Dr. Charles Stewart Flies High on His Wing Foil

If you’ve heard of an activity that takes place in the ocean, chances are Dr. Charles Stewart, an orthopedic surgeon with Sarasota’s Sforzo Dillingham Stewart Orthopedics + Sports Medicine, has given it a shot. A former self-described “hardcore” freediver, he also surfs, but these days, his passion is wing foiling, in which someone stands on a foilboard and grips an inflatable wing that catches the wind and propels the rider across the surface of the water.

While the sport dates back to the 1980s, it has become white-hot in recent years. “It’s the pickleball of watersports,” says Stewart, who estimates that “hundreds” of people in the Sarasota area are into it.

Stewart and his wife, Tatyana, first tried wing foiling a few years ago when they signed up for a lesson near the Sunshine Skyway. “The first attempt was mind blowing,” says Stewart. “It was a completely new experience. People talk about being ‘in flow’—when you’re completely immersed in a physical and mental activity, and foiling is like that. You have to be completely present.”

That’s in part because of the difficulty. Riders must focus on balancing atop the board while also paying attention to the direction and strength of the wind and tacking and jibing to go in the right direction. “You just can’t be focused on anything else,” Stewart says. He estimates that it takes most people about 10 sessions, to even get up on the foil and use the wing and another 10 before they can learn how to turn once they’re up.

But once you figure it out, Stewart says you feel like you’re flying above the waves. While a pro might be able to reach speeds of 30 mph, his max so far has been 23 mph, with a normal cruising speed of 12-15 mph. Stewart says experienced riders might take to the Gulf to wing foil, but on the bayside, Ken Thompson Park is a favorite destination because you can catch winds blowing in from several directions. The weather, of course, plays a major factor; Stewart says you typically need winds of at least 15 mph to get up, but says it’s pretty easy to find consistent winds throughout the year in our area.

While the sport’s popularity is growing, local surf shops haven’t caught up to the demand, according to Stewart, who warns that it is a “gear-heavy sport,” with a multitude of board shapes and sizes and wing designs and fabrics. But Stewart says that the expense, the challenges, the setbacks—it’s all worth it. “You can’t think of anything but the next factor,” he says. “There are so many things going on, and you’re trying to digest everything—it’s a sensation like no other.” —Cooper Levey-Baker

To learn more about Stewart’s practice, visit sforzodillingham.com

Dr. Viengsouk Phommachanh Goes for Big Laughs

Dr. Viengsouk Phommachanh grew up in the 1980s loving standup comedy, and even after he had launched a successful career as an ear, nose and throat doctor with his own Sarasota practice, the idea of trying standup remained a bucket list item he wanted to tick off. So, six years ago, he enrolled in a humor class at McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre.

“It was a lot harder than I expected,” he says. “It was also terrifying. I almost bailed.” Phommachanh stuck it out, however, and the audience responded to his routine with so many laughs that his set stretched past the allotted five-minute mark. Endorphins coursing through his body, Phommachanh knew he wanted to do it again.

Fast-forward several years, and Phommachanh now has a dual identity: sober, analytical doctor during the workweek and offbeat observational humorist on the weekend. “I use it as a release,” he says. “Being a doctor is very stressful. It’s also very buttoned-up and cerebral. Comedy is cathartic. It’s creative, it’s goofy and it balances me out as a person.”

Phommachanh has already developed a big following. Last year, the standup streaming service Dry Bar Comedy filmed a special with Phommachanh that has generated more than 4 million views across social media, and his tour schedule is packed, with headlining gigs in places as far away as Toronto and Australia, in addition to regular work for corporate clients and shows all around Southwest Florida.

For material, Phommachanh draws from his day job. While there are endless jokes about people going to the doctor, there are a lot fewer told from the doctor’s point of view. “I love comedy because laughter’s the best medicine, right?” he asks the crowd in one clip. “Wrong. That’s just crap we tell people who don’t have insurance.” He also offers frequent quips about his experience growing up as a Laotian immigrant in St. Petersburg.

According to Phommachanh, there’s a strong demand for comedians with specific backgrounds that people can relate to, similar to the “blue collar comedy” trend that emerged decades ago. Phommachanh, in fact, has done shows with a lawyer and a teacher in something dubbed the White Collar Comedy Tour, and has joined firefighters, paramedics, cops and others in the Heroes Off Duty Comedy Tour. While previous standup comedians presented themselves as what Phommachanh calls “society’s flunkies,” he says that “it’s become more apparent that there are misfits in every field,” and that audiences are looking for that type of niche humor.

Phommachanh says that, these days, the goal for almost any standup comic is to land a Netflix special, which he likens to winning the Super Bowl. While he dreams of that, too, he says he’s already found more success than he ever imagined. “I didn’t think I’d be here,” he says. “I’m consistently headlining shows. I’m getting to do fairly lucrative corporate work. All of it is surreal. How did I end up here?” —Cooper Levey-Baker

To learn more about Phommachanh, visit comicdoc.com

Dr. Howard Cohen Brings Magic to Local Audiences

By day, Dr. Howard Cohen is a mild-mannered family physician. By night, he transforms into Howard Stevens, master of the sleight of hand. While his patients come to him for checkups and prescriptions, audiences know him for vanishing coins, shuffling reality with a deck of cards, turning an ordinary Rubik’s Cube into a spectacle and more.

Under his stage name, Cohen has been performing magic for decades, seamlessly balancing the precision of medicine with the artistry of illusion. His love of magic began at age 12. “I got Dunninger’s Complete Encyclopedia of Magic, and I still have it,” he says. “I entertained the kids in the neighborhood.”

Determined to master the craft, he pored over books on legendary magicians. “Back then, you didn’t have the internet,” he says. “It was books, VHS tapes, lectures and conventions. I was absorbing everything I could.”

Cohen likes to put on hour-long shows in cozy spaces that offer guests an up-close experience you won’t find on a Vegas stage. “Because of the small venue, the experience is intimate, with a lot of audience participation,” he says. “The audience is just a few feet away, seeing everything up close—something you rarely get to experience in magic. It’s live, it’s immediate and people really appreciate that connection.”

While attending medical school in Philadelphia, Cohen found a second home at the Philadelphia Magic Company, where he immersed himself in the city’s magic scene. “I’d go every Saturday, sometimes Wednesday, just hanging out, learning, buying books,” he says. It was there that he met fellow magician Danny Archer. Together, they created a comedy magic act called Fine and Dandy.

Even as his medical career took off, Cohen never put away his deck of cards. “Magic was my stress relief,” he says. “After a long day, I’d go into my office, open a book and practice.” He honed his skills at private parties, corporate events and high-profile functions, always keeping his two worlds separate. “I never performed for my patients or anything,” he says. “It was its own thing.”

Since moving to Sarasota in 2017, Cohen has continued his double life, treating patients by day and astonishing audiences by night. His performances have captivated crowds at the Art Ovation Hotel, The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota and the Circus Arts Gala. He’s also an active member of The Society of American
Magicians and The International Brotherhood of Magicians, with his own original magic effects published in journals like Trap Door and Apocalypse.

For Cohen, magic isn’t just about tricks—it’s about wonder, storytelling and the joy of the unexpected. “People love mystery,” he says. “They love wonder. It gives them that moment where the impossible feels real. That’s the real
magic.” —Kim Doleatto

To learn more about Cohen, visit howardstevensmagic.com.