When attending a comedy event, audience members expect some laughs. On Thursday, October 26 at 8 p.m., however, comedian Tony Brent gave them something they weren’t expecting: magic.
Brent, based out of Orlando, brought his distinct comedy-magic act from the dinner theater crowd to the Multipurpose Room here at Plymouth State. Using music to enhance each magic trick and impersonations, including those of Joe Peschi and Spongebob Squarepants, he kept his audience interested and entertained.
Recieving assistance from random audience members, he did everything from removing a $20 bill from inside of a lemon to swallowing a long, red balloon. Alyson Lentini, a senior, lent Brent the $20, a hard thing for a college student to part with – even if only temporarily. The loan didn’t appear to skew her view of the performer, however, since after the show she said, “He’s a funny guy.”
Max Green, a first-year, who was also called upon by Brent to assist said, “It was a great show and I really enjoyed it.” Green participated by holding a box later used for Brent’s trick. Later, the audience discovered it held a slip of paper that was the first sentence another member in the audience picked out randomly from a book. He used sound bits like “What’s in that box?” for that trick and music tracks for others that included everything from “99 Luftballoons” to “It’s The End of the World as We Know It” to add some humor and pizzazz to his act.
The PACE sponsored comedian was the first to perform this semester, and shocked audiences as he guessed the age of 47 audience members mathematically using a 4 x 4 quadrant. Green’s rendition of Sonny and Cher’s, “I Got You Babe” closed the show with laughs and smiles.