Folks,
Open Heart Magic is now accepting applications for our Hospital Service & Close-Up Training Program for Hospital Magician service so you can create magic and teach tricks to kids at their hospital bedsides. We're looking for several candidates for the program at the UIC Children's Hospital in the city of Chicago (just a couple blocks South off of 290 between Halsted & Ashland.) I wanted to post this first on the Magic Café because I'm looking for some individuals with a stronger interest in magic who may also eventually want to be part of brainstorming new close-up routines with our Committee for Powerful Magic, work with our Coin Group or help us build out some parlor pieces after you pass the initial progression of close-up magic training. We have three Café members who are OHM Hospital Magician volunteers and we're all working with some other OHM folks on some truly interesting magic projects.

So we're looking for folks in the city interested in taking their interest in close-up magic to a new level while helping a very worthwhile audience, kids and teens in hospitals who are at the critical point of trying to get better and deal with what is going on. You don't have to have gads of experience. If you have a sense of humor, an interest in magic and a commitment to engaging performances for a worthwhile audience in children's hospitals, then you sound like some others who are now some of our best magicians. The overview of the program and requirements are below. PM or email me if you have questions.

Finally, if anyone is interested months past when this is posted, then please send a note as well. Again, I take responses from Café members seriously and would love to chat. Thx, Mike

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PROGRAM OVERVIEW
We have grown to just under a dozen, actively performing close-up OHM Magicians, many who at first had no background in magic. All of our programs are sponsored meaning if selected, then you'll be part of a 12 week formalized magic training program in sleight of hand, performance and hospital service training that includes two evaluations. This is not corny, plastic prop-oriented child party magic; It's is classic close-up magic utilizing proven sleight-of-hand routines that will be taught through classroom-styled instruction and active performance and evaluation. It is very strong magic and if you complete the training program, then all props, supplies and your OHM Magician's Coat (black floor trader jackets with OHM and Hospital Magician designations on patches) and bag will also be provided.

TRULY REQUIRES COMMITMENT
It is a lot of work, but a labor of love if you're "into" close-up magic. You will need to come to the city for a slightly condensed 11 week training a well as monthly meetings/trainings going forward. You will not be able to hand out business cards in hospital rooms, and will be blacklisted if caught. You will be interviewed and screened by the highest standards and then screened again by the hospital with drug tests, blood tests and background screening. But the reward is exponentially worth so much more than the work and time involved.

MUST BE ABLE TO COMMIT TO AT LEAST ONE YEAR OF HOSPITAL MAGIC SERVICE
The commitment once service starts is one year of consistent bi-weekly service but most opt for continued one year extensions and continue to serve, work on their magic and be part of OHM.

We work hard, celebrate hard and have very low turn-over. The folks involved, men and women, are engaging, interesting and fun. It seems everyone develops a twisted wit that comes from performance. Our annual Board sponsored appreciation dinner this year will be at Hopleaf, all provided to the folks involved to thank everyone, from the Hospital Magicians to the Board members themselves, with some great Belgian Food and Ale.

YOU DO NOT NEED A MAGIC BACKGROUND
Again, you do not need intense magic experience. We're looking first and foremost for your commitment to service and then to your commitment to learn our style of interactive sleight-of-hand and close-up magic. We're looking for performance oriented characters with outgoing, confident personalities and a sense of humor and a dedication to helping other folks, particularly kids.

NEW THREE YEAR PROGRESSION IN CLOSE-UP MAGIC
The program offers a new three year progression of sleight of hand and interactive close-up magic that will teach you a lot of awe-inspiring magic in a progressive manner, including skills in classic card and coin sleights, routining, performance, spectator interaction, misdirection and control and all aspects of creating an amazing interaction. All will be taught and if you practice and pass the evaluations, you will be rewarded by taking your magic skills to a professional level. The training for this expanded program will be coupled with another program expansion where we already have candidates that will start next month, in September.

The reason we focus so much on training is to give you the tools, to build your skills and confidence and to provide the supplies so you're able to truly enjoy and provide the service of performing and inspiring kids and teens and their families, at their hospital bedsides through one-on-one magic. If you pass the initial training program, you will have the skills and confidence to reach kids who would otherwise turn away other visitors and will be the Rainmaker in a hard situation. You will have the ability to make kids laugh in an environment where their parents have forgotten their children's laughter. It's a powerful experience, but one that requires a true commitment to service and quality of interaction and performance, and to the art of close-up magic.

For more information, please check for more specifics at the following link (PLEASE NOTE, THIS IS NOT A LISTING FOR THE PROGRAM IN THE CITY DESCRIBED ABOVE. I wanted to post this particular city listing info at the Magic Café first before we go through our normal means of bringing new people into the program as we'll get flooded when it goes to volunteermatch) :
http://www.volunteermatch.org/results/op......d=301283

For more information about Open Heart Magic, please check our site at:
http://www.openheartmagic.com

If you're interested, then please respond and send an email to mwalton@openheartmagic.com with a quick idea of your background and note that you've seen this information on the Café. I take Café members seriously because they've loved the training, have contributed on many levels and have become great magicians who are dedicated to close-up magic and the cause in the past.

