Moose Jaw Firefighters hosted their annual fundraiser ‘The 2023 Magic Variety Show’ at the Mae Wilson Theater on Wednesday, Feb. 1st to support their MJ Burn & Charity fund.
“Our show has been going on in Moose Jaw for the last 20 years and magic show performers Trevor and Lorena Watters have been coming pretty well from the start,” MJ Firefighter Ryan Hopkinson said. “Our fire department has a charity fund; throughout the year, we give back to the community through different organizations.”
He says the charity fund has been in place for about 25 years in the department. All the funds from the fundraiser are used for the community of MJ and most of it goes to professional firefighters and paramedic burn funds.
Hopkinson said, “There’s no goal and we usually raise anywhere from around five to eight thousand dollars, so anything above five thousand would be great.”
The Watters said, “We love it! We love the Mae Wilson Theater; it’s beautiful. There’s always such a great crowd even though it’s really cold. We’re from Vancouver and we’re not used to this type of weather but we love coming here.”
Trevor says he and Lorena travel all over North America and they always look forward to coming back to this theatre. “It’s just the history of it.”
He said the Moose Jaw firefighters are “literally local heroes” and anytime they can help them out they do because the firefighters are helping people and they are great people.
Lorena says that it has been an honour to have the chance to come out for the last 20 years and perform in this fundraiser.
Magician and comedian performer Michael Dardant says, “I’m crazy for coming in the middle of winter to Saskatchewan but it’s so much fun.”
He grew up in Southern Louisiana and said that from someone who lives in New Orleans, he has never seen snow and it is such a treat and so much fun to see it now. He jokingly said on stage, “I don’t know why this town needs a fire department when it’s covered in ice, I don’t even know how I would start a fire in this weather.”
He says his father was a volunteer fireman and for him to show support to the fire department feels wonderful.
The MJ Fire department mascot Sparky greeted everyone, while the firefighters gave out tattoos to every child who came to enjoy the show. Trevor and Lorena performed the opening act, followed by Dardant, also known as Magic Mike #notthatmagicmike, who carried the show with his card tricks. The show ended with a magic trick and the introduction of their newest member Valentine (Watters’ pet dog)
Everyone seemed to love the performance, especially the kids. Trevor said, “I love how the look of astonishment on a six-year-old’s face is the same as that on a sixty-year-old’s face.”
