Mike Super, a widely renowned magician, performed at Goshen College last weekend. Super is a winner of the NBC magic show Phenomenon, a top finalist on America’s Got Talent and a performer on The Ellen Show and Penn & Teller. He did two shows at the Umble Center as part of the Performing Arts Series (PAS).

The first show, an official PAS event, was for a nearly sold-out audience paying $20 to $30 per ticket. The second was a free show for students. Both performances were in the Umble Center to give Super a more intimate setting that was conducive to audience participation.

Some of the audience’s favorite tricks included Super writing a name on a chalkboard without touching it, the magician’s stunning prediction of a lottery ticket’s sequence of numbers and Super tearing a newspaper into shreds, only for it to be reconstructed a few moments later.

Seth Kauffman, a first-year who operated the light board for the show, got to see the performance while working. He described it as “very entertaining,” and much more than just a magic show.

Naomi Klassen, a first-year student who attended, appreciated Super’s “on-the-fly comedy.” 

Kauffman agreed, noting that the variety of jokes from the first show to the second highlighted Super’s ability to uniquely connect with audiences.

Brody Thomas, the performance venue production manager, commented that it says something “very special about our institution and facilities” that a small town in Indiana is able to attract big names like Super to come to GC.

One of Thomas’ favorite parts of his job is getting to interact with performers as he organizes hospitality and accommodations. He said that Super had some unique requests: six containers of glass-bottled iced tea along with barbecued pulled pork sandwiches. Thomas went to Java Junction to get some Menno Tea and to Goshen Brewing Company for the sandwiches.

Unfortunately, the student show was sparsely attended, perhaps due to some “miscommunications” with already scheduled events, Thomas said. 

Super’s magic show, scheduled for 10 p.m. on Saturday night, overlapped with Howell-o-Ween, a Halloween-themed party at Howell House the same evening. Multiple students remarked that they either weren’t aware of the event due to its late publicity or had already planned to be at Howell on Saturday night. 

Klassen thoroughly enjoyed the show, but regretted the lack of publicity, and the fact that “more people didn’t get to attend.” 

Still, Klassen was glad she got to go, and looks forward to taking advantage of “more events like these that GC has to offer.”