Magician with a message
Re-read this the other day and thought we would share it again. Good story when it was first written...and it still is today...By Randall Murphree - Guest Columnist for American Family Association
Kirby VanBurch quit school after eighth grade and set out to be a professional magician. Most would have predicted folly and failure for the young dreamer from Houston, Texas, but it seems his life was, shall we say, charmed.
Now, don't be put off by the jargon. Onstage today, in the world's largest magic show, Kirby addresses the issue of the illusions he performs and clearly articulates his Christian faith.
The road hasn't always been easy, especially back when the struggling dropout was working in a magic shop and performing at birthday parties. He struck out early for the bright lights of Las Vegas, where fortune smiled on him. He became one of the city's youngest-ever headliners. After building a worldwide reputation as a magician, he's now been performing since 1993 in Branson, Missouri.
I discovered Kirby on a recent trip when I decided to go to his show just because it was one I hadn't seen. I didn't expect to be much impressed, but I was. Much. And it's not just the magic. It's the man. And his message. In fact, even more than the magic, his story of perseverance and faith in Christ is captivating.
"It's not really magic," Kirby tells his audience. "There's no magic here. It's only illusion. I can't create things. Only God can create."
Fame and fortune
Kirby's dream began when he attended a magic show at age 7. He was heartbroken when the magician called for volunteers to come onstage, but skipped over Kirby. Adding insult to injury, the magician gave his young assistants a booklet revealing all the magical secrets of his show.
"My mom found me in tears after the show," Kirby remembers. But from that moment, he knew he was a magician.
Fast forward a couple of decades, and Kirby is the featured performer in a $30 million spectacular "Jubilee" at the MGM Grand Hotel in Vegas. He drew the national spotlight with a dazzling escape stunt. In a straitjacket and foot shackles, he was suspended upside down, 20 stories high, hanging only by a flaming rope. This escape stunt earned him a spot in the Ripley's Believe or Not Museum.
Even with fame, the road still had dangerous potholes. Moral potholes. "I fell into all the temptations that come with success in the entertainment business," he admits. "I lived a wild life. I nightclubbed and partied and I hung out with all those kinds of people. And then I got a job offer in Branson for two years. That's all I intended to do, two years. But I came here and I was born again."
He thrived in Branson, continued to hone his skills in a safer environment. Today his show includes the tricks and stunts you'd expect -- e.g., sawing women in half, separating the boxes and rolling them all over the stage. In another, he puts a woman in a big cage, drapes it briefly, then removes the drape to reveal a caged Branson -- not the city, but Kirby's Royal White Bengal tiger named Branson. Yes, fortunately, the woman soon emerges from another cage. Kirby's big cats are a unique and intriguing element of his show.
In other stage stunts, Kirby rockets into a cage on his Kawasaki Ninja 250. Yep, the drape covers him and is then drawn away to reveal an empty cage. Moments later, Kirby roars out of a different cage on the other side of the stage. The most stunning trick in the show is the appearance (in less than four seconds) of a full-sized Bell 35 Jet Ranger helicopter.
Faith and family
"My grandmother loved Jesus," Kirby says. "She was amazing." She taught the young Kirby about Jesus and planted a seed that would come to fruition years later.
"I started my relationship with the Lord in Branson. Thirteen years ago, a Baptist preacher named Jay Scribner came to speak to me after he saw my show. He said the Lord had put it on his heart to ask me if I was saved. That coincided with a growing hunger I had for God. I prayed the sinner's prayer that night."
To close his show, Kirby sits down in a rocking chair and talks softly about his grandma. Summer nights, he would crawl up in her lap on the front porch and she would tell him about Jesus. As he relates the tender story, Kirby cuts a four-foot length of yarn into short strips.
Grandma taught him that life can be fragile, like a thread. And we often find our lives shattered, broken -- or cut into countless little pieces, just like Kirby's yarn.
The trick with the yarn has a predictable climax, of course, but because of Kirby's touching monologue, it has a powerful impact. He opens his hands, and -- voila! No short clippings of yarn, only a full, restored four-foot strand.
"We can't put the pieces of our lives back together," Kirby says. "Only Jesus Christ can do that."
Yeah, it's not just the magic. It's the man. And his message.
About Randall Murphree, a regular contributor to OneNewsNow, is editor of AFA Journal. The AFA Journal is a division of the American Family Association, the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates OneNewsNow.com.
