NIU students produced a magic show for little siblings weekend Saturday.

Shawn Majka, an NIU freshman, performed the Maj Magic Extravaganza for students and their visiting younger siblings. Majka said he has been performing magic shows for four years.

Saturday’s show included a light box routine in which Majka somehow appeared in a box that was empty before the trick. Majka also did an escape trick in which he freed himself from ropes while handcuffs restrained his hands and wrists. It took Majka only a matter of seconds to release himself.

He also made a motorcycle vanish and he performed various other illusions as well.

“I started by doing card tricks in high school and I just progressed to other things,” he said.

Majka said he has been doing stage shows at banquets and birthday parties. Most of his work, he said, benefits different charities and is usually sponsored by businesses.

He said that last year, he did shows in La Grange, Ill., that benefited the Community Extension Project and this summer he is giving performances to benefit Darien Safety Village in Darien, Ill.

“I always try to work with junior high school kids,” he said. “It keeps them active and involved so they are not roaming the streets.”

Majka said his goal for this summer is to raise $15,000 for charity. He plans on pursuing a career in magic, at least for a while. In the future, he said, he is leaning more toward performing escapes as a specialty.

Kimberly Frobish, an NIU sophomore, assisted Majka in Saturday’s performance. Frobish said she is a theatre major and she met Majka in a class. When Majka asked her if she was interested in doing a show, she agreed and that is how she got involved with the performance.

“I’m interested in theatre, and I’m doing this for experience,” she said. “I learn a lot on the job, more than I can in classes.”