University of Redlands Turns Magical with “Magic of Redlands!” Performance

It was a magical evening—literally—at the University of Redlands Memorial Chapel on Oct. 18 when magician Mike Caveney hosted “The Magic of Redlands!” magic show. He opened to a full house, setting a cup of coffee on a wooden ring and spinning it in the air without spilling it. He joked with the front row, “I bet you wish you weren’t sitting in the front row, huh?” The audience laughed along with Caveney as he set the light mood for the rest of the show. Dan Birch, “The Lord of Illusionists," kicked off the show by performing several tricks that involved pulling doves out of thin air and from white silk handkerchiefs. The audience gasped when he seemingly pulled apart a dove and turned it into two doves. “The best part of the entire show was when he [Dan Birch] ripped the bird in half and made two,” said student Shawn McMillen. For his final trick, Dan Birch turned a cage of doves into a single rabbit. The next magician introduced by Caveney was Tina Lenert, who is famous for her act called “Maid in Heaven," which mixes magic and pantomime. She had the audience in a trance with her pantomime “mopman,” who pulls jewelry out of fire and flowers out of handkerchiefs. Later in the show Lenert returned to the stage to perform a magical number with rings that mysteriously locked and unlocked together. “He’s a little odd,” was how Caveney introduced magician Rob Zabrecky, but the crowd loved him as he brought several participants on stage to help him with his magic tricks. Zabrecky performed hypnotic tricks that allowed the audience to participate, and even poked fun at the “spirits” during his time on stage. Known as being “hilariously creepy,” Zabrecky brought a mix of comedy and magic to the show. The final magician to take the stage was Joel Ward, who has appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and on “Tosh.0” on Comedy Central. He started his show by making his assistant appear from a triangular box that was empty only moments before she appeared. Ward ended the show by using the president of the University of Redlands, Dr. Ralph Kuncl, to perform his version of Harry Houdini’s infamous metamorphosis illusion. The crowd erupted in applause once Ward appeared from out of a locked box, completing his trick. Mike Caveney closed the show by bringing out all the magicians, who bowed and thanked the audience for their participation and energy.