Magicians’ tricks delight Everett
Published 9:00 pm Sunday, February 4, 2007
EVERETT – With flicks of his wrists, Brian Cook seamlessly changed the color of his gloves and tie from blue, to yellow, to red and then white.
If that didn’t win over the crowd, the Everett magician’s next trick did. He held a yellow cloth in front of his lovely assistant, a young blond woman in a black dress. When he whipped the cloth away, her form-fitting dress was yellow.
The packed audience at the Historic Everett Theater clapped with delight.
“I always say magic is the power of the imagination,” said Cook, 33, who works as a mortgage banker when he’s not performing. “If you think it, it can happen. It’s one of those art forms like music. Things like that, it can take you away for awhile.”
Cook is a member of the Lynnwood Magic Club, which presented its annual Smoke and Mirrors show Saturday at the Historic Everett Theater. The club has magicians from across the Puget Sound region.
Most of the proceeds from Saturday night’s show went to the Everett-based Burned Children Recovery Foundation, which provides counseling and assistance to children who have suffered severe burns.
Since 1990, the foundation has helped roughly 83,000 children nationwide. About 60 children in Snohomish County are currently receiving help from the foundation, founder Michael Mathis said.
The foundation oversees Camp Phoenix – a weeklong summer camp near Mount Vernon for young burn victims – and Phoenix House Rehabilitation Center in Everett, where volunteers help burn victims transition back into society.
Each year, the Smoke and Mirrors show usually raises at least $3,000 for the foundation, which operates on an annual $180,000 budget, Mathis said.
“It’s a fun time for the community to come together,” Mathis said.
Saturday’s show was meaningful for Sterling Dietz, 15, the youngest of the magicians who performed.
“It’s really a great cause that we’re doing this for,” said Dietz, who was named the 2006 World’s Teen Champion of Magic at the 2006 World Magic Seminar in Las Vegas. “Lots of kids get burned every year, and their lives are never the same after that.”
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
