UC Magician Tricks Diners

At dinner last night, a few Harvard students were treated to something other than the Dining Service's pepper steak and fried shrimp.

Entertainer James Karol performed magic and comedy for mouth-filled audiences at the Freshman Union and Quincy and Eliot House dining halls. An ex-Pennsylvanian police officer, Karol was paid by the Undergraduate Council to kick off its spring social calendar.

"We thought it would be nice for him to go around the dining halls and make dinner kind of fun," said Council Chair Kenneth E. Lee '89 yesterday. Karol, who dropped his regular $750 fee to $250 and a Harvard sweatshirt, "really wanted to perform at Harvard because of the name," said Lee.

Upcoming council-sponsored events include a raft race, riverfest, quadfest and a spring concert, all scheduled for late April.

Mixing jokes with the stand-by "pick-a-card-any-card" trick and the old "remove the bra from the unsuspecting freshman," Karol spent two hours giving five-minute performances between tables. The Allentown, Penn., native promised but never delivered the "stick-your-finger-in-the-broom-handle-breaker" routine.

"My big thing is to expose the big fakes out there," Karol said. He described himself as "Sam Kinison with the knowledge of the Amazing Kreskin."

A regular perfomer at colleges, nightclubs and resorts, Karol is scheduled to appear on "The Morton Downey Jr. Show" Friday, the jokester said. He has performed on several television shows, he said, and hopes to break through to "Late Night With David Letterman" soon.

But skeptical students gave Karol mixed reviews. "I didn't think that he was anything special," said Bryan M. Tawney '92, who admitted he was a tough audience. "He was full of it--just the right type for Morton Downey."

Heather M. Chase '89 had to be asked twice before giving a serious answer about Karol at Quincy House. "I think it was good, we need more things like that," the Adams House resident said.

"It would be more interesting if he did it before a large crowd," said Lenny C. Dang '90, who overheard Karol at the next table in the Quincy House dining hall.