GEIST Visual Comedian

Need a good belly laugh? By all means, take the family to the see Pete Geist at Dante Hall in Atlantic City on Saturday, April 12, and you'll be sure to exercise those belly muscles.

Geist is a clown. But don't expect to see an orange wig, red nose and big floppy shoes. Instead, think Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and the Three Stooges. Geist is inspired by the days of silent comedy, when the body, facial expressions, props, stunts and music generated the laughs. In fact, Geist doesn't talk at all until the last 10 minutes or so of the show.

Geist - he jokes that his parents were going to name him "Polter," but thought better of it - describes himself as a 12-year-old trapped in the body of a 43-year-old man. You'll see just what he means during a 55-minute zany romp mixing magic, pantomime, juggling and physical comedy to delight the audience.

"What I get a big kick out of is seeing kids in the audience react to their parents laughing," Geist says.

Speaking of the audience, they become part of the outlandish show. Geist always chooses a couple of people to help perform some gags. Not to give away a favorite part of the performance, a lucky young man might be picked from the audience to help spin plates, and eventually turn into a mini-Geist.
Reached at his home in Lancaster, Pa., Geist says he has been performing full-time throughout the United States since he graduated from high school in 1983. He started getting into magic when he was 9 and began incorporating mime and other circus arts into his routine at about 11.

Now Geist has two kids of his own - Sophia, 2, and Keaton, 5 (named after - you guessed it - the famed comedian Buster, one of Geist's comic heroes). Geist says Keaton is so used to having a comic for a dad that he is not easy to impress even with some of the best gags.

Just some of what you'll see if you go to Geist's whirlwind of a show - ball and silk juggling; hat and plate manipulations; amazing cloth and paper napkin tricks, including the famous paper rose transformation; balloon gags; tongue tricks; balancing and levitation; the amazing Geist popcorn eating trick and more.

Geist's appearance is part of the Family Series/Kids Shows at Dante Hall, an intimate performing arts center located in Atlantic City's Ducktown section.

Visual Comic Pete Geist


WHEN: 1 p.m. Saturday, April 12


WHERE: Dante Hall, 14 N. Mississippi Ave., Atlantic City
- By JEANNE DONOHUE For At The Shore

Pete Geist
The Wacky Waiter
P.G. Productions
1800 Windrow Drive
Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17602-4161

Dear Pete,

Your act was the best banquet entertainment I’ve seen in a decade with the Telecommunications Association of Michigan. Our group loved it! Some literally fell out of their chairs with laughter.

We’ve hired comedians before. Most must tell a few jokes to get the audience warmed-up before they catch the style and pace. Then there’s always the worry that content could offend some, and not have enough edginess for others. This is not the case with your act. We’ve already recommended you to other state telecom association across the country.

The beauty of visual comedy is its universal appeal – the audience demographic almost doesn’t matter. Visual comedy is immediately funny on its surface. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to understand. When it’s done well – and you do it very well, it needs no warm-up and there’s no worry about offending words. It’s just plain funny to anyone. Visual comedy has lasting appeal. It’s easy to forget a joke, but any time I want to laugh to myself, I can replay in my head the hilarious visual images of your act.

We enjoyed the set-up required to make your disastrously inept hotel waiter as “replacement entertainment” surprising to the audience. We had fun making-up the hazily-referenced stories to lead them to believe that we had lined-up the Canadian Prime Minister. Our members took the story hook, line and sinker right up to the point where we told them the Prime Minister couldn’t show because his wife was having a baby. Several of our members have told us in fun that they’ll never trust us again!

We enjoyed working with you, Pete, and were outstandingly entertained. It would be my pleasure to recommend your act to any group.

Pamela S. Shimer
Director of Marketing and Education
Telecommunications Association of Michigan
- Pamela S. Shimer