Tall and slender, Christopher Carter, an illusionist and hypnotist, jauntily walked across the Carl Sandburg Auditorium stage Tuesday night and introduced himself.

“I’m not here to tell everyone your deepest secrets or communicate with spirits,” Carter enthusiastically explained. “I’m simply here to blow your mind.” Carter held true to his word and did not disappoint the eager audience.

Within moments, it was clear that Carter is a very talented, humorous and motivated individual.

Carter started the night with some very exciting card tricks. Not sleight-of-hand tricks, but rather he guessed the volunteers’ card by noticing their body language. It was interesting that Carter actually explained his thought process and demonstrated how he noticed the smallest movement of the volunteer in order to discover the value of the card.

His next trick involved using two half dollars, about eight pieces of duct tape and a black blindfold.

Carter guessed three random objects that three different audience members had. At one point in this bit, Carter surprised one audience member so much that he ran out of the theater in disbelief (he would later return).

The blindfold came off and Carter said this was just the beginning of the weirdness.

Not only would he bend two spoons at once, but would have an audience member twist her own spoon like a cork screw, all by herself.

Another amazing feat was when Carter illuminated two fluorescent light bulbs held by volunteers.

Carter never touched the light bulbs or the volunteer; however, he hypnotized the volunteers and they were able to illuminate the fluorescent bulbs themselves.

One aspect that has the potential to destroy a good performance is when things don’t go according to plan. If a bit doesn’t work, especially when reading minds or hypnotizing volunteers, the performer could lose all credibility.

During Carter’s performance, he did mess up a few times; however, he quickly brushed it off with a joke and swiftly continued with the show, making it seem like it didn’t happen.

The illusionist, who performs at 180 colleges a year, will “blow your mind” with at least one trick during his 90-minute act. It was a shame that the whole theater wasn’t packed to see his performance.

A lot of his jokes included some raunchy innuendos, but remained tasteful at all times.

If the opportunity arises, see Carter and allow yourself to be blown away. To say it was amazing would be an understatement. Quite frankly, it was, well … mind blowing.