Peter Boie Magician for Non-Believers

The performance was the first SACA sponsored magic show and Boie’s first time act at Texas State. He frequently performs at institutions across the nation.
Boie, 29, has been practicing magic since he was 11 years old. He performed his first paid magic show at the age of 15.
“All these skills that I’ve acquired over the years and the things I’ve learned have all built into what I do today,” Boie said. “There are some tricks in my show that I’ve been doing since I was 15. They have evolved and become different, but the genesis is still the same.”
Several of Boie’s magic tricks required volunteers from the audience. The beginning part of the performance required an audience member to help solve how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.
Boie asked Rachel Bridges, theater sophomore, to choose a Tootsie Pop from an assortment of flavors, and provided her with a counter. He instructed her to count the licks until she reached the center. The center was reached mid-show at 666 licks.
Boie had an envelope with “finale” largely written on it hung up throughout the show. The audience cheered when he opened it at the end of the performance and read a letter he had written prior to the show that predicting the Tootsie Pop chosen would be cherry and that it would be licked 666 times.
“I don’t know how he did it, but it was incredible,” Bridges said.
Boie brought two volunteers to the stage to assist in another trick. He had both volunteers, Rachael Horton, social work junior, and Richard Reyes, exercise and sports science freshman, sit in chairs next to each other and close their eyes. Boie tapped Horton on the shoulder twice, waved his hands around, than pointed directly at Reyes.
Boie proceeded to have them open their eyes and asked if they felt anything. Reyes said he felt someone tap him on the shoulder twice. Boie repeated the trick on Horton by rubbing her nose. Reyes said he felt the nose rub while his eyes were closed.
“I have no idea how he did it, I don’t know how he did any of them,” said a spooked Reyes.?Reyes said he has been to magic shows in the past, but had never been asked to participate in one before Tuesday. He said the trick “weirded” him out a bit and he may be thinking about it later in the night.
Bridges said she had seen the “magic touch” trick done by a hypnotist on television in the past, and she was impressed by Boie’s interpretation.
Boie said his performance is a combination of slight of hand, psychology, direction and mis-direction.
“I’ve always been fascinated by it. You’re told that magic doesn’t exist, but you see things that prove it does,” said Ricardo Soliz, SACA entertainment coordinator. “It’s a mind game.”
Soliz, photography sophomore, said he has been to magic shows in the past, including performances in Vegas. He was excited to finally bring one to Texas State.
Soliz said the former SACA entertainment coordinator discovered and booked Boie at a past National Association for Campus Activities conference in Oklahoma. The NACA conference is held annually to showcase performers and vendors.
Boie said he likes to repeat the same performance because the audience personalities are always different, and he never knows how the crowd will react. He said college crowds are typically the most exuberant.
Boie won a first place award at the Columbus Magi-Fest and was a finalist at the Society of American Magicians national stage. He has also shared the stage with Neil Yong and Tom Brady. - Texas State University

Magic filled the Springfield College air Wednesday night, as illusions and mind-blowing performances took place on the Fuller Arts Center stage.
Peter Boie calls himself the “Magician for Non-Believers.” He took the stage, opening up with performances that had the audience in shock, making things happen that only true magicians could do.?The event was run by CAB, the Campus Activities Board, who also run events such as Midnight Bingo. Jen Rollinson, the marketing and promoting leader for CAB, stated that bringing a magician to campus is, “something new we can bring to the student body.”
“It blows your mind,” said Rollinson, and that could not be closer to the truth. Boie performed tricks that stood out, and couldn’t be seen anywhere else. Boie did not just start his performance at 8 p.m. in Fuller Arts, instead, he started way before in Cheney Hall as he uplifted the dinner hours by performing tricks to students. When 8 o’clock hit, the lights went off in Fuller Arts and an array of magic filled the stage. For a little over an hour, all eyes were on Boie as he showed his talents as a magician.
One performance he did was with two volunteers. Boie tried showing ghost communications by touch, temperature change and sound. One contestant actually had two chalkboards at the end of the performance, which stated “I’m here Brie,” supposedly being from the ghosts. The volunteer’s name was Brie Engelbrecht, a freshman here at SC.
“My mind was blown [when she saw her name on the chalkboard]. I didn’t know what to do.”
The show went on, with things such as asking an audience member how many licks it took to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. After revealing how many licks it took, the end of the show was shocking, as Boie opened a sealed envelope. The paper inside stated the flavor, cherry, and how many licks, 793.
“It felt awesome. There was lots of energy,” stated the magic man himself at the end of the show. “I like to see reactions. Every crowd has their own differences.”
The show was a must-see performance, and Boie truly intrigued the audience. His mind-blowing, chaotic acts left the viewers wanting more and wondering how all of it happened. Peter Boie was just one of many performances that CAB brings to SC. There will be many more events, such as the popular Midnight Bingo, and other comedians and magicians in the future. - Springfield College

