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.
sa国际传媒淢y whole life Isa国际传媒檝e always loved making jokes in class and I just loved when I would say something and everyone would laugh. It made going to the principalsa国际传媒檚 office worth it,sa国际传媒� he said.
The outgoing magician has been featured on Penn & Teller: Fool Us, Americasa国际传媒檚 Got Talent, Wizard Wars and MTVsa国际传媒檚 Greatest Party Stories Ever, offering a twist in the magic world.
sa国际传媒淢y show is so much comedy magic, theresa国际传媒檚 no serious magic in it at all. Yousa国际传媒檒l be fooled, but itsa国际传媒檚 mostly meant to be a super fun time, so I have some new stories I want to tell people,sa国际传媒� he said.
Barker is performing at Creekside Theatre, in Lake Country Saturday, Nov. 25 at 7:30 p.m.
sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 trying to experiment with some new ideas that might be good for TVsa国际传媒� I literally have had some of my funniest ideas in the last two months,sa国际传媒� he said.
For live performances, Baker, 31, said itsa国际传媒檚 harder to perform than on TV, but he can do tangents and is sa国际传媒渕ore in the moment.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淚 can react to whatsa国际传媒檚 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 sa国际传媒榦h, wesa国际传媒檙e seeing this the first and only time this exact thing will ever happensa国际传媒� and itsa国际传媒檚 such a cool feeling for everybody,sa国际传媒� he said.
Theresa国际传媒檚 a difference between a live and filmed performance.
sa国际传媒淲hen you edit magic, it can kind of change the feel of the trick. The actual performance I donsa国际传媒檛 worry about it too much,sa国际传媒� he said.
Reading an audience is also a skill he gained over time.
Yousa国际传媒檙e 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 didnsa国际传媒檛 like certain tricks.
He also started as a serious magician, before realizing sa国际传媒渋tsa国际传媒檚 such against my natural personality.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淚 used to wear a proper suit and I was up there trying to sa国际传媒榬ead minds,sa国际传媒� but then I would notice at these shows I was struggling. I noticed all my best parts of the shows are the ones Isa国际传媒檓 joking around,sa国际传媒� he said while during his comedy nights, he would perform tricks and received positive feedback from the audience.
sa国际传媒淚 decided to forget it; Isa国际传媒檓 going to go as hard as I can at this.sa国际传媒�
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.
sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 fascinated by what people watch and how they consume,sa国际传媒� he said and enjoys the challenge the platform offers. sa国际传媒淵ou cansa国际传媒檛 make everyone happy. If I think itsa国际传媒檚 funny Isa国际传媒檓 going to do it.sa国际传媒�
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 .
To report a typo, email: edit@kelownacapnews.com.
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carli.berry@kelownacapnews.com
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