Living Illusions Blog

All I can say is WOW!  We had a Tag You’re It program at the Waco Convention Center today.  There were students from all over the state at the Texas TSA State Contest.  They had projects ranging from incredible carpentry work to custom barbque grills that students had created either individually or as a group.  It was truely amazing the quality, skill and imagination that went in to these projects.    If you are interested, check out their website at www.texastsa.org . 

We are back in Dallas now. The trip to Istanbul, Turkey was great.

The director ultimately decided to have Kristen do three escapes on the show. The shooting was long like we expected…it was 17 hours. Finally at 6am Kristen performed her water torture cell. Other acts she did were received with a standing ovation…Her Rope Tie and her Steel Box Escape. The celebrity she used for the Rope Tie was speechless and just stood there silent for about 12-15 seconds, then finally nodded in approvement and applauded. We had two full days of sight seeing…saw the Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar, etc. You can see pictures of the shoot as well as our sight seeing around town here:
www.flickr.com/kevinandkristen

We met some great people and hope to be back there again in December. We are now in Waco, TX to meet back up with the team for the My Real Life Tour. We will do two High School assemblies both tomorrow & Friday. Then on Saturday we’ll do the big arena show at Ferrell Center at Baylor University.

We landed in Istanbul yesterday morning after 13 hours of flight time from Dallas. After a few hours of refreshing we went to see the water cell. For those who frequent the cafe, you may be aware that we had put the word out looking to rent a water cell in Europe. Our schedule would not allow us to ship our water cell over as we needed it in the US the day before we left and need it again just several days after our return. Well the TV show producer said they had a builder in Turkey that could do the job. I’ll admit I was a bit nervous. Well we saw the water cell yesterday and it is both perfect and a beauty. They built it to the specs of the first tank we used five years ago…but here is the kicker: They built the entire thing in one day. I was completely blown away. I was already impressed thinking that they had built it in four days as that was how long they had since we had found out about the TV show…but to build it in one day…WOW!

We start a long day of shooting today. They ultimately decided to have Kristen do three escapes on the show. After that we will sight see for two days. We are hiring an english speaking guide to take us around and make sure we get to enjoy Istanbul as much as possible.

Goota run…we are heading to the TV studios now…Se ya!!!

Our Guide

Hey gang…what a whirlwind this past week has been. Four High School assemblies on Friday. Which was possible only because of the great team we have and with the help of the US Army. Saturday was our Arena show in Midland, TX, along with all the Army interactive exhibits. Sunday morning, two hours away, we did a teaser during church service for that evening’s show. Sunday night we had a packed house…with 1000 people in the venue, 30-40 people in the lobby watching the closed circuit video feed and another 100 people that were turned away.

After the show we drove through the night to have our crew at the airport in Dallas at 3am this morning. Tomorrow Kristen, myself and our manager fly to Istanbul, Turkey to shoot a live TV show on one of their major networks. Kristen will perform her Full View Water Torture Cell along with another escape and I will do one of my signature pieces.

We’ll be taking plenty of pictures and video and hope to have them on our flickr site asap. Just wanted to bring you up to date on this wild ride we are on.

Kevin & Kristen

We are preparing for the second leg of the Michael Peterson Tour. As emails and phone calls fly back and forth in the hours preceding everyone’s departure, I am in constant wonder over the beautiful spirit that the collective team holds. We’ve been involved with other tours over the years, but never before have we worked with such a fine outstanding group of people. Each person is exceptional in their giving field. We have Award winning Recording Artists, Photographers, Videographers and Escape Artists as well as High Ranking Government Officials, a World Class Producer and a Collection of First Class Human Beings that have excelled in their given fields! Michael is to be commended for bringing all these personalities together and getting them to bond into such a cohesive team. I know that we are not alone in our excitement of another My Real Life Tour date this week. If you happen to be near Evansville, Indiana be sure to catch the Michael Peterson My Real Life Tour Concert at 7Pm on Saturday evening the 19th at Roberts Stadium. You’ll be glad you did.

