Star Newman is all about the abracadabra

James Brown famously sang, “It’s a man’s world,” and those words still ring true in the world of magic, where only 8% of performers are women. But a female magician has even tougher odds (or better ones, depending how you look at it) of standing out in Sarasota, which historically has been a clown’s world.

“Sarasota is saturated with circus, which is wonderful,” Newman says. “If you’re having a gala, you have an aerialist hanging from the ceiling. But magic has gotten lumped into that spectacle.”

So let’s hear it for magic as its own genre in this circus town. But grabbing the spotlight isn’t Star Newman’s M.O. (modus operandi, ICYMI). With her librarian demeanor, she likes to sidle up to you. Newman, whose parents really named her Star, calls herself a magician and a mentalist. 

Some people like to watch; Newman also likes to listen. That’s how she picks up cues that help her guess your favorite movie. Playwright and director David Mamet calls hints people drop about themselves the “tell.” Not all of them are spoken. A magic fan himself, Mamet featured magician Ricky Jay in his films “The House of Games” and “The Magician.”

Even though Jay is a man, Newman considers him her kind of magician. Like Jay, she’s adept at card tricks.

Newman says she does her best work up close and personal. She performs at parties, but also does shows where she brings people up on stage. That’s what she’ll do April 1 at the Glenridge Performing Arts Center.

Some of Newman’s material reflects her love of film. Back in the days of video stores, you could find her behind the counter of one in her native St. Paul.

“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” was Newman’s favorite movie until it was replaced by “Amélie,” a 2001 French film about a shy but mischievous waitress.

Both films have stars named Audrey — Hepburn in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and Tatou in “Amelie,” both of whom influenced Newman’s stage persona. Her other inspiration is comedian Lucille Ball, particularly the “I Love Lucy” episