Self-described “bizarre magician” Brian Brushwood will bring his unique style of magic to the stage in Lee Hall Auditorium on Wednesday.To create his act, Brushwood blends many different performance elements including mind reading, fire eating, sleight of hand and comedy. He has been building the show since his college years, when he first began picking up magic tricks.
“I started learning some card tricks in college,” Brushwood said. “Then, after a little while, I learned how to nail a 4.5-inch nail into my nose.”
This human blockhead stunt became Brushwood’s stepping stone into the world of bizarre magic, and he quickly began studying new illusions to incorporate into an act.
“I learned a lot of stuff from books,” he said. “There are thousands and thousands of books on magic out there. I also learned a lot from other magicians.”
Brushwood even performed a magic show for his senior thesis in college, for which he received an A.
Since his graduation, Brushwood has turned his love of magic into a touring show, spending more than 150 days on the road and developing two or three new routines a year. He has also appeared on more than 12 television shows including “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”
“The effect I was doing for Leno kind of had a couple of factors that were beyond my control, and it’s really not until the very last segment of the show that you can see me kind of hide a smile cause I was like, ‘Holy crap! I’m on Leno, and it worked!'” he said.
Brushwood has developed a new routine for his current tour that requires members of the audience to bring cell phones with camera accessories.
“There’s an amazing new illusion that involves the audience using their cameras,” he said. “Teller from Penn and Teller called it ‘a brilliant piece of theater,’ which was nice to hear. I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that [everyone] can get a preview of what happens [in the illusion] if they go to www.u-will-scream.com. That’s the one-minute teaser trailer for the new effect, [which is] called EPV.”
The magical comedy will begin at 7 p.m. and is free to the public.