The entire venue goes dark. The stage is filled with low smoke while red lights strobe to the beat of a heart. Kevin’s signature is slowly signed onto the backdrop with a graphic laser as the heartbeat and red lights continue to pulsate. Kevin rises from under the stage as a laser cone from above seemingly beams him up. As he reaches the top of the lift, Kevin’s intro music plays and geysers of 10’ flames shoot up in ripples all over the stage while 2 atmospheric lasers shoot beams around the venue. Hidden in the low smoke is a conveyor belt and while all the effects are going off, Kevin steps onto it and floats up to the mic. Image Engineering was able to accomplish all of this in partnership with Showtime Sound.

In addition to this dramatic introduction,  the flames were to be fired on his command at the punch line of jokes received well by the audience. As the 10′ flames went blazing on Kevin’s cue, the audience’s laughter would surge. Never knowing when the flames would be set off kept the viewers amped up throughout the entire show.

As the tour continued, the venues expanded from theaters with 3,000 seats to huge arenas housing more than 12,000 to 20,000 people. As the crowds grew, so did the need for special effects. The fall portion of the tour had an additional four lasers added creating what would become the full-on “Epic Entrance”. Two of these lasers were used to add atmospherics reaching out to the crowd far in the distance. Meanwhile, the graphic laser for Kevin’s signature and the laser cone over his head created a more visible stage presence.