“It made science fun—and actually made sense,” Mikala Tobias a Southern High School student said after watching the Mind Over Magic show, a STEM-based performance that blends illusion with science education. The student, who attended the show alongside her little sister, shared how the program changed her view of what science could be.
“When teachers talk about atoms, they don’t show what you can do with them,” the student explained. “But in this show, it felt real. You could see it.” She called misdirection a technique showing how distraction shapes perception—the most memorable part. “If you keep them distracted, you could just grab something and they wouldn’t even notice,” she said with a grin. “That could come in handy.”
Though geared toward younger audiences, the student said the show held lessons older kids could enjoy, too. “It was a good show,” she added, describing bright visuals, animations, and moments that “blew your mind,” like an egg trick that revealed how easily the brain can be fooled.
“If you keep them distracted, you could just grab something and they wouldn’t even notice, it's like magic you see a magician do,” the student explained, noting that while it didn’t seem like science at first, the technique reflected how people’s attention can be manipulated.
The performance also piqued her curiosity about real science, especially after demonstrations of Bernoulli’s principle and static electricity. “I wish my school did that too,” she said. “Right now, it’s just reading and memorizing.”
The student’s experience coincided with an event where 150 kindergarten students from Anderson Elementary School attended the Mind Over Magic show at Crowne Plaza Resort in Tumon. Hosted by master magician Anthony Reed, known onstage as Professor Klutz, the production merges live demonstrations with stage magic to make science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) concepts easier to understand.
From air pressure and lift to atoms and electrostatics, Reed used illusions and audience interaction to illustrate how science underpins phenomena that often seem impossible. The goal, said Reed, “is to inspire curiosity and critical thinking by showing how science is behind even the most astonishing tricks.”
Ultimately, Tobias said she would recommend Mind Over Magic to others, describing it as “a good show” that helps audiences “use your mind to make them think that it’s magic.” The performance, she said, made her think more deeply about how science can explain the impossible.
Tickets for Mind Over Magic are $17 per person with 100-person reservations available. Schools or organizations can schedule field trips by contacting (671) 488-1198 or emailing reservations@mindovermagic.com.