We rolled into New Orleans on March 17th to perform the NBA halftime show during the New Orleans Hornet’s and Chicago Bull’s St. Patrick’s Day game. For the half time performance the New Orleans arena went lights out, something seldom done during halftime at NBA games. With only follow spots from high above the audience and a few intelligent lights hung under the center court Jumbotrons, the audience got still and quiet as all attention was focused on Kristen as she performed the World’s Only Full View Water Torture Cell Escape. At the request of the Hornet’s organization, the Water Torture Cell was given a special green tint to add to the theme of the festivities.

The event was a smash success as Kristen performed the escape on one breath in just under 3 minutes. Some footage from the escape was broadcast on ESPN’s Sportscenter later that evening as bumpers between highlights of games from around the league. Video of the performance coming soon.

Kevin mentioned yesterday that the county doesn’t even have a stop light.  Well, they sure do know how to have a good time.  Little Texas and Blackhawk played Friday night.  They christened a new building with its first concert.  Now I’m not too familiar with country music but I sure did enjoy Little Texas.  They seem to have a lot of fun performing.  In addition to the concert there was a ton of free entertainment.  The Rhinestone Ropers who consist of Dan, Kim, son Cody, and Lucky Joe the horse did some incredible gun slinging, whip cracking, knife throwing, trick roping and horse stunts.  Not only that, but Dan sings too!  We were able to spend some time getting to know them Saturday night.  They are lots of fun.  Check out their website www.rrshow.com  Cody is a little older now than in the opening photo.  But girls hold on to your hat cuz this guy is something else.  He’s a world champion and a Guinness World record holder!

Safari Adventures Live

Like hedgehogs, monkeys and scorpions?  Karla and her son Derek have them all.  Brother Tim is along for the ride, and a good source of cheap entertainment.  They are from sunny San Diego area.  Talk about some fun people.  Aside from the fact that they have the uncanny ability to spill stuff, they can come to my house anytime.  Their show is not only educational but full of laughs.  Karla has a contagious joy for what she does that spills out to the crowd.  We hope to see them again soon.

www.pacificanimalproductions.com

We are three days into a four day run at the Sublette County Fair. Kristen is doing her full view water toture cell twice a day, but she has been struggling. Finally after three shows we figured out what the problem was. We are peforming at an elevation of 7800 feet above sea level. The air is pretty thin and Kristen is averaging 2:20 instead of her normal 2:45 and after getting out she is pretty wiped out. Fortunately we did figure out what it was…cause Kristen was starting to get concerned.

We have terrible cell reception here…but this part of the country is beautiful. We found out that this entire county does not have a signal stop light. They also have the largest natural gas wells in the country. After our last show today we are going mountain biking. We’ll post some pictures later.

We made the local paper with a half page photo of us preparing for the stunt and an insert of the aerial stunt.  Saturday was a well attended day at the fair.  We loaded out and said our good byes to all our friends.  We stayed on site with our friends Randy and Tracy in their bunk house.  Thanks guys!  Also gotta give a shout out to Ted, Dave, David, Rick & Faith, Josh, Jimmy & Amanda &Lonnie. See most of you in Vegas!!!

We are off to Wyoming for our next fair. TTYL

Today is the big Stunt!  At 5:00 I’ll hang by my ankles 50 feet in the air and attempt to get out of a strait jacket.  No rain in the forecast.  My folks are here and they have never seen me do the escape.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

Success!  A large crowd including my parents gathered in the cross streets of the Porter County Fair.  Media was well represented and everyone seemed excited to see what we had planned.  Kevin got the crowd warmed up, explaining what was about to take place.  He also rode up 50 feet by one arm as he addressed the crowd.  I was able to get out of the jacket successfully.  After righting myself I held myself up by one arm before fast roping to about 12 feet off the ground when I came to an abrupt and jarring stop.  My rope had knotted on my decent causing the belay device to bind up on the rope.  Apparently the crowd gasped as I came to a sudden stop then ricocheted back up in the air due to the force associated with the sudden stop.  Not to worry, I’m fine.  On reviewing the video, Kevin said I had a smile on my face the whole time.  I’ll let you know if I suffer from whiplash tomorrow.  LOL