Robbie the Ringmaster wows library audience with undersea magic show
Last Thursday, families filled the Captiva Civic Center to watch a special undersea magic show presented by Robbie the Ringmaster, also known as Mark Pettey, a professional magician, puppeteer and entertainer from Naples.
Accompanied by a cast of silly puppets, Pettey put on an interactive, high-energy magic show with the help of several young audience members.
As he performed, Pettey regaled his rapt audience with anecdotes about the importance of reading and tales of his career as Robbie the Ringmaster.
“Yesterday I saw almost 700 children! We had 278 children alone at a library in Cape Coral,” he said.
“I do magic shows in preschools, libraries, elementary schools and birthday parties all over the state of Florida,” Pettey said. “This summer, I’m doing a very special tour that’s running up and down the gulf coast. I’m helping to celebrate the theme that the library is promoting this summer, which is ‘Make a Splash.'”
To help commemorate the library’s aquatic-inspired summer program, Pettey donated a 50th anniversary edition of Dr. Seuss’ “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” to the Captiva Memorial Library.
The library’s summer program officially ends Saturday July 31, at 2 p.m., as singer-songwriter Darrell House presents “Makes Me Feel Like Singing!” for teens. After House’s performance, there will be an end of summer party where teens can use the teen bucks they’ve earned over the summer to bid on items in an auction.
The Captiva Memorial Library is located at 11560 Chapin Lane.
For more information about the library, call 533-4890.