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Show "You Have to Make Magic Entertaining" . - I . f :l V . ? S." ..... . .-. . There aren't too many magicians magi-cians who have had seventeen years of professional bailet experience behind them. Christopher Christo-pher Fair, who entertained a near capacity audience in the Main Gallery of Kimball Art Center Friday night, performed with Ballet West in Salt Lake before retiring this year to devote all his time to magic. The 34 year old Fair began both professions at a young age. When he was only five years old, the young entertainer remembers re-members his father bringing home a role of nickels and "magically" turning them into four dimes. The trick picques his curiosity and later, while in the sixth grade, Christopher Fair made a guest appearance on the "Mickey Mouse Show." He also performed magic tricks for fellow students atl through his school years. Perfecting magic, Fair told the Record, takes a lot of practice, not only in learning the various tricks but especially developing a show which keeps the audience interested. interes-ted. Deciding what order to perform the magic tricks is vital, he added. "I feel it's. an art form," said Fair. "You have to make magic entertaining. The tricks in themselves them-selves are not entertaining. It's a puzzle. It's the personality behind the tricks." One of the primary ingredients in any of Christopher Fair's magic shows is his desire to share with people his knowledge of magic and, as he pointed out, "to make them happy." "I love to perform . This is what I did with the Ballet," he said. Fair's specialty, he said, is slight of hand and he uses thimbles, rings, and rope tricks Christopher Fair throughout his show. He also uses "Maggie," his companion rabbit he has had since sixth grade. In fact, he said Maggie is his favorite section of his performance. "I don't like to do tricks in the manner of I know something and you don-'t," said Christopher Fair, adding the most important thing is for the audience to have a good time. Although he retired from Ballet, Fair still takes a ballet class once a day. His wife dances for Ballet West. Christopher is part of the Utah Arts Consortium program. He said he tries to combine his dance background with magic, and uses various dance steps during the show. "I'm continually trying to tun up the show and improve it," he said. "I really do want people to have a good time," the young entertainer added. Christopher Fair graduated from the University of Utah with both a BFA and MFA in Ballet. |