Magician Peter Boie Performed Friday Night for Family Weekend Crowd
Magic is not a go-to form of entertainment in the modern day. It’s also a challenge to convince JMU students to see a magician on a Friday night. Those who did come out to pack the Taylor Down Under sitting area were treated to an evening that surprised and entertained, compliments of Boston magician Peter Boie. 
Boie’s act is advertised as “magic for non-believers.” He is well aware of people’s perceptions of what magic is and is not, and his act was at its best when it played with the audience’s expectations. An early trick where Boie turned a handkerchief into an egg was explained as the result of him stuffing the cloth into a hollowed out egg. Boie immediately subverted the audience’s expectations by cracking open the hollowed egg, only to have yolk come oozing out. 
The performance was filled with moments like this as Boie bounced from trick to trick. His act flaunted a variety of tricks, from simulating paranormal activity to rope tricks. This variety ensured that the magician appealed to the demographically mixed crowd that the family weekend show attracted.
Boie’s enthusiasm resulted in the entertainment not springing solely from his tricks. Boie is a showman through and through, and his act contained a good deal of humor.
The beginning of his set contained a rapid-fire series of tricks performed in silence. Similarly, the finale had the illusionist escaping from a straight jacket while the Monolith theme from “2001: A Space Odyssey” played. It was a knowing wink at the typical bombast magician’s employee. 
Boie himself is an incredibly affable person. He played with the audience multiple times.

  Boie showed that this was not just a persona, and during an after-show interview he came across as friendly and talked about his beginnings in the magic world. He began performing magic at 11, and performed his first professional show at 15. Boie reflected on that first show saying “I looked at the check and a lightbulb went off in my head. I get paid to do something that is extremely fun and fulfilling.” 
In an era where magicians such as Penn and Teller have gained popularity on deconstructing magic, Boie takes a more simple view. “Magic is universal, across ages and culture,” Boie said. He added that “Most people, no matter what front they put up, really want to enjoy magic.” Whether one believes in magic or not, Boie showed the fun that can be had from a performer who takes enjoyment in what he does simply putting on a show. 
- James Madison University

Magician Peter Boie Performed Friday Night for Family Weekend Crowd
Magic is not a go-to form of entertainment in the modern day. It’s also a challenge to convince JMU students to see a magician on a Friday night. Those who did come out to pack the Taylor Down Under sitting area were treated to an evening that surprised and entertained, compliments of Boston magician Peter Boie. 
Boie’s act is advertised as “magic for non-believers.” He is well aware of people’s perceptions of what magic is and is not, and his act was at its best when it played with the audience’s expectations. An early trick where Boie turned a handkerchief into an egg was explained as the result of him stuffing the cloth into a hollowed out egg. Boie immediately subverted the audience’s expectations by cracking open the hollowed egg, only to have yolk come oozing out. 
The performance was filled with moments like this as Boie bounced from trick to trick. His act flaunted a variety of tricks, from simulating paranormal activity to rope tricks. This variety ensured that the magician appealed to the demographically mixed crowd that the family weekend show attracted.
Boie’s enthusiasm resulted in the entertainment not springing solely from his tricks. Boie is a showman through and through, and his act contained a good deal of humor.
The beginning of his set contained a rapid-fire series of tricks performed in silence. Similarly, the finale had the illusionist escaping from a straight jacket while the Monolith theme from “2001: A Space Odyssey” played. It was a knowing wink at the typical bombast magician’s employee. 
Boie himself is an incredibly affable person. He played with the audience multiple times.

