If you’re a big fan of America’s Got Talent, you may have seen illusionist and magician Kid Ace as part of The Harlem James Gang, who made it to the top twenty in season three of the show.
But since his days on AGT, Kid Ace has made a name for himself as a solo performer, traveling and doing shows throughout the United States, and as part of the NFL’s Playoff TV Campaign in 2015.
Kid Ace was born in Harlem, New York, and during his middle school years became fascinated with magic and has been perfecting and performing magic ever since.
Currently, Kid Ace is on his North American Tour, which started on Aug. 20, 2016. During his tour he is performing shows at multiple colleges and universities across the country, including here at Gustavus Adolphus College, which is the twentieth performance of his tour.
The members of the Gustavus Campus Activities Board (CAB) first saw Kid Ace perform at the National Association of Campus Activities Conference in Madison, WI last year. CAB saw multiple magicians perform, but Kid Ace stood out to them.
After his performance, CAB had the opportunity to meet and speak with Kid Ace, and immediately knew that they wanted him to come and perform on the Gustavus campus. According to Junior Co-President of CAB Connor Myhre, Kid Ace performed a five-minute showcase and without a word, did amazing things including making seven live birds appear and disappear from thin air.
Myhre is excited for the Gustavus community to experience Kid Ace’s jaw-dropping talent at the upcoming event.
“I am thrilled to bring this kind of talent to campus. We have not had a magician or an illusionist for a couple of years so to see it happen now is incredibly exciting,” Myhre said.
Juniors and Co-Executives for Late Nights and Weekends, Patrick Neri and Jake Kmeich, have been working on planning the event which will be held as a part of Family Weekend on Saturday, Oct. 8 in Bjorling Recital Hall at 8:00 pm.
When Neri and Kmeich saw Kid Ace at the NACA Conference last spring, they both noticed how personable, and engaging he was as a performer.
“He’s got a lot of charisma. He really impressed us with how sociable he was. He would call people up randomly to do a magic trick with him. We just thought he would be a really good fit for the Gustavus campus audience,” Neri said.
Aside from being charismatic and sociable, Kid Ace also adds elements to his performances that many magicians and illusionist do not, including some comedy, rap, and hip-hop. These elements that Kid Ace chooses to add make his act that much more intriguing for audiences of all ages.
One thing that really amazed members of the Campus Activities Board was all of the fascinating things that Kid Ace does involving animals. This included making 15 to 20 birds appear on stage, and doing tricks with fish.
“You can expect a lot of good magic, with things that you’ve seen before and a lot of new extravagant magic,” Kmiech said.
In the past, the Gustavus campus has always loved magicians. Kid Ace, with his unique style of presentation and visually engaging act, should intrigue the Gustavus audience, and will provide a family-friendly, yet mind-blowing performance.
The Campus Activities Board encourages all students and their families to attend this unique and special event on Saturday. “The only people who shouldn’t attend the event are those who are not prepared to have their minds blown by magic,” Neri said.