Alligator Online
By JOEY CHINDAMO
A group of local performers wants to fight you.
Using a deck of playing cards as its "sword," UF's House of Flying Cards hopes to use magic to combat people's ideas of entertainment.
Arthur Antonio, who uses the name Antino on stage, is the cardinal, or president, of the House of Flying Cards, a student-run organization of magicians.
Antonio, a public relations major, started the organization in October 2005 to not only provide a supportive environment for magicians and the art of magic itself, but also to benefit the community by changing people's perceptions of entertainment.
"Through our performances, we're going to expose magic to mainstream college society, so people know that it's an art that is very alive," Antonio said. "It's not an arcane, antiquated, novelty kind of entertainment."
The House of Flying Cards' magicians began performing for the public in January.
In tune with their name, most of the group's repertoire incorporates card tricks.
For one act, Antonio shuffles face-up and face-down cards in a deck, then fans them out on a table, revealing them all facing up.
In another, he lets audience members examine a metal fork before he bends and twists it out of shape with a shake of the wrist.
The group is registered with the UF Student Activities Center, and the organization's cardinals actively recruit "apprentices" from campus.
However, for those looking to join, there is no formal application process, Antonio said. The cardinals seek out members who they feel would contribute to the art of magic.
Member Eugene Liu said that most people find magic's entertainment lies in its mystery.
"Magic is definitely entertaining to people because they don't understand it, and that's why it's so amazing," Liu said. "It keeps them interested because it's the unknown."
Liu said The House of Flying Cards is trying to expand because its members have not seen much of a magic community in Gainesville.
Magicians in the organization train apprentices by showing them tricks and preparing them for performances.
Chi-fai Ieong, an apprentice, said he has enjoyed being a member of the organization.
"It's been a very positive experience," Ieong said. "All the people are nice, and they help spur the interest of magic and encourage you to keep going."