As October is setting in, the tricks are coming out. Grand Valley State University’s Spotlight Productions hosted Todd Migliacci, award-winning magician, in the Kirkhof Center Grand River Room Thursday, Oct. 12.

Migliacci came equipped with “bad” jokes, lots of puns and plenty of tricks to keep the crowd engaged. The magician even made his way around to a few people, introducing himself and creating a more personal connection with the crowd beforehand. 

Migliacci has performed for crowds as big as 4,000 people, and he is the only official magician to have performed in Cinderella’s Castle at Walt Disney World. He was also cast as Mickey Mouse at Disney World, describing himself as a “Disnerd.”

Migliacci tours nationally and performs at theaters, colleges and corporate events. Magic first came to his attention when he was a young boy who received a magic kit on Christmas Day. His passion grew from then on, and he began going to the library to rent books on how to do magic tricks. 

“I checked out books, not only on card tricks, but also biographies about Harry Houdini, how to make balloon animals, how to fire eat and how to escape a straitjacket,” Migliacci said.

Although Migliacci would have loved to show off his fire-eating talent here at GVSU, the low ceiling and curtains behind him limited his ability to do so. However, the magician featured many other tricks, like making a balloon animal reappear in a brown paper bag after he had already popped it on the ground. 

“I saw the event on Spotlight’s Facebook and I thought, ‘What better to do on a Thursday night?’ Plus, it was free,” said Carlie Connolly Sr., a GVSU student who attended the event. “The coolest part of the show was probably the end because the audience was so involved. We were left wondering how he did his last trick.”

Migliacci was pleased with the students and staff, noting the staff as “always being by (his) side” and the students as being “very welcoming.” Not only did he mention the student and staff interactions, but he also commented on GVSU’s campus as being beautiful. Ultimately, Migliacci was pleased with the interactions he had on campus before, during and after the show.

The audience that attended the show was very involved; anytime Migliacci asked for someone to come up on stage, there was no hesitation of hands going up. Plenty of volunteers showed their bravery on stage without even knowing what Migliacci was going to do next. 

“Without an audience, I’m just some guy talking, telling bad jokes,” Migliacci said. He followed up this statement by calling GVSU’s student audience “awesome.” He described the venue as intimate and said he was happy to have shared such a personal connection with the people in the room.