Magic Stories

Harris Deutsch: Faith Based Presentation

We featured Harris Nearly Normal Deutsch last week and his tremendous comedic ability.  Mr. Deutsch was kind enough to submit his ?Nearly Normal Plenary Presentation? at a Faith Based Conference.  He gave Inside Magic permission to put up a link to download his Power Point presentation. 

 

Recently I shared a Nearly Normal Plenary Presentation at a Faith Based Conference. The conference was called Transforming Lives through Faith, Spirituality and Addiction Recovery. Although they wanted me to include my strait jacket routine, I was specifically asked not to share any of my magic at the conference. The council had used my magic show on several other occasions. I was told they did not want to risk offending even one participant.

 

My program was called a Nearly Normal Look at Spirituality. It included patter from Buddhism to a song called “Abi Gezunt.” (Hebrew for “You should only be well!”). Abi Gezunt was playing as my Nearly Normal Marionette danced. The CD came from my talented cousin, Kim Nussbaum’s band. It is based in Chicago and called the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band.

 

In between I mentioned my magical relationship with my Nearly Normal wife, Annie. Since she is Catholic and I was raised Jewish, we might be considered Cashews. (Catholic / Jews)

 

I closed with my Nearly Normal Strait Jacket escape, which I link to a story by Portia Nelson. It is a powerful one called Autobiography in 5 short chapters. It was used often by me, in my work with hard core addicts, both in the city with street people, and in suburban treatment centers where my client’s families had streets named after them.

 

Addiction knows no social or other boundaries.

 

…

We featured Harris Nearly Normal Deutsch last week and his tremendous comedic ability.  Mr. Deutsch was kind enough to submit his ?Nearly Normal Plenary Presentation? at a Faith Based Conference.  He gave Inside Magic permission to put up a link to download his Power Point presentation. 

 

Recently I shared a Nearly Normal Plenary Presentation at a Faith Based Conference. The conference was called Transforming Lives through Faith, Spirituality and Addiction Recovery. Although they wanted me to include my strait jacket routine, I was specifically asked not to share any of my magic at the conference. The council had used my magic show on several other occasions. I was told they did not want to risk offending even one participant.

 

My program was called a Nearly Normal Look at Spirituality. It included patter from Buddhism to a song called “Abi Gezunt.” (Hebrew for “You should only be well!”). Abi Gezunt was playing as my Nearly Normal Marionette danced. The CD came from my talented cousin, Kim Nussbaum’s band. It is based in Chicago and called the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band.

 

In between I mentioned my magical relationship with my Nearly Normal wife, Annie. Since she is Catholic and I was raised Jewish, we might be considered Cashews. (Catholic / Jews)

 

I closed with my Nearly Normal Strait Jacket escape, which I link to a story by Portia Nelson. It is a powerful one called Autobiography in 5 short chapters. It was used often by me, in my work with hard core addicts, both in the city with street people, and in suburban treatment centers where my client’s families had streets named after them.

 

Addiction knows no social or other boundaries.

 

Autobiography in Five Short Chapters

by Portia Nelson

 

I.

I walk down the street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I fall in.

I am lost……I am helpless

It isn’t my fault.

I takes forever to find a way out.

 

 

II.

 

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I pretend I don’t see it.

I fall in, again.

I can’t believe I am in the same place.

But, it isn’t my fault.

It still takes a long time to get out.

 

 

III.

 

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I see it is there.

I still fall in…..it’s a habit….

but,

my eyes are open.

I know where I am.

It is my fault.

I get out immediately.

 

 

IV.

 

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I walk around it.

 

 

V.

 

I walk down another street.

         

Check out Mr. Deutsch’s website here.  It is one of the best we’ve ever seen. 

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.