The 2012 Winter/Spring Tour is off to a wintery start! We had to reschedule the first college campus of the year (see below) and almost had to reschedule a second one! Nonetheless, things are really clicking with the show. I sincerely hope you have the opportunity to get to one of the shows on the tour soon!  See the below list of shows on the schedule to see if I’ll be in a city near you and keep checking back for updates!

2012 Winter/Spring Tour

January 12 – Chicago, IL – RESCHEDULED FOR FEB. 2
January 14 – Dubois, PA
January 19 – Adrian, MI
January 21 – Glassboro, NJ
January 26 – Cleveland, OH
January 31 – Baltimore, MD
February 2 – Chicago, IL
February 3 – Flagstaff, AZ
February 7 – Alpine, TX
February 9 – Lyndonville, VT
February 11 – Guest DJing –  Powell, OH
February 15 – Melbourne, FL
February 16 – Normal, IL
February 18 – Columbus, OH
February 22 – Mattoon, IL
February 25-29 – NACA – Charlotte, NC
March 10 – Dayton, OH
March 16 – Bexley, OH
March 29-31 – NACA – St. Paul, MN
April 6 – Bennington, VT
April 13 – Ewing, NJ
April 21 – Hamilton, OH
April 28 – Manito, IL

For more info on any of the above dates, refer to my published tour schedule.

 

Also – remember that voting is still going on for 2012 Entertainer of the Year!  The story was recently picked up by Columbus NBC4!

 

 

I’m very excited to announce that, thanks to your votes, I have been nominated for Campus Activities Magazine’s Entertainer of the Year Reader’s Choice Award!
This is my first time being nominated for this national award after having been nominated for “Newest Rising Star” and “Best Small Venue Artist” categories in 2009.

Now that I’ve been nominated, it’s time to vote for the Award! I need your votes! Voting is simple – just go to http://CampusActivitiesMagazine.com Don’t forget to vote and tell all of your friends to vote by using the social media links below (help spread the word)! As you can imagine, this award is kind of a big deal, so your help and support is GREATLY appreciated!

I consider making people laugh one of the most important things I can do. Occasionally, I get the opportunity to do something more important than that.


I recently worked with Hopeline.com‘s Reese Butler and PostSecret‘s Frank Warren on a project to help them raise money for suicide prevention during DC Gives on November 9. They have produced a deck of cards that feature warning signs for friends and family members to look out for to identify a loved one at risk. Their idea was to have a magician display these cards and they selected me to shoot this project with them. The video will be used after the DC Gives event to continue to raise money for Suicide Prevention via Hopeline, which is the 1-800-SUICIDE support hotline and IMAlive.org, a 24/7 suicide prevention chat line. The specially printed playing cards, along with special wristbands (also seen in the video) will be available after the November 9 DC Gives event by donating to Hopeline.





Subscribers to my “Michael Mail” E-newsletter got an exclusive look at this video earlier this week (to get on this list, type your email in the box on the upper right corner of my website or click here). Please help benefit this great cause and spread this video out to your social networks via Facebook, Twitter and email by using the share icons below.


Thank you,
MK


P.S. Within minutes of this video going live on my YouTube Account yesterday, a young man contacted me, seeking help.

I’m excited to announce that my original popped and restored balloon effect, repAIR, is now available for purchase worldwide, making it my first ever release to the magic community. repAIR is an effect in which a balloon is inflated, tied in a knot, popped, and then repAIRed and inflated once again. Your hands can be shown empty both before and after the trick.


repAIR is available exclusively through Theory11.com :: The Wire, and was one of the few tricks to be chosen to be launched along with the revolutionary new magic marketplace. From Theory11′s website:

Imagine it: You walk up to a group of people. After asking for one of the girls’ numbers and being rejected, you pull out a balloon from your pocket and begin to inflate it. You remove a pencil from your pocket and pop the balloon, scaring the crap out of the girl (whom you are probably too good for anyway) and she begins to cry. Let’s face it: there’s nothing worse than a crying girl. You immediately start to massage the broken balloon pieces until they fuse together, allowing you to blow the balloon up once again. She gives you her number, but you don’t call because she’s been with all your friends. You instead make a fart noise with the balloon and put it back into your pocket – she doesn’t deserve it.
repAIR happens right in front of their faces and you’re able to show both hands completely empty before and after the effect. There’s no need to load, ditch or swallow anything. It’s super practical, extremely baffling, and looks like real magic.

