How I got that job: Kristoffer Olson

Age: 27

Home: St. Paul

Occupation: "Ushertainer" for the St. Paul Saints; magician

Salary: It varies quite a bit, around seasons and depending on how much work I put in. I like that.

Background: I have a theater degree from the University of Minnesota and a minor in business and foreign studies. I'm going back to school this fall for an MBA.

What is ushertaining and what do you do? Ushertaining is something that the Saints created maybe 10 or 12 years ago. They wanted to have different characters running around making people laugh. The Saints are big on family, fun atmosphere. You're here to watch baseball, but you're also here to just have a good time. I play a character called the Nerd. I'm basically a human mascot. I run around the audience and the bleachers entertaining the fans, goofing off. And between innings, we run some games and contests.

Is your job more about ushering or performing? It's definitely about performing and entertaining. Any ushering I do usually is not particularly helpful: putting people in the wrong seats or sending them in the wrong direction.

Did you create your persona? When I came in they explained that [I had to] come up with a character. And I said, "Let's try this nerd thing." It's basically just an exaggeration of myself. This is my fourth year.

You're also a magician? I entertain. I see my magic comedy show as my main job, but I don't see [ushertaining] as a side job. This is just an extension of, "I entertain for a living."

How did you get into performing magic? I saw a magician when I was 5 at my local library and went and checked out a book on magic and kept doing it. [Being an entertainer] was definitely a natural tendency for me. My parents were huge in saying, "Yeah, this is something you are interested in." My kindergarten teacher told them they had to get me into theater. I told my mom I loved being on stage. From that point on, they were awesome about getting me in every opportunity I could to be in performances. Eventually my parents got me involved in a local magic club; I started performing with other kids my age and then started getting paid to perform when I was 9. I started out doing birthday parties for kids who weren't much younger than I was.

What do you like best about performing? Making people laugh. I've always really enjoyed being on stage and having that crowd reaction live. I enjoy live performance specifically because I feed off of people. When I'm performing, I'm trying to get people to forget about what happened that day and just get them to enjoy who they're there with and enjoy the show.