That’s right. Back in 2010, I entered my first pageant. Well, the reality is I walked in the door of the Miss Collierville 2010 pageant at the Harrell Theater in Collierville, Tennessee.
You see, just a few weeks earlier I received an email from the pageant director Ed Coleman to see if I could add a little magic to that year’s festivities. I’m not sure where Ed got the idea of doing a magical number or two, but after some brief discussions, he brought the current Miss Collierville Anna Hummerickhouse and Miss Teen Collierville Elizabeth Murphree to meet me. I had determined that it would be great if we could make one of the ladies magically appear and the other would get to become discombobulated. That is she would get divided-in-two. So, thus began my journey of working with pageant winners.
Traveling to Mississippi, I was able to engage the assistance of France Beard, Miss Mississippi’s Outstanding Teen 2011 for a program I did with my good friend and fellow magician Jimmy Dixon. This program was for the annual awards banquet of the Ridgeland Mississippi Chamber.
While trying to raise money to support the Memphis Ashlar Hall restoration project, I became involved in the non-profit fundraiser. In the process, the reigning Miss Memphis Christine Williamson and her sister the reigning Miss Banana Pudding Festival Crystal Williamson assisted me along with Kellye Cash. Kellye is the former Miss America, 1987.
Chrystal Williamson, Miss Banana Pudding Festival 2012, Miss Teen Collierville 2015
Kellye Cash – Miss America 1987
Callie Compton – Miss Memphis 2017 & Miss Hatchie 2019
Miranda Colegrove – Miss Henderson County 2019
Mrs. Tennessee 2019 Paige Botts
