Comic magician Daniel Lusk is shown after a past performance in Indianapolis.
Submitted photo
COMIC magician Daniel Lusk has been on MTV, performed before corporate crowds as large as 5,000 people, and even tickled the funnybone of professional sports teams.
But make no mistake, his ego is as in check as any illusionist’s stage secrets. And for a very specific reason. The star of his free show at noon today at The Commons is Twinky the Magical Bunny Rabbit, small in size — fitting into a top hat — but looming large in a predominant presence.
“He’s been with me for 15 years, and he’s a bigger star than I’ll ever be,” Lusk said, speaking by phone from his Indianapolis home. “I simply live in his shadow. Kids ask way more often about him than me, for sure.”
The plush puppet and plenty of other props will be front and center with Lusk at the 45-minute Columbus Parks and Recreation Department show that he emphasized is for the entire family and not just the little ones.
“I don’t even categorize the show at all by age,” he said. “I just did a (day care) show today where they literally wheeled in the baby cribs. I took a picture of it.”
He regularly earns positive feedback from parents, grandparents and other adults for his act that’s heavy on humor.
And heavy on audience assistance, too.
“I’ll bring kids and parents on stage,” he said. “But I’m actually not a children’s magician. I’m literally a family entertainer.”
The 43-year-old preacher’s kid developed an imaginative creativity years ago helping his dad with Vacation Bible School activities.
“So I always wanted to be able to do shows that absolutely anyone could enjoy,” he said. “I have to be well-versed in a wide variety of entertainment. Those people at some place like a library have no idea that I work a lot in the corporate world.
“And then when I fly out across the country doing a show at some high-end CEO training, they have no idea that I have a puppet back home that I use to entertain kids.”
His current summer schedule is chock-full of summer camps and children’s programs. Late in the year around the holidays, 95 percent of his performances are all-adult gatherings.
He broke into laughter when asked which audience is tougher.
“They each present their own challenges,” he said.
Lusk holds firmly to one guideline when working before a pint-sized crew: “It’s really very simple. Just never grow up. And stay a little immature.”
Occasionally, he jokes that the disciplinary dad in him threatens to launch into one of his Kids Kindness shows at home as a reminder to his own teens, ages 17, 16 and 13, about the importance of softheartedness.
“I sometimes have to remind them to use their words to build others up rather than tearing them down,” he said.
That also explains the importance of his anti-bullying shows and related material. Plus, he’s currently working on a book “How to Communicate Like a Magician” for business people. And he’s beginning to learn to do voice-over work.
After all, he apparently needs an added avenue or two — especially since Twinky commandeers the magical side of his work.
