Magician to perform benefit show for Challenger Baseball League

From stage to screen, 39-year-old entertainer Morgan Strebler has done it all.

On Jan. 23, the Sikeston, Missouri, native will appear at a fundraiser at the Sikeston Armory. The event will benefit the local Challenger Baseball League, and funds are earmarked for a new handicap-accessible baseball field for the league, which is for children with disabilities, according to executive director Derrick Pullen.

Strebler is not charging for the performance because he considers shows benefiting local charities a way he can give back to the community.

"I've been blessed a lot with my gifts, so I want to do anything I can do to help out," he said.

Strebler usually commands a fee between $10,000 and $15,000 per performance but said he is glad to forego payment because of his deep roots in the community.

"I can't charge my hometown for anything," he said.

Sometimes, charities are insistent about paying him for his service, and in those instances, he requests the money be donated to other local not-for-profits, such as the Kenny Rogers Children's Center or his church.

Strebler also will perform during each of the shows at the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo, which will take place Aug. 13 to 16.

Strebler's rodeo performances will be tailored to the audience, and at some point during the act, he will make a tractor appear or disappear, he said.

Strebler's interest in magic began when he was a child and received a magic kit as a gift.

Professionally, he started off as an illusionist, a skill he learned under the tutelage of Franz Harary, acclaimed as one of the world's greatest illusionists.

By the time he was 18, he was able to perform daring stunts such as catching a bullet in his teeth after it was fired from a .357 Magnum at the Rearmm shooting range in Sikeston. It's a feat 13 performers have died trying to do.

Strebler has $3.5 million worth of equipment in storage for producing illusionist shows.

The economic downturn has meant fewer places can afford the fees to cover such an elaborate show, which requires 20 people and a week's preparation to produce. So Strebler reinvented his act and began working as a mentalist, which requires less equipment.

"If I am traveling, and my bag gets lost, I can still do an hour-and-a-half show," he said.

That's because his work as a mentalist involves minimal equipment and more interaction with the audiences.

"Mentalism is bare-bones props," Strebler said. "That's the great thing about my show; it plays with your mind."

He got his big break as a mentalist in Las Vegas, where he performed at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch.

"That opened the door for me," he said.

Breaking into the celebrity market led to a 10-year career in Las Vegas, where he performed for more than four years at the Bellagio Casino.

As his career as a mentalist soared, demand for his performances skyrocketed, and he is booked in countries around the globe next year, including New Zealand, Paris and Italy.

He has a performance, "Between Life and Death," scheduled in August in New York City's Times Square, which will be covered live by Dead X Radio, a station dedicated to topics surrounding the paranormal, and on which Strebler is a regular presence.

For his Times Square act, he will be hooked up to medical equipment and will "die" during the performance.

"People can come up and film my cold, lifeless body," he said.

The plan is for the medical staff standing by to shock his heart with a defibrillator and restore his heartbeat.

Strebler also stars in a TV show, "Between the Lines" -- formerly "Between Life and Death" -- hosted by Jenna Jameson.

His booming career will take him to Macau in 2017, where he is a well-known star and once again will work as an illusionist for four months each year.

Despite his widespread popularity as an illusionist and mentalist, it is writing, acting and directing that draw his interest the most.

He is executive producer of a fan film he is working on, "Superman vs. Doomsday," which was written by Scott C. Brown of Pushing the Pen. Brown is writer, director and producer of the film "Killer Issues" and is helping Strebler direct and produce "Superman vs. Doomsday."

Keep up with Strebler at morganstrebler.com or facebook.com/MorganStrebler.

Tickets to his Jan. 23 show in Sikeston are $100 per couple and include a hand-woven silk bow tie that will be presented when people pick up the tickets. Single tickets are $50 and do not include the tie.

"The goal is for people to wear the tie to the event," Pullen said.

Tickets for the event are available at semochallenger.org or by calling Pullen at (573) 683-1242.