Remember that time your miscellaneous relative said they’d show you a card trick? You brought them the deck of cards, placed perfectly one on top of the other. You watched as they shuffled the cards three times and tapped twice on the table to realign them. You looked at the deck of cards in their right hand, and, to your horror, they began to squeeze. Cards flew in all directions, arcing over your head and piling at up at your feet. And you realized that your relative was a fraud! Magic was never real at all, and all of this, all of this was just some twisted joke! Well, your relative definitely was a fraud, and I’m sorry about that. But according to Sam Dvorak ’23 and Taylor Kruse ’23 of the Society of Harvard-Undergraduate Magicians (SHAM), not all magic tricks are so coldhearted. In fact, they say, “magic is fun!”
Both Dvorak and Kruse have extensive backgrounds in magic performance. Dvorak said his love for magic began during the summer before his seventh-grade year. “I was always a really big fan of Harry Potter,” stated Dvorak, “so when I was younger, I always wanted to be a wizard and this was the closest I could get.” In the past, Dvorak largely performed for children during summer programs at public libraries. “Coming to college it’s very different because Harvard students aren’t seven year olds,” he said smiling. Kruse, on the other hand, started on his craft a bit earlier and has almost always performed for adults. Kruse’s parents were in the hospitality business, and he would often perform tricks for patrons. When asked about how those performances went, he said, “It’s a lot of fun to do magic tricks for people in bars for obvious reasons.”
Dvorak and Kruse met during FAP (First Year Arts Program) before the fall of 2019. When they found out they were both interested in magic, they became quick friends. Dvorak remembers, “We had this great night, this like tag-teaming off of card tricks, and it was a blast!” After FAP, the duo wanted to keep performing magic, but they realized there wasn’t a dedicated space for the craft on campus, so they decided to co-found SHAM.
One of the perks of being a new student organization is that SHAM was not derailed by COVID-19 related difficulties. “We only got to do one meeting before the semester ended,” Kruse explained, “so, because of that, we didn’t have to change anything about how our group operated.” Dvorak and Kruse have adapted meetings this semester for a virtual environment, but the content of the meetings has remained relatively unchanged. While there is plenty of opportunity to teach and learn tricks, Kruse sees the space as a supportive community where people can learn the basics and adapt them into a unique show. Kruse says that teaching and learning goes beyond the basics as well, “We talk about … not just the trick but how do you tell a story with it? What’s the psychology behind ‘tricking someone’ or ‘making magic?’”
The skills SHAM teaches can be used in a variety of situations beyond formal performance. “Look,” says Dvorak, “magic is great! It’s a wonderful icebreaker. You can carry a deck of cards wherever you go. Things are getting awkward, you pull them out, you do a trick, all of a sudden everyone’s just had this great, fun experience.” And both magicians agreed that they found magic to be a great way to characterize and identify oneself. As Kruse put it, “I always grappled for a fun fact, but now it’s immediately: I’m a magician!”
This semester, Dvorak and Kruse hope to expand SHAM’s offerings beyond their regular bi-weekly meetings. They talked about hosting guest speakers including a few “industry magicians,” partnering with the Magic Society at Columbia, and hosting socials and movie nights for anyone in the Harvard community even if they don’t regularly attend SHAM meetings. “We’re all looking for community, and places to go where you don’t have to worry about being too formal or anything, and hopefully SHAM can be one of these,” said Dvorak.
Both Dvorak and Kruse stressed that the club is open to anyone, regardless of experience. As Dvorak put it, “Magic has a reputation of being very exclusive, back door deals and you’re only in if you already were in, and we definitely wanna counteract that narrative with this group.”
If you’re interested in getting involved with SHAM, Dvorak sdvorak@college.harvard.edu and Kruse rkruse@college.harvard.edu hope that you’ll reach out directly or fill out the club’s interest form https://forms.gle/NmFxyvByu7w6Ntfo7.
Cade Williams ’23 (cadewilliams@college.harvard.edu) refuses to forgive miscellaneous relative(s) for 52-card pick-up.