Dr. Wilson's banner for the 2006 Mount Desert Island Marathon depicted the Maine Mystery Beast. The banner created quite a stir, and was ultimately purchased for the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine. Read all about it on Boing Boing!

Chihuly at Phipps: Gardens and Glass, May 10 to Nov. 11. Phipps is proud to present the works of artist Dale Chihuly in a spectacular event designed exclusively for the conservatory. In their lush and inspiring gardens, Chihuly has planted an installation of his wild and wonderful creations — and the result is simply breathtaking.

Known for his flamboyant colors, monumental sculptures and outdoor displays, Chihuly is also famous for his creative collaborations. Inspired by their Victorian glasshouse — one of the oldest in North America, this pioneer in the use of glass has joined with their horticulturalists and landscape designers to create a dazzling fusion of art and nature.

The Chihuly Gala on May 9 opens this grand exhibition. See Dr. Wilson walk barefoot on broken glass in a four-hour performance installation from 6:00 to 10:00 pm. For more information, please see the website for Chihuly at Phipps.

At low tide in Frenchman Bay, a sand bar appears between Bar Harbor and Bar Island as if by magic. Enchanted by this performance space, Professor Miller and Dr. Wilson presented the Threepenny Magic Show on the sand bar at noon on Saturday, June 9. The show was a fundraiser for the Town Hill Playground being planned by the West Eden Village Improvement Society. Audience members were asked to donate at least three cents to the penny drive. The pennies will be used in the attempt to break the current Guinness Book of World Records time for laying a mile of pennies, scheduled for September 9 at The Jackson Laboratory.

Miller and Wilson are familiar with the magic of water and sand. For their Theater of Marvels show, returning this summer to Otter Creek Hall, Miller and Wilson researched a feat of magic from India using sand and water. Professor Miller's presentation is adapted from a description found in a nineteenth-century book of magic that gives a Westerner's account of the performance of a Jadoowar (magic worker) from India. Professor Miller recently had the honor of explaining the feat via email to a magician in India.

"You can't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been," Miller added.

Miller and Wilson are no strangers to the sand bar in Frenchman Bay. Last year, the two were joined on the sand bar by a crew of three other magicians for The Perilous Garden, in which Dr. Wilson walked barefoot and blindfolded through a path of bone-crushing animal traps. In 2004, Dr. Wilson staged Against the Tide, in which he was chained to the ocean floor with borrowed padlocks as the tide came in. He escaped.

The Threepenny Magic Show marked a substantial change in tone from these earlier performances, with no fire, chains, or animal traps being used. Instead, Miller and Wilson sought a greater challenge: raising funds for the Town Hill Playground fund using magic.

"Eating fire, escaping from chains, and avoiding animal traps is easy for us," Dr. Wilson explains. "It's much harder raising money to build a playground."

Miller and Wilson also hope to interest the audience in their Theater of Marvels, which will return to Otter Creek Hall for Bar Harbor's Legacy of the Arts Festival on June 23 and every Saturday night in July and August. They will also be performing in the All-Star Magical Revue at the Criterion Theatre on July 4, along with a star-studded cast of magicians, clowns, gymnasts, belly dancers, and the featured sideshow attraction, The Incredible Gill-Man.

Miller & Wilson's Theater of Marvels returns to the Otter Creek Hall as part of Bar Harbor's Legacy of the Arts Festival. Professor Miller and Dr. Wilson will perform exotic magic from around the world including Professor Miller's Chinese Rings and Dr. Wilson's Ladder of Swords.

Otter Creek Hall will hold a series of performances for Legacy of the Arts. Danny Baker, Maine's Funniest Magician, will perform on Thursday, June 21 at 2:00 pm. Puppeteer Richard Merrill will perform Nasruddin & Friends on Friday, June 22, at 7:30 pm. Miller & Wilson's Theater of Marvels will appear on Saturday, June 23, at 7:00 pm.

Admission to each event is only $5 per person. The performance benefits the Otter Creek Aid Society.

Please click the links or images below to download a flyer as a PDF.

Nasruddin (PDF)		Theater of Marvels (PDF)

Ring 362 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians will stage the ALL-STAR MAGICAL REVUE at the historic Criterion Theatre in Bar Harbor. The star-studded show will follow the great traditions of vaudeville, featuring a delightful mix of magic, feats of daring, comedy, and Middle Eastern Dance.

This year marks the second year for a live show at the Criterion Theatre on the Fourth of July. A dozen performers with a wide range of talents have joined together to produce a variety show worthy of the name, with something for everyone.

The historic Criterion Theatre is a jewel of Art Deco built in 1932. The Criterion Theatre was home to vaudeville performances for many years during the heyday of the vaudeville circuit, as well as being used for motion picture exhibition. The acoustics are excellent, and every aspect of the theatre was designed specifically for the location, from the light fixtures to the carpets and wall fabrics.

The Fourth of July in Bar Harbor is the best day of the year, featuring a blueberry pancake breakfast on the ballfield, a parade featuring a mix of the traditional, the whimsical, and the fantastic, and carnival games, lobster races, and a New England Lobster bake on the ballfield after the parade. Please see the photos of the Fourth of July in Bar Harbor!

Miller & Wilson's Theater of Marvels arrives for a eight-show run every Saturday night in July and August at 7:00 pm at the Otter Creek Hall. You'll see Professor Miller and Dr. Wilson perform wonderful feats of conjuration, strange Hindoo Jadoo, exotic Chinese magic, and Feats of Daring.

Please see the web site for Miller and Wilson's Theater of Marvels for more information and photos.

Admission is only $5 per person. The performances benefit the Otter Creek Aid Society, which maintains the historic Otter Creek Hall.

An attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the time it takes to lay a mile of pennies will take place on Sunday, September 9 from 1:00 - 4:00 pm in the parking lot of The Jackson Laboratory. This is a fundraiser for the Town Hill Playground. If you can participate, please call Joy Kelly at 207-288-9499 as soon as possible.

Read more in the Mount Desert Islander.

On Saturday, October 27, 2007, escape artists around the world will participate in the second Worldwide Escape Artist Relay, the largest coordinated performance by escape artists in history. The Worldwide Escape Artist Relay will circle the globe as escape artists around the world perform a variety of thrilling escapes. Each performer will document his or her performance as it takes place. The participants in the Worldwide Escape Artist Relay, men and women, young and old, novices and seasoned pros emerging from retirement, will unite to restore the Art of Escape to its rightful place in the public imagination!

The first Worldwide Escape Artist Relay was held on October 29, 2005. Over fifty escape artists around the world participated in the historic event, escaping from handcuffs, straitjackets, chains, steel drums filled with water, steel boxes, packing crates, and the notorious Water Torture Cell before a collective audience of thousands.

For the Worldwide Escape Artist Relay 2007, Dr. Wilson will perform The Spider's Embrace, a new escape to be attempted for the first time (location and time to be announced). Dr. Wilson and the other escape artists participating in the Worldwide Escape Artist Relay 2007 will set the record for the largest number of escape artists performing in a coordinated event.