André Kole is an illusionist who has performed for audiences worldwide for more than 20 years.

This Tuesday in the Memorial Union, the self-proclaimed “Master Illusionist” will grace ASU with his presence to perform live in front of students.

Kole has been performing magic since he was 7 or 8 years old, he said.
His interest came about after his mother gave him a Peter Rabbit the Magician toy for Christmas when he was a little boy.

In high school the aspiring performer began to invent his own illusions, and eventually created a business in which he would sell his illusions to other performers.

Throughout the years, Kole has invented illusions for performers like David Copperfield and has now performed in every state in America and more than 70 countries worldwide.

Along with being a magician, Kole said he is a devout Christian and speaker for Campus Crusade for Christ, but admitted he has been criticized in the past by members of the Christian community for his line of work.

Originally an agnostic, Kole made it his goal to analyze the miracles performed by Jesus Christ to uncover whether they were really miracles or merely just illusions, and has spent a large portion of his career doing just that.

He compares the works of Christ to similar illusions that the likes of David Copperfield and Kole himself have performed, and the amount of equipment that is involved to make something such as walking on water be able to happen.

Kole stresses that in Biblical times, it would have been more difficult to incorporate such needed equipment. More so, the fact that his miracles were not exposed as illusions by a betrayer such as Judas is astonishing, as inventors of illusions get their work stolen and exposed on a regular basis.

Exposing magic and illusions has been something that Kole has dedicated himself to since the beginning of his career.

In an effort to expose magic at its best, he has issued a “million-dollar challenge” in which he offers the money to anyone who can show him a sign of any real supernatural powers rather than illusions. To this day, no one has succeeded.

Kole also gave criticism of popular television performers, such as Criss Angel and David Blaine.

While he acknowledged that they are very entertaining to watch and do well with their craft, Kole thinks the use of studio magic and camera angles take the art out of their performance.

But Kole’s biggest concern about these TV illusionists is that they expose much more of the “dark side” of performing magic and illusions, he said.

Kole said his trip to the MU will incorporate his well-known illusions like the “squeeze box,” where an individual lays in a tunnel-like case, and Kole makes the case smaller and smaller.

He will also provide a replica of the Statue of Liberty and make it disappear — a stunt that has earned him a slew of publicity.

Tickets are being sold from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. this week at the ISC table in the west part of the MU or also at www.andrekole.org/tour.htm.

No tickets will be sold at the door.

Reach the reporter at bryan.brougham@asu.edu.