excited to bring it back to the community he misses dearly.
"I really enjoyed my time in Stettler," he said. "I miss it a lot."
Warburton's family-friendly acts are a big hit in schools, but with the Ontario school board in what looked destined to be a long strike, he chose to return to Calgary and visit his family, all while performing in Calgary-area schools.
"I thought, 'Why not go back to Stettler?'" he explained, and said he got in touch with the elementary school who bit at the chance to have him perform for his students.
Of the three shows he'll be doing that day, he's only being paid for one — the other two he pulled out of a hat, so to speak.
"The evening show is a fundraiser for the school," he said. "I told them to charge whatever they thought was fair, since I'm not being paid. All the money goes to the school."
Warburton categorizes his type of magic as a mix of close-up and stage magic, with stage magic being his favourite.
"It's magic done on a stage for a large audience," he explained. "There's a few sub-groups — platform or parlour magic, and grand illusion."
David Copperfield is an example of a grand illusionist, Warburton said — something he himself is not.
"I'm what you would call a platform magician," he said. "I'm good on a small stage, not a big one."
He noted that people are naturally suspicious of the "great big boxes and cabinets on stage," so what really needs to impress is the showmanship — magic with small, everyday things, like rope and newspaper.
"That's what I do," he said.
The show begins at 7 p.m. at the PAC. Tickets are available at the school and are selling out quick.