I.B.M. Member Profile

Vander Wal Magic Shows

Magic -- Comedy -- Audience Participation

About Vander Wal Magic Shows

Vander Wal Magic Shows  (616-204-0302)  is booking now for spring and summer magic shows for family and corporate events pending the COVID-19 pandemic.    

SPECIAL PRICE on standard birthday party show:  Now through September 30: *** $125.00 birthday party magic show.   Show runs 45 minutes.  Much magic and fun. Add balloon animals for the kids for an additional price of $10.00.   Grand Rapids metro area.  Contact Randy for more details!

Welcome to the Vander Wal Magic Shows, where the mysteries and excitement Randy's entertainment are available for both family, business, school, and church functions. From the prime attraction of the Vanishing Canary & Cage, the Mysterious Egg & Bag, the Rising of Rajah the Cobra with the selected card or the production of the bountiful and beautiful Hindu Snake Plant, to the amazing Chinese Linking Rings, our magical surprises are designed to baffle both mind and audience in bouts of hilarious, inexplicable delight.   Randy has been performing magic shows with much magic, comedy, and audience participation for over 30 years.   He lives in a world of fantasy, an exciting world of fun and enjoyment that will enchant and surprise you.  Please come and enter his world!  Browse the magic site and enjoy.  

Magic for: Parties -- All Occasions, Banquets, Weddings, Schools, Churches, Libraries, Family or Corporate Events

NOW AVAILABLE: BIRTHDAY PARTY MAGIC & FUN SHOW! ADDED OPTION OF BALLOON ANIMALS! **** Contact us for pricing and details!    Booking now for spring and summer magic shows for family and corporate events including church banquets, fairs, festivals, carnivals, and other get-togethers!  This is all pending the COVID-19 pandemic.  Great pricing deals.   Contact us!  View us on Facebook!

 

MORE INFORMATION

 

Witness the Vanishing Canary and Cage!

Check out a classic, the Chinese Linking Rings!  These two magic effects along with the mysterious Egg and Bag are the best of all time and Randy performs all three!  

We specialize in magic and fun featuring:  

  • The burning and restoration of a person's $100 dollar bill!
  • The Lemon Game!
  • The Shoe Cleaning and Shining Surprise!
  • A person's fingernails being groomed right at the wrist using the Disecto Machine!
  • The Pizza Caper!
  • The Hippity Hop Rabbits!
  • The 21st Century Silks!
  • Circus Silks!
  • A Ball & Vase, A Card Selection, and A Handkerchief!
  • The Bunny of Hearts!
  • Rajah, Randy's pet cobra rise from a basket with a person's selected card!
  • The production of the bountiful and beautiful Hindu Snake Plant!
  • The Multiplying Martinis!
  • The Pom Pom puzzle is mind-boggling!
  • A Magic-Mathematical Matching Phenomenon!
  • Duke's Dye-Version--a rainbow silk production!
  • Computer Cutie--A web page suprise!
  • And much more!

We are available for all occasions --- including parties, banquets, weddings, school and church functions, and family and corporate events.  For friendly, wholesome magic and fun for your venue call upon Vander Wal Magic Shows for some unforgettable good times!  

About Randy --

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, it's magic and fun time!    Introducing a chip off the ol' block, Randy Vander Wal!  As mentioned, Randy has performed his hilarious magic shows for over twenty years.  He performs for birthday parties and family get-togethers, as well as for schools, libraries, and churches.  Randy also performs for many small corporate award banquets and events.  Randy's comic flair is great for any event throughout the year, be it a Valentine venue to a spring graduation to a Christmas party to a New Year's Eve bash.  Randy has served the Michigan membership of the I.B.M. as the Territorial Vice President of Michigan from July 2003 to July 2013. 

 

In Memoriam -- About Dr. Jack (09/03/1934 - 08/26//2017) --

Our special entertainment is Dr. Jack Vander Wal.  He has practiced dentistry for over 50 years. However, he has been doing magic even longer than that.  This is why his patients are seeing him less, but enjoying him more.  .  .  .   Not long ago the doctor was working on a patient when the patient exclaimed, "Hey Doc, you pulled the wrong tooth!"   The good doctor answered, "I know, I know, my good man, but I'm coming to it."  Well, we're coming to it right now.  Here he is, Dr. Jack Vander Wal!  

As mentioned, Dr. Jack Vander Wal has been performing his hilarious magic for over 55 years.  He performs for birthday parties, family get-togethers, school and church functions, to company award banquets and events.  Be it a Valentine venue to a spring graduation event to a Christmas party to a New Year's Eve bash, Dr. Jack has it all with his comic flair.  

 

Broken Wand Notice of Dr. Jack Vander Wal submitted by Randy Vander Wal 

Dr. Jack Vander Wal passed away on August 26, 2017. He was a charter member of Ring 211 — The June Horowitz/John deVries Magic Club in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He enjoyed magic and the many magic friendships he made over his life. He caught the “magic bug” around eight years old. His father came home with a magic trick from staying in a hotel in Holland, Michigan (His dad worked for the Heinz Company and sold soup to supermarkets. — Had to stay over one time because of gas rationing during WWII.) This may have been the one which caught his first interest. Later, magic tricks were brought home from Abbott’s Magic and Manufacturing Company from his father. This lead to trips to Colon, Michigan. Percy Abbott, himself, taught my father, both his version of the Egg Bag and the Linking Rings (eight rings). My father then would attend the Abbott Magic Get Togethers. My father and mother’s honeymoon was the Abbott Magic Get Together in 1958. He and she attended many. Then he took the family in 1983. He and I then went continuously since 1991. For a good many of those years up to my mom’s passing in 2001, my younger brother and her would join us. Since 2007, my nephew who also caught the “magic bug,” Jesse Shira, joined “Pa Pa Wizard” and me at the Get Togethers.

