By Caroline Boden
A deck of spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs flew from his hand and into the crowd. The hundred students filling the rows erupted in laughter.
The Student Program Board hosted its first-ever magic show titled Magic and Mystery Thursday night in the Student Center Theater. The event featured magician and comedian Joseph Tran as well as free food, wands and top hats for students.
Performances Chair Jordan Masters has been given the creative liberty to choose many events that SPB puts on and, after some research, selects the performer. Her selection of this show stemmed from her own curiosity.
“Magic shows interest me,” Masters said. “Whenever I see something, I’m like – how did you do that? How did you make that happen? I know I’m not the only one who thinks like this and I’m sure there are a lot of people who would like to see that kind of thing up close, so I figured why not bring it to campus?”
This high-energy performance titled “Woke and Broke” from Tran combined illusions, quick-witted humor and a personal connection to inspire the audience and keep them entertained.
For many students that attended, this was their first time watching close-up sleight-of-hand and stage illusions. As they shoved handfuls of popcorn into their mouth, their eyes widened, and they moved to the edge of their seat to take in every trick.
“I’ve never seen a magic show live,” said integrated communications sophomore Emily Smith. “I think we’re all curious about that. It’s fun to see stuff that you can’t really explain and it’s also entertainment to help get away from stress.”
Magic and Mystery was advertised across campus through different mediums from posters, flyers, digital screens and A-frames to entice students in this first time event and gain a high attendance.
“I can’t remember the last time [SPB] had someone like this come to campus,” said SPB vice president of marketing and assessment Bianca Ibarra. “With every event, we really want students to be engaged. That’s my main goal since I’ve been in SPB, especially since we are a commuter school. Students aren’t as engaged.”
The continued amazement and attraction to unexplainable things brings out the innocence in any audience. Graduate student Srikanth Yerra believes SPB’s evening show helped him relive childhood memories.
“As a kid I used to like to watch magic shows,” Yerra said. “It’s been a long time since I watched my last magic show in person. I might have watched some online but it’s been a long time – maybe ten years- since it’s been in person. I am so excited. I wanted to go see whether I feel that same excitation I felt when I was a kid.”
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