NORM BARNHART LECTURES AT SINGAPORE RING 115
Norm Barnhart was in Singapore for a gig and we took the opportunity to get him to give us a lecture. Norm is from Minnesota , USA and has been a full time entertainer for over 29 years specializing in comedy, ballons and in kid and family magic.
54 people jam-packed the function room of Bayview Hotel on the evening of 8 July 2010.
It was an evening full of fun and laughter for everyone. When all 60 people laughed, we almost brought the entire ceiling of the room down!
There were 3 segments in Norm’s lecture. Norm commenced with his comedy routines for kid and family shows. These included his version of needle through a smiley balloon, his comedy mind-reading rubber chicken and a comical hot dog trick. They all had fun interactions with the audience and great unexpected magical endings.
He also presented original tricks such as a rainbow (mouth coil) from a sea shell, some funny business with the fun-kin ring, and a routine where baseball and soccer cards were dropped into a hat and the #1 player was found with a huge foam finger – and the birthday child’s photo was discovered as #1!
Norm made a giant rubber spider magically appear from an empty insect book. More amazing than this effect was his method, which could be adapted to cause any object to come out from any book – Norm then showed how he used this to highlight a theme when performing at libraries.
Norm is also experienced in performing close-up magic for corporate banquets and restaurants, as well as strolling magic at festivals. His close-up tricks included a logical and entertaining color changing silk effect and a fast and visual card trick using three kids, picking three cards. His approach to close up is to present fast and direct tricks due to the distractions that can occur at corporate events, restaurants and festivals. His idea for stand up and surrounded type magic is to have lots of comedy and fun interspersed. This was evident as we all laughed almost non-stop throughout the lecture, even during his explanations.
Norm is also a quick balloon artist and shared a few of his original magic ideas, including a bare handed inflated balloon from nowhere and a surprising and amazing stacking of acrobatic balancing balloon animals. For those who do not do balloons he shared an interesting idea using an inflatable penguin that is ideal for birthdays where the child gets to keep the animal object.
In the second segment of his lecture, Norm donned a Charlie Chaplin/ Red Skelton type suit and did his 12 minute silent comedy magic skit about a hobo finding an old suitcase filled with magic. This routine included billiard ball manipulations, a fantastic Zombie ball and fun eggs and rubber chickens production. This hilarious act brought the first part of the lecture to a close.
During the 20 minutes break, participants swamped his table to purchase his tricks and DVDs. All items were sold out and Norm had to take back-orders!
After the interval, we were surprised to see a different person at the front. We thought Norm had brought his brother or his friend along to continue with the remaining part of the lecture. Actually, this was the third segment of his lecture.
Completely transformed to a character known as the Amazing Normondo, Norm gave us his award-winning act that won him the coveted 1st place as America ’s Funniest Magician in Las Vegas . It was not recommended to laugh too hard after food and drinks, but we could not help it. We were in stitches at the bumbling antics of this fall-apart comedy act that featured a proud Las Vegas magician who was having an off-evening.
This was a great way to end the evening, and everyone had to get a photo with the Amazing Normondo, posing in Normondo style! Norm was generous in giving all participants a free 14-page lecture notes. People left the room with big smiles still on their faces!
Norm Barnhart can be contacted at NormBarnhart.com.