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Mind Reader

Mentalist and illusionist doesn’t disappoint Ferris crowd

by Published: Jan 23, 2013

Mentalist and illu­sion­ist Wayne Hoffman per­formed for stu­dents their first week back to school.

Williams Auditorium was fill­ing as stu­dents eagerly waited for Hoffman to enter­tain the crowd with his quick wit, magic and mind read­ing capabilities.

The show started off quickly with illu­sions many audi­ence mem­bers will never be able to explain.

One act involved two young women who were brought up on stage to prove they had a con­nec­tion because they were not only room­mates, but best friends.

“Best friends have one of the most amaz­ing con­nec­tions there is,” Hoffman said.

Only one woman was touched with a feather, but both girls claimed to have felt it. The crowd reacted with much surprise.

Mind read­ing was the main act he wanted to show the audi­ence. Hoffman asked every­one to focus and think of one word.

“Now either using skill or what I call no social life, I will effec­tively read their minds,” Hoffman said.

He didn’t dis­ap­point as he called out numer­ous mem­bers of the audi­ence and guessed their favorite movies, first toys and the name of someone’s cat.

Jameson Weber, Ferris fresh­man in music indus­try man­age­ment, said, “There was a lot of stuff that had me com­pletely clue­less on how any­thing was done. He is insane with the [illu­sions] he does.”

Hoffman con­tin­ued to wow the crowd through­out the night. For one stunt, he used the energy from a cam­era to turn back time on a watch. The cam­era flashed, and the hands ticked back­ward exactly 29 minutes.

Always quick on his feet, Hoffman joked, “Daylight sav­ings is a breeze for me.”

For his grand finale, Hoffman man­aged to remove all the dents from a can of Coke he had been drink­ing through­out the night. The open­ing was also resealed and the can filled once again before he gave it away.

From a rural town in Pennsylvania, Hoffman pur­sued magic after his mother had given him a magic set at the age of seven. He spent large amounts of time research­ing soci­ol­ogy, psy­chol­ogy and human behav­ior to mold his skills. By 15, he was being paid to per­form. At the young age of 18, he started tour­ing the coun­try to per­form his show “Mind Candy.”

Now, he is con­sid­ered one of the top ten men­tal­ists in the world. He has aired on all major tele­vi­sion net­works and been to 43 dif­fer­ent countries.

At the end of the show, Hoffman took a moment to pro­mote his new book “Mind Candy,” which he claims will help peo­ple accom­plish every­thing they set out to do.

“He’s not just about the show; he’s also giv­ing out advice and sort of help­ing you out,” Jocelyn Aigboduwa, Ferris junior in pre-optometry, said.

Near the end of the show, Hoffman ded­i­cated his next stunt to the believ­ers and the risk takers.

“This one goes out to all of you who have ever taken a chance,” Hoffman said.

For more infor­ma­tion about Hoffman, visit hoff​man​magic​.com.