Chris Rose, local entertainer and magician, has been dazzling audiences for decades. Now he's planning to bring a little magic to the military with Magicians on Mission, a nonprofit dedicated to boosting the morale and emotional health of American service members deployed overseas.
Rose was born into a multigenerational military family. His mother, father, and grandfather were all in the U.S. Air Force, and he even married into the military as well.
“My wife is also a veteran,” Rose says. “I have the utmost respect for all branches of the military.”
His love for magic began when he was a boy, living in Albuquerque, N.M.
“My older brother came for a visit and showed me a trick,” he shares. “I became obsessed with trying to figure out how he did it.”
He eventually figured it out and in doing so, discovered a love for magic. That passion turned into a decades-long career for Rose, who has even appeared on the CW television show Penn and Teller Fool Us, where he fooled the hosts with a trick using an Oreo cookie.
The attention he received for his magical prowess led to an invite to participate in an Armed Forces Entertainment (AFE) tour. During that 16-day tour, he performed his act for over 5,000 service members across Kuwait; Bahrain; United Arab Emirates; and Djibouti, Africa.
“I saw these men and women walk in exhausted, homesick, and very stressed,” he says. “Within moments, I watched their stress melt away and watched something in them come alive. It's hard to describe how that felt, but I know it made a huge impact in their day.”
After that tour, additional ones were planned—but were cancelled due to lack of funding. That's when Rose became inspired to start his own organization to bring hope and joy to the troops through entertainment, without having to rely on government funding.
“Magicians on Mission is funded by the American people, and we need help,” Rose says.
Rose plans to accomplish the goals of Magicians on Mission through what he calls the “Three Cs”—"Connecting" patriotic Americans with members of the military to "Convey" gratitude for their sacrifices through live magic tours and care packages while "Cultivating" lasting relationships between sponsors and service members.
Each Magician on Mission tour will be 14-16 days, with stops at 10-12 military bases, and will support approximately 5,000 service members across one to four different countries. The costs associated with each tour are around $280,000 and include the cost of care packages for the service members, as well and travel costs and visa fees for all performers.
For more information on how you can help offset these costs through donations and sponsorships, visit MagiciansOnMission.org.