Ben Seidman, a magician, comedian and skilled pickpocketer, performs at HofUSA. // Photo courtesy of Alexis Friedman.
Magic was in the air at HofUSA on Thursday, Sept. 8, when Ben Seidman, a magician, comedian and skilled pickpocketer, was invited to perform by the Office of Student Leadership and Engagement (OSLE).
Seidman was a guest star on the Netflix original “Brainchild,” produced by Pharrell Williams. He also appeared on “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” and had two specials on the Travel Channel.
Seidman became a renowned entertainer on the Las Vegas scene after performing at numerous luxury casinos, including Mandalay Bay, where he worked as an illusionist designer for Criss Angel. Seidman has flown around the world making headlines at cruises, prestigious hotels, colleges and private events.
“[It was] definitely the best show I’ve ever seen here at Hofstra,” said Kamryn Tommy, a senior early childhood education major and one of the many students to give Seidman a standing ovation.
Seidman’s performance was filled with fascinating stories and humor, but students were starstruck and baffled by his last trick, during which he chose several volunteers from the audience.
He chose Tommy to pick a card from a deck full of names and asked her to keep the card hidden. Next, he asked 10 random audience members for one number that resonated with them in some way, when he proceeded to write them out on a whiteboard. Then Seidman combined the random numbers in order to make a phone call. A man named Dan answered the phone. Finally, Tommy was asked to reveal her card from deck of names, which to the crowd’s amazement revealed the name Dan.
“Ben Seidman’s talent is absolutely insane,” Tommy said. “The performance was engaging, interactive and hilarious.” Seidman explained this magic trick to be simply fate in which Hofstra students were skeptical at first, but by the end of the show, they were full believers of his magic.
“I know he was talking about fate beforehand, but I didn’t think it would put the pieces together so well,” said Emmanuel Pratt, a sophomore math major with a minor in music. “The whole part about letting others pick a number to make a phone number; it blew my mind.”
This was Pratt’s first time going to a magic show, and he was also one of Seidman’s volunteers from the audience. Not long after Dan stated his name on the phone call, he hung up. The crowd was disappointed, but Seidman was determined to finish the act. Seidman improvised by calling Pratt to the stage to help him.
“[Pratt] was an explosion of excitement and positive energy and I didn’t even expect him to be the one on stage for this moment,” Seidman said. “But really, everyone was a delight.”
At the end of his show, Seidman encouraged Hofstra students to greet him and allowed them to take pictures with him. Seidman has proved himself to be magical, comical and personable with Hofstra students, according to Kaitlyn Dellaria Rethier, a junior art education and fine arts major who got the chance to meet Seidman after the show.
“He is just as extravagant and outgoing on stage and off,” Dellaria Rethier said. “He felt real and personable. I believe comedy always brings people together, and magic brings a sense of awe to the crowd that makes it enjoyable for everyone.”
Seidman enjoyed performing for the Hofstra crowd and compared the experience to magic. “I think that college students tend to be more open minded about experiencing things that are out of the ordinary,” Seidman said. “Magic is that by definition, so the two can merge in a really lovely way.”
