UPDATED!!!

     So, since I started CPE back in the beginning of last summer, I have fantasized about how I would like to “reward myself” at the end of what will be my 15-month tenure here at St. Joseph’s Hospital. And now, with the help of a certain “birthday advantage” this summer, I’m going to take a trip to Las Vegas!

     I’m going to Las Vegas the weekend before my CPE residency is over (I won’t have time the weekend after it ends because classes at seminary will start back shortly after) for four days and three nights with one agenda and one agenda only. 

     Magic shows, magic shows, magic shows!

     That’s right. My one and only agenda for my trip is to see as many Las Vegas magic shows as humanly and financially possible in a single weekend.

     My plan right now is to see three big stage shows – Lance Burton: Master Magician, Mac King (comedy magic), and Penn and Teller – with some possible stops for close-up parlor magic sprinkled in between. 
     (NOTE:  I've decided not to add David Copperfield or Criss Angel to this list.  I've already seen Copperfield's show three times already, so I don't feel the urgent need to go see him AGAIN.  I might as well spend my time in Vegas checking out acts I've never seen before, and Criss Angel's show has been getting TERRIBLE reviews from other magicians, so I decided to skip it)

     My communal family birthday package is that my parents are going to help pitch in by paying for the plane ticket and hotel, and I’ll pitch in by paying for all the show tickets. That will be my birthday package. That’s why I’m thinking about my birthday four months in advance. The plane and hotel are already booked, and my plan is to slowly start buying show tickets as soon as they become available / my paychecks come in. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to go ahead and get the Penn and Teller tickets this Thursday for the August weekend, but it looks like I’ll probably have to wait another month or so before Lance Burton and Mac King go on sale that far in advance.

     It also helps that the hotel I’m staying in is the hotel that Lance Burton performs in and, as I understand it, has a regular close-up magician who performs juggling and parlor magic in the evenings. Also, Mac King only performs afternoon matinees, which will allow me to see Penn and Teller later that evening. Thus cramming two big shows into one day. So, basically, the plan is that I will land on Thursday night, go typical Vegas sight-seeing Friday morning and afternoon, and then from Friday evening until I take off on Sunday, it is basically a 48-hour bonanza of magic shows.

     I could not be more freaking excited.

     So, over the next month or so, I will slowly begin buying show tickets as they become available and start laying the groundwork for Marc’s Fabulous Las Vegas Weekend of Magic Ridiculousness. 

     Happy 25^th Birthday to Me.

     -Marc

     UPDATE: 
     MY FRIEND TIM:  You're just going to see magic shows?
     MARC:  Uh, huh.

     (Pause)

     TIM:  By yourself?
     MARC:  Yeah.

     (Pause)

     TIM:  You are such a nerd...