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“Rarely after my shows do I ever not hear, ‘You were talking about me.’ It’s so flattering,” said Gabrielson, who regularly performs clean comedy and magic in Las Vegas.
He’ll be the keynote speaker at the Community Health Foundation’s fifth annual reception, 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 14, at the Hollenbeck Bayley Creative Arts and Conference Center in downtown Springfield.
Tickets cost $25 each through Friday, March 9. If tickets remain after that date, they will cost $30 each.
The event will include a social hour, live music, an appetizer buffet, drinks and information on Community Health Foundation’s latest ventures.
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The foundation brings in a speaker each year with a special motivational message. Gabrielson doesn’t let his audience sit back and just listen.
His hybrid comedy and magic shows make attendees interactive participants and maybe even part of the act.
“I want them to have that awe factor, the how-does-he-do-that feeling,” Gabrielson said of the magic part of the act. “Sometimes I have no idea where it will go. That keeps it fresh.”
It was as a junior high school student that Gabrielson found his trajectory to use his talent to entertain audiences, and later on to share a positive message as the final takeaway — or as he calls it, edutainment.
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Organizations can have a variety of speakers on leadership, but Gabrielson wants people to leave his engagements excited.
“When you touch people through entertainment, they retain more,” Gabrielson said.
In the end, Gabrielson hopes to give the audience a fun night to forget about other things and leave them with some positive thoughts for the next day and beyond.
“I’m just a goofball and want everyone to have fun with me, especially if I can create positive change,” he said.
HOW TO GO
What: The Magic of Positive Change – Community Health Foundation Annual Reception
Where: Hollenbeck Bayley Creative Arts and Conference Center, 275 S. Limestone St., Springfield
When: 5:30 to 7 p.m Wednesday, March 14,
Admission: $25 by March 9
More info: 937-523-7002 or go to www.facebook.com/communityhealthfound
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