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BEN UNIVERSITY ADVENTURELAND SECRET CORNER FOX KIDS' CLUB MAGICIANS ONLY |
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ADVENTURELAND SHOWS Ben Ulin and wife, Margaret, have been setting the standard for entertainment at Adventureland since 1988. Their MAGIC AND MYSTERIES show at the Sheriff Sam's Salloon is the longest running show in the park's history. This year celebrates their 22nd year. This years show will be filled with a mix of new illusions and the return of several audience favorites from years gone by. 2009 Adventureland Schedule Six shows daily at Sheriff Sam's Saloon 12:00, 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, 4:00, 5:00 Weekends - August 29, 30 - Sept. 5, 6, 7 - Sept. 12, 13 - Sept. 19, 20 - Sept. 26, 27 Find out more about Adventureland Ben talks about Adventureland: In 1988, Adventureland contacted me about performing in their Sheriff Sam's Saloon theater. Margaret, my girlfriend at the time, agreed to assist me. Having been primarily a solo act in the comedy clubs and company shows, I had to design and customize several larger tricks to include her and build a larger looking show. The first year featured a unique western themed illusion we called The House Trick, which magically caused Margaret and I to switch places. This show also had our most enduring illusion, the Metamorphosis; my spoof on the classic Houdini trunk trick. Over the years, we have been able to develop many different routines and shows. In 1991, I hosted a televised game show on KDSM TV called the Family FunZone. this was taped at Adventureland on the "FunZone" stage which had been renovated over the highdive/dolphin show pool area. This show was successful enough to continue a live version of it over the next two years. I was still performing the magic show at Sam's Saloon so I ended up running back and forth from theater to theater. In 1996, we moved to the Palace Theater at the front end of the park. We put on a show called, Unbelievable Magic & Mysteries. This was a much larger show featuring a cast of nine. The show had some memorable classic magic; A production and vanish of four people, sawing a woman in half, levitating and vanishing lady, transformation of woman to gorilla, and cannon trick that made a clown vanish and appear in a large drum hung high overhead. Many thanks to: Steve Daly for the set design, painting, inspiration, ideas, support, and love; to Dave Barr for prop construction and staging; Valerie Williams for choreography; and to the hard working cast; Krissy Still, Sara Stevenson, Kara Kerr, Stacey Smith, Chris Peterson, Dave Engebretson, Pete Bixby, and of course... Carrie Dean! We moved back to Sheriff Sam's Saloon in 1997 after Adventureland decide to use the Palace Theater exclusively for company functions. In 2000, we put in the Secret Corner Magic Shop inside Sam's Saloon. We have enjoyed offering entry level magic tricks to our guests and have hired some great people to help us demonstrate the tricks at the counter. On the list of Adventureland sales magicians are; Seth Vandertuig, Allen Roen, Steve Daly, Sean Carlock, and Jonathan May. -check out magic tricks for sale- On June 13, 2003, Margaret and I celebrated our 10,000th show at the park. Van and Bonnie from WHO Radio aired their morning show from Adventureland where Bonnie tried to hide a diamond from me. She was allowed to hide it anywhere in the park that she wanted. I was able to read her mind and find it. This was the result of a challenge that Van had offered to me and the result was that I helped Van perform the cutting in half trick on Bonnie in front of the live audience that came to witness the event. It was great fun! 10,000 Shows Trivia - 11,000 times I've asked people to 'pick a card, any card' - Linked metal rings 49,200 times - I've done 9,000 rope tricks - I've had 12,560 children help me on stage - 3,400 of those children have floated in the air. - 6,800 men have put me into a straight jacket - My wife Margaret has magically appeared over 9,520 times. - She has been successfully cut in half or divided into thirds over 500 times. She makes several costume changes in each show. She has changed her clothes over 39,360 times, and believe it or not in all that time, she has only bought 60 pairs of shoes. Margaret has been floated, vanished, hypnotized, twisted, pulled through keyholes, chased by gorillas and dragons. She's been pierced by swords, spikes, knives, blades, even toilet plungers. She's been shoved in bags, boxes, baskets, cages, trunks, a coffin, a mummy case, and even a tiny doll house. You find a woman who'll do all that for you, you got to marry her. The most amazing thing that ever happened was during a weekend in September of 2001, when Margaret, who had insisted on performing even though she was pregnant, gave birth to our daughter on Thursday, left the hospital on Friday, and returned to do all six shows at Adventureland on Saturday. Now that's magic!  |
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