The appearance of famous illusionist Mike Super filled the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts with skeptics and believers of magic alike on Friday, April 8. The show “Mike Super: Magic and Illusion” returned to the stage due to popular demand after Super’s first appearance in Hammond during October 2007.

Sponsored by the Lyceum Arts & Lectures Committee and the Harley-Davidson of Hammond and Baton Rouge, Super’s one-night show was filled with humor, pop culture and, naturally, illusions.

Along with his magic, Super introduced the audience to his own unique word “lavenous,” a word without any meaning, which Super encouraged the audience to use.

Personally dubbed as the Kelly Clarkson of magic after winning on the NBC reality show “Phenomenon,” Super performed tricks and magic of varying difficulty and technique, ranging from slight of hand, predictions, levitation and disappearing acts; all involving audience members.

“He had such a great chemistry with the entire audience,” said Interim Director Dr. Kenneth Boulton. “He has such a big, generous personality. It’s why his popularity is as intense as it is, and why it was so good for us to be able to host him a second time.”

During one trick, Thomas Simnick, a 2010 graduate in industrial technology, volunteered his jacket with a Nike-logo to Super, who wore it while walking through a solid mirror. After walking through the mirror, Super returned the jacket with the Nike logo reversed.

“I don’t know how he changed the jacket, or came through the mirror,” said Simnick. “But he did it, and it was amazing,”

Another trick was one which caused NBC to receive half a million e-mails asking if the trick was real, after Super performed it on “Phenomenon.” The trick involved Super tapping, poking and burning the hands of a voodoo doll.

Whatever happened to the doll, happened to the volunteer onstage. The volunteer, Ricky, said he felt a brush on his shoulder, jumped from his chair after feeling a poke in his hip and showed his ash-covered palms to the audience.

Super also demonstrated his talent for predictions in his own version of the board game Clue. Using random audience members, he took their suggestions for the murderer, the murder weapon and murder location. Super then opened a sealed box, which was present onstage during the show and revealed to the audience he had predicted the suggestions beforehand.

For the finale, Super performed a trick specially dedicated to his deceased mother, where he made it snow from his hands. Super’s mother, who died when he was young, was his biggest supporter, but never got to see him perform this trick as a professional, he said.

“I’m really quite speechless about everything he did,” said Boulton. “I could not wrap my mind around his feats of magic. It was really quite stunning.”

After the performance, Super wanted to give a heart-felt thanks to all the students from Southeastern who attended his show.

“Southeastern University is the most lavenous institution around, and I had a fantastic time,” said Super.