Magic surprise

Whether utilizing an invisible bullet, a deck of cards or the power of meditation, Jon Mobley always has a common element in mind.

Surprise.

Mobley, an Indianapolis magician, will seek to baffle a local audience with his “Sleight of Mind” act this weekend as he takes to the stage at 3 p.m. Saturday in Hall-Moser Theatre on the Jay County Campus of Arts Place.

“For me, the element of surprise is my favorite,” said Mobley, a father of three. “There are so many things we want to control in our lives. And this is just a fun time where you can let your guard down and be pleasantly surprised.

“You should expect the unexpected. My favorite thing to do, in fact, is to divert expectations. So you think something’s going one way. Nope. It just switched.”

Mobley refers to himself as a classic over-thinker, someone who analyzes all situations. In an effort to break through that habit, he took improv classes while attending Anderson University for his degree in video production and storytelling. He joined a performance troupe.

That gave him a chance to emulate his favorite TV show — “Whose Line is it Anyway?” hosted by Drew Carey in its first iteration and now captained by Aisha Tyler.

“They were coming up with stuff in real time with suggestions from the audience,” Mobley said of Ryan Styles, Colin Mochrie and Wayne Brady and the other comics/actors who joined them on the show. “As a guy who did magic his whole life since he was 8, that was real magic, to take a couple ideas and suggestions and to make something out of nothing in real time.

“So in my adult life, my favorite thing has been to incorporate improv and playing off of the audience into the show.”

He said about 60% of his show is planned. For the rest, he plays off of his audience.

“I want them to feel like they’re getting something different, like we’re co-creating the moment,” he said.

“It’s very interactive,” he added. “It’s very common for me to go out into the audience and to bring people on stage.”

Mobley grew up in Batesville, a city of about 7,000 that sits near Interstate 74 in southeast Indiana.

“Grew up milking cows and cleaning gas pumps,” he said. “Those were my jobs in high school.”

He was shy as a child but was fascinated by magic. His mom bought him tricks that he used as icebreakers.

Homeschooled through high school, Mobley got comfortable in front of a crowd through his participation in plays and musicals through the Rural Alliance for the Arts (now known as Batesville Area Arts Council). He also credits his father, Larry, as an influence.

Though his dad wasn’t a magician, he often served as the master of ceremonies for events, dressed up as a clown or created characters for church camp.

“And I was his sidekick,” said Mobley.

He built a career as a magician, including twice appearing on the TV show “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” in which magicians perform tricks in an attempt to baffle the duo. He’s also been a featured performer at Chicago Magic Lounge.

The coronavirus pandemic hit the performing arts hard, which led Mobley to take a job doing corporate speaking and sales training. While magic has revved back up, he’s kept those jobs in order to allow him more freedom to spend time at home with his family.

“So I can be more selective by complementing what I’m doing with other training and speaking and things like that,” he said.

Those who attend Saturday’s show — tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults and are available at myartsplace.org, by calling (260) 726-4809 or by visiting Arts Place at 131 E. Walnut St., Portland — will have the opportunity to meet Mobley following the show.

He also sells magic tricks that come with videos to explain how they are done. It’s a project his accountant hates, he said, because he just barely breaks even.

“One thing that was so important to me was to come up with some tricks and videos that taught kids how to do magic,” said Mobley, noting that he was “pre-YouTube” and learned from VHS tapes and books from the library. “It’s kind of my gift to my 8-year-old self through other kids.

“It’s just my passion.”