The Central States Fair features a wide variety of entertainment from Rodeos to live musicians. One of the youngest acts was a magic performance named The Magic of Reading.
Nine year-old Annelise Deyo is a magician. Her assistant is her 8 year old brother Benjamin Deyo. But the two use different names for the performance.
“I am Annelise the magnificent, here’s master Benjamin,” the magician introduced.
“Hi master Benjamin,” I said.
“Hi,” he replied.
The team took their show to the stage at the Central States Fair.
Annelise the Magnificent pulls young audience members up to the stage to do tricks. For one trick, she hands the volunteers a ball and when they drop it in her magic hat, one ball turns in to 10.
She uses books to interact with the audience.
She was given a magic kit when she was 7 to distract her from health problems. She has sensory processing disorder. The magician says performing magic makes her feel better.
“I like seeing people smile when they come up on stage and when I get finished with a trick. They’re just all so excited,” she said.
The magician says her brother, Master Benjamin, is really helpful.
“He also helps like save the show. If something goes wrong, if something isn’t set up right, he’s able to sneak behind and set it up so I can do it,” she said.
Annelise the Magnificent says she wants to continue magic. The magician says she plans on doing more performances when she can.