'Mystifier' correctly predicts Daily Herald headlines at COD show
A magician and grown man does nothing to turn his skeptics into believers when he tells his audience about his imaginary friend named Desmond.
But pretending aside, Mike Super, a self-described "mystifier," pulled off some impressive trickery Saturday night at the College of DuPage. About halfway through his show, Super revealed his accurate prediction for headlines that appeared on the front page of the Daily Herald Saturday.
And here's the kicker: Super made the prediction a month ago in a video he recorded on a USB device and written on a small piece of paper. He sealed both in a FedEx package mailed to Diana Martinez, the executive director of the McAninch Arts Center.
In front of a gathering in the lobby of the MAC, the package was locked in a blue Daily Herald newspaper vending machine from the Arlington Heights newsroom. Surveillance cameras watched over the box round-the-clock until Super's performance.
After intermission, uniformed campus police officers removed the chains and unlocked the box onstage, joined by Martinez and Daily Herald Vice President Eileen Brown.
An audience member put the USB in a cellphone and played the video - with no visible assistance from Super. The recording opens with Super documenting the date - Feb. 3 - and correctly predicting Saturday's headline: "Barrington mumps cases on verge of outbreak."
He also correctly guessed - or did he? - a second headline, "Goodbye, DePaul glory" that topped a story about the basketball team's history in Rosemont and its final game at Allstate Arena.
Super's feat prompted audible gasps in the sellout crowd. Martinez just shook her head in awe.
"That was just wow," a stunned Marisa Stolt, of Winfield, said.
Super, the winner of the NBC live magic show "Phenomenon," offered an explanation.
"The secret is time travel," he said to laughs.
Super, the finalist of another NBC competition, "America's Got Talent," put on an interactive and comedic show called, ""Mike Super 2. OH!."
It also was personal, with Super dedicating the performance after his mom, who died long before he gained a national following. She told a young Super to pursue his dreams to become a magician despite naysayers who told him it wasn't a "real job."
"Because of my mom, I get to do what I love, which is magic," Super said.
But when it came to the headline stunt, more than his reputation was on the line. If he got it wrong, Super vowed to refund the price of each ticket bought before the show out of his $250,000 prize awarded in 2007 as the "Phenomenon" winner.
Those high stakes drew Barry Tusin and his wife, Linda, to the show. The Wheaton man was one of the believers even before Super took the stage.
"I like to be fooled," he said.