Rock-and-roll magician appearing at Lourdes

3/19/2004

Aaron Balcom has something special up his sleeve.

"I'm not your average illusionist," says the 20-year-old Detroit native who stars in "A Concert of Magic" at 8 tomorrow night at the Franciscan Theatre & Conference Center of Lourdes College in Sylvania. Magicians Jamy Ian Swiss and Simon Lovell also will perform.

"One of the most unique things about my show is the performance style," Balcom said in a telephone interview from Detroit. "It's presented more like a rock concert."

With music, dancing, costumes, and special effects, the performance may be best described as "David Copperfield meets the Backstreet Boys," Balcom said.

He presents large-scale illusions such as his "Skyscraper" feat: "It's an illusion I spent three years designing. No one else performs it," Balcom said. It goes like this: A dancer enters a cabinet that resembles the Empire State Building. Balcom waves light sabers through it and she disappears.

In addition to large-scale illusions, Balcom performs card manipulations.

The young performer got his start right here. "When I was 5 my parents took me to Tony Packo's in Toledo and there was a magician on stage and he picked me to come up," he explained. As the performer made coins disappear, the boy marveled at both the sleight of hand and the attention it commanded from the audience. "It really made a lasting impression on me," he said.

"A Concert of Magic" starring Aaron Balcom will be presented at 8 tomorrow night at the Franciscan Theatre & Conference Center of Lourdes College, 6832 Convent Blvd., Sylvania. Tickets, $21 and $25, are available from the box office, 419-824-3999, or Mystic Emporium, 3152 West Sylvania Ave. Information: 419-471-9085.

Contact Ann Weber at:

aweber@theblade.com

or 419-724-6126.