Herb Rosene mystifies crowds at Boone County Fair

By Anne Eickstadt

REPORTER

Herb Rosene returned to the Boone County Fair for another year of magic.

For him, the drive isn’t far, and the fair is always the highlight of the year.

“I grew up in Boone County. I was raised at the Boone County Fair,” Rosene said. “We showed cattle at the Fair. I started doing magic at age nine. I’ve been performing magic in the area since I could drive.”

He also created his own, original magic trick when he was 9-years-old.

An entertainer through and through, ‘Mr. Mystic’ kept a constant stream of patter between tricks. One-liners, quips, groaners, and visual gags engaged children and adults at the show.

“You’re not afraid of snakes are you?” Rosene asked one little girl.

“No,” she said.

“Stick your hand in this bag. Oh, it’s only a baby rattler,” Rosene said as she pulled out a toy snake.

The audience laughed, and groaned at the gag.

“If you like that trick, you’ll find this one even greater,” he said as pulled out a cheese grater.

A number of his jokes were dairy and cattle related, which was highly appropriate for a farm-based community like Boone County.

“If you drink a glass of milk every day for 3,560 days, you will live 100 years,” he said.

Rosene ended his family-friendly act by sawing a woman in half. With the help of her husband Ed Pyrcioch, Rosene cut Nancy Pyrcioch in half.

To prove he had done this, Rosene had Nancy stand up and then pulled a scarf through her body.

Laughter and applause rewarded his performance.