The morning meeting is over. management is impressed by their first encounter with Mirf the Magnificent. 
The entire cast and staff spent the majority of the meeting fawning all over Mirf. Our first meet and greet in the outer courtyard at the gate is in the bag. We make our way back to the stage after an evil encounter with a small dog. Mirf didn’t attack the dog, I'm pretty sure he considered it since he was rearing up. I sequestered Mirf in his cage to chill out from the incident and get ready for the first show scheduled to take place in forty five minutes. I was not happy about the encounter, it could turn out to be detrimental to Mirf's performance. Especially after the last 3 weeks.
I have to stop the story for a second and explain something, You see Mirf almost died before the start of the Michigan Renaissance Festival.
I purchased Mirf from Magestic Maine Coons, a reputable cattery in Livonia, MI. Mirf was purchased under a no breed/no show contract. I did clarify that I would be performing with him in shows but not showing him at any type of TICA event. One of the requirements was to have him neutered. Mirf was neutered at 1 year old, a couple weeks before MiRF started so there shouldn’t be an issue…right?
Well, Mirf started to get lethargic and not acting his self after he was neutered. I contacted the vet and they had me bring him in immediately. It turned out that he had opened his sutures and had diarrhea that got into his surgical wound and he had a bad infection requiring emergency surgery. We were terrified that we were going to lose him. The vet kept him overnight on IV antibiotics. When he came home he seemed a little better. He was prescribed daily antibiotics and put in a cone of shame. I followed the doctors orders to the letter and took him in for his rechecks. He was improving well. The Michigan Renaissance Festival was coming up fast, it was looking like Mirf would miss the first weekend. 
Friday morning before heading to the festival grounds Mirf had an evaluation with the Veterinarian to decide if Mirf was going to perform or not. Dr. Gaide gave him the green light and off to festival we went. So you can understand my anger and frustration towards the cast member whose dog harassed Mirf. I harbor no resentment or ill will, but I was miffed. Anyway, back to the story.
I'm standing backstage setting up my microphone. Mirf's sitting in his cage playing with his balls, (it’s a wooden toy with 9 balls in it) when I started hearing people type noises coming from the audience area. The stage we're on has an oak tree in front of it called The Mother Oak Tree. This oak tree is beloved by hundreds of people. so its not uncommon to hear noise from the audience area in the morning as some of the other performers, venders, staff and early birdpatrons come to pay homage to the mother oak, drink beverages and chat a bit under her branches. So, It's normal to hear some sounds but this was much louder than normal. My heart raced for a moment, I thought I had squandered too much time backstage when I looked up at the clock and saw that it was still thirty minutes before showtime.
I had plenty of time to finish getting ready. 
I put my body pack on my belt, hung the microphone off my ear and stuck my head out the door. I was amazed to see the entire audience area filled, including the standing area. I walked out onto the stage, clicked on my microphone to greet the audience. I said "Hello", the audience replied back "Hello!". I was pretty shocked, I asked what they were doing down here, a patron said they were here for the show. I said the show doesn't start for thirty minutes and he said they wanted to make sure they got a seat.
It was a fun interaction. I finished setting up the stage for the show. I kept an eye on the clock as I arranged things on stage and chatted with different members of the audience. I went backstage and loaded Mirf in his cage for the show and covered it with the foulard. I rolled out Mirf's cage and set it off to the side and continued chatting with some more of the audience members.
Five minutes until showtime, props are loaded in place, ready to go. As I stood on the stage in front of a packed audience I reflected upon the last ten months. This was the moment we had worked for. The Michigan Renaissance Festival is the largest renaissance festival in Michigan. I've been told MiRF enjoys 250,000+ visitors every year so it's considered one of the larger shows in the country. At this point, I've been performing on this stage for nearly 7 years. The first show is always the smallest show because most of the patrons have not made it that far back on the festival grounds. We're located near the back of the festival and it's a fairly large place. I'm used to having a sparse audience for the first show after opening. Opening activities are still going on.
I'm excited there's a full audience.
As I'm ready to start the show, I look at the audience, smile, take a deep breath.
I gesture to the audience and say:
"Wow, This has never happened before."
"I find this to be humbling yet humiliating at the same time."
"I find it humbling that you are all here so early to see my show."
"I find it humiliating because I have been here for 7 years and this never happened until I added the cat!"
"You know what that means?"
"It Worked!"
The audience laughed and We started the show.
I opened the show with my normal opening lines and pocket tricks.
I then introduced Mirf's empty cage with a foulard hanging off the back of it.
I showed the cage empty. I told the audience:
"In circus they have this wonderful illusion that I have always liked since I was a child. They show a giant empty cage, then cover it with a giant cloth. They spin it around three times. When they pull the cloth off the cage a giant tiger impossibly fills the cage."
"Well, I don't have that kind of budget or liability insurance so I have a livestock cage over here."
I show the livestock cage is empty. I cover it with a foulard and spin it around three times and enthusiastically say while I pull the foulard away:
"I give you Mirf the Magnificent!"
Mirf was laying there in his cage stretched out like a lazy bum. I opened the top and knocked on it to signal for him to come out. He took his sweet time, but he came out, stretched, then sat down and looked around at the audience like "Ah, my peons".
The lady that helped me with Mirf's card trick was very animated. I thought she was going to pass out when Mirf pulled her card out of the deck.
The silk trick was a bit rough but the audience seemed to like it well enough. I end up bonking him on the head at a later show with it, and he decided he wanted nothing to do with it any longer. I ended up dropping it from the show later in the season.
When it was time to vanish Mirf at the end of the show, he was supposed to climb into his vanishing box, 
but he wasn't ready to go. Mirf wanted to hang around with the audience a little longer. With a little coaxing and a few treats he climbed into the vanishing trunk on his own. I closed it up and did the vanish. I passed the props to Mirf's assistant backstage and finished the show with my customary closing card trick.
The show went very well. The audience applause said it all. Mirf did his part right on cue. Mirf came in and out of his prop, moved from prop to table and back again. He did well and continues to improve with every show.
I grabbed Mirf from backstage to do our meet and greet after the show under the Mother Oak. That tree provides some amazing shade that Mirf and I appreciate.
It w
as an amazing feeling.
We did it and the audience loved it.
Mirf seemed to revel in the applause.
It was a good feeling to know I did the right thing, the gamble paid off.
Every show that day was packed. As a matter of fact, every show for the rest of the season was packed…every one. It was truly amazing.
Until next time, thank you for reading.
Cheers,
Cap'n Sean and Mirf
