Harper DeaFest brings expo, magic show to deaf audience

From a Harper College stage Saturday, magician Matthew Morgan will make his wife disappear.

OK, that's a cliché. But what makes the duo stand out from all the other bag of tricks: Morgan and his wife, Liliana, perform entirely in sign language for both a deaf and hearing audience.

"I love to watch the jaws drop and see their faces light up with inspiration, 'Like how did that trick work?'" Morgan said.

The pair will compete in the last two days of an international competition pitting about 40 deaf magicians from 10 countries Saturday - a sold-out event at Harper's annual DeaFest. Each magician has less than 10 minutes to impress judges with their physicality, illusions and storytelling.

Ask him about his show, and Morgan doesn't want to let the bunny out of the top hat. But he says expect an appearance by a live bird.

"I want the shock factor," said Morgan, who films rehearsals to ensure routines are seamless.

For a deaf audience, there are still communication barriers. That's because Italians, Mexicans, Russians - all represented at the magic show - sign differently.

It's a testament to the deaf community's rich culture that organizers of DeaFest are celebrating this weekend. It's also an opportunity for deaf people from the region to socialize on a large scale: some 3,000 people will meet at the community college's Palatine campus Friday and Saturday, says Jason Altmann, manager for Harper's Kimball-Hill Family Deaf Institute at Access and Disability Services.

"For deaf people that's like being right at home," DeaFest co-founder Debby Sampson said. "That gives them a sense of belonging they don't get very often. It's really cool."

Although tickets to the World Deaf Magicians Festival - held only every two years - are sold out, there are plenty of other entertainment options. Another is a screening of "Beyond the Embers: Vol. 1," a film of four short stories whose actors are deaf and use American Sign Language. Admission for the show, starting at 8 p.m. in Building J, is $11.

"The audience can just sit back and watch without feeling there's any handicap," said Sampson, who along with Morgan, spoke to the Daily Herald using a videophone.

Through a monitor, they each signed to an interpreter who then transferred the conversation over the phone to a reporter. Vendors of the technology will be featured in the DeafNation Expo, billed as the leading trade show for the deaf and hard of hearing, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday in a gym at Harper's Building M. Deaf athlete and UFC Fighter Matt Hamill also will drop by from 3:30 to 4 p.m.

For the 55 deaf and hard-of-hearing students in Harper's Kimball-Hill program, the expo is a chance to meet role models, said Sampson, an instructional specialist. Many of those students also are organizing DeaFest events.

"This is a fantastic experience," she said. "It really touches so many different aspects of the community."