A magician, comedian and self-proclaimed “balloon freak” performed his “Balloon Freak Show” act for students and parents Friday.

As students and their families entered the Grand Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union, they were treated to comedian John Cassidy warming up for his act by crafting numerous balloons.

The performance began with a few minor glitches, the most noticeable being the trouble with the sound system.

Cassidy was able to improvise a few magic tricks, such as making a student pick a card, and then raising the card from the deck, in order to stall time.

Once the sound system was figured out, Cassidy’s performance went on smoothly, and Cassidy immediately went to the crowd for help, a recurrent trend in the rest of his routine.

His volunteers ranged from young children to college students.

Each of his tricks and acts were littered with comedy, magic and balloon sculpting.

At the end of every trick, his volunteers would receive prizes accumulated during his act, such as money and candy.

Additionally, each volunteer would receive a personally sculpted balloon.

Nothing was off-limits in terms of balloon-making for Cassidy.

Throughout the show, he sculpted a cow, an alien riding a motorcycle, several bicycles, numerous flowers and even Mickey Mouse.

Cassidy, who won a Guinness World Record on balloon sculpting — 747 balloons in one hour, spent most of the performance sculpting a wide array of balloons.

According to Cassidy’s website, he began his career working as a magician and balloon sculptor for children’s birthday parties.

This showed in his act, as he would often bring small children up to the stage to assist him in his tricks, although he kept his “Trunk of Terror” for the college students.

Cassidy also showed his talent as a comedian, as he was constantly commenting on the volunteers and ribbing his own act.

His comedy act was further helped by his wife, Jennifer, who provided banter with Cassidy.

She would also mock Cassidy whenever a trick failed by playing “Bad Day” by Daniel Powter.

Cassidy has taken his “Balloon Freak Show” to numerous cities, including New York and Las Vegas.

Cassidy teasingly noted in his act how much he enjoyed performing for colleges.

“I’ve done shows for children’s birthday parties and for drunks at bars. Doing college shows is great; everyone is like drunk children,” he said during his act.

Bob Galuski can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].