A Promising Future Lies in the Cards for Cal Student Magician
BY DAN MADER
“Is this your card?” Dan Carmichael asked a friend as he flipped through six cards. Once he flipped the last time and revealed the Queen of Hearts -- the card the friend had selected -- it became apparent that Carmichael is someone special.
Carmichael, 20, grew up in North Huntington. Soon after he enrolled at California University of Pennsylvania, his interest in card tricks was ignited.
“A few weeks into my freshman year here at Cal, I saw Jim Karol, who is a mentalist, perform at the Performance Center in the Natali Student Center,” Carmichael said. "He did some simple magic tricks along with his show and afterwards, he showed some tricks to some students. I was immediately interested in going home and trying them out myself,” Carmichael said.
Carmichael went back to his dorm room and started looking up card tricks on YouTube and began to try them himself. After watching many videos, he eventually started to teach himself the tricks and began to become expert at them.
Carmichael said, “I usually do some test runs by myself to practice, and once I become better at them, I start to do them in front of my friends.”
He also said that he has about seven tricks that he has down solidly. The most people he has performed for is about 10. He's even performed his best trick over the airwaves at the WCAL Radio station as the DJ broadcast the trick.
Carmichael told the DJ that he would be amazed. Carmichael asked the DJ to select a card from the deck. The DJ viewed the Queen of Hearts and as Dan told him to put the card back in the deck without him looking, the DJ looked skeptical. He placed the card back into the deck and Carmichael began to shuffle.
Carmichael then took the bottom six cards off the deck and asked the DJ if any of them were his card. The DJ shook his head at every card and became puzzled how Carmichael was going to pull this off.
Carmichael then took those six cards, did not add any and placed them in the DJ's hand. He told the DJ to grip them all tight, and then Carmichael slapped the cards. Five cards scattered on the floor and one stayed in the DJ's hand.
The DJ flipped the card over and was astonished to see the Queen of Hearts in his hand. Carmichael had amazed both the DJ and the WCAL listeners.
For Carmichael, who remained slick and calm while performing his card trick in front of his friend, as well as for the DJ and the radio audience, it is likely that he will continue to pull cards his friends and others are not expecting.
Dan Mader is a sophomore at California University of Pennsylvania, where he is majoring in Journalism. He enjoys sports, professional wrestling, and listening to music. Explore more of his website at danmader.weebly.com.
“Is this your card?” Dan Carmichael asked a friend as he flipped through six cards. Once he flipped the last time and revealed the Queen of Hearts -- the card the friend had selected -- it became apparent that Carmichael is someone special.
Carmichael, 20, grew up in North Huntington. Soon after he enrolled at California University of Pennsylvania, his interest in card tricks was ignited.
“A few weeks into my freshman year here at Cal, I saw Jim Karol, who is a mentalist, perform at the Performance Center in the Natali Student Center,” Carmichael said. "He did some simple magic tricks along with his show and afterwards, he showed some tricks to some students. I was immediately interested in going home and trying them out myself,” Carmichael said.
Carmichael went back to his dorm room and started looking up card tricks on YouTube and began to try them himself. After watching many videos, he eventually started to teach himself the tricks and began to become expert at them.
Carmichael said, “I usually do some test runs by myself to practice, and once I become better at them, I start to do them in front of my friends.”
He also said that he has about seven tricks that he has down solidly. The most people he has performed for is about 10. He's even performed his best trick over the airwaves at the WCAL Radio station as the DJ broadcast the trick.
Carmichael told the DJ that he would be amazed. Carmichael asked the DJ to select a card from the deck. The DJ viewed the Queen of Hearts and as Dan told him to put the card back in the deck without him looking, the DJ looked skeptical. He placed the card back into the deck and Carmichael began to shuffle.
Carmichael then took the bottom six cards off the deck and asked the DJ if any of them were his card. The DJ shook his head at every card and became puzzled how Carmichael was going to pull this off.
Carmichael then took those six cards, did not add any and placed them in the DJ's hand. He told the DJ to grip them all tight, and then Carmichael slapped the cards. Five cards scattered on the floor and one stayed in the DJ's hand.
The DJ flipped the card over and was astonished to see the Queen of Hearts in his hand. Carmichael had amazed both the DJ and the WCAL listeners.
For Carmichael, who remained slick and calm while performing his card trick in front of his friend, as well as for the DJ and the radio audience, it is likely that he will continue to pull cards his friends and others are not expecting.
Dan Mader is a sophomore at California University of Pennsylvania, where he is majoring in Journalism. He enjoys sports, professional wrestling, and listening to music. Explore more of his website at danmader.weebly.com.