During his downtime at a construction job, Wes Barker practiced magic tricks.
In the confines of his truck, while waiting to fill the next pothole, the Vancouver-resident developed his next career as a comedian/magician.
鈥淢y whole life I鈥檝e always loved making jokes in class and I just loved when I would say something and everyone would laugh. It made going to the principal鈥檚 office worth it,鈥� he said.
The outgoing magician has been featured on Penn & Teller: Fool Us, America鈥檚 Got Talent, Wizard Wars and MTV鈥檚 Greatest Party Stories Ever, offering a twist in the magic world.
鈥淢y show is so much comedy magic, there鈥檚 no serious magic in it at all. You鈥檒l be fooled, but it鈥檚 mostly meant to be a super fun time, so I have some new stories I want to tell people,鈥� he said.
Barker is performing at Creekside Theatre, in Lake Country Saturday, Nov. 25 at 7:30 p.m.
鈥淚鈥檓 trying to experiment with some new ideas that might be good for TV鈥� I literally have had some of my funniest ideas in the last two months,鈥� he said.
For live performances, Baker, 31, said it鈥檚 harder to perform than on TV, but he can do tangents and is 鈥渕ore in the moment.鈥�
鈥淚 can react to what鈥檚 in the theatre and I can make it so much fun. I love when I can do something specific to the location or the people. Everyone gets to feel like 鈥榦h, we鈥檙e seeing this the first and only time this exact thing will ever happen鈥� and it鈥檚 such a cool feeling for everybody,鈥� he said.
There鈥檚 a difference between a live and filmed performance.
鈥淲hen you edit magic, it can kind of change the feel of the trick. The actual performance I don鈥檛 worry about it too much,鈥� he said.
Reading an audience is also a skill he gained over time.
You鈥檙e trying to change directions of a show in real time, he said. When he first starting performing magic shows full time six years ago, he remembered reading the audience and thinking they didn鈥檛 like certain tricks.
He also started as a serious magician, before realizing 鈥渋t鈥檚 such against my natural personality.鈥�
鈥淚 used to wear a proper suit and I was up there trying to 鈥榬ead minds,鈥� but then I would notice at these shows I was struggling. I noticed all my best parts of the shows are the ones I鈥檓 joking around,鈥� he said while during his comedy nights, he would perform tricks and received positive feedback from the audience.
鈥淚 decided to forget it; I鈥檓 going to go as hard as I can at this.鈥�
Baker plans to continue building his fan base on YouTube, focusing on live shows and touring more. He would also like to see a magic special on Netflix.
He also enjoys collaborating with others on YouTube.
鈥淚鈥檓 fascinated by what people watch and how they consume,鈥� he said and enjoys the challenge the platform offers. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 make everyone happy. If I think it鈥檚 funny I鈥檓 going to do it.鈥�
Creekside Theatre is up and running for another season .
Tickets are $29 and a child-minding service will be offered. For a full list of Creekside Theatre events, visit .
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