By Nick Martin
Magician Dan Sperry performed a free show in Blackman Auditorium Monday night that left some audience members shocked but not amazed.
Sperry’s performance was a part of HallowEEK, sponsored by the Council for University Programs (CUP). He had a small bag of tricks and a joke routine that left the audience quiet and uncomfortable, some said.
The show included about 10 magic tricks spread throughout the hour-long performance and relied on jokes and audience interaction to fill the gaps. The magician’s tricks included changing a $20 bill into a $1 bill and back again and guessing what animal cracker an audience member had chosen. What may have been his most interesting trick was making a table levitate, but he still received weak applause from the audience, which slowly diminished as the show progressed.
Audience members said the event resembled a stand-up routine more than a magic show, with some of his jokes being pickup lines and stories about his life that received few laughs.
“I thought it was a little awkward,” said Alexa Ross, a sophomore information science major. “I thought the magic tricks weren’t that great, but the crude jokes were good.”
Freshman biology major Kevin Johnston said he did not think Sperry’s jokes were up to par.
“It was a little lame and the jokes weren’t that funny,” Johnston said.
Sperry told The News before his act that his routines have a set list like bands do for concerts, but added that he feeds off the audience’s reaction to determine his next trick.
He said he likes performing for college students, because he is still young enough to relate to them.
“If you love what you do, you don’t grow up,” said Sperry, 24, who added that he has a “Peter Pan Complex.”
He said he tries to keep his jokes current and is constantly refurbishing his routine. He referenced the YouTube video “Two Girls, One Cup” briefly in his show, which he said replaced a former “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” joke.
Sperry said his interest in magic began when he went to see David Copperfield as a child but was scarred by the show. His parents bought him a magic set as a method of “home therapy.” He said his interest continued to grow, and he began his career in magic after art school.
“What I like about magic is how it can be used as a performance art,” Sperry said. “You can make anything happen.”
He said he gets most of his influence from films and art, and credits Quentin Tarantino as being an influence on his shows.
The magic show was the second event of HallowEEK, following a screening of “The Shining” Sunday night. This is the first HallowEEK, though there have been similar events in the past, said CUP member Eric Frankenburg, who is one of the organizers of HallowEEK.
“This is simply a series of Halloween themed events to get out campus into the spooky spirit,” he said.