Thanks to everyone who has supported OHM and the mission of empowering children and teens who are hospitals, helping them at their critical point of when they need it the most. Thanks for everyone who donates their time anywhere. You know it all helps.

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Michael Walton
Hospital Magician
Open Heart Magic, a registered 501(c)(3)foundation
Chicago, Illinois

Who makes the/any money?

Do the performers get compensated? If so, how? And When?

Justin,

To date, no one has been financially compensated except the insurance company, our magic and other product suppliers and some production folks for the Secret Lessons we've developed that are handed out to teach kids magic at the hospital. We'll also give the patients the tricks and new decks so they can keep busy performing magic rather than thinking where they’re at and then also have this new power to fool even their doctor. We have compensated a Spanish translator so we're now able to teach kids magic who are Spanish speaking as well. We’ll do an annual dinner and OHM will also cover certain magic speaker costs to invest in its folks. That’s generally it but that will change soon.

We’ll get a staff. We'll need to and we’re definitely on our way there because of necessity. With this most recent new Hospital Magician class, we'll have a total of 18 Hospital Magicians. And everyone prefers to have regular, small group close-up training and performance practice and so much work goes into that. Plus, there’s just a lot of admin work to do, the fund raising and sponsorship proposals and managing of hospital and business relationships so we’ll need to have someone do that as well, and a bunch of other things the state and feds require of a legal non-profit. We're working on that right now and working to increase the size of our Board of Directors but as we are with our volunteers, we’re being selective. We’re looking for people committed to the cause. We're getting close but we’re managing our growth to that our folks feel very prepared with the regular new magic to ensure the magic is the strongest it can be so the quality of interaction with the child and family is truly at a “wow” level. They’re worth it and it makes it more enjoyable for the Hospital Magician, but of course that takes a lot of time.

Each Hospital Magician who generally has no background in magic will perform for an average of two to three hours once every two weeks. They'll receive 12 weeks of initial close-up magic training and performance practice as well as evaluations and feedback to meet a high performance standard at no cost to them. They’ll also learn how to work with kids and adapt all of the routines to a wide spectrum of medical situations. They’ll then receive regular on going training to help them build out their magic to work with long term patients. They'll receive all of their supplies for free, and we're working on an advanced progression of close-up magic as well to support more advanced sleights, routines, etc. We have a total of three Café members, including myself, and an advanced hobbyist who are working on this progression now. We have a meeting this evening to finalize a coin routine that will be in Phase 2 of this progression.

The stuff we all learn is brilliant stuff. It's truly close-up magic college for free but I wouldn't say that's where their compensation comes from.

The folks who are interested in becoming Hospital Magicians are generally professionals, but not professional magicians. We have floor traders, executives, PHD Chem students, software salespeople, a couple retired folks, marketing directors, real estate folks, etc. who perform at Bedside Magic programs at our partner hospitals in the evenings and weekends. Everyone is outgoing with a performance-oriented background. And I'll tell you that they get to be very good. Regular performance by folks who really get into what they do and who have a high standard of magic interaction with kids, teens and doctors and nurses does just that. We had another foundation offer us a large paid gig as they wanted to ditch their pros at their annual black tie event because they saw some of our NEW guys perform (and these fellas had no previous background in magic.) We declined as working fund-raisers for paid gigs isn't in our mission and it’s not why we’re doing this.

The Hospital Magicians and anyone on the Café who have done this for kids would generally say that they're very, very generously compensated through the impact their having on kids’ lives. This is especially true in an environment where these kids would never experience close-up magic which makes it all the more special. By using this approach of magic as therapy tied to very strong interactive close-up magic, we're able to reach many kids, and a large amount of hard to reach patients who would otherwise see no one because they turn everyone away. We get to truly help families and their young daughters and sons who are in the hospital at the critical time of when they're trying to get better and this approach is working. We’re onto something special. The hospitals know it and all of us as volunteer Hospitals Magicians know it as well.

Plus, we get to hang with very cool people and crank on excellent close up magic. It’s a cool gig.

Didn’t mean to overload with info, but this is new and there wasn’t an easy answer to your question. PM me if you have any further questions.

Wow Mike, All I can say is good luck! It sounds like such a huge undertaking and I wish you all the success. I only asked about the money to see if it was going to be funded by the state or somewhere else.

I have been performing hospital programs for more than twenty years. I perform all sorts of programs in all types of environments, Mental health, psych wards, maximum security, rehab, transitional, drug treatment, etc. and many others. In all my years I surely have performed thousands of programs in these facilities - All in NYC and New Jersey.

I can tell you that no amount of money can compare to the reward you will get from helping those who are confined to a hospital bed. Bringing a good level of entertainment to someone who may not have the chance to be exposed to the arts is a very fulfilling experience. Unless you do it, people don't know what they are missing, not to mention the fact that it really makes you appreciate your own health, life and liberty.

I (of course) don't live in the Chicago area, but if I can ever be of any help or assistance please feel free to contact me. I can share experiences that I have had, help with any questions about how to work in these facilities, what to expect, what works and what might not. A lot goes into it and it is definitely not for everyone. But for those who do, they will be rewarded far beyond their wildest dreams - that I can say for certain!

Thanks -

Justin