Jul 27

Jul 27 December '25: Last Minute at the Loony Bin

I ended 2025 with some wonderfully merry shows. First was a performance at a local veteran’s hospital for their annual Christmas Show, a December tradition I’ve been doing since I was a teenager. A week later, I had the pleasure of juggling milk and cookies at Cirque Noel, the holiday variety spectacular with Arkansas Circus Arts at Wildwood Park for the Arts. But the final show of the year came as a Christmas Day surprise, when the owner of the local comedy club asked if I would join magician Gene Berry and comedian Zen Balentine that weekend for a last-minute All Ages show at the Loony Bin.

An All Ages show at a comedy club is always a fun affair. Usually, this isn’t an environment where families are hanging out, so it feels extra special for the kids when they get to finally tag along with their parents to see what happens at the forbidden comedy club. And although it’s a blast having all new types of audience members in this kind of venue, it can become really easy for these All Ages shows to feel like they’re made just for kids. But even with children in some of the seats, the Loony Bin is still a comedy club, and we knew from experience that several adult groups would come without any kids at all, still expecting an evening of entertainment. So it was important to all of us that we put on a show that wouldn’t leave anyone out.

Gene and I perform our respective magic and juggling shows in all kinds of venues, so we both have pretty clean acts. Even when we’ve shared the stage in age-restricted late shows at this place, neither of us tend to rely on blue humor or dirty jokes for laughs. So when kiddos are watching, we still generally perform our standard acts, with maybe a slight adaptation to the presentation just to make sure the littlest comedy clubbers get to have as much fun as the typical, more grown up crowd. The goal is for everyone to have fun, and it worked exactly the way we intended. Zeb got lots of laughs for his musical comedy, I did some of my favorite juggling routines to a cheering audience, and Gene brought the house down with his hilarious mind-reading and elephant-vanishing. During each act, I was delighted to see genuine smiles and laughter from audience members of all ages.

I talked with the club’s owner and manager, Wayne, after the show, and he was happy with what we put together, even on short notice. Not all comedy clubs like to bring in variety acts or family shows, but Wayne made it clear that the Loony Bin can be a place where where people of all ages—college kids, octogenarians, and whole families—can fully enjoy the same live entertainment. I told him we’d make it happen again in the new year, and as I write this in 2026, we’ve already had one more successful All Ages magic & juggling show here, with another coming up in a few weeks!

By Christmas, I thought I had finished all my shows for 2025, but I’ll never turn down the chance to jump onto a familiar stage with a friend! I’m glad I didn’t miss this one, because rolling with the new opportunity didn’t just bring about one really cool All Ages variety show, it started a conversation that has led to more already! I’ve been around long enough to learn that when life gives you lemons, you might as well throw them in the air and catch them on the tip of a knife while an audience of fun-loving families cheers you on!