June 13, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
Kids at Justin Potter Library were all spaced out in an ultimate fun overload Thursday as children’s storyteller, magician, and puppeteer Barry Mitchell shared with them some space age magic in his aliens, astronauts, and a turtle in space program.
Joined by Sam the Space Cadet turtle and Hyena the Chicken-ronaut, Mitchell kept the children entertained with stories, magic tricks, and some silliness while giving them a little lesson about the history and mystery of the universe in keeping with this year’s Summer Reading program theme about space.
Mitchell, who resides in Pigeon Forge has been a children’s entertainer for over three decades. He is a former street magician and has entertained for country music stars, Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede, Nabisco’s Oreo magic shows, the Magic Castle in Hollywood, the Magic Circle in England, and schools, churches and corporations across America and abroad. Barry is also an author and inventor of magic tricks used around the world by professional magicians.
He’s a fixture at the annual KIDabra conference and is known for his lectures on creativity which are always well-attended. His easy-to-perform routines are very popular with kids entertainers and his DVDs are filled with original ideas.
Whether he’s doing shows for the public, or lecturing to magicians, Barry Mitchell is all about Entertaining Encouragement that’s more than funny, it makes a difference.