For Erik "Doc" Anderson, coming back to Frontier Days is like coming home.
"When we come to a western-themed festival, I really enjoy doing those," said Anderson, who portrays an Old West magician in his Cowboy Cons & Swindles show. "When you get me into a place like this, I really feel at home."
On a porch near the drugstore on Front Street at the Fort Museum, Anderson entertained young and old alike Friday evening with his old-fashioned hokum and flim flam as crowds gathered to be mesmerized with card tricks, jokes and magic tricks, including a centuries-old fast and loose trick, which dates back to the 1500s. A favorite among the younger audience members was a trick with two small balls, one of which magically appears on top of the assistant's head.
Anderson, who is making his third appearance at Frontier Days, started learning the art of magic tricks at the age of 10. He has been performing professionally for 28 years, and adopted the Old West theme into his show with a trick he perfected in 2001.
"I was helping my father with a booth at a show in Arizona in 2001 and set up my own table," he said. "That gave me time to work on the shell trick, which was common in the Old West. After four days, I really owned that trick and it has been a favorite. People are still taken by it today like they were 100 years ago."
As a full-time performer, Anderson's shows change by season, ranging from his traveling medicine show in the summer to private parties and restaurant appearances during the winter months.
"I've done a number of different things," he said. "But this was always my first true love. It's all about the audience, and not me. Coming to these festivals makes memories for kids. That's what brings them back."
For Anderson, it's seeing those family memories in the making and the sense of community that keeps him coming back to Frontier Days.
"I do more than 50 performances all over," he said. "But people seem to be more a part of this festival. I'm very impressed by the way Frontier Days feels. Fort Dodge has a good thing going here that needs to continue, and that's why we came back, to support the festival."
For other Wild West performers, such as Bob Hamm, 2009 marks their first appearance at Frontier Days.
Known as the Cowboy Entertainer, Hamm displays his seven-time world and national champion gun spinning and knife and tomahawk throwing abilities, skills he learned at 5 in an interactive, family-style show that encouraged crowd participation.
"I've been spinning guns since I was a kid," said Hamm. "Back then, every kid in town had a cap gun."
In each show, Hamm balances six shooters in the palms of his hands, challenging his adult audience members to make an attempt at balancing one of the two-pound guns as well.
Even the youngest in the crowd have the opportunity to try their hand at the balancing act, with batons rather than guns, and receive a ribbon for their efforts.
Inspired by such cowboys as Roy Rogers and John Wayne, Hamm's 30-minute show also includes moves that wouldn't be found in an old western movie.
Spinning a gun forward in one hand, Hamm twirls the other in the opposite direction, tossing them into the air and over his shoulder before they land in the opposite hand from which they started.
"Those are things you don't see them do in the movies," he said. "It's all about having fun, that's why I do it. If I can show someone something they've never seen before, it's a success."
Also a full-time performer, Hamm takes his show coast to coast from his home in Illinois. After hearing about the festival for a number of years, he decided to make an appearance at Frontier Days because the theme of the celebration fit his show.
"Everything I do is frontier and Old West stuff," he said. "The show really goes with the theme of this celebration. I know festivals don't always have a lot of money, so I keep my price low, but still give them all the most for their money."
Contact Emilie Nelson at (515) 573-2141 or enelson@messengernews.net
