Wayne and Kali Moulton, owners of Sages Entertainment (Photo by Matthew J. Mowry)
When your life is filled with magic, bubbles, puppets, and a life-size dinosaur, how can you not smile? Sharing smiles and a sense of wonder is a way of life for Wayne and Kali Moulton, the couple behind Sages Entertainment in Newington.
“We are here to share joy and build community through that shared joy,” says Kali, who has a background as a comic book artist. What started as a way to share their love of magic has become a growing business that includes magic shows, balloon twisting, bubble parties, puppet shows, and a dinosaur experience featuring a life-size dinosaur puppet.
In addition to finding their weekends booked solid for parties and festivals, the couple opened a storefront in the Fox Run Mall in Newington in 2024 to host parties, provide lessons, and house what they say is NH’s only brick-and-mortar magic shop. This past Christmas they provided photo ops with the dinosaur in a Santa hat dubbed “Santa Claws.”
The couple also provide STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) programs for schools and camps based on magic, showing kids how the tricks are accomplished and the STEAM principles behind them.
Sages also provides magic lessons to a range of clients, from kids to senior citizens. “We teach magic to seniors to make them the coolest grandparents around,” Wayne says.
“We get these whacky ideas and find a way to make them happen,” Kali adds.
The business has been doubling and tripling year-over-year since the pandemic, but things were not always so magical. Wayne, who loved magic since he was a child, performed magic shows as a side hustle on weekends while working full-time at a nonprofit focused on youth programing. But after working there for 17 years, the nonprofit dissolved in 2019, and Wayne found himself out of a job.
The couple, whose daughter Alice was two at the time, decided to take their love of magic and STEAM education and combine them for a full-time business. They launched Sages Entertainment—then
COVID hit, shutting down the economy and live entertainment. “We saw tens of thousands of dollars go out the door,” Wayne says. Wayne pivoted, offering online magic classes and shows and shipping magic kits across the country.
The couple also took out a small business loan for equipment to offer bubble parties in people’s backyards, which proved popular during the pandemic. Wayne also offered virtual school assembly magic shows.
Kali, who volunteered on the board of directors for Connection Peer Support Center, a nonprofit that provides peer-to-peer mental health services, took a step back from the business during the pandemic to help the nonprofit establish a home for people dealing with mental issues to receive peer counseling from others dealing with similar challenges. She became certified as a peer support specialist to work there. Once the program was off the ground, Kali returned to the business and is now developing a show aimed at teaching children about mental health.
Wayne says the decision to open in the mall has been good for the business, allowing Sages Entertainment to offer such things as an “Easter Bunny experience” this spring. “The mall has been very good for us and has been welcoming,” Wayne says.
As for the future, the Moulton’s now seven-year-old daughter, who performs and teaches magic, has made it known “she wants to take over the business someday,” Wayne says. For more information, visit sagesentertainment.com.
