School Magic Shows - Edutainment!

"Jeffo presented a variety of magic, humor and inspiration about disabilities. Jeffo's programs kept all ages engaged."
Deb Odell - Counselor
Edinbrook Elementary
Brooklyn Park

"Jeffo interacts wonderfully with the students. The show was engaging".
Francisca Vega - Teacher
Roosevelt Elementary
St. Paul

"Jeffo performed not only a good magic show, but he opened our eyes with his message. We don't talk much about the differently-abled [at our school], and it's good for our kids to get exposure on this topic."
Sarah Gerard, - Teacher
West St. Paul

Jeff Smith - the Amazing Jeffo presents a fun and educational message for your students. Topics include:

• Motivation & Success in School
• Reading Appreciation
• Disability Awareness
• or a specific message tailored to a topic of your choice!

Magic is a visual art. When performed by a skilled illusionist, a clever sleight of hand tricks your eyes into believing the impossible. The Amazing Jeffo is just such a magician, captivating audiences with his thoroughly impressive magic throughout the greater Twin Cities area for the past 15 years.

Ironically, the Amazing Jeffo cannot see the tricks he performs. Billing himself as "not your typical blind magician," Jeff Smith uses magic, comedy and his upbeat persona to deliver a variety of positive messages. For school audiences, his focus is on motivating students and overcoming challenges.

March 5, 2003
Dear Amazing Jeffo:
Thank you for sharing your time and talents with us at Cedar Park last night! The kids loved your sleight-of-hand and your jokes. Your magic talents are just frosting on top of a BIG SPECIAL CAKE! Your patience, empathy, kindness, humor, honesty, and insight are the cake layers. You're an incredible gift to the world.

Leigh Johnson and Connie Elvin
ISD 196 Rosemount Community Education

"I like to say that I'm a magician who happens to be blind," says Jeffo a St. Paul native, who fell into his unusual career choice when a sister-in-law and a friend pushed him into performing his longtime hobby for two school classes. Within six months, Smith was booking shows regularly for school, church and corporate groups. Today, Smith performs 150 shows each year.

Smith hasn't always been blind. Born with sight, he lost it during his teens due to rheumatoid arthritis, which has also meant the need for a walking cane. But spend any time with Smith and you are quickly won over by his warmth, humor and sense of purpose. "Through my performances I try to convey an awareness that we all have a place in the world," says Smith, "and that our talents, abilities and unique perspectives can be offered to other people."

Schools booking Smith select from a variety of messages, including teaching motivational principles, reading appreciation, disability awareness or a topic of their choice. Smith is the first person to point out that sighted people are rarely comfortable at first with a blind individual. That's where his humor enters in, alternatively referred to as silly, cheeky, and sometimes corny.

"A great repertoire. Really able to connect with an audience. I know I will have Jeff back. Anytime folks ask me for a good magician, I recommend Jeff."

"Jeff always draws a big audience and he keeps the pace of his show quick, keeping the audience involved and, of course, always entertained."
Chris Madsen, Events Manager, Children's Museum, St. Paul, MN

An accomplished harmonica player, Smith also adds music to his tricks to hilarious effect. And then of course, there are the giant Nerf binoculars, the bomb sound effect box often given to a young audience member to alert the crowd when a joke is "just too corny," and a snorting device hidden in his handkerchief. "The kids love it," he says, chuckling. When asked about his shtick, Smith says it came naturally growing out of his "desperate need for recognition, due to a poor self-image developing from a chronic stuttering condition he has since overcome. At his first show in 1990, Smith was messing up trick after trick. "In my panic, I just resorted to humor, which has always helped me. When the audience howled at my jokes, I quickly realized that the point of all of this is not to fool people but to entertain and educate."

The Amazing Jeffo, a.k.a. Jeff Smith, performs 150 shows per year. To invite him to perform for your educational, corporate, religious or civic group, call 651-457-7300. The Amazing Jeffo also regularly teaches beginning magic and harmonica classes for community-education and student-incentive programs.

Jeffo's school shows teach today's messages and can be customized to your needs. Performances that teach motivational principles, reading appreciation, disability awareness or a topic of your choice.

Throughout his performance, Amazing Jeffo conveys the ability of the blind and disabled to function in social, school, and professional settings. And who is better qualified than the blind to communicate the abilities of the blind?

New concepts are more easily remembered through the dramatic visual effects of magic. Fresh Magic! Tricks and skits you've never seen before that promote positive living. Francisca Vega, a teacher at Roosevelt Elementary in St. Paul says "Jeffo interacts wonderfully with the students. The show was engaging, even for the preschoolers".