We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mike Stilwell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Mike, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
Imagine a job that you only get to do once a year from November 25th to December 25th, but is so rewarding and magical! To me it’s not a job, but a blessing. I’m blessed to bring joy to children of all ages…
I’m Santa!
Mike, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Since 1980, I pretty much have been a professional magician, a licenced talent agent, producer and teacher of magic to childrem.. Here’s info from my website
Magic Mike can make any type of event or occasion special. Children’s birthday parties, company picnics, corporate meetings, trade shows, bar mitzvahs, family reunions, neighborhood block parties…any place there are people that want to have fun is the perfect event for Magic Mike. Professional event planners repeatedly request him because of his status as one of the country’s leading corporate magicians.
All of Magic Mike’s magic shows are custom tailored for you and your guests. Magic Mike takes the time to learn about your event, the guest(s) of honor, and any special requests you have. He then creates a custom performance just for you. Magic Mike has the uncanny ability to make everyone feel special, so when the show is over people have had a great time and smiles abound…and you’ll ask him when he can come back again!
But then a funny thing happened, little did I know, I was about to enter a whole nother journey in the life of an entertainer…
One that from December 26th to Novevember 24th, that I would wait with so much anticipation and excitement, counting down the days till the holiday season…even more exciting than being a prfessional Magician…
Around 2010, I was over at one of my other agents home , Loren Smith, picking up a check from a magic show I had done the week before…Loren is also one of San Diego’s premier Santas and was at Sea World and the San Diego Zoo for years…
What he said to me changed my life forever…
“You know Mike….You have that twinkle in your eye” You would make a great Santa!”
and so the journey began….
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The stories… I hope to write another book someday..
“Whisper’s to Santa, They don’t always ask for toys…”
Where do I start…You hear a lot of things sitting in The Chair!
As Art Linkletter would say ” Kids say the darndest kids”
I would like to share some of my favorite stories…
In my early years as The guy in red I worked at SeaWorld, I would talk to roughly 200 kids a day, I had a 4 year old little girl sitting on my lap, the parents and grandparents were standing behind me getting ready for the picture..I asked this little girl, my standard question..What would you like for Christmas? She said..”A refrigerator “, I said A refrigerator? Why do you want a refrigerator? She said to everyones surprise…
“For the food that I steal from the kitchen!” I said..Where’s this food now? She said “Under my Bed!!!!”
Kids ask for animals, like dogs, cats, goldfish, ponies, snakes, and even unocorns…I tell them that Mrs. Claus says, “no more animals in the sleigh, as we are going too fast and it’s not healthy for the animals…I always get a thumbs up from the
parents!
One of the other great parts of my job are the letters I get….
If I’m having a sad day…I will reach into my box , which I call my gift box, and read my letters to Santa….I have lots of them to read, some I read over and over like a good book…
one of my favorites…
Dear Santa,
Enclsed is a picture of you and I’ve added 10 more reindeer to help you get me my blue or red bicycle faster!
Some letters are so beautiful.
Dear Santa,
I don’t need anything, can you get presents for children that don’t have a mommy or daddy?
Ok, My all time favorie story happened at The World famous Hotel Del on Coronado (which is where I hang my hat each holiday season)
I hope I can convey this story as it is still the highlight of what I do….and is heart warming to me.., and was trully a magical day! When I sit in the chair for a couple of hours, I like to get up walk around, stretch my legs, and I like to wonder over to the line of where parents and kids are waiting to see me and meet and greet.. so in 2018, before covid..I walked over to a family that the mom was holding a 3-4 year old little girl and I said, “your daughter looks like Shirley Temple” They were a young couple and they did not know who that was, so I explained, she was a child actress in the 40’s and 50’s..
The mom, said our daughter is autistic and does not speak, I said I understand as I have a family member that is also Autistic, and so we had a connection of understanding this disability….so I went back to my chair after a few minutes of talking to a few more families…
To me Santa time is so important, our Photographer at the Del, Bill of Crown City Photograhy has been the resident photographer at the Hotel Del since 1999 and lets me talk to the kids for a few minutes befor getting that memorable photo..he’s very understanding in letting me have “Santa time” with the children….
any way…a hour or so goes by and the parents with the little girl that looksjust like shirleytemple, come over..
And then the most amazing thing happens…
Im holding the little girls hand as she facing me, I say Hello Katelyn, can I put you on my knee for the picture? I was expecting a nod…what I got to the parents surprise was…”Hello Santa, can I sit on your lap!!!! and she never said another word…After the parents wiped away their tears of joy…we took the picture that will have true meaning for all of us….
I have many more stories…
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
One of my biggest problems is that I’m Magic Mike Stilwell 11 months out of the year…and sometimes when I walk into a room, My brain can’t remember who I am at that moment… I’ve walked into a room as Magician Magic Mike with a big Ho Ho Ho as my intro then relized that I wasn’t him…
or walked up to people as Santa and said, Hi I’m Magic…..a….um ..Santa…
and another problem I have is that I meet so many people in both characters that I cant remember how I know them, did I meet them at one of my 150 magic shows a year or did I meet them as Santa…Plus I shave down my real beard to 1/2″ every year around December 28th, and start growing it back in April….so I don’t look like Santa…
One time as I was working at Dave and Buster’s, a family came in ..in January, and I reconized the children as I had just seen them at The Del in December…I reconized them and remembered their names, and when the walked past me I said..with out thinking..Hi Rebecca and Ronald!!!”….to the parents surprise, Dad walked over to me and whispered in my ear…how do you know my kids…
I whispered back, don’t tell them, but I’m The Hotel Del Santa! I’m moonlighting as a magician in my off season….he smiled and said see you next year…
Contact Info:
- Website: magicmikestilwell.com
- Other: One of my favorite pictures of me is on the first page of the website. Scroll to the bottom and you will see the picture I made into Christmas cards that I send to my friends and family. Inside the card it says: I’m not the reason for the season… I don’t consider being Santa a job, (yes , I get paid) I consider it an honor…. If you need Santa to stop by, Please call Santa’s agent: Bollotta Entertainment, bollotta.com 619-295-3522