On Friday, Feb. 1, at the Arcadia Performing Arts Center (PAC), AHS’ Percussion members hosted the Evening of Magic show, “a fun-filled night of comedy magic, as advertised on an eye-catching poster. Keeping their promise, the night was well-comprised of entertaining tricks and humorous jokes—one that all audience members will surely remember! What exactly did this magical night entail?

$10 tickets could have been bought from any AHS Percussion member or at the door, and the price was well-worth the content. By the time the show started at 7:30 p.m., PAC seats were filled with supportive students and enthusiastic Arcadians, ready to be wowed by what they were about to witness on stage. Sophomore Andrew Liu said, “As the show started, I was super excited to see what kind of magic tricks I would see [that night], and sure enough, they were fascinating. I wanted to go home and try some of them on my own!”

Evening of Magic presented several different acts and performances, including classics such as the bowling ball drawing-to-object, mind-reading, coin-out-of-thin-air, guillotine trick, and numerous card tricks. Each was even more impressive than the one that preceded. Audience turnout was higher than expected; senior percussion member Lauren Fox says, “There were more people this year compared to the previous years.”

This show was made to fundraise for Arcadia Percussion’s annual trip to Dayton, Ohio, where the Winter Guard Internationals (WGI) are—“a very expensive trip,” asserted Rukan Saif, a junior and third-year member of the group. It’s worth it, though. In 2018, World Line placed 3rd, and Open Line qualified for the final rounds. The year before that, World Line placed 2nd, and Open Line placed 6th. The last time World Line was crowned champions was in 2011, so making that trip to Dayton every year gives this outstanding performing arts group the chance at yet another championship title.

Arcadia Percussion is known for its beautiful, moving performances, which are difficult to execute and perfect but are nonetheless achieved through with long practices and hard-working percussionists. We Apaches applaud this honorable group for its success and wish it the best of luck at the 2019 WGI championships!