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The Patron Saint of SugarHouse Casino – Metro US

The Patron Saint of SugarHouse Casino

The Patron Saint of SugarHouse Casino

The way things work at a casino is – unless you have extended Vegas residencies like those of Britney Spears, Aerosmith or Celine Dion – if you play one live gig one year, even if you absolutely kill, you’ll probably wait another year for another opportunity at that stage.

You’re obviously not Jon Dorenbos, the former Philadelphia Eagles long snapper-turned-entertainer and motivational speaker. Not only did he sell out several SugarHouse Casino concerts in March 2018 to old football fans, lovers of “America’s Got Talent” (Dorenbos made a killing on that NBC show back in 2017), and Fishtownies looking for positivity and forward motion in their lives. Dorenbos is getting ready to do the same again this weekend, August 24 and 25, on the stage of SugarHouse’s Event Center on Delaware Avenue.

“It was really cool and really humbling to sell out those back to back shows in March,” said Dorenbos, on a brief break from practicing new tricks and flips of legerdemain, about the reception to his repeat performance.  “Tell you what though, it is truly even more humbling to think that we might sell these next shows out as well.”

Dorenbos has a theory about why the Fishtown casino requested a new show so close to the last, and why repeat audiences who saw his debut SugarHouse performance (“and word of mouth first timers”) are flocking to this upcoming gig.

“You know what? I played here in this city for a long time as an athlete,” said Dorenbos of his tenure with-and-devotion-to the Eagles: 162 consecutive games over 11 seasons before being traded to the New Orleans Saints, a diagnoses of an aortic aneurysm, immediate surgery and early retirement. “This city does not need you to be perfect at all times. Just hungry. And willing to correct any of your mistakes. Philly gravitates to that, being who you are, no-matter-what.  They accept me for whom I was, who I am, what I believe in, for wanting to make the world a better place, and having a good time doing it.”

Even though Dorenobs had left the Eagles one year before their Super Bowl victory, the team and owner Jeffrey Lurie still wanted to show their appreciation to the one-time players for services rendered and faithfulness to Philly, and its football. “Those guys are all great friends and I was super excited for Mr. Lurie who gaves us all the resources to win. Yeah it was bittersweet as I figured the only way I would win a Super Bowl ring was to play. I never had any desire to coach. But, when they called to say that they were going all the way,  and that I was coming with them. …  It was a great feeling.”

From the gridiron to the casino

Connecting to rapt Philadelphians — whether as football fans or avid audience participants in Dorenbos’ showcase of magic tricks, personal recollections and uplifting motivational patter — pushes him to recall a quote from Brian Dawkins: “Play every game as if you are a fan,” said Dorenbos. “Play it like a fan who could play one play, even if that fan had a separated shoulder or a broken ankle.  No matter what I had to go through, I was going to show up for this city.”

The thoughtfulness and devotion of his Philly fan base – be it football or who he is as a magician and as a motivational speaker — push Dorenbos to further what he’s trying to do in the future, SugarHouse gigs included.  He loves practicing his magic act.  That’s an art form that came to Dorenbos as a child. It was, what he called, a necessary escape, “a place of solitude where I could just be a kid,” he said quietly. “Now when I got to high school and football and found out I could hit someone else and it was lega, that became the place where I could get my aggression out Then I’d go home and practice magic — be tranquil and calm. Both sides of my life got squared away in those two spaces.”

So what performing magic in a live setting brings to the footballer’s brand of spirited (non-but denominational) motivational speaking — and therefore SugarHouse Casino — is multitudes. “It is that combination that has made me a household name. I can connect with people more directly. In my stage act, I tell you my life story, like what happened and how it affected me. I’m not up there with dancing girls and light shows. I want to tell people about me and connect us all — relate to each other — and use magic to back it up. And then it all becomes real. And from here, I would love to do what I do as a show for ages 10-and-up … a family show. Now that the circus has closed, there’s a need for great family entertainment. I’m in a position where I am known as the inspirational magician guy, and I love it.”

What is Dorenbos saying about the Eagles 2018-2019 season?
The one-time long snapper has his Super Bowl 52 rings alongside his brethren in the Philadelphia Eagles. That entitles him to an opinion as to where the team is going this season, while still basking in the glow of that victory.  “You know what? I haven’t been following the team or the drafts as closely as I should. Then again, I never really followed that stuff when I was in it,” he said with a laugh. “I’m more about where you are going, and what you are doing, rather than what you are following.

Dorenbos rattles off all of your favorite Eagles by their first names before reminding us that, “they did amazingly last year with all the injuries, and came together as a group, and won. Any group of guys who create momentum, even through adversity. … Well, that’d a hard train to slow. This year should be killer, now that everyone is healthy. And Doug Pederson? He’s a great coach. He was a player, too, and he understands that this game is supposed to be fun. So, he keeps it fun.”