  Boie showed that this was not just a persona, and during an after-show interview he came across as friendly and talked about his beginnings in the magic world. He began performing magic at 11, and performed his first professional show at 15. Boie reflected on that first show saying “I looked at the check and a lightbulb went off in my head. I get paid to do something that is extremely fun and fulfilling.” 
In an era where magicians such as Penn and Teller have gained popularity on deconstructing magic, Boie takes a more simple view. “Magic is universal, across ages and culture,” Boie said. He added that “Most people, no matter what front they put up, really want to enjoy magic.” Whether one believes in magic or not, Boie showed the fun that can be had from a performer who takes enjoyment in what he does simply putting on a show. 
- James Madison University

Your abilities are phenomenal... you incorporated and captivated the audience in ways I haven’t seen before.
- Minot State University

Your abilities are phenomenal... you incorporated and captivated the audience in ways I haven’t seen before.
- Minot State University

Incredibly well-received by students...he truly captivated the audience...I would RECOMMEND Peter to anyone!
- Ripon College

Incredibly well-received by students...he truly captivated the audience...I would RECOMMEND Peter to anyone!
- Ripon College

Gave everyone in attendance a night that they will remember.
- SMSU Spur

Gave everyone in attendance a night that they will remember.
- SMSU Spur

Boie’s combination of magic and comedy proved a great blend of ENTERTAINMENT and was definitely WORTH ATTENDING.
- Clarkson Integrator

Boie’s combination of magic and comedy proved a great blend of ENTERTAINMENT and was definitely WORTH ATTENDING.
- Clarkson Integrator

Not only Does Peter get people into the seats at [his] performance, he keeps them at the edge of them, and delivers what he advertises -- an hour-long show that flies by with laughter, excitement, anticipation and awe.
- Lesley University

Boie seeks to answer the age old question: How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

Saturday, September 11 Peter Boie performed for a packed Dunn hall at SUNY Potsdam. The show ran the magical gamut: from freaky to fun and from whacky to weird. Boie put his own spin on classic magic tricks while combining comedy, the supernatural and the harmonica for a truly unique experience. Boie held the crowd in a constant daze of delight, allowing only small breaks for applause and a few "oohs" and "ahhs."

Boie opened the show with a harmonica performance. He began by playing with only his two fingers before the real harmonica slipped in from the ether and the show began. Soon later, Boie broke the fourth wall when he explained the old handkerchief-egg trick, where you simply find a hollow, plastic egg with a hole to stuff the handkerchief. As the audience exclaimed "aha!" Boie turned the fake egg into a real one and destroyed the notion that magic was easy.

Becca, an audience volunteer, was called on stage to discover how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. Later in the show, Becca came to the end: 666 licks. Boie then told Becca to open a sealed folder that contained what he predicted the flavor of the pop would be and how many licks it would take. Unsettlingly, he was spot on with both. Becca shared a few expletives upon reading this, and after the show commented that, "it was kind of scary…it was kind of cool to be like 'oh my god that was me' and all of a sudden my experience was on this piece of paper, and everyone saw it."

"He's phenomenal…his act was flawless. It was fluid; everything flowed perfectly. one thing after another after another, over and over again…everything he did was absolutely flawless," said Corey Martin, SUNY Potsdam senior and practicing magician. "I've been doing shows here on campus since my freshman year, but nothing to this level" Martin went on, "as a magician…it's kind of difficult for me because a lot of the stuff, unfortunately you know how it's done…it's amazing even for a magician to see another performer and be able to say 'Wow that was fantastic.'"

Boie spoke with the crowd before the show and stayed long after to sign flyers and t-shirts. "[Potsdam's] amazing - huge crowd, they were super into the show, very excited; any live performance feeds off of the audience and they had a lot of food to give me," Boie said following the show. On his title, Magician for Non-believers, Boie said "I think most adults have a good head on their shoulders and know that magic is just for fun and fake; that's why I say magician for non-believers because I know my audience is smart people and don't actually believe in magic." Boie had a striking balance of humor and magic that kept the audience entranced throughout the hour-long show. "I've always liked to be funny, or try to be funny at least, said Boie. "It kind of comes out of me naturally on stage, the want to be funny part, and it just worked its way into my show and it's a great way to get people to relax and enjoy magic instead of taking things so seriously."

As a testament to Boie's philosophy, the closing paragraph of this article will not be the usual serious, summarizing sort. Instead, it will ask Peter Boie one simple question: did you predict this article would be 666 words long? - The Raquette 9/17/10 by Phil Stever

“Peter was a riot, it made my day.” - Northeast Wiscsconsin Tech College