The 2012 Fall Tour is shaping up and I wanted to give you a heads up on some of the cities I’ll be coming to! There are still many dates available and this list will be growing in the coming months.

 

 

 

 

 

August 9 – Private Corporate Event – Reynoldsburg, OH
August 23 – Northern Kentucky University – Highland Heights, KY
August 24 – Saint Anselm College – Manchester, NH
August 25 – Emory University – Atlanta, GA
August 28 – Bowling Green State University – Bowling Green, OH
August 29 – Anne Arundel Community College – Arnold, MD
August 31 – Ohio Northern University – Ada, OH
September 1 – Denison University – Granville, OH
September 2 – Southern New Hampshire University – Manchester, NH
September 5 – University of Wisconsin Oshkosh – Oshkosh, WI
September 7 – Concordia College – Moorhead, MN
September 8 – University of New Hampshire Durham – Durham, NH
September 13 – Urbana University – Urbana, OH
September 20 – University of Kentucky – Lexington, KY
September 25 – East Carolina University – Greenville, NC
October 8 – Buena Vista University – Storm Lake, IA
October 18 – Rowan University – Glassboro, NJ
October 20 – Private Event – Westerville, OH
November 10 – Private Event – Athens, OH

 

If you would like information on bringing me to your campus or corporate event, please let me know ASAP and we’ll get a date reserved for you!

 

Smoke & Mirrors

I’ve got some exciting news! I’ve been working with Columbus’s Shadowbox Live - a long-running Sketch Comedy and Rock theatre – on their newest production. Smoke and Mirrors is a show themed on Magic and Deception. Starting in March, I’ll be a special guest in the show* as myself presenting some of my original concepts. I’ll also be in some scenes making surprise appearances.


Shadowbox has a long history in Columbus – going back to the late 80′s. In the 90′s, I used to frequent their old theatre on Spring St. when I was a teenager (they sucked at checking ID’s at the time), and I’m happy to see them back downtown in the new Brewery District location (next to World of Beers).
*I will be continuing my tour schedule during the Run of Smoke & Mirrors, so I will be only appearing on selected nights. Visit my tour schedule for a schedule of which nights I’ll be appearing!

Smoke & Mirrors w/ special guest Michael Kent @ Shadowbox Live
503 S Front St
Columbus, OH 43215
(Brewery District)
Select Dates from 3/8 to 5/5
General Admission: $30
Student, Senior, Active Military: $20
Box office: (614) 416-7625
shadowboxlive.org

 

I’m excited to be returning to perform at Wild Goose Creative THIS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18 at 8pm. My last performance at the venue was at last year’s sold-out Columbus Comedy Festival.

Opening and hosting the show will be Columbus comedian, Anthony O’Connell. Ticket sales from the show will help support programming at WGC in 2012. Info here!

Saturday, February 18 at 8pm
Tickets $10 at the door
Suggested for audiences 18+

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)