Magician Joseph Tran is pictured performing one of his magic tricks. Tran stopped at UND on Friday night. Photo: JosephTran.com. 

Following the first week of midterms, many UND students headed to the Memorial Union Loading Dock on Friday night to unwind and enjoy comedian and magician Joseph Tran.

Some audience members even took part in the show, as Tran brought several up on stage with him.

Freshman Erika Gallaway got in on the act when Tran asked her to color a picture of him wearing a superhero costume. Once she was done, he revealed he was wearing one just like it with the same color combination.

Following the event, Gallaway spoke of the excitement she thought Tran brought as a comedian.

“Comedians and magicians are funny,” she said. “But, I don’t think I have really seen them put together this much or this well.”

Gallaway went on to say the event was crazy and full of surprises.

Student David Schindele said he too thought it was cool seeing the two types of acts put together.

“The magic was good, but his jokes are what made people laugh,” he said. “The jokes were a home run.”

Leading up to his performance at UND, Tran performed at other colleges around North Dakota and South Dakota over the past few weeks.

In addition to performing for students, Tran said he also performs on cruise ships and spends time acting. One memorable acting gig he’s had was being a stunt double for the “Power Ranger” TV series.

Speaking of his own style of performance, Tran said he started practicing magic at a young age but said the comedy part of his routine came later.

“While on a cruise ship for a couple years, I started writing a show specifically for the colleges,” Tran said. “I knew I wanted to be a different kind of performer. I wanted people to laugh and to gasp.”

He added that was the point he started writing a lot of comedy and practicing a lot of magic for the colleges compared to what he used for the cruises.

Tran was brought to UND by the University Program Council with the help of Cassy Landborg, the council’s performing arts coordinator.

“We see a lot of magicians and one I think he is really good,” Lanborg said. “He is also really funny, so we kind of get two (acts).”

Mathew McKay is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected]