(PRWEB) September 13, 2003
Jeff McBride is on a mission to put real magic into his life and his performances. For 15 years Ive spent most of my time following my bliss, and it has taken me to some of the most amazing places on earth, says McBride of his continuing quest.
The most recent leg on his journey took the intrepid magical adventurer through a whole circuit of alternative culture festivals culminating with this years Burning Man. The theme for the festival was Beyond Belief, — a perfect fit for McBride and his magic!
Wednesday night of the festival, McBride braced himself against the desert wind and climbed atop the Mystic Beat Lounge show stage, accompanied by techno-tribal drummers and fire spinners. Once there, he performed his unique brand of magic with floating lights, kabuki & martial arts inspired silver rings and, of course, his signature card manipulations. McBrides subsequent performances took place in many of the Burning Man interactive art installations.
To add my magic to the radical mix of art and chaos was a real thrill! says McBride. For me, the moment of spinning cards into the desert wind was the highlight of the performance because the winds took the cards soaring hundreds of feet into the air, accompanied by an incredible laser light show.
McBride is a well-known and versatile stage conjuror who frequents the stages of Las Vegas, Atlantic City and other casinos, theaters and arts festivals around the world. Known best for an electrifying fusion of mask, martial arts, pantomime, world-class sleight-of-hand, Kabuki, live drumming, and grand illusion, he has received almost every award the magic community has to offer, including the International Grand Prix of Magic in Monte Carlo, and named Magician of the Year by Hollywoods famed Academy of Magical Arts at the Magic Castle.
Burning Man, for those few who may not already have heard, is an annual gathering in the Northern Nevada desert, described by one attendee as follows:
Each year, tens of thousands of people from all walks of life travel to the extreme environment of the Black Rock Desert outside Reno, Nevada to create Burning Man – a vibrant community based on radical self-expression, participatory art and generosity. The result is a remarkable and magical week of art, music, performance and play. Inhabited by giant art installations, amazing vehicles, open air clubs and stages — and of course the Burning Man, a ten story sculpture made of wood, neon and who knows what else — which is burned in a great celebration on one of the last nights of the festival.
McBrides interest in the festival has grown over years of attending all kinds of alternative arts, music and life-style festivals over the year. This year, before Burning Man, he participated in The Living Dream Festival in Oregon for the first time, before helping to host the Firedance Festival (http://www.firedance.org) in Santa Cruz. Both festivals seek to provide their attendees with experiences well beyond those of everyday life, through art, dance, and workshops in a host of disciplines from yoga to mask making, and drumming to various movement disciplines and meditation techniques. Firedance centers around all night drum and dance celebrations around a giant bonfire.
As a magician, my job is to provide people with magical experiences. I go out to these festivals to find out new ways of doing that — and to have some magical experiences myself, says McBride.
You can catch up with Jeff McBride on his web-site: http://www.mcbridemagic.com, where you will find his current touring schedule, information on past exploits, and a whole section on The Las Vegas Magic School, which he founded with his mentor, Eugene Burger, several years ago. Whether you first encounter him in a casino showroom, small theatre, or around the fire at one of the festivals he loves to attend, you can be sure a meeting with Jeff McBride will be accompanied with a magical experience.
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