In Fall Semester 1997, then-freshman Leopold found out about a HUB Late Night performance featuring Spanier.

"I wanted to see if he was any good," Leopold (sophomore-film and video) said. "He had brought a few people from the club and they had gotten quite a crowd. I talked to them, and by the end of the night I was performing with them."

Leopold now performs with the club on a regular basis, mostly at the organization's stomping grounds at HUB Late Night. At 8:30 p.m. Monday night, the group will perform at the Coffee Cellar, 128-130 Locust Lane, for a show called "Magic for Now." The event will feature "close-up" magic followed by the stand-up stage performance at 9:45 p.m.

Being a performing magician means doing more than stage exhibitions for the club and the adviser.

It is not uncommon to see a crowd at a party gathering around one of these magicians, doing close-up magic. This "close" magic is more personal with only a few onlookers trying to decipher tricks involving coins, rubber bands or playing cards.

Tim Brodeur (sophomore-finance), along with many others, has witnessed Leopold's close magic at social gatherings.

"You see that kind of stuff on TV and think that it's all mirrors or a hoax," Brodeur said. "But to see it 3 feet away blows my mind."

This reaction of audience disbelief is not uncommon. In fact, it is one of the driving factors behind founding member Menotti's continued work with the craft.

"Being able to have people question reality is what I truly enjoy," said Menotti, who has been performing for seven years. "To have them step back and say 'Wow, there is no way I can logically explain that' makes it all worthwhile."

This sleight-of-hand trickery branches out to more formal gatherings as well. The Performing Magicians - including Spanier himself - have performed at football tailgates at Spanier's home and at the Nittany Lion Inn, 200 W. Park Ave.

The group's meetings, attended by six to 10 members, involve tossing out new ideas and aiding each magician in creating his or her own individual performance character.

"I consider a trick to be 5 percent how it works and 95 percent performance," Leopold said. "Somebody can do the most amazing trick technically, but if they have a weak delivery it won't look good. Adversely, if someone does the simplest trick, it can still be enjoyable to the audience if they do it in a really innovative way."

Aspiring magicians are invited to one of the club's meetings. For information, see the club's web page at www.clubs. psu.edu/magiclub.