Magic is something that most college students might look down upon considering their age and their many doubts about the world, but all of that was proven wrong at the “The Norman Magic Experience.”
Last Thursday night, SSU hosted Norman Ng, a magical expert and performer in the Ives Hall. Ng has been in the hobby and business of magic for almost 22 years and has performed his tricks in 48 states at about 4,000 venues.
He has been working on magic since the young age of 8 years old and now showcases his magic at about 80 college campuses every year.
A few dozen people attended the performance, ready to see magic happen. Everyone was sitting in the front rows, up close and personal to view the magician’s tricks. No one knew what to expect from Ng since he hadn’t come to Sonoma State in several years, so the crowd was quite curious as to what he could pull off.
One of his opening tricks was where he drew a bowling ball on a large piece of drawing paper and somehow a real 12-pound bowling ball fell out of the paper. The crowd was completely shocked at the trick. Ng was dealing with a crowd on the smaller end so he made sure to involve a lot of the attendees in his tricks.
He brought a female up to the stage and had her take a risk. She had to risk getting her iPhone smashed while Ng was risking all the money in his pocket (about $200). He had three identical bags and put the iPhone in one of them.
He made the girl choose which bags would be smashed with a baseball bat after he mixed them up so she couldn’t know which bag contained the smart phone. He ended smashing the other two without the phone. It was crazy to see a magician smashing bags that could possibly have an iPhone with a baseball bat.
“I’d say my favorite thing to do is the cell phone trick,” said Ng.
Ng did not rush anything he did. He liked to take his time to the point where the audience didn’t remember how the trick started, and were not positive how it would end.
“I like to build a certain point of drama. There are routines where you think its going one way but then I take a quick u-turn and take it the other way,” said Ng.
The crowd was surprised with the stunts Ng pulled and how funny he continued to be throughout the entire show. He had the perfect humor and personality to draw the crowd in. A magician must be enthusiastic to energize the crowd and to showcase magic in the proper manner.
Ng said that the most challenging part of working with a small audience is that everyone feels shy and afraid to laugh and express themselves, but Ng did an excellent job of connecting with the audience and getting every single person involved with at least one trick.
“I like the smaller crowds cause it’s just more chill, more relaxed, and more intimate,” said Ng.
“The Norman Magic Experience” was a great time with an amazing magician that stunned the entire crowd.
He used playing cards and cell phones, bowling balls and many more items to perform his tricks. Ng’s magic had its own style and vibe to it that most people would enjoy. He has a great attitude for the job and has had a passion for it from a young age. Ng was a magic experience one can’t get from just anyone with a deck of cards.
