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For more information about Michael Kent: www.michaelkentlive.com/
After touring colleges most of the fall, comedian/magician Michael Kent is disappearing from the country in November.
Starting this week, the Urbana native is doing a monthlong tour of U.S. Naval bases in Asia, entertaining military personnel and their families. It’s his fourth such tour and a time of year he always looks forward to.
“I’ll continue doing it for two reasons: as long as they continue to ask, and because it’s always the most rewarding thing I do,” said Kent, a 1997 Urbana High School graduate. “These audiences deserve good entertainment. They’re away from home, and it helps to make them feel at home.”
November is Military Family Appreciation Month. Kent has a couple variations of his shows, a family-appropriate one and one for containing more adult humor for a more mature audience.
The shows aren’t finished after Kent leaves the stage.
“I enjoy talking afterwards, meeting the people, answering questions about what I do and asking what they do,” he said.
Kent said he often meets fellow Ohioans during the tours and is glad he can bring them a little bit of home.
The worst part is the roughly 15-hour flight. Also there is not a lot of time to take in the locations, but that’s not even on his mind.
“We each have a role to play, and I’m playing mine,” Kent said.
Kent’s career hit a new high this past summer when he appeared on television on the season premiere of “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” on the CW Network. The show was a competition in which aspiring magicians did tricks in front of the legendary magic duo Penn & Teller and a studio audience and they had to figure how it was done.
He’s met a lot of people during his recent tour that recognize him from the show.
December will bring Christmas party performances, then it’s back onto the college circuit in 2016.
Kent encourages fans to check out photos of his Asian tour on updates on social media.
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