Delivering Joy, Wonder & Fun to Suffering Families via Magic Shows Online.
Dune Johnson (Looney Dooney) has been a full-time family entertainer since 1980, and was one of the world’s Ronald McDonalds for over 20 years. The day the lock down occurred in March…he had over 35 events cancel in one day (100% of them, actually). That very day, he imagined children sitting at home, on their birthdays, saddened, lonely, isolated, and possibly afraid. So, he decided to do something about it! Dooney created his first magic show online and performed three of them for free to the children who had canceled their parties that very weekend.
This is the story of how one magician in San Diego brought joy, love, and togetherness to over a thousand families worldwide whose income had been affected; who were isolated; and even to some groups who had family in the hospital due to Covid-19. Dooney even did one show for an 11 year old in the United Kingdom whose birthday landed two days after his father’s funeral (of course, due to the virus).
How did he do it? Through your help, and a Gofundme campaign. The campaign raised enough to do 22 shows that were free to families who were suffering due to the pandemic. Dune was hoping to raise much more…his goal was to bring these show to over 100 families…and that is still possible. You can click on the Gofundme link and donate to the campaign any time.
However how did 22 free shows affect a thousand families worldwide?
Here’s how:
- These shows were free to the clients, so even families whose income had been completely cut off could afford something special for their children when their birthday came around.
- Families could invite 1-100 guests, and each guest usually had 2-5 people attending.
- Parents could invite relatives form out of town, that could never have previously attended their grand child’s birthday (or whatever)
- These families had time before and after the shows, to hang out and chat with each other (sometimes for the first time since the lock down). One family with guests from Washington, Colorado, and California stayed 90 minutes after the show to connect!
- Early on, Dune connected with some worldwide Facebook groups, and began booking shows in the United Kingdom, Australia, and multiple cities in the US.
- One donor to the Gofundme campaign recommended a group of foster homes that included 12 homes across the state of Oklahoma, and each home had 6-8 children in them.
- We then received a request to record a special show for a nursing home, where all the patients are not only locked down in their rooms, but can’t have any outside visitors…at all. So, Dooney recorded a show, and they played the show separately for each patient. Then…since we had the show taped…Dune shared that show with hundreds of other nursing homes in the country..so that they could play if for their clients (all free to each facility).
- A group of special needs adults had attendees from 30 different homes in San Diego.
But, how do these virtual magic show spread joy, laughter, and togetherness?
Each show includes audience participation, is personal to that family or group, and brings together friends and family through Zoom. But a Zoom get together isn’t always joyful…just ask all the kids who are going to school on Zoom, or ask anyone who has tried to talk to their family, and experienced audio overlap, because two or more people speaking at the same time…
Magic/comedy shows take all of the awkwardness and weirdness out of the equation. Since Looney Dooney has devoted his entire live on delivering joy and wonder…that’s what happens.
- When people are laughing together…they forget about everything else for a while.
- When people are celebrating someone together…they feel connected again.
- When children are WOW-ed then they believe in magic.
- When adults are fooled too…they have to laugh at themselves for getting sucked in.
- And finally, when we all work together, to create fun and happiness…then “Joy” happens.
Dune continues to do many different kinds of virtual magic shows, and the campaign is still running, so you can help him to continue this amazing work. Donate here, and you too can be a part of this amazing adventure:
