Magician Adam Trent has mystified Ellen DeGeneres, Bravo’s Andy Cohen, celebrity chef Rachael Ray and audiences around the world.
Whether it’s carrying a cell phone – which should have been destroyed in a high-speed blender – to the center of an uncut honeydew melon or lighting a dollar bill on fire and having it finish in an unopened tea bag, it makes viewers think, guess and question reality, physics and sometimes the laws of gravity.
But before his Broadway run with “The Illusionists” Las Vegas residency and Netflix reality series “The Road Trick,” Trent could be found on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall, drawing crowds.
Among street musicians and tarot readers, he was there in his youth turning skeptics into believers.
He began performing professionally at age 12, and at age 15 he became the youngest to win a medal at the Pacific Coast Association of Magicians’ annual international competition.
For many, the idea of earning a decent living around smoke and cheats may seem like an unattainable dream. But for Trent – who consumed “The Encyclopedia of Magic” before the age of 10 – fame was in the cards.
Its success did not come without significant turmoil. Self-taught, Trent would keep his schedule full of gigs even in his early days. He took his number to birthday parties, nursing homes, schools, and rented Boulder’s Nomad Playhouse, charging $5 per person.
The Magic Man – who now resides in Las Vegas – makes a long-awaited return to the Front Range with a local show at Chautauqua Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. on August 27. Tickets are $35-75 ($32-$72 for concert members). ).
Participants can expect the unexpected –– teleportation, holograms, cloning and fiery piano playing.
For Trent, much of his routine is rooted in connection, a way of providing a shared experience of awe and mystery with strangers. He considers magic to be “the best icebreaker in the world”.
Similar to David Blaine, Trent surprises pedestrians off stage by engaging them in guerrilla-style random magic.
Unlike Blaine, he radiates comedic timing, wit, and approachability. Trent is the illusionist you’d like to open a beer with, maybe between mind reading and levitation.
We caught up with Trent to find out what sparked his interest in magic, why he thinks the art form is needed more than ever, and what else he has up his sleeve.
Kalene McCort: When you were first doing magic as a teenager at the Pearl Street Mall, could you have imagined the career you have today?
Adam Trent: In fact, yes. As a kid whose career started playing on Pearl Street, my dream was always to have my own TV series, to travel the world playing in theaters and arenas, to play on Broadway and all the rest. Constantly contemplating this and working non-stop for years is what made it all happen. “From Boulder to Broadway” sounds great.
KM: What are you looking forward to most from your next home show in Chautauqua?
TO: I haven’t played in Boulder since I was 18. Since then, I’ve toured the world, performing over 5,000 shows in the world’s greatest venues — Radio City Music Hall, Sydney Opera House, Broadway three times, London’s West End, etc. . The spectacle of these venues at Boulder’s Chautauqua Auditorium is exciting and quite emotional just to think about it if I’m being honest.
KM: I know your love of magic started at age 9 when you saw David Copperfield perform. Do you remember what fascinated you about this performance?
TO: Seeing a magic show was the first theater performance that each generation of our family enjoyed simultaneously. Normally the shows are either for children or for adults. With magic, grandparents, adults, and children laughed, gasped, and gobsmacked together. No other art form had this effect, and when I saw this as a child, I knew this was what I would dedicate my life to.
KM: So Much Magic has a strong foundation in audience participation. What do you find rewarding about this element and why do you think it is so important in these times when people sometimes feel a lack of connection?
TO: More than ever, people love interactive shows. In my show, not only will volunteers take the stage to participate in the illusions, but some tricks will even happen in the hands of each spectator, across the theater at the same time. It creates an electric feeling through the theater that is literally ‘magical’. The overwhelming number of people who leave my show in tears every night is quite moving. There are huge emotional surprises every night that you wouldn’t expect from a “magic show”.
During the pandemic, we lost the energy and the connection to enjoy laughing together in theaters. During the Great Depression, we discovered how important live entertainment was to society – it gave people a type of medicine that was oddly essential to humans. So much of our entertainment is now consumed on TV and iPhone screens, that experiencing live performing art is more important than ever. Live performers have a huge responsibility to bring us together and provide a meaningful life experience for their audiences every night, and it’s a responsibility I don’t take lightly.
KM: You have accomplished so much in your career. Do you have any bucket list goals that you would like to see come to fruition in the near future?
TO: My new special “The Magic Maker” is now on Disney Plus. It’s something I spent the last two years working on and it was a huge goal for me. Now that it’s seen by millions of people, the most important thing I focus on is putting on an amazing show when they come to see me perform live. Boulder will be my first show in a long time. I’m ready to show my hometown what this crazy childhood dream has become.
