Magician performs at Symphony Hall on Oct. 27

Date: 10/3/2018

SPRINGFIELD – Magician Mike Super believes that magic is necessary in today’s world.

“It frees your mind a little bit, that what the world needs,” he told Reminder Publishing in a recent telephone interview.

The acclaimed magician will be performing at Symphony Hall on Oct. 27. It is his second appearance in Springfield.

Super won the magician’s competition on NBC’s “Phenomena” and was a Season Nine finalist on “America’s Got Talent.” The Walt Disney Company has called Super, “one of our favorite entertainers.”

He believes the entertainment cycle has revolved back to include magic and there is a “newfound popularity in magic.”

For Super, there is no cyclical nature to his interest in magic. He explained he started his interest at age 6 when he discovered magic during a visit to Walt Disney World. He recalled how his parents had to try to bribe him to get him to leave the magic shop.

Growing up he was inspired by David Copperfield – “a huge, huge, huge influence” – and by Doug Henning. Walt Disney’s career had a big impact on him as well as the attitude of the movie “Ferris Beuller’s Day Off.”

“I kind of like silly pranking with magic. It influenced me in the things I do now,” he said.

He also loves the work of many of his peers and appeared on Penn & Teller’s show “Fool Us.” The premise of the program is that magicians perform a trick that they hope to stump the two veterans magicians.

“I didn’t fool them,” he said. “I didn’t expect to. When I see their show they also don’t fool me.”

He realizes his TV appearances have allowed him to be seen by more people than the iconic performer Harry Houdini did in his entire life.

He noted that although he did not win “America’s Got Talent,” his reaching the finalist was “a real blessing.”

Super explained, “Even if you don’t win, you still don’t lose.” The name recognition and exposure have helped his career.

Super likened magic to music when creating an act and illusions. There are just so many things a performer can do, just like a composer has a finite number of notes with which to work.

”It’s like playing an instrument. You have to know how to hit those notes,” he said.

And like a musician, sometimes a performer writers a song, while other times they buy one.

Super develops his own illusions, but also gets them from others. The trouble he said is finding the time to develop them – “I have notebooks full of ideas.” – since he is on the road so much performing.

He has been offered a residency gig in Las Vegas, but Super is raising his family in his native Pennsylvania and prefers at this time life on the road.

“If you love something, it doesn’t really seem like work,” he said.