Student by day, magician by night

Gillian Maraccini and Katie Morris|November 1, 2016

Akira LeVa

Northgate’s Homecoming was magical in more ways than one.

Akira LeVa may appear an ordinary junior walking the halls, but those who went to his magic show performed at the Homecoming dance on Oct. 15 know that he is actually a legendary magician.

LeVa filled the Little Theatre, performing two standing-room-only shows that left his classmates in awe. Senior Brady Roach is one who attended the show during the dance.

“It was something I’d never seen before,” Roach said. “I went thinking it would be basic card tricks, but it was amazing. I honestly think he could do it for a career.”
LeVa has big dreams for his future as a magician. He hopes to perform on America’s Got Talent and win it all. This gig at Northgate provided a perfect opportunity to fit a in practice, so LeVa jumped at the chance to volunteer his talent.

“I was a little nervous beforehand, but Leadership had everything handled really well and they worked hard to help me, so it made me excited to perform,” said LeVa. “Some people jumped and screamed and some people were shocked when they saw my tricks.”

LeVa began his magic career quite early.

“When I was little, I lived in Antioch. There was always a bunch of kids gambling and I realized that if I wanted to win in gambling, I had to cheat in cards. I learned to cheat, but I never took anything, I would just say that I cheated and everyone would be amazed. My dad also inspired me to get into magic because I loved the feeling I had when he showed me a trick,” LeVa said.

LeVa has a wide array of tricks that blows his audience’s minds time and time again. LeVa mainly uses a deck of cards and coins.

“My very first trick was one where I took a coin, rubbed it on my elbow, and made it disappear. My favorite trick to perform is called Sealed. I take a deck of cards and ask someone to think of a card. Their card is concealed inside the deck of cards.”

LeVa has been practicing magic for two hours everyday for eight years. This immense amount of practice has definitely paid off, and LeVa has now performed at 22 shows. His largest performance was at Boundary Oak golf course in front of about 300 people.

LeVa, however, had never performed in front of the student body with such a great turn out, until the homecoming dance.

After his Homecoming performance, Northgate can agree that LeVa’s dreams are easily achievable.

Senior Celeste Garcia, who also saw the performance, called LeVa a “natural” performer. “He was always involved with the audience and very interactive,” Garcia said. “He was constantly showing us he didn’t have anything up his sleeve. It was really good.”