As a multi-talented entertainer, Boston Bachert uses his gifts to be an inspiration to others.
A professional juggler, magician and circus performer, the South Annville-based Bachert parlays his public persona to be a messenger of hope, positivity and perseverance during his shows.
His act, which varies for secular, religious and school crowds, will be showcased multiple times daily on the Midway during the Lebanon Area Fair, which runs July 20 to 27.
“I perform a magic-juggling-circus show and I perform different variations of that,” said Bachert. “I’ll do a trick show with a Christian message where I illustrate how there’s a lot of tricks in this world that try to deceive us. I use the tricks in my show to point people towards Christ.”
Fairgoers of all ages will be treated to his secular act during his 20- to 30-minute presentations during the week-long agricultural extravaganza.
“For the Lebanon Area Fair, I’ll do a family-fun show where my goal is to provide families with a fun experience so that they can laugh and have a fun time together,” said Bachert.
His fair act, which he says gives him maximum exposure to audiences, focuses on fun.
“My goal for fairs, festivals and different events is to appeal broadly to everyone who’s there so they can have an enjoyable experience and enjoy that time with the ones they love the most,” he said. “I do deliver a message about how I have Tourette’s and how when we focus on the things that we can do instead of what we can’t, we can all do some awesome things.”
Bachert especially enjoys performing for children – both at secular and religious events – to share his story of perseverance and for religious audiences about his faith.
He tells his youthful crowds about the different obstacles he overcame in the first 25 years of his life. At the age of 7, Bachert was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and auditory processing issues.
Bachert said if he hadn’t been diagnosed with Tourette’s, he may have never found his life’s calling.
“I loved doing tricks when I was younger, skateboarding and snowboarding and every day I would just be learning tricks on something,” he said. “I did team sports, but I found when I was sitting around a lot that the ticks with the Tourette’s got worse. That led me to realize that whenever I was learning how to do something with my body that it helped with my ticks.”
As he continued to skateboard and snowboard, he came to another realization around the time he turned 16. It was then that he started to add more tricks to his repertoire beyond those involving a skateboard.
“When I was doing the tricks and all of the stuff liked that, I realized that as I got older and was growing up that I really enjoyed performing,” said Bachert. “As I was looking at what I wanted to do for a living, I was able to come into contact with some really cool people that helped me progress further in performing and I was able to turn it into something I could do full-time and travel with.”
Bachert said he’s performed in many states from here to California and relishes the opportunity to share his various stories with different audiences while traveling across the nation with his wife, Lily, a show producer and manager who has performed at Sight and Sound Theatre in Lancaster.
The Cyr wheel is one show segment that elicits plenty of audience “oohs” and “aahs” and was the first circus-based trick he learned when he was 16.
The Cyr wheel is an acrobatic apparatus that consists of a single large ring made of aluminum or steel with a diameter approximately 10 to 15 cm taller than the performer.
“The Cyr wheel was featured on America’s Got Talent and while I wasn’t the performer to perform it (there), it is used all over the world (by entertainers),” said Bachert. “But it is the trick I started out with, which surprises some people because it is kind of a bigger trick, it is more of a dangerous trick and some would say it is a harder trick.”
There are different tricks that can be performed within the wheel, he added.
“Once you are within the wheel, there is one that’s called the coin roll, I am flipped upside down, then right side up again and upside down and right side up again,” said Bachert. “I can also grapevine in the Cyr wheel or go with no hands or do one foot. It is kind of like watching a skateboarder if a skateboarder was doing circles in a wheel.”
Another crowd favorite showcases Bachert’s skateboarding skills as he balances on a flat board placed atop a PVC cylinder while juggling knives.
“I’ll typically say, ‘Don’t try this at home, try it at a friend’s house,’ and they do like it when I say that,” said Bachert. “I’ll tell them if you are interested (in learning tricks) to talk to me after the show. I also have some kits to sell at my shows.”
Bachert told LebTown that he generally takes existing tricks and creates his own routines while also following the magician’s oath and code to safeguard magic secrets.
“I would say that revealing tricks is generally frowned upon, but there are some tricks that I will show them the magic trick and then at the end I’ll pull a trick on them while they’re learning the magic trick,” he said. “But there are very few that I’ll explain. I do explain all of the juggling tricks, but for magic, many times that is something that’s happening behind the scene. … I don’t reveal them as a way to honor the person who created that trick.”
Of the different kinds of shows he performs, his heart is full when he shares his love for Christ.
“I’m very passionate about my Gospel message in my shows that I present to churches and I try to do as many of those shows as I can for those people who are interested in that kind of messaging,” said Brachert.
That includes the occasional churches that ask him to avoid saying the “M” word.
“I do have certain churches not allow me to use the word ‘magic,’ so I try to use words like illusion or trick in my church shows,” said Bachert. “Most churches now are very open to the word magic because they realize that it is not of the devil or at least what I do is not of the devil. I often teach a simple magic trick to those churches that is not actually making something magically disappear and I follow up by saying, ‘I believe Jesus does the real miracles, I am just the one who does the tricks.’”
Bachert grew up in Lancaster County but has called Lebanon home for about the past five years. He’s appreciative of performing before hometown folks, including a past performance at the former comedy club in Lebanon city called the Laugh Lounge.
“I’m just very excited to do the Lebanon show in my own backyard and anybody I know I would encourage to come out since it is close,” said Bachert. “We’ve enjoyed our time in Lebanon and my sister and her husband just had a kid and they’ve enjoyed starting a family in Lebanon. There are a lot of things to like about Lebanon and we enjoy calling it home.”
He said performing locally before people he knows does create a little added pressure.
I wouldn’t say it is a ton of pressure,” said Bachert. “I did a show for my wife’s family and I wouldn’t say that was added pressure, but it is something that I am aware of while I am performing. I might make an inside joke with my family or my friends when they are there, so that’s fun whenever they are in the audience since I am able to have fun with it. But there is a little added pressure when there’s people I know in the audience.”
If You Go: The Lebanon Area Fair runs July 20-27 at the Lebanon Valley Expo Center. Check the fair schedule for specific performance dates and showtimes since Bachert will be performing multiple shows daily during the fair.
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