Wednesday, July 7, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 7
Magic spells increased pizza sales
By Trevor Bundy
Special to the Kansan
All eyes in the restaurant were on the young man in the tuxedo as he approached the table.
First, Scott Henderson made everyone a balloon animal. Then he produced a red ball.
Austin Clapp, 6, squeezed the red ball until a black ball joined it in his hand. Another squeeze yielded a third ball. His eyes widened as the balls became a red foam rabbit, then two. A moment later they disappeared as Clapp stared open-mouthed.
Henderson had performed this trick five times since he started his work an hour ago. If the repetition was getting to him, he hid it well behind his ever-present grin.
Henderson is a magician. He is paid to entertain restaurant patrons with his sleight of hand instead of working in the kitchen or waiting at tables like other KU students. He also runs an online magic shop.
And his tricks are good for restaurant business. Greg Stewart, owner of Green Gecko Pizza, 12920 State Line Road, Leawood, said that his Friday nights have been busier since Henderson started performing. Stewart now discourages parties on those nights because the usual crowd has gotten so large.
Henderson said he uses the red ball because the kids think they made the trick happen .
Parents have told him stories about kids sitting around, squeezing normal balls to multiply them.
Joe Carr, 9, is one of those budding magicians. He comes to see Henderson at the Lawrence Pizza Co. every Wednesday evening to eat dinner and learn magic tricks.
Henderson had Carr pick a card, scribble on it and put it back in the deck. Henderson then opened a two-inch silver box sitting on the table and revealed the marked and folded
card.
Henderson's passion for illusion started when he got a Fisher Price magic kit at age 5. At first, he wasn't a master illusionist.
"The magic tricks wouldn't work," said his father, William Henderson. "But he'd go back and practice until he got them right."
Family trips with stops at magic stores inspired another dream — to own his own magic shop.
During winter break, Henderson and his brother Jim launched happymagic.com. The Web site, which advertises safe illusions that do not use fire or sharp objects, started with tricks put together with decks of cards. It now includes pre-made gimmicks from distributors' catalogs.
Henderson has managed to make enough money to support himself by performing. He hasn't had another job for three years. Before that, he mowed lawns, cooked pizza and waited tables. He said he would probably still be a wafter if it weren't for his magic act.
The job has other perks as well. He met his girlfriend, Karrie Payne, more than a year ago while performing at a restaurant. No one else at her table would volunteer for his finger guillotine trick.
"It turned out all right," Payne said. "I still have all my fingers."
Even with fringe benefits, table-side magic won't pay the bills forever. Henderson will graduate from the University of Kansas this semester with degrees in psychology and business administration. He said he hoped to work for himself, possibly owning a magic shop or a Web-design company.
"I just like making people smile," he said.
- Edited by Anjum Aziz
Above: Scott Henderson, Overland Park senior, performs magic tricks and entertains children at local restaurants. He also sells magic tricks on his Web
Right: Henderson performs the finger-chopping trick on Teanna Touten, 4, while she waits for her meal at Lawrence Pizza Company. Photos by Roger Nomer/KANSAN
American Pie serves up a slice of hilarity
The funniest movie of the summer.
By Mike Miller
Special to the Kansan
Simply stated, that's what American Pie is. This raunchy tale of four adolescent boys who vow to lose their virginity by the prom is a hysterical laugh riot.
Austin Powers? Behave. Big Daddy? Big whoo. South Park: Bigger, Longer or Uncut? Close, but those guys are cartoons. It's easier to do comedy with cartoons, The Simpsons have been doing it for years.
Honest to goodness comedy, something undeniably funny, is the most precious of all movie gifts. Ruachy comedy began with Blazing Saddles and Animal House then came to a new level with There's Something About Mary last summer. Now great comedies are the most cutting edge movies around. Comedies have always dealt with taboos and stereotypes — Blazing Saddles' uninhibited use of the N-word, Animal House's unabashed look at fraternity life and new uses for body parts and excrement in any Farrellly Brothers' movie — but only the best comedies use them to their advantage.
American Pie has a cast of unknown actors, (the most recognizable being Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Alyson Hannigan as a band campobessed flutist and Eugene Levy as a hapless and perplexed dad) but the unknowns leave
Commentary
their marks on the screen.
The most impressive is Jason Biggs, who as Jim, represents all hopelessly horny teen-age boys. Jim is not only curious about sex, he becomes enveloped in everything about sex. How to do it, what it looks like and how it feels. How sex feels becomes so intriguing that Biggs may have created a character he'll never escape. At least, mom's apple pie will never be the same.
The boys, tired of being mercilessly teased by classmates about being virgins, make a pact to enter adulthood by their senior prom.
The movie is one ribald situation after another. Getting busted watching scrambled channels. The foreign exchange student fantasy. Being ridiculed for using the restroom at school (number two of course). And the guy with the hot mom. All of the situations come to light in hilarious fashion, while never straying too far from how cruel and confusing high school is.
What ensues is high school at its finest — in retrospect of course. Situations so funny and so unbelievable that they turn into legend, passed on to siblings and friends.
That's the beauty of the movie, it's familiarity
Somewhere in the movie you'll find a friend from high school. Or the unattainable girl with the nearby locker. Or the unapproachable jock who bags on everyone because of his own insecurities. True, these people were left behind in high school, but now they're revisited, purely for entertainment
Though some may write the movie off as one stereotype after another, that's not the case. These kids are real, they went to my high school. And the rival high school. And my cousin's high school. The characters are so identifiable, you could name which of your friends Jim is most like. Or the abrasive jerk, the jock who is actually a choir boy, the choir girl who isn't and the dork who gets laid.
In the end, there's something for everybody in American Pie. There are more belly laughs than a movie like Dumb and Dumber, but there's subtlety as well. Best of all, thanks to raunchy movies, no punches are pulled. Much like South Park, part of the jokes come from bewilderment at the frankness of the movie. The sheer joy of exclaiming, "Did they really just do that?" is part of the fun. Even if it's not wholesome family fun.
Go see this movie with friends. Preferably with close friends, so afterwards you can sit around and marvel at the similarities of American Pie and your own adolescent experiences.
NEED EXTRA CASH?
CNA's & CMA's Full or Part-time
Tax Free Compensation STAFF SUPPORT SERVICES INC.
Staff Support Services 1-800-999-2185
*Work on Weekends, Breaks, & Summer
Cannondale Bikes On Sale!
for the best selection!
decided to put several premiere Cannondale bikes on Sale for the next three weeks! Models include F500-F1000, Raven 700, and the R1000! Subject to models in stock so hurry in
In anticipation of year 2000 bikes from Carnondale being on the way, we've
cannondale
HANDMADE IN USA
SUNFLOWER BIKE SHOP
804 Massachusetts St., Lawrence, Ks., (785) 843-5000
HAVE SOME FUN THIS SUMMER!!
The University Theatre Presents
KANSAS SUMMER THEATRE
The University of Kansas
Tickets are on sale in the KU box offices: Murphy Hall, 864-39B2; Lied Center, 864-ARTS, SUA Office, 864-3477; public $8, all students $4, senior citizens $7; both VISA and Mastercard are accepted for phone orders. THE UNIVERSITY THEATRE
WOULD YOU LIKE SOME HELP OUT WITH THAT?
GIANT BURRITOS. DRAG ONE HOME TONIGHT.
NOW OPEN @ 9TH & MASS