Andrea Merlyn's Greatest Hits (and missus!)-Chapter 1

It's 2 weeks until the Fifth Indy Fringe Theatre Festival opens and last week I was about to chuck the whole show that I'm performing. It was that or not going to Las Vegas right before the festival. The reason to go to Vegas is one of the great magic conventions and one that doesn't happen annually. MAGIC Live! is put on by one of my industry's great magazines. Simply named MAGIC! it is the brainchild of Stan Allen, a professional friend for nearly 20 years. He's an editor, writer, creator, and performer. His magazine is one that I read almost everyday. I have a pile of them on the floor of my studio and they are the source for me to be in touch with my compeers. Going to their almost every 3 year convention has been on my list for the past 2 versions of it. This is the first I've made.

The problem this year is that it ends on Wed. night before The Fringe Begins (rising organ music, please!) and I am hoping that the plane arrives on time. I land 45 minutes before the Fringe Parade begins on Mass. Ave. I'm planning to put my Andrea Merlyn makeup on the plane. The good thing is that I have 3 remarkable folks helping me with this year's show and I am putting my trust in them to help me with this project.

First is Dave Alusik, who is affectionately being billed as Dave A. Dave is tall, thin, has waist length hair, and a devilish grin. He loves magic so much that he's learning it. He's got some great card vanishes and appearances that will blow you away. It also covers the major costume change in the show. He's the stagehand, too. We set the music for his piece last night and it started my comfort in going to Las Vegas. He's so durn talented that it hurts at times to watch him. I hope he just rocks and magic takes him all the places it's taken me. Plus, his paramour is Lydia Burris. She's just won the residency award at the Stutz Building, has art in Visual Fringe, and is doing my program. They are a 2 headed team of talent, so I look at them as one entity.

Second is Mike Thompson, aka Michael McCrackin. He's a leprechaun, really. He's Indianapolis's Official Leprechaun and has been my friend for nearly 30 years. He's helping with publicity, stage movement, and morale. Mike's not even 5' tall, was nearly blind at one time, and is currently awaiting major changes in his financial status. And he's joining me with this madness. I'm taking him to the Longest Dinner next week to help publicize the AMGH show. He's already written a press release, gone out of his way to get his costumes from Iowa, and is having a wonderful effect on me. He's a gent I met when I hired him for Merry Minstrel. He was Commander Cockroach and did some amazing events for the company and me. I love him dearly.

Last, but not least, is Deb Martin, my long suffering and supportive wife. We've been married for 31 years and the only time she's ready to strangle me is in the weeks before Fringe. I go nuts worrying about the show and whether I can do it. So, for her sake, I'm not going to do next year's Fringe. I have to give her a year of relief. But, she's the stage manager and calling the show. She's making sure that this year the soundtrack gets played in the correct places, that the light cues are on time, and that I get everything packed in the time we are alloted between shows. She's also getting ready to go back to teaching school and has been getting class plans set for this year's students. How she does it is beyond me. Hell, all I do is tricks; she's got the minds of the world in her hands. What's more important? And having to put up with the way the media portrays teachers, how the head of the ISTA and the government do things without telling them, has to be maddening. I always recount Mark Twain's quote, "On the 7th day god rested. The next day he made fools for practice. Then he made school boards."

I love all these folks. They are starting to make my job easier. They are giving me relief and unafraid to go to Las Vegas. They are making this show. I'm just doing the same things I have done for all my life. I'm going to entertain my butt off and with these great folks in my life, I'll be able to do the best show I've ever done. I am chucking nothing and taking the chances I should have done when I was 25 and not 56. With them behind me, I'm having the time of my life.

Love to all,
Taylor Martin