Music played through the speakers of Jesse Auditorium as students filled the rows, waiting for illusionist Jim Munroe to begin.
The event was sponsored by Cru at Mizzou, an interdenominational organization on campus that encourages students to explore and grow in their relationship with God.
Cru Campus Director Chris McKinney invited Munroe and his act, MAZE, to MU to provide students with a break from college life and think about deeper issues.
“I think it’ll be something students will be talking about, just for the show, and it’s going to be in Jesse Auditorium so it’s going to be a really fun atmosphere,” McKinney said. You definitely don’t want to miss out on the show. … We want to help students think about these bigger life questions like ‘Who is God,’ ‘What’s true and what’s not’ and ‘How this will impact my life?’”
Munroe has performed for colleges, high schools and community centers across the nation and had to be booked more than a year in advance.
Freshman Maria Effinger said she was excited for the illusions, but was also interested in hearing Munroe’s story on finding faith after being diagnosed with leukemia.
“I heard his story and it was very cool, and people who have heard his testimony before have told me to come and see him,” Effinger said.
A member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Effinger had already seen a sample of Munroe’s performance the night before during a FCA meeting.
Performing several illusions for the audience, Munroe filled the auditorium with laughter, from predicting what telephone number a woman would pick from a phonebook to making a cane levitate.
The performance paused for an intermission, allowing students a chance to leave before Munroe shared his story of finding faith when searching for a bone marrow donor.
Munroe showed photographs and video clips of his battle with cancer and chemotherapy, and said he only came to find God in his life when one donor matched in a database of 90,000 people.
The performance was designed to show something was going on behind the curtains and didn’t become real to the audience until he revealed it, much like his relationship with God, Munroe said.
Freshman Courtney Shockley said she was interested in Munroe’s religious transformation.
“I liked his testimony, and how it was a true story was really interesting,” Shockley said. “I liked his faith perspectives and views and really how he wasn’t religious before.”
The performance combined magic tricks and illusions with religious themes, and McKinney said he hoped that students would be able to take a lesson away from the event.
“The magic and illusion will be amazing, but he uses those to draw you in and as a platform to present different ideas and topics for discussion, so I think what would be really neat is for students to come with some friends, go to the show and then hang out afterwards and be like ‘what did you think about what he said here, do you agree with that? Do you not?’” he said.
