During his downtime at a construction job, Wes Barker practiced magic tricks.
In the confines of his truck, while waiting to fill the next pothole, the Vancouver-resident developed his next career as a comedian/magician.
āMy whole life Iāve always loved making jokes in class and I just loved when I would say something and everyone would laugh. It made going to the principalās office worth it,ā he said.
The outgoing magician has been featured on Penn & Teller: Fool Us, Americaās Got Talent, Wizard Wars and MTVās Greatest Party Stories Ever, offering a twist in the magic world.
āMy show is so much comedy magic, thereās no serious magic in it at all. Youāll be fooled, but itās mostly meant to be a super fun time, so I have some new stories I want to tell people,ā he said.
Barker is performing at Creekside Theatre, in Lake Country Saturday, Nov. 25 at 7:30 p.m.
āIām trying to experiment with some new ideas that might be good for TV⦠I literally have had some of my funniest ideas in the last two months,ā he said.
For live performances, Baker, 31, said itās harder to perform than on TV, but he can do tangents and is āmore in the moment.ā
āI can react to whatās in the theatre and I can make it so much fun. I love when I can do something specific to the location or the people. Everyone gets to feel like āoh, weāre seeing this the first and only time this exact thing will ever happenā and itās such a cool feeling for everybody,ā he said.
Thereās a difference between a live and filmed performance.
āWhen you edit magic, it can kind of change the feel of the trick. The actual performance I donāt worry about it too much,ā he said.
Reading an audience is also a skill he gained over time.
Youāre trying to change directions of a show in real time, he said. When he first starting performing magic shows full time six years ago, he remembered reading the audience and thinking they didnāt like certain tricks.
He also started as a serious magician, before realizing āitās such against my natural personality.ā
āI used to wear a proper suit and I was up there trying to āread minds,ā but then I would notice at these shows I was struggling. I noticed all my best parts of the shows are the ones Iām joking around,ā he said while during his comedy nights, he would perform tricks and received positive feedback from the audience.
āI decided to forget it; Iām going to go as hard as I can at this.ā
Baker plans to continue building his fan base on YouTube, focusing on live shows and touring more. He would also like to see a magic special on Netflix.
He also enjoys collaborating with others on YouTube.
āIām fascinated by what people watch and how they consume,ā he said and enjoys the challenge the platform offers. āYou canāt make everyone happy. If I think itās funny Iām going to do it.ā
Creekside Theatre is up and running for another season .
Tickets are $29 and a child-minding service will be offered. For a full list of Creekside Theatre events, visit .
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carli.berry@kelownacapnews.com
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