Starting with three ropes, all of different length, the magician was able to make them all appear to be the same length, connect them into one rope and perform a number of other awe-inspiring illusions before returning the ropes to their original lengths at the end of his act.

Singers, poets, dancers, and artists are not difficult things to come by at Fairfield, but a magician? Now that is uncommon.

Meet Brendan D’Auteuil ‘16, who was crowned the winner of the fifth annual Night at the Apollo talent show last Saturday Night. D’Auteuil earned the nickname “The Magic Man” in high school by performing his magic acts during halftime at basketball and football games.

“People here have started calling me that, too,” jokes D’Auteuil. “It’s starting to feel like high school all over again.”

Although D’Auteuil’s performance on Saturday night featured just a single magic trick, his performance elicited astonishment and enthusiastic reactions from the packed-house crowd.

Audience member Kevin Ellegard ‘14 was “completely taken aback,” saying “it was an act that isn’t commonly seen.”

Fellow performer Robert Schwartz ‘16 called D’Auteuil “a really entertaining performer,” and commended him for being “in complete control of the crowd the entire time, keeping everybody on the edge of their seats.”

D’Auteuil has been performing magic since he got his first magic set when he was five years old and he performs regular gigs back in his hometown of Worcester, Mass.

D’Auteuil’s victory at Night at the Apollo was not his first brush with success here at Fairfield. He also managed to win the talent show at freshman orientation last summer, so he is certainly making a name for himself on campus.

“I saw that there were some prizes that [could] be won so I thought, why not give it a shot?” said D’Auteuil, who did not expect to win the event. “After I saw all of the other acts I didn’t think I was going to win … and then they called my name and I was like, ‘No way.’ I was so happy.”

Although D’Auteuil was pleased to receive the $250 cash prize, this was not the first time that his talent has made him money. The magic business actually pays pretty well.

“My friends get really mad because sometimes I’ll go a long time without working, I’ll just do nothing, and then I’ll have like three gigs in a row and I’ll be set,” he joked.

D’Auteuil, a newly declared accounting and English double-major, believes that magic and performing will help him in the future.

“Absolutely,” he said. “It really helps me learn how to talk to people and learn how to work a crowd and hold attention … At the very minimum I plan to keep doing [magic] on the side.”

Like most performers, D’Auteuil derives great pleasure from performing.

“It’s about creating a different kind of reaction that people don’t give to other art forms,” he said as a satisfied smile crept across his face. “It’s about putting a sense of wonder and mindset in people that they haven’t experienced in a while.”
awe and a child-like

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