Summer of 1991... Unlock the Magic.

This was one crazy promotion. The auditions were done in East Hartford. As I got there I was waiting to audition with hundreds of other magicians. When my turn came, I was allowed 10 minutes to perform and wow them. I must have because I got the gig. I developed my own set of tricks including the 3 shell game using a cookie with a surprise ending where there were a stack of 3 cookies under each cup; no loser there when everyone got the cookies. My second trick was a coupon I printed up for a case of Oreos locked away in a lucite holder. There were 3 keys and 2 of the auditioners chould chose one key each and I get the remaining key. They could then try and open the lock with their key or switch with my key before trying. They could not open the lock but my key did but as a consolation prize they each recieve a dollar off coupon good for a package of Oreos. My final trick was Miser's dream using cookies plucked from the air.

I was assigned the area of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts. On each Saturday and Sunday during the promotion I was to go to 2 different grocery stores where I met up with the other member of my team. She worked for the promotion company and was responsible for setting up a table at the end of the cookie aisle. She also dressed as a big Oreo Cookie. The costume was big and round and was huge and blocked the aisle from people shopping. I was given music to play as I performed the magic and handed out Oreo cookies. Lots of Oreo cookies. Thousands of Oreo cookies. (As a side note, you can guess that I ate my fair share but didn't eat another Oreo for a couple years after the promotion).

I do have fond memories of that summer. I handed out lots of personal business cards which got me lots of birthday party magic shows. But my big memory was coming home each day with a big black garbage bag of open cases of cookies. We had to open at least 2 cases of cookies at each store and could not return the unused packs to the shelves. So I brought them home and handed them out to all the kids in the neighborhood.
 
Next post... How I got into magic
 
Until then...