What’s it really like to perform magic for U.S. troops stationed in the Middle East? In this behind-the-scenes look, magician Jason Michaels shares a day in the life on tour—complete with early mornings, unit visits, dining in DFACs, and performing under tents for soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. From laughter-filled shows to heartfelt connections, this is a powerful glimpse into how a little magic can lift spirits, boost morale, and remind those serving far from home that they’re never forgotten.
In article #1 I shared my personal reasons for performing magic shows for deployed members of the military. You can read that article by clicking here.
In article #2 I discussed my selection criteria when selecting magicians to join the Operation Magic All Stars team and travel overseas to entertain the men, women and families of the armed forces. You can read that article by clicking here.
In article #3 I spill the goods when it comes to tents, toilets, and travel days. You can read that article by clicking here.
ARTICLE #4 - Show days are always fun. They are even more fun when you wake up in a foreign land and know that you are about to share magic, fun, and excitement with people whom you admire greatly.
At a recreation center on a base in England.
Show days for military audiences differ from region to region. When we tour in Europe and parts of Japan, the shows are designed for the folks who live on and around the bases we are visiting. Because those bases often house the entire family of the deployed soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines, I bring a team of entertainers who are best geared to entertain audiences of all ages.
In those cases, our show days usually consist of normal activities before heading to the show venue to set-up and perform our shows. Following our show, the team and I always enjoy a meet and greet with our audience as we take photos, sign autograph cards, and chat with everyone who wants to stop and say hello.
For the most part, those types of shows are very similar to a show that we would perform right here in the States. However, our show days are much more interesting when we are performing shows on bases in the Middle East and in remote locations.
Allow me to run you through a show day when my team and I are in the Middle East. The first thing that needs to be said is that the first couple of days are usually spent battling jetlag. Hopefully, when you wake up in the morning, it is seven or eight in the morning, and not 2:30am.
Once it gets to a respectable morning hour, the team and I start texting each other and decide on a time to meet for breakfast. It’s important to note that everyone doesn’t have to go to breakfast, but it is a good way to check in with each other and go over the plan for the day.
Many times shows on base in the Middle East are in tents.
As team leader, I communicate with our point of contact and make sure that everyone is on the same page regarding what time we will be leaving our hotel to head to that day’s base. (When we stay on base, we simply review our schedule so everyone knows what time our daily activities begin.)
At the agreed upon time, everyone meets and our point of contact takes us to the base. While each base is different, every base requires going through a security checkpoint and showing proper credentials to gain base access.
Our schedules are pretty regimented when on base. We have a set amount of time to get a very full schedule accomplished.
If we arrive for lunch then we start at the dining facility (also knows as the DFAC.) There are usually multiple food options that are usually quite good. For those of you with food restrictions, there are usually enough options that vegetarians and those with food allergies can find something to eat.
From the DFAC, we head to our first official activity, which is often a Commander’s Call. As a civilian, I don’t think I initially understood how big of a deal it was to meet with the base command. At a Commander’s Call we have the opportunity to meet those who are in top leadership positions. We always enjoy meeting these individuals and learning about more about the base and the people who are stationed there.
Many times the command team makes it a point to come to our show that night, but we also understand that there are times when they simply cannot make it. For that reason, my team and I make it a point to perform some up-close and personal magic for everyone at the Commander’s Call. I always get a huge kick out of performing magic for a tough, no-nonsense XO and watching a card trick break the gruff exterior and create laughter, smiles, and camaraderie with everyone gathered.
Following the Commander’s Call we head to unit visits. Unit visits give us an opportunity to shake hands and meet with small groups of people who are focused on their specific jobs. On any given day we may have up to three unit visits. The most common unit visits for us are to the base hospital, the EOD team, the fire department, the working dogs, and/or a unit on the flight line.
On our unit visits, we often get to participate in activities that these men and women do on a daily basis. For instance, on a unit visit last year I had the opportunity to put on a bomb suit. (While in it, I decided to see if I could still do a card trick. Check out the video!)
My team and I have been run through exercises that medics do, we’ve been in fire engines, and we’ve put on the heavy padded suit and had a working dog tackle us to the ground! Unit visits are always a blast! These activities give us an opportunity to really get an idea of what these folks do on a daily basis. They also let us really get to chat with them and have longer conversations. I always walk away from a unit visit with a fresh perspective on the sacrifice that those in the military make to keep me, my family, and my community safe.
(And, of course, we perform plenty of up-close magic for everyone we meet while on the unit visits.)
If there is time, we always enjoy a stop at the base exchange so we can grab snacks or a t-shirt to commemorate our visit, and then we usually head to the show venue to get set up. Setting up the show is pretty straight forward. There isn’t any more to it then any other event. We get familiar with the space, troubleshoot any potential problems, and set up our equipment.
Since the majority of shows happen during the evening, our last activity before the show is usually another visit to the DFAC to eat or to pack food that we can eat later.
I always LOVE the buzz that happens when people are getting to the show venue early and grabbing a good seat. My team and I have been very fortunate that the majority of our shows are packed full with people. We’ve learned that magic plays very well for these audiences. They love the surprises, they love being involved, and they love to laugh.
One of our autograph cards.
We always have a blast performing our shows. Every magician I’ve ever known will go to great lengths to share the joy that they feel when they perform magic. Sharing magic and laughter with these fine folks for an hour-and-a-half long show has proven to be one of the best uses of my talent that I can imagine.
The art of magic has given me so much. It warms my heart to see it give these soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines an escape from the difficulties of the day and a reminder of home. I 100% believe that when we bring these shows of magic and fun, that we are helping with resiliency, greater mental health, and that we improve morale.
After the show we LOVE meeting everyone who wants to stick around. We sign autograph cards, take photos, and just spend some time visiting with everyone.
Our final part of the day is when we pack everything up and head back to our hotel - which is usually followed by collapsing on the bed completely exhausted and looking forward to doing it all over again the next day.
In the next article in this series, I am going to get into how crazy a tour like this can get when Israel bombs Iran and me and my team are on the ground in Saudi Arabia trying to figure out what happens next!
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