HYPE Show Highlights: Magic, Mind-Reading, and Unforgettable Moments

Story and Photos By Amber McCain

Noah Sonie and the awkward eye contact

HYPE – an interactive show featuring magic, hypnotism, and mind control was held on Thursday, February 13, 2025, at the Hess Recreation Center in MBS Residence Complex. It was a thrilling night filled with jaw-dropping magic, audience participation, and lots of laughs. As part of the Winter Carnival celebrations, the event embraced the magic of friendship, making it a perfect pre-Valentine's Eve experience.

The evening's entertainment, Noah Sonie, a magician, hypnotist, and mind reader, wowed the crowd with his seemingly impossible feats of intuition. He kicked things off with a hilarious moment, asking for a trustworthy person. Alyssa, an audience volunteer and our trustworthy person, was given an envelope with a mysterious black question mark. Sonie jokingly told her to "fight anyone who came near," adding humor and suspense to the show. As the night went on, Alyssa’s envelope became a key part of the mystery, with the audience members either eagerly awaiting its eventual reveal or having completely forgotten about it.

Elijah Steer smashes an envelope that might contain his iPhone.

Card tricks, mind-reading, and more quickly followed. When Sonie asked the crowd for a dollar bill, Lucas Gallen offered one.  Bringing Gallen up on stage with him, Sonie had him sign the dollar bill and seal it in a red envelope that he kept in his pocket for the rest of the night. The mystery of the pocket secrets grew as the night progressed. 

Lucas Gallen presenting his dollar bill.

Noah’s mind-reading abilities were tested when he had audience member Sarah hold up a copy of Time Magazine while Gallen kept a Sherlock Holmes book on stage. Sonie made eye contact with a stranger in a funny yet awkward moment while Sarah and Gallen picked words. Then, with his usual flair, Sonie correctly guessed both their words – after initially mixing them up. Sonie then took the book from Gallen, tossing it across the stage, shattering all book lovers’ hearts as he did so, and sent Gallen back to his friends. Once Gallen joined his group of friends – whose excitement truly encapsulated the night, Noah Sonie continued with crowd interactions.  Each audience member then folded their hands and tried different things with their fingers as he instructed us while walking around the room to pick his next victims volunteers.

Luke Emerson and Amber McCain were chosen as his next volunteers. (Yep, that’s me! And I may or may not have panicked and cursed under my breath when he picked me. And to whoever yelled, “Wooo, go Amber” – you are so appreciated!).  Emerson and McCain shared a slightly creepy yet fascinating experience where McCain swore that Noah had tapped her shoulder, even though he insisted he hadn't and had been ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STAGE! Amber McCain closed her eyes along with Luke Emerson and raised her hand when Sonie asked them to raise their hands if they’d been tapped, and the audience watched in anticipation. When Sonie revealed that he had never tapped McCain, it left her questioning everyone. What had just happened?!

After this mind-warping trick, he had McCain tell him to “stop” flipping through a notebook, landing on whatever page she felt was right for the moment – my prompt read “traveling to Mexico” and then Emerson read “meeting Superman!” and we had to envision these things as Sonie (correctly) guessed them.  For McCain, he said, “Picture yourself there,” then laughed and said, “Wait, you have to fly. You can’t teleport,” showcasing his humorous side as he does these tricks. Noah Sonie correctly guessed both, of course, and then to further traumatize McCain (I’m being dramatic, but as the one telling the story, I have that luxury), after asking us to close our eyes and McCain saying, “I’m a bit scared too,” getting some laughs from the audience, Sonie went on to lock McCain and Emerson’s feet in place, one arm out as if a rod was supporting them. It felt impossible to move until Sonie came around and went tap tap tap to that arm, freeing us from our forms. After this, McCain was free to escape back to her seat in the back of the room, asking everybody she passed, “Did he really NOT tap me?!” Emerson stayed on stage and then was asked to read a few words from a book.  He did, and they weren’t quite words – jumbled, goofy, nonsense is what we all heard - Emerson could not read normal words, ensuring quite the giggle from the audience.  

Luke Emerson reading jumbled words.

Next up, Noah Sonie asked audience members who had an iPhone - Elijah Steer volunteered his and himself in the process for a trick that kept everyone on the edge of their seats, stressed for Steer and his phone. Sonie put the phone into one of six envelopes and then shuffled the envelopes containing either Steer’s phone or wooden blocks while audience members shouted in anticipation. The suspense built as Sonie stomped on envelope by envelope, certain they did not contain a cell phone until only numbers five and six remained. Inviting Steer himself to stomp – and boy, did he! -  Steer’s phone was safe, but the tension in the room was intense.

Wrapping up the night, Marisol Smedley, who revealed her passion for elementary education but admitted that math was her least favorite subject, joined Sonie on stage to calculate numbers for him. Zachary, a member of the TRRPG Club, shared his birthday. Sonie jokingly asked for credit card numbers and phone numbers from the crowd as Smedley was multiplying these numbers together. Finally, Sonie had Smedley read out the numbers one by one as he wrote them down.  He handed her the number, 13397993.  Nobody recognized it. Remember Alyssa, our trustworthy person from the beginning of the night? Well, it’s her time to shine! 

“Right on the money!!!” is what was written on Alyssa’s secret note

“Alyssa! Bring me your envelope!”

Amber McCain and Noah Sonie after the show.

We were all on the edge of our seats, fully expecting this envelope to read the number, only to laugh so hard when it didn’t. Instead, it read, “Right on the money!” which left the audience confused but laughing. Remember that there were two pocket secrets? Noah called back up Lucas Gallen and his red envelope with his signed dollar bill.  As Lucas opened the envelope to show the audience, it was still the dollar bill he wrote his name on at the show’s start. Noah asked him to read off the serial number of that dollar bill … 1-3-3-9-7-9-9-3, and the audience went WILD with shock and awe!

Throughout the night, Noah Sonie’s seamless interactions with the audience kept everyone engaged and amazed. Korie Williams, one of the event organizers, mentioned that they hold similar events every other week, ensuring that there’s always something magical to look forward to. ORCA POD organized the event. To top it all off, Fairbanks Public Health offered some fun swag for attendees, adding a local touch and creating a sense of community. Overall, it was an unforgettable evening filled with magic, laughter, and plenty of surprises!