Hire Virtual Magician Michael Kent for your event!
A resident of Columbus, Ohio, Comedian and Virtual Magician Michael Kent gives the ancient art of magic a facelift with an irreverent and often satirical comedic spin. Michael spent his younger years learning magic to make friends and meet girls. After graduating from college, it became his job to perform shows. Michael studied Communication, Linguistics, and Theater at The Ohio State University and has studied at the world-famous Second City comedy theater in Chicago.
He has performed for audiences all over the globe from The Magic Castle in Hollywood to US Troops serving overseas in 13 different countries. He’s been seen in hundreds of colleges all over the country in as many as 40 states in a single year, met lots of people — even wrote a book. After all this, he still feels like more of a Professional Smartass than a Magician.
Michael was named 2014 Entertainer of the Year after being nominated for the award in Campus Activities Magazine for three consecutive years in 2012, 2013, and 2014. Michael has 5 career nominations in the publication after having been nominated for Best Rising Star and Best Small Venue Artist in 2009. The Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities (APCA) named him the 2014 Magician of the Year.
In a style reminiscent of a late-night talk show, Michael invites the audience members to laugh with him at the absurdity of a modern-day magician. He combines his sarcastic sense of humor with mind-blowing magic in a way that seems to let the audience “in on the joke.”
This style has made Michael one of the corporate and college market’s top comedy magicians, earning him loyal fans around the country in the process. As he tours as a corporate magician & for college campuses all over the country, Michael’s audiences are experiencing what it is like when a stand-up comic performs (and occasionally pokes fun at) the art of magic.
Virtual Magic Shows
In 2020, Covid-19 created entirely new virtual platforms in which virtual entertainers could entertain for birthday parties, happy hours, google meet ups etc. when in-person events couldn’t be done. Michael Kent was quick to adapt his magic tricks to work well as a fully interactive virtual magic performances for clients worldwide! Once he hosted a virtual corporate event soon after the pandemic hit, he realized that his show in the online experience would still be a highly interactive online engaging, and entertaining experience!
Pivoting to virtual events with an online magic show has now become the norm for magicians around the globe! “Zoom Magician” is a whole new entertainer title for performing card tricks, magic and mentalism shows, sleight of hand, magic and mind reading, magic illusion, etc. for your online event. So if you need to hire a zoom magic show, virtual magician Michael Kent is the perfect fit for your online corporate events, team building, or Holiday party!
How does the virtual magic show work?
You would create a Zoom meeting, Zoom link, Microsoft teams, Google hangouts, Google meet, etc. to send to your guests, friends and family, et all to invite them to your virtual event entertainment. Everyone will hop on the event at the time of the show and the Talent selected will take it from there. We will always put you in touch with the Talent in advance to go over your specific needs, your number of guests, etc. to fully integrate your interactive virtual magic show!
“The crowd participation couldn’t have been better. It’s always fun to see an artist make fun of his own genre. His ‘psychic’ abilities were hilarious!”
– Christa, Central Michigan University
“The best we’ve ever had. I’m proud that you’re from Columbus.”
– Jungle Jack Hanna, TV’s Wildlife Advocate and Dir. Emeritus of The Columbus Zoo
“One of the most respected and in-demand performers in the campus market to perform magic. ”
– Campus Activities Magazine
“I saw Michael in South Korea, and it was definitely an awesome show. The story about he and his dad still brings a tear (and a laugh) to my eyes.”
– Robert, US Army
“Michael Kent is a master at getting laughs. His smartass personality gives his magic an edge that keeps fans engaged, impressed and energized.” Hire him for your virtual birthday party TODAY!
– Ellusionist.com
“Great show! I laughed ‘til I couldn’t feel feelings anymore…stupendous!”
– Gary, Northern Colorado University
“Kent is brilliant and brutally funny. ”
– The Joplin Globe
“I would work with Michael again in a heartbeat. He is exactly what the college circuit is looking for. I highly recommend him!”
– Helena, ACUI
History of Magic
A founding figure of modern entertainment magic was Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, originally a clockmaker, who opened a magic theatre in Paris in 1845. Known today as “The Father of Modern Magic,” Robert-Houdin transformed magic from something performed at fairs to a performance that the public paid to see at the theatre.
John Henry Anderson was pioneering the same transition in London. In 1840, he opened the New Strand Theatre, where he performed as The Great Wizard of the North. He became one of the earliest magicians to attain a high level of world renown.
Towards the end of the century, large magic shows permanently staged at big theatre venues became common. The British performer John Nevil Maskelyne and his partner Cooke were established at the Egyptian Hall in London’s Piccadilly in and continued there for 31 years.
Alexander Herrmann (1844 –1896), also known as Herrmann the Great, became the idealized model for how a magician would be perceived: a man with thick wavy hair, a top hat, a goatee, and a tailcoat. Herrmann was a French magician and part of the Herrmann family name that was often deemed the “first family of magic.”
The escapologist and magician Harry Houdini took his stage name from Robert-Houdin and developed a range of stage magic tricks, many of them based on what became known after his death as escapology. Houdini is still, to this day, the best-known name not only in magic, but perhaps in all of show business. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, magicians such as Maskelyne and Devant, Howard Thurston, Harry Kellar, and Harry Houdini achieved widespread commercial success during what has become known as “The Golden Age of Magic.”
Performance magic became a staple of Broadway theatre, vaudeville, and music halls. Magic easily moved from theatrical venues to television specials, which brought stage magic to huge audiences. Most television magicians perform before a live audience, who provide the remote viewer with a reassurance that the illusions are not obtained with visual effects.
Famous magicians of the 20th century included Okito, David Devant, Harry Blackstone Sr., Harry Blackstone Jr., Howard Thurston, Theodore Annemann, Cardini, Joseph Dunninger, Dai Vernon, Fred Culpitt, Tommy Wonder, Siegfried & Roy, and Doug Henning. Popular 20th- and 21st-century magicians include David Copperfield, Lance Burton, James Randi, Penn and Teller, David Blaine, Criss Angel, Hans Klok, and Derren Brown.
Why Summit Comedy, Inc.?
Well, it’s simple…..we know comedy, it’s what we do….it’s in our name! We want your business, but we won’t compromise our integrity just to ring up a sale. Ask around, or ask us for references of previous customers….Heck, you can even see some of our google reviews RIGHT HERE. We stand behind our comedians 100% and can’t wait to add you as a client for your next event, and for many years to come!