On the night of Monday, November 14th, nationally acclaimed magician and comedian Ben Seidman came to Saint Leo for a show filled with wonder and laughs. Seidman has a well-known act, having appeared across the countries, on television, and as the only person to serve as a the resident magician at the famous Mandalay Bay casino in Las Vegas.
Seidman is known for using sleight-of-hand and pickpocketing in his shows, which he used to great effect and involved many audience members in the show. Magic tricks such as pickpocketing an audience members credit card, magically making the serial number on a dollar bill match random numbers the audience said, and making his jewelry both disappear and reappear on his hands.
Seidman has proved his magnificence in a variety of formats. Seidman has written and advised for Criss Angel’s Mindfreak show, had several TV specials, and taught magic to celebrities such as Johnny Knoxville and musician Zedd.
As well as doing magnificent acts, Seidman also proved to be incredibly funny and original. From the first moments of the show, Seidman proved to be incredibly funny. Seidmn put off a very friendly vibe, and allowed the crowd to truly feel like they were at home in the audience. Seidman’s charisma allows him to be instantly likeable by people of all personalities, and his knowledge of how to work a crowd allows him to create an environment that can make everyone feel comfortable as they are being called upon to be tricked.
Seidman was originally going to perform at Saint Leo earlier in the year, but his performance unfortunately got called off due to Hurricane Matthew shutting down campus.
As well as performing stand up comedy and magic, Seidman also gave some helpful advice. At the end of the show he made sure to say that if everyone had so much fun, to just check out all of the CAB events on campus. No one would have seen his amazing show if they didn’t take a chance on attending the event, and he made sure to exaggerate that point that everyone should attend the on-campus CAB events. A cause that truly anyone can agree with, especially the CAB staff who were in attendance.
Seidman truly brought the magic to Saint Leo university, along with fun, comedy, and amazement. From the moment he phased a tissue through the microphone stand, to the grand finale that can’t even be expressed in words, Seidman captured the hearts and imagination of everyone in the audience, without a single clue of how any of it was done.
