On Thursday, November 14, 2013, students filed into the Highlander Pub with the promise of a night full of laughter, magic tricks, and tons of snowy giveaways. Although a faulty microphone delayed the start of the show, the entertainment that ensued was undoubtedly worth the wait.
The night started off with Nick. Nick did a great job warming up the crowd for what was to come with jokes about his school and “weird dorm rules.” His set was only about five minutes long, but he definitely helped establish the mood.
Up next was the main act of the night: Kevin C. Carr, who introduced himself as a “magician, mentalist, and former clown.” Carr was indeed a clown in the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus, travelling across the U.S. for 24 years performing in front of crowds. With such high credentials, students knew that they were in for a good show.
Throughout the night, Carr made sure to include plenty of audience interaction. His first trick consisted of clown noses. He had two audience members hold four clown nose balls with their hands tightly clenched. After saying a few magic words, the two students opened their hands to a rainbow of over twenty balls flying out of their hands.
He even had me go up on stage to serve as a witness to him putting a handkerchief in his hand, making it disappear, and having it come out of his mouth.
Another standout trick, which Carr cites as one of his favorites, was one involving a book of matches. He lit one of the matches and swallowed it, but then he spat the burnt match out and magically made it appear back in the matchbook.
His other favorite trick of the night was when a member of the audience came up on stage and wrote a card number, suit, and the name of one of her friends on a piece of paper. Carr unbelievably was able to guess everything perfectly, even the fact that the name of the person she wrote was in the room and was one of her best friends. “I loved that reaction,” Carr said. “That was mentalism at its best.”
Victor Regalado, a senior math/computer science major, thoroughly enjoyed the performance. “It was interesting,” he said. Regaldo’s favorite trick of the night was “the one where the bill was floating,” in which Carr took a $5 bill and mysteriously made it levitate.
Carr’s circus background shined through with his hilarious banter with the audience and with several stunts he performed, like balancing a magic wand on his nose, and balancing one leg of a chair on his chin.
Freshman Caitlyn McGee, a computer science major, was extremely impressed. “He was really funny and really entertaining. I really enjoyed it!”
The night wasn’t over yet, however. A raffle at the end of the performance gave away prizes that related to snowboarding and skiing, such as gloves, hats, a jacket, helmets, skis, a snowboard, and two tickets to Killington Mountain Resort & Ski Area.
McGee claimed that the only reason she attended the night’s show was to get a chance to win the Killington tickets, and to her surprise, she ended up winning them. “I’m really excited because I go skiing every winter, so this gives me motivation to go,” she smiled.
After the raffle, students were treated to finger foods, photo opportunities and a free snow globe. The First Blast of Winter was a definite success, and if this was a sign of the season that is to come, it looks like it will be a winter full of giving and joy.
Briana Mancenido