Tom Yurasits was intrigued by magic and illusion from the time his grandfather showed him his first trick.

His grandfather took a soda bottle and placed it into a paper bag, then flipped the bag over (holding onto the bottom of the bottle in the bag) but showed a young Tom the bottle had “disappeared.” His grandfather then flipped the bag right side up and pulled the bottle back out of the bag.

His grandfather would be proud of him performing before a sold-out event at the Lower Macungie Township Community Center March 22.

Yurasits was assisted by his wife Jen on stage for a number of tricks and illusions. For others, volunteers from the crowd were picked to assist on stage.

Numbers of children thought they had figured out the tricks only to be surprised that Yurasits had something else for them to think about.

Aurora MacDonald-Cziraky, of Allentown, was excited to be on the stage and see what the magic tricks were about. As she participated in the tricks, she was surprised to see even up close she could not believe her eyes when he made items disappear and reappear.

Next up was Arro Keller, of Allentown. Yurasits gave Arro every opportunity to check out the props he was using and he sure did. Yet, he was still surprised to find out that Yurasits had found a way to trick him.

Nathan Hendricks, of Macungie, volunteered next for a rope cutting trick. After trying several tricky pairs of scissors, Nathan was finally able to cut the rope only to see that Yurasits found a way to put the rope back together again right in front of him.

As Glenn Frey’s “The Heat Is On” played, the crowd was excited to watch Yurasits take a pot of flames and turn it into a real, soft rabbit.

Leela, of Macungie, was the next volunteer who appeared thrilled to see Abra the Rabbit up close and verified it as a real rabbit. Two other volunteers appeared on stage to help Yurasits and Leela change colored pieces of cloth into colored balls that Leela collected.

The final volunteer was Sal Busa, of Macungie, who had to follow Yurasits’ instructions to do a magic trick involving crayons. The crowd enjoyed seeing Busa, who appeared to be following the directions, not be able to complete the magic trick the way Yurasits did. Busa appeared to have a good laugh every time he got the trick “wrong.” He learned doing magic tricks and illusions takes patience and practice.

Yurasits’ elephant trick got the audience, especially the children, excited. He used word phrases and actions to entertain while the children were jumping up and yelling to him about what he did for the trick. His finale involved something he learned in Las Vegas. He told the children to question the scientists about this one. He pushed a ball and then himself through a solid surface.

The crowd enjoyed the afternoon of entertainment and received an autographed photo card of Tom, his wife and Abra the rabbit.

Tom Yurasits Productions provides magical entertainment for all ages and occasions.