$14.95 Available for instant download from Theory11.com/Wire

Also: Here’s a video of me performance repAIR to a packed house in Manchester, NH.

UPDATED TOUR SCHEDULE

While the 2011 Fall College Tour is really starting to take shape, we’re still adding dates to the calendar every day.

7/19 Tampa, FL
7/23 Eureka, IL
7/25 Bloomingburg, NY
8/11 Grandview, OH (Pecha Kucha Presentation)
8/13 Columbus, OH
8/15 Pembroke, NC
8/20 Pemberville, OH
8/25 Bowling Green, OH
8/26 Manchester, NH
8/27 New Concord, OH
9/1 La Crosse, WI
9/2 Winona, MN
9/4 Oxford, OH
9/6 Camden, NJ
9/7 Pomona, NJ
9/8 Tiffin, OH
9/10 Greensboro, NC
9/12 Cleveland, OH
9/16 Monmouth, IL
9/20 St. Petersburg, FL
9/21 Mattoon, IL
9/24 Jacksonville, IL
9/28 Allendale, MI
9/30 Allentown, PA
10/1 Lebanon, IL
10/9-11 Buffalo, NY
10/13 Mt. Sterling, OH
10/15 Reading, PA
10/20 Crestview Hills, KY
10/22 Bridgewater, MA
10/24-26 Columbus, OH
10/27 Pemberton, NJ
11/5 Fairfield, OH
11/9 Urbana, OH
11/10 Covington, KY
11/17 Tiffin, OH
11/18-19 Hartford, CT
11/29 Flint, MI
12/14 Maineville, OH

For an up-to-date look at the performance calendar – check out the Online Tour Schedule!
If you’re interested in bringing my act to your event or college, send me an email ASAP and we’ll get you hooked up! Keep checking back for calendar updates.

The FREE BEER TOUR* starts this Thursday night, April 28, 7pm at Average Joe’s (Polaris). I’ve told you about it before but the event is called the “Free Beer Tour*” because I’ll be there to teach you crazy, impossible, and funny tricks you can do at a bar to con your friends out of a beer. Simple as that. It’s a fun way to liven up any night out and even make some new friends! Sorry we won’t actually be giving away free beer (hence the *)



You’ll learn up to 4 new ‘bar bet’ tricks during each event. To sign up and for more information on dates/times/locations, visit http://dimensionalentertainment.com/freebeertour



UPDATE: Watch for me on FOX28 Good Day Columbus TOMORROW (April 26) with Johnny DiLoretto!



Friday I’ll be continuing my colllege tour, performing at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, WV. Then Saturday I’ll be back for the other event that Columbus folks can attend!



Tikvah Live Presents: Michael Kent, Comedian & Magician
Fundraiser at Beth Tikvah Congregation in Worthington, OH
April 30!



This will be my full show for you all to enjoy. They’re offering a special $20 advance ticket price to people ages 21-35. Otherwise tickets are $35 in advance. All tickets $40 at the door. See the poster for details.

I’ll be performing a special 25 minute set at the Columbus Comedy Festival at Wild Goose Creative this Friday, April 15th. I hope you can come see me, but more importantly, a ton of other hilarious acts. I recently had the chance to meet some of the other comedians performing at the 3-day festival during a photo shoot for Columbus Alive and I’m already looking forward to seeing them.



The Columbus Alive recently ran a story about the festival and were kind enough to dedicate a page to a few of the comedians appearing at the fest, myself included. Click the photo for my story.



Tickets are $10/night at the door and the festival runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday. My set is Friday night. For more information, visit Wild Goose Creative.

