Michael Kent, magician, returned for a second time to perform for students on Aug. 25.

The Student Program Counsel asked Kent back again this semester to perform for Week of Welcome.

“I loved it here the first time, and I was performing nearby, so I hoped they’d invite me back,” Kent said.

During his shows, he said his most popular tricks, such as the chicken trick and broken bottle trick.

In this show, Sam Weaver, biology freshman, volunteered to help with the chicken trick.

“I loved being a part of the show,” Weaver said. “It was really funny, but I wasn’t expecting to put my fingers up a chicken’s butt.”

Allison Bohm, music business freshman, and Shaney Rogers, business marketing freshman, were a part of the broken bottle trick.

In this trick, Kent placed a broken bottle, jagged end up, under a paper bag. The paper bag matched three other paper bags on the table. It was then up to the volunteers to mix the bags up and tell him which one to slam his hand on first.

Bohm had the task of mixing the bags up while Kent couldn’t watch.

Rogers part in the bit was to tell him which bags to slam his hand on.

“I kept thinking that, if I told him which bag and he cut his hand it wouldn’t be my fault,” Rogers said.

Kent is not only a magician but also a comedian.

He said he considers his shows to be a social interaction back and forth between him and the audience.

“It’s more about having fun than trying to figure out the tricks,” he said.

Kent has been doing magic for more than 10 years and became interested in it when he was very young.

Kent said he hasn’t always been a magician but went to college for a communications degree.

In his senior year, his father set up an interview with someone who could possibly get him a job in communications.

“The hour that I was in the interview, I kept talking about how I could make money doing magic,” he said. “It was that day that I decided to be a magician.”

Kent said he still likes to perform at universities and would love to make performing at IU Southeast an annual event.

By CHASTITY

HILGERT

Staff

chilgert@umail.iu.edu