Renaissance festival features magic, Sherwood Forest
By Earl Horlyk, earlhorlyk@siouxcityjournal.com | Posted: Saturday, October 04, 2008
Mario Manzini's course in life was set at age 4.
That's when he saw a documentary on magician Harry Houdini and knew he wanted to become an escape artist.
Also, he had something to prove.
"My dad always called me a coward," the Bronx, N.Y., native said more than 30 years later. "Being able to escape a straitjacket while suspended on a burning rope proves that I'm no coward. To some extent, performing death-defying stunts is a way of proving my dad wrong."
Through the years, Manzini's magic has been seen on countless television shows. Siouxlanders will get to see it up close when Manzini brings his tribute to the legendary Houdini to the Kingdom of Riverssance at Riverside Park for four shows today and Sunday.
It's one of several new features at Riverssance, said organizer Phil Claeys, who goes by the name Fallen Friar Phil the First during Siouxland's 5-year-old Renassance gathering.
Also new this year will be Castle Wall Production, which will transform Riverside Park into Sherwood Forest, and Sir Robert the Deceiver, a comic who'll present magic from the pirate's point of view.
A Peasant's Beauty Contest has been added, too. "Just don't tell the Royals because they'd want to horn on it, " Claeys said.
And in addition to twice-daily full-armored jousting, other Riverssance regulars will include belly dancers, birds of prey shows and massive turkey legs.
"And don't forget the handsome knights, fair damsels and saucy wenches," Claeys said. "Or the Pirate's Smoker and Queen's Tea, where many of them will congregate."
Kids won't be left out of Riverssance, either, Claeys said. There will be a kid joust, the Children's Costumed Gathering & Smiles Parade, a petting zoo and a parade strictly for animals.
Tonight's festivities will conclude will conclude with the "Dance of Fire" performed by the imaginatively named belly dancing troupe Mirage A Trois and fireworks at dusk.
That's pretty sedate stuff compared to breaking out of handcuffs and shackles while underwater, being thrown out of a plane while handcuffed or shackled, or busting out of a locked jail cell, as Manzini has done.
So it's no wonder people often ask him the obvious question: Are you nuts?
His standard response: "I tell 'em if I was nuts, I'd be dead. I know how to perform these illusions and stay in one piece."
If you go
What: The Fifth Gathering of the Kingdom of Riverssance.
When: 10 a.m. to dusk today; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Where: Riverside Park.
Admission: Adults, $9; kids, $3; 6 and younger, free.
That's when he saw a documentary on magician Harry Houdini and knew he wanted to become an escape artist.
Also, he had something to prove.
"My dad always called me a coward," the Bronx, N.Y., native said more than 30 years later. "Being able to escape a straitjacket while suspended on a burning rope proves that I'm no coward. To some extent, performing death-defying stunts is a way of proving my dad wrong."
Through the years, Manzini's magic has been seen on countless television shows. Siouxlanders will get to see it up close when Manzini brings his tribute to the legendary Houdini to the Kingdom of Riverssance at Riverside Park for four shows today and Sunday.
It's one of several new features at Riverssance, said organizer Phil Claeys, who goes by the name Fallen Friar Phil the First during Siouxland's 5-year-old Renassance gathering.
Also new this year will be Castle Wall Production, which will transform Riverside Park into Sherwood Forest, and Sir Robert the Deceiver, a comic who'll present magic from the pirate's point of view.
A Peasant's Beauty Contest has been added, too. "Just don't tell the Royals because they'd want to horn on it, " Claeys said.
And in addition to twice-daily full-armored jousting, other Riverssance regulars will include belly dancers, birds of prey shows and massive turkey legs.
"And don't forget the handsome knights, fair damsels and saucy wenches," Claeys said. "Or the Pirate's Smoker and Queen's Tea, where many of them will congregate."
Kids won't be left out of Riverssance, either, Claeys said. There will be a kid joust, the Children's Costumed Gathering & Smiles Parade, a petting zoo and a parade strictly for animals.
Tonight's festivities will conclude will conclude with the "Dance of Fire" performed by the imaginatively named belly dancing troupe Mirage A Trois and fireworks at dusk.
That's pretty sedate stuff compared to breaking out of handcuffs and shackles while underwater, being thrown out of a plane while handcuffed or shackled, or busting out of a locked jail cell, as Manzini has done.
So it's no wonder people often ask him the obvious question: Are you nuts?
His standard response: "I tell 'em if I was nuts, I'd be dead. I know how to perform these illusions and stay in one piece."
If you go
What: The Fifth Gathering of the Kingdom of Riverssance.
When: 10 a.m. to dusk today; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Where: Riverside Park.
Admission: Adults, $9; kids, $3; 6 and younger, free.
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