Amaze & Amuse Is Growing Up: September, October, and What Comes Next
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Amaze & Amuse started as a one-off show idea in October of 2019.The first show in the Wege Auditorium. Discovering the Koning Micro-Cinema and knowing immediately that something special could happen in that room. The sixty seats. The intimacy. The feeling that the furthest row back was still close enough to really be part of everything. Six seasons later, over fifty shows, nearly every one sold out, thousands of people came through and now it's time to talk about what comes next.
The September 26th shows at Wealthy Theatre are the last two monthly shows in the Koning Micro-Cinema. Two shows that night, 6 PM and 8 PM, featuring special guest and resident close-up magician Tyler Grey, and honestly who knows who else may show up. Tickets are already moving fast and I would hate for you to miss this one.
I have thought a lot about what made that room work. It was never just the magic. It was the fact that sixty people were packed into a space where every laugh landed on everyone, where you could hear someone gasp two rows behind you, where a stranger's reaction became part of your own experience. That is hard to replicate. And for six and a half years, we got to do it every month. I wanted to create something myself, put it out into the world, and see what happened. What happened was six seasons of friends. Some I've known since we were teenagers. Performers came from Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Florida, Las Vegas, and beyond, performers who've appeared on America's Got Talent, Masters of Illusion, or fooled Penn and Teller, people I looked up to as a kid who I somehow now get to call friends and share a stage with for a weekend in the city I love.
Joe Chasney from the Metro Detroit area has been the most frequent guest this show has ever had, and he has a way of showing up right when it matters most. I'm not making any promises about this fall. I'm just saying I wouldn't bet against it. Dozens of sold out shows proved this little room could hold something special. One of them I still can't quite believe happened right there, Brad proposed to Nikki onstage, in front of sixty strangers who became part of the moment with them. It feels less like a performance and more like spending an evening with a group of friends. That's what I'm actually going to miss about this room.
Then in October, we go out with a bang, and we take it on the road.
October 15, 16, and 17 — Erie, PA at Kellar's Magic and Comedy Club, three nights.
October 18 — Akron, OH at The Killbox Comedy Club.
October 21 — Fort Wayne, IN at The Local Archive.
October 22 — Holland, MI at Park Theatre.
October 24 — Grand Rapids, MI, back home at Wealthy Theatre, for a special filmed performance on the main stage with Minneapolis comedy magician Parker William, myself, and surprise guests. One night only. This is the show I want people to look back on and say they were there for.
We are still booking dates and adding more. If you want to bring the show to your venue or city, reach out. And Amaze & Amuse will continue to appear at Wealthy Theatre for special events. Including a big one.
Grand Rapids Magic Festival. May 7 and 8, 2027 at Wealthy Theatre. Save the date.
There is also something brand new coming in November. A new show, a new concept, a new venue right here in Grand Rapids. I'm excited about it, more than I can say yet. Stay tuned.
Seven seasons of Amaze & Amuse at the Koning Micro-Cinema taught me more about live performance, about building an audience, and about what people actually want from a night out than anything else I have done. The performers who came through that room, the guests who kept coming back, the moments that still stick with me, an onstage proposal, sold out nights in January and February when nobody is leaving the house, new audience members who became regulars, all of it mattered. What started as a one night idea became a community experience. It still is. This is not a goodbye to Amaze & Amuse. It is a see you soon, in bigger rooms, in new cities, and eventually back at Wealthy Theatre where it all started. Come out in September. Come out in October. Go out with us the right way.
Tickets at magicgrandrapids.com
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