– PHOTOS BY JEANNE VOLLMER
A skilled magician who is no stranger to tragedy, Jay Owenhouse performs tricks not only amazing to the brain but also healing for the heart.
On December 21, Muskegon was privileged to be the last stop on his Holiday tour, and the last show he performed before undergoing surgery on his distal tendon (in his arm) on Dec. 27.
Because his injury is very tender and painful, the elder Owenhouse is unable to perform his Houdini-style escape routine, which involves large sharp jaws that snap shut after two minutes attempting to escape. Fortunately, the Owenhouse family is all in it together, and his children have done a lot of training, so young Peter Owenhouse has taken over for Jay the last 15 times the straitjacket escape was performed.
The fourteenth time Peter had a bit of difficulty and came very close to being trapped, but the fifteenth time, in Muskegon, it went down perfectly.
There is a YouTube video about these experiences, with the last minute or so about Muskegon, at https://www.youtube.co/watch?v=Sw7voOJwPb0&fbclid=IwAR3LObJ4PYTx9qkh95KauQ6RNhgEfLqFWSbrU5XNrtjnvm-IbM6g82cDdRY
Jay’s other children are John, Juliana and Christina. All four children were born to Jay and his wife and business partner Susan, who tragically died of an autoimmune disease in 2009.
The program for the show says, “She is the love of my life, and for 22 years we had an amazing life together.”
Due in part to that grief, Owenhouse is sensitive to the fact that the holidays may be painful for some, and he invites people to speak to him about their holiday difficulties after the show.
In keeping with his wife’s faith, there is a portion of the show which talks about spirituality, focusing on a beautiful puzzle.
The show also includes awe-inspiring tigers, who are also members of the family. The Owenhouses take the tigers into their own home when they are a few weeks old, keep them there until they are about six months old, then move them to a nearby sanctuary, where they are still able to spend time with them. The affection the tigers seem to have for the family is no illusion!
Two currently in the show are Sheena and Shekinah, who are twin sisters. At one point when they were playing together, Sheena accidentally knocked Shekinah off of a waterfall and Shekinah’s knee was shattered. The Owenhouses refused to listen to doctors whose dire predictions called for her to be euthanized, and after two surgeries and 12 weeks recovery, Shekinah is back to being a valued member of the Owenhouse magic troupe.
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