Magician Adam Trent has mystified Ellen DeGeneres, Bravo’s Andy Cohen, celebrity chef Rachael Ray and audiences around the world.
Whether it’s carrying a cell phone – which should have been destroyed in a high-speed blender – to the center of an uncut honeydew melon or lighting a dollar bill on fire and having it finish in an unopened tea bag, it makes viewers think, guess and question reality, physics and sometimes the laws of gravity.
But before his Broadway run with “The Illusionists” Las Vegas residency and Netflix reality series “The Road Trick,” Trent could be found on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall, drawing crowds.
Among street musicians and tarot readers, he was there in his youth turning skeptics into believers.
He began performing professionally at age 12, and at age 15 he became the youngest to win a medal at the Pacific Coast Association of Magicians’ annual international competition.
For many, the idea of earning a decent living around smoke and cheats may seem like an unattainable dream. But for Trent – who consumed “The Encyclopedia of Magic” before the age of 10 – fame was in the cards.
Its success did not come without significant turmoil. Self-taught, Trent would keep his schedule full of gigs even in his early days. He took his number to birthday parties, nursing homes, schools, and rented Boulder’s Nomad Playhouse, charging $5 per person.
The Magic Man – who now resides in Las Vegas – makes a long-awaited return to the Front Range with a local show at Chautauqua Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. on August 27. Tickets are $35-75 ($32-$72 for concert members). ).
Participants can expect the unexpected –– teleportation, holograms, cloning and fiery piano playing.
For Trent, much of his routine is rooted in connection, a way of providing a shared experience of awe and mystery with strangers. He considers magic to be “the best icebreaker in the world”.
Similar to David Blaine, Trent surprises pedestrians off stage by engaging them in guerrilla-style random magic.
Unlike Blaine, he radiates comedic timing, wit, and approachability. Trent is the illusionist you’d like to open a beer with, maybe between mind reading and levitation.
We caught up with Trent to find out what sparked his interest in magic, why he thinks the art form is needed more than ever, and what else he has up his sleeve.
Kalene McCort: When you were first doing magic as a teenager at the Pearl Street Mall, could you have imagined the career you have today?
Adam Trent: In fact, yes. As a kid whose career started playing on Pearl Street, my dream was always to have my own TV series, to travel the world playing in theaters and arenas, to play on Broadway and all the rest. Constantly contemplating this and working non-stop for years is what made it all happen. “From Boulder to Broadway” sounds great.
KM: What are you looking forward to most from your next home show in Chautauqua?
TO: I haven’t played in Boulder since I was 18. Since then, I’ve toured the world, performing over 5,000 shows in the world’s greatest venues — Radio City Music Hall, Sydney Opera House, Broadway three times, London’s West End, etc. . The spectacle of these venues at Boulder’s Chautauqua Auditorium is exciting and quite emotional just to think about it if I’m being honest.
KM: I know your love of magic started at age 9 when you saw David Copperfield perform. Do you remember what fascinated you about this performance?
TO: Seeing a magic show was the first theater performance that each generation of our family enjoyed simultaneously. Normally the shows are either for children or for adults. With magic, grandparents, adults, and children laughed, gasped, and gobsmacked together. No other art form had this effect, and when I saw this as a child, I knew this was what I would dedicate my life to.
KM: So Much Magic has a strong foundation in audience participation. What do you find rewarding about this element and why do you think it is so important in these times when people sometimes feel a lack of connection?
TO: More than ever, people love interactive shows. In my show, not only will volunteers take the stage to participate in the illusions, but some tricks will even happen in the hands of each spectator, across the theater at the same time. It creates an electric feeling through the theater that is literally ‘magical’. The overwhelming number of people who leave my show in tears every night is quite moving. There are huge emotional surprises every night that you wouldn’t expect from a “magic show”.
During the pandemic, we lost the energy and the connection to enjoy laughing together in theaters. During the Great Depression, we discovered how important live entertainment was to society – it gave people a type of medicine that was oddly essential to humans. So much of our entertainment is now consumed on TV and iPhone screens, that experiencing live performing art is more important than ever. Live performers have a huge responsibility to bring us together and provide a meaningful life experience for their audiences every night, and it’s a responsibility I don’t take lightly.
KM: You have accomplished so much in your career. Do you have any bucket list goals that you would like to see come to fruition in the near future?
TO: My new special “The Magic Maker” is now on Disney Plus. It’s something I spent the last two years working on and it was a huge goal for me. Now that it’s seen by millions of people, the most important thing I focus on is putting on an amazing show when they come to see me perform live. Boulder will be my first show in a long time. I’m ready to show my hometown what this crazy childhood dream has become.