Central Michigan Life

Issue date: 3/31/08 Section: News

Media Credit: John Ehlke Comedian and magician Michael Kent begins the show with a quick card trick in Moore Hall's Townsend Kiva on Friday night. Kent asked audience members to look at a card and he would tell the members of the audience which card they looked at in the deck. [Click to enlarge]

The night ended with a story about childhood misery, a shower of confetti and applause.

Comedian and magician Michael Kent finished his Friday act at Moore Hall's Townsend Kiva by telling a story about how his dad had ruined his childhood with his explanation of where stars came from.

As he finished, confetti magically appeared from his hand.

Kent parodied fellow magician David Copperfield's habit of telling sad stories about his childhood.

"You don't see magicians who make fun of magic very often, so I'm glad we could bring someone like Michael to CMU," said Christa Smalligan, Fremont senior and Program Board member.

Smalligan's favorite part of the act was the finale.

"I really enjoyed the confetti - I think because of the way he was poking fun at everyone who's so serious about it," Smalligan said.

Midland freshman Cody J. Bartow also enjoyed the end of the show.

"I liked the last one," Bartow said. "This show exceeded expectations."

In addition to telling stories, Kent also involved the audience in his act.

For one trick, Kent brought Macomb freshman Joseph Dombrowski and asked for a $20 bill, which he then put in an envelope and shredded it.

"I was actually kind of mad, because I saw pieces of my 20 come out of the shredder," Dombrowski said.

But Dombrowski's worries were premature.

After initially pretending he had made a mistake, Kent then opened a series of boxes within boxes and revealed the $20 bill, intact and complete with Dombrowski's handwriting on it from before it had gone through the shredder.

"It was weird, because it was my same exact writing," Dombrowski said.

After getting his money back, Dombrowski held no grudges.

Kent says this is part of why he does his magic as a comedy act.

"The way that I feel about it is that some people don't like to be fooled, and the way I do magic helps people to forget they're being fooled," Kent said. "I just wanted to be myself onstage because I'm not a dramatic person."



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