SCHEDULE
THURSDAY, APRIL 14

Comedy Revolver (revolving stand-up comedy featuring Jeff Burgstrom, Travis Hoewischer, Anthony O’Connell, Chris Coen, & Cole Downs)

Roman’s Empire (video comedy)

Organ Grinder Productions (mixed variety show)

8th Floor Improv (OSU student improv team)

FRIDAY, APRIL 15

Wild Goose Comedy Cabaret (sketch comedy)

Asbestos Crew (video and live sketch comedy)

Stand-Up (featuring Bob Cook, Justin Camp, Matt Horn, Erin McIntyre, Dylan Shelton, Sean Somerville, Sommer Sterud, Sumukh Torgalkar)

Michael Kent (Columbus magician and comedian)

Full Frontal Nudity (Madlab Theatre’s improv team)

SATURDAY, APRIL 16

Columbus News InsideHer (video comedy featuring Dan Wilburn)

Stand-Up (featuring Bill Arrundale, Jason Clemmer

Robbie Collier, Darrell Dawson

Justin Golak, Joseph Ivan, Mike Kolar, Weston Sherman)

Sketch By Number (sketch comedy)

Roman’s Empire and Elissa Marcus (video comedy)

Winnie Cooper Project (Columbus band)

Two exciting things going on at the end of this month!



FREE BEER TOUR
Starts April 28!



Columbus’s Dimensional Entertainment (Corey Montie) has once again devised an original, fun and outrageous event series that will keep you and your friends talking about it for months to come.



The idea is this: We teach you crazy, impossible, and funny tricks you can do at a bar to con your friends out of a beer. Simple as that. It’s a fun way to liven up any night out and even make some new friends!



I will be on hand at the events to teach you up to 4 new ‘bar bet’ tricks during each event. To sign up and for more information on dates/times/locations, visit http://dimensionalentertainment.com/freebeertour







Tikvah Live Presents: Michael Kent, Comedian & Magician
Fundraiser at Beth Tikvah Congregation in Worthington, OH
April 30!



This will be my full show for you all to enjoy. They’re offering a special $20 advance ticket price to people ages 21-35. Otherwise tickets are $35 in advance. All tickets $40 at the door. See the below poster for details.







There are a few other exciting things coming up, including an exclusive performance at the upcoming Columbus Comedy Festival On April 15 and a performance at Cocktails at the Conservatory – an event at Franklin Park Conservatory on May 5th.
I hope to see you at one of these events!

Here’s the new 2011-2012 Tour Poster!







Poster design by Edwards Creative, Columbus Ohio.
There is a G-Rated Version of the poster available as well. Both poster designs can be downloaded in print-quality resolution or purchased on CafePress.

I’ll be returning to good ole’ Urbana, OH on Thursday, March 24th to support the arts.  It’s a special show to raise money for the Champaign County Arts Council with dinner, an auction and of course, my ridiculousness.



Some facts about Urbana, OH:

Ohio Magazine named Urbana as “Best Hometown” in 2011.

Most Airplane lights were designed and manufactured in Urbana.

The high school mascot is the Hillclimber. Because to get to the high school, you have to – get this – climb a hill.

The weekly Champaign County Farmers Market in downtown Urbana was deemed as one of America’s four favorite farmers markets by the American Farmland Trust.

Some of my first shows were at the old Champaign County Library – also where I first borrowed magic books and learned the art.

Contrary to popular belief, the movie “Little Giants” was not set in Urbana. It was a fictional town called “Urbania, OH.” I have no idea why people confuse the two.

The high school in Urbana looks like a castle. It’s pretty unique.

Lincoln’s funeral train stopped in Urbana for 20 minutes on its way to bring Lincoln home to Illinois.

It is said you can see the Lincoln Ghost Train on certain nights. It’s also said you can see the ghosts of your past at Bracken’s Pub downtown.

The Arts Council event is taking place at 6pm (show is at 8:00pm) on March 24 at 119 Miami St., Urbana, OH. Tickets are $15 and are available at the Arts Council Office, Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy and Peoples Savings Bank in Urbana. This will be a PG-13 show. Join the Champaign County Arts Council’s Facebook Fan Page here. Click the article above to read about the performance from the Springfield News-Sun. I’m looking forward to seeing some familiar faces and giving to the arts community in Urbana.