In January I went on a service trip with Magicians without boarders in Africa. We traveled to Cape Town and surrounding villages. We performed organized theater shows to raise funds for local educational groups as well as impromptu performances for children in refugee camps, orphanages townships, and hospitals. Here’s one of my favorite and most unique experiences:

Magic at St. Josephs Home for children

While doing magic at st. Joseph’s Home for children in South Africa I called up a little girl with heavy burns on her entire body for  a magic trick. Once on the stage I noticed she didn’t have all of her fingers on her left hand and the other was a stump. The trick required making a fist and holding your hand up. I was worried perhaps she wouldn’t be able to do the trick or that confronting her disability would traumatize her and I thought of sending her back. In 3 seconds I decided against it, I wanted to help make her the hero of the magic trick and not ruin the flow of the show by sending her back and picking someone else. Fortunately for me she held her hand correctly, didn’t blink at all when I asked her which hand she preferred using to hold things and at the end of the trick she was so proud to show her hand to everyone. 

Her reality was that she didn’t have the same hands as everyone else and instead of being upset about it she had accepted that and worked within her abilities. She was 7 and don’t blink an eye when I asked her which hand was best to use. After the show she was one of the first children to run up and hug me. I am so glad that I didn’t send her back to the audience due to her disability. I was worried that because she was different she wouldn’t be able to help but she did just fine and had a blast. I think the experience was even more powerful for her because she wasn’t treated any differently and at that moment when she held up her hand to show everyone if the trick worked she was so proud and got a huge round of applause. I’m glad I was able to make a small difference in this girl’s life and that I was able to go out of my comfort zone as a performer and do something a little different. 

All it took was some very specific  audience control and a little faith and the trick worked! I really love magical moments like this! 😍 what a unique experience. I’m so glad I joined Magicians Without Borders.

Katrina is happy to travel to your magic show anywhere in the Los Angeles County area, Orange County, Ventura County, Agoura Hills, Alhambra,  Arcadia,  Artesia,  Avalon,  Azusa, Baldwin Park, Bell, Bellflower, Bell Gardens, Beverly Hills,  Bradbury,  Burbank,  Calabasas,  Carson,  Cerritos,  Claremont,  Commerce,  Compton,  Covina, Cudahy,  Culver City,  Diamond Bar,  Downey,  Duarte,  El Monte,  El Segundo,  Gardena,  Glendale, Glendora,  Hawaiian Gardens,  Hawthorne,  Hermosa Beach,  Hidden Hills,  Huntington Park,  Industry, Inglewood,  Irwindale,  La Canada Flintridge,  La Habra Heights, Lakewood,  La Mirada, Lancaster, La Puente, La Verne, Lawndale, Lomita, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Lynwood, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, Maywood, Monrovia, Montebello, Monterey Park, Norwalk, Palmdale, Palos Verdes Estates, Paramount, Pasadena, Pico Rivera,  Pomona, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Rosemead, San Dimas, San Fernando, San Gabriel, San Marino, Santa Clarita, Santa Fe Springs, Santa Monica, Sierra Madre, Signal Hill, South El Monte, South Gate, South Pasadena, Temple City,  Torrance, Vernon, Walnut, West Covina, West Hollywood, Westlake Village, Whittier), Orange County (Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Cypress, Dana Point, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills,  Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, La Habra, Lake Forest, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, Orange, Placentia, Rancho Santa  Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Stanton, Tustin, Villa Park, Westminster, Yorba Linda), Ventura County,  and all of Los Angeles area and Southern California!