My dad met the Late Earl Ray Wilcox through his father (when his father later was in the restaurant business as well as Earl). This lead to joining the local magic club in 1969 and being part the club as it became a Ring. He held every office, except for Treasurer. He was the Ring President five times, was the Ring Scribe back in the early years, received the most awards presented by the Ring, offered many a time to perform at club meetings, for a long time was the Workshop Chairman, played the organ for all fourteen Ring 211’s Annual Installation Banquet & Shows and the first few of Ring 211’s Annual Hocus Pocus Parties. Dr. Jack performed an act on the cabaret show of the first twenty-two Annual Hocus Pocus Parties. He performed his close-up at each of the fourteen Annual Installation Banquet & Shows and strolling close-up at each of the past thirty Annual Hocus Pocus Parties. When the club held its board meetings at members’ homes, he volunteered his home. Many great magi presented lectures for the club in his basement known as the “magic cellar” from the 1970s to the late 1990s. Since, the mid 1990s, he offered his back yard for the annual club picnics. He was also a member of the Society of American Magicians in the 1970s to the mid 1980s. He volunteered to sell ads in the S.A.M. 1983 Convention Program when the S.A.M. held their convention in Grand Rapids. He also was an honorary member of the club known as a “hall of famer.” Just recently, in May, he was inducted into the Michigan Magic Day Hall of Fame at this year’s Michigan Magic Day. He was an Order of Merlin Shield and held I.B.M. number 23507.

In the seventies his wife was his assistant and they performed Abbott Magic illusions such as the Temple of Benares and the Zig Zag Lady as part of his banquet show. This act was also featured on one or two of the Installation Banquet & Shows. In fact, he even was performing these two plus the Sword Basket with an assistant for a few Ring 211 events in the mid 2000s.

He was my main mentor in magic. I would not know any other magician nor even be part of this wonder art known as the performance art of magic, if it was not for him. I am very thankful. Thank you, Dad! He will miss the I.B.M. convention in 2018 when it comes to his home town . . . no, he will just have view from above! A Broken Wand Ceremony was presented by Gil Scott and Jeff Brodrick with the wand being painted and prepared by Bill and Julie Rasmussen.

Full Obituary as follows written by Randy's sister, Bonnie Vander Wal:

Vander Wal, A. Jack. Andrew “Jack” Vander Wal, 82, of Jenison, MI, went to be with his Living Savior and reunite with his beloved wife on August 26, 2017. Jack was a faithfully devoted husband, father, and Christian who had many talents, a zest for life, and a propensity to make others laugh. Jack was born on September 3, 1934 in Grand Rapids, MI. He graduated from Grand Rapids Christian High School (1952), Calvin College (1956), and the University of Michigan School of Dentistry (1959). He married the love of his life, his “Continuous Joy,” in 1958 and they had 5 children across 3 decades, or as he liked to say, “one a decade.” Jack was passionate about and continuously pursued excellence in dentistry, magic, and accompaniment on the piano and organ in church every Sunday. Jack cherished his work as a dentist, practicing 55 years and never officially retiring but transitioning to part time on a mobile unit that served those in elder and foster care communities. Always learning, he took pride in offering specialized services beyond that of general dentistry. Perhaps what he enjoyed most though, were the friendships he made over the years with his assistants and office staff who he affectionately called his “office girls,” relationships he continued up to his passing. As a young boy, Jack became interested in magic and was known to reward neighborhood kids with a magic trick if they could show they didn’t have any cavities (after checking their teeth with his mother’s knitting needles). When he was 12, Jack had his first paid show and has received numerous awards over the years, most recently being inducted into the Michigan Magic Day Hall of Fame. Jack was a founding member of Ring 211 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and held various roles in the “magic club,” still actively participating until his death. “Happy Jack,” as his son Randy called him, made magic a family affair, taking pride in teaching this passion to Randy and grandsons Jesse and Joshua. Jack was equally passionate about playing music, a talent that also began at a young age and continued throughout his life. He began piano lessons when he was 9 and from junior high through college, played the drums in the school band. He had a long history of playing for church functions, weddings, and funerals, but was the most fulfilled on a weekly basis in worship with his church community playing either the piano or organ. Jack’s commitment often included music at 3 Sunday services and he was well known for his thunderous rendition of “Onward Christian Soldiers” where it was common for fellow congregants to stop him after the service to offer their amazement. Family members are heartbroken to lose their “Jack” of all trades but are grateful for their time with him on earth, and are at peace that he is no longer in pain. Jack is preceded in death by his parents, Gerald and Evelyn, and his wife of 43 years, C.J. He is survived by his children Jamie (Jerry) Shira, Randy Vander Wal, Chellie (Karl) Schmitz, Bonnie (Karen) Vander Wal, & Jordie Vander Wal; grandchildren Jozie (Jay) Hayes, Gracey, Jesse, & Zion Shira; Joshua, Chaiah, Bekah, & Amira Schmitz. He is also survived by his sister Billie (Rudy) Prins and brother Jerry (Sue) Vander Wal, as well as nieces, nephews, and cousins. The family is looking forward to welcoming others to celebrate in Jack’s memory on Thursday, August 31 from 2 – 5pm and 6 – 9pm, with a Broken Wand ceremony beginning at 8:30pm at Matthysse-Kuiper-DeGraaf Funeral Home (Grandville) 4145 Chicago Dr. SW. Funeral service will be held on Friday, September 1 at 1pm with the family greeting visitors an hour before at New Community Church, 2340 Dean Lake Ave NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the ALS Association of West Michigan in honor of Jack’s wife, C.J., who succumbed to the disease in 2001. Condolences may be sent online at www.mkdfuneralhome.com.