A jack of all spades

Published 9:35 am Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Tim Furland pulled the card the magician obviously wanted him to pick — the jack of spades — out of the deck of cards.

He shuffled the card, stuffed it back with the rest of the deck and then, after donning a protective helmet with face shield (it was after all, the world’s most dangerous card trick), threw the deck into the air.

Magician Bob Bohm thrust a multi-colored plastic sword into the air. A card stuck on the end. But it wasn’t just any card from the deck. It was the jack of spades.

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Bohm, who is new this year to the Freeborn County Fair, is presenting magic shows at noon and 3 p.m. daily in Rodeo Corral Square. At 7 p.m., he presents “Survivor Family Game Show,” where the TV show “Survivor” meets “Gilligan’s Island.” Seven contestants are chosen from the audience to become the characters on “Gilligan’s Island.” Through challenges like hula hoop contests, gummy bug eating, piggyback limbo and the Tarzan yell, the castaways are narrowed down to the last survivor. The audience gets involved by voting for the winner.

Bohm said he has been interested in magic since he was 10 years old. About 20 years ago, he went into it full time, he said, adding he’s been doing children’s and family entertainment for more than 15 years and going to fairs and festivals for about 10 years. In the summer, he does fairs. During the school year, he performs at schools and libraries.

His goal is to entertain. “I like to have more fun than amaze,” Bohm said. “I still like them to wonder how something is done and enjoy the journey.”

He said his magic show is geared for all ages, but those 5 to 9 years seem to enjoy it most. The “Survivor” game show is for those 7 and 8 years old and up, he added.

“There’s a whole range of things from toddlers to teens,” he said.

His magic tricks include pulling a bottle of Coca-Cola from some colored handkerchiefs, then making it disappear into a cardboard cylinder. He also pulls a parrot from the handkerchief.

Bohm uses volunteers from the audience for a game of “Musical coloring books.” One child holds a coloring book with colored pages and two others hold books with black and white pages. Bohm mixes the kids up, but the child who had the colored book is no longer holding it.

In another trick, three new volunteers get colored handkerchiefs. Bohm puts a white feather halo on each child’s head. One by one, Bohm removes the halos from the children’s heads and puts them in a black envelope with a hole in the center. He asks the child to pull the handkerchief through the hole, and after he or she does, Bohm pulls a halo of that color from the envelope. When he’s done, he puts all the halos in the envelope. When he pulls them out, they’re all joined together.

Bohm also rips up homework, only to have it come back in one piece (with the suggestion of “always do your homework”), and the classic magic trick with metal rings.

Bohm said his 30-minute noon show is different from his 30-minute 3 p.m. show.