At 17-18, I was finding my feet on stage at St. Bernadette’s Parish under the guidance of our very talented director, the late Pat Devlin. My journey with the Devlin family started in 1979, and Pat had me playing everything from the Prince in Snow White to a mystical Fakir.

My mother, Maura Luty, a Registered Nurse at the Florence Nightingale Hospital, was my biggest fan. She introduced me to the activities director, Roma, and soon I was performing my Fakir act for the residents during the holidays.

 

My "career highlight" from that era? Building a custom flash pot for the "Wicked Witch" (the wonderful Carol Marsh). In a moment of sheer clumsiness, I ignited the smoke a few seconds too early while she was still leaning over the pot! Carol rose through a massive cloud of sulfur to a gasping audience. Thankfully, she was a pro—she loved the effect, and the audience thought it was pure magic.

 

While the Fakir was a character I played back then, I performed many other acts at St. Bernadette’s during those early 80s years. As pictured here in my 1980 archives, I’m performing the torn and restored $2 bill—a vivid memory of those early, "explosive" days of magic in Surrey.

 

The connection to St. Bernadette's came full circle in 1993. The Parish hosted the Variety Club Telethon for the local Surrey cable channel, and I was honored to perform on TV between the local school acts. It was a proud moment to return to the stage where it all began

 

If you click here, you can see the original photo of me performing the Torn and Restored Two-Dollar Bill at St. Bernadette’s Parish, circa 1980-81—a vivid memory from my early days of magic in Surrey