Kirby VanBurch quit school after eighth grade and set out to be a professional magician. Most would have predicted folly and failure for the young dreamer from Houston, Texas, but it seems his life was, shall we say, charmed.
Now, don't be put off by the jargon. Onstage today, in the world's largest magic show, Kirby addresses the issue of the illusions he performs and clearly articulates his Christian faith.
The road hasn't always been easy, especially back when the struggling dropout was working in a magic shop and performing at birthday parties. He struck out early for the bright lights of Las Vegas, where fortune smiled on him. He became one of the city's youngest-ever headliners. After building a worldwide reputation as a magician, he's now been performing since 1993 in Branson, Missouri.
I discovered Kirby on a recent trip when I decided to go to his show just because it was one I hadn't seen. I didn't expect to be much impressed, but I was. Much. And it's not just the magic. It's the man. And his message. In fact, even more than the magic, his story of perseverance and faith in Christ is captivating.
"It's not really magic," Kirby tells his audience. "There's no magic here. It's only illusion. I can't create things. Only God can create."
Fame and fortune
Kirby's dream began when he attended a magic show at age 7. He was heartbroken when the magician called for volunteers to come onstage, but skipped over Kirby. Adding insult to injury, the magician gave his young assistants a booklet revealing all the magical secrets of his show.
"My mom found me in tears after the show," Kirby remembers. But from that moment, he knew he was a magician.
Fast forward a couple of decades, and Kirby is the featured performer in a $30 million spectacular "Jubilee" at the MGM Grand Hotel in Vegas. He drew the national spotlight with a dazzling escape stunt. In a straitjacket and foot shackles, he was suspended upside down, 20 stories high, hanging only by a flaming rope. This escape stunt earned him a spot in the Ripley's Believe or Not Museum.
Even with fame, the road still had dangerous potholes. Moral potholes. "I fell into all the temptations that come with success in the entertainment business," he admits. "I lived a wild life. I nightclubbed and partied and I hung out with all those kinds of people. And then I got a job offer in Branson for two years. That's all I intended to do, two years. But I came here and I was born again."
He thrived in Branson, continued to hone his skills in a safer environment. Today his show includes the tricks and stunts you'd expect -- e.g., sawing women in half, separating the boxes and rolling them all over the stage. In another, he puts a woman in a big cage, drapes it briefly, then removes the drape to reveal a caged Branson -- not the city, but Kirby's Royal White Bengal tiger named Branson. Yes, fortunately, the woman soon emerges from another cage. Kirby's big cats are a unique and intriguing element of his show.
In other stage stunts, Kirby rockets into a cage on his Kawasaki Ninja 250. Yep, the drape covers him and is then drawn away to reveal an empty cage. Moments later, Kirby roars out of a different cage on the other side of the stage. The most stunning trick in the show is the appearance (in less than four seconds) of a full-sized Bell 35 Jet Ranger helicopter.
Faith and family
"My grandmother loved Jesus," Kirby says. "She was amazing." She taught the young Kirby about Jesus and planted a seed that would come to fruition years later.
"I started my relationship with the Lord in Branson. Thirteen years ago, a Baptist preacher named Jay Scribner came to speak to me after he saw my show. He said the Lord had put it on his heart to ask me if I was saved. That coincided with a growing hunger I had for God. I prayed the sinner's prayer that night."
To close his show, Kirby sits down in a rocking chair and talks softly about his grandma. Summer nights, he would crawl up in her lap on the front porch and she would tell him about Jesus. As he relates the tender story, Kirby cuts a four-foot length of yarn into short strips.
Grandma taught him that life can be fragile, like a thread. And we often find our lives shattered, broken -- or cut into countless little pieces, just like Kirby's yarn.
The trick with the yarn has a predictable climax, of course, but because of Kirby's touching monologue, it has a powerful impact. He opens his hands, and -- voila! No short clippings of yarn, only a full, restored four-foot strand.
"We can't put the pieces of our lives back together," Kirby says. "Only Jesus Christ can do that."
Yeah, it's not just the magic. It's the man. And his message.
About Randall Murphree, a regular contributor to OneNewsNow, is editor of AFA Journal. The AFA Journal is a division of the American Family Association, the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates OneNewsNow.com.
Labels: blogs, branson mo, branson shows, branson theaters, Christian
Published by KirbyVanBurch.com
posted by Cindy at
11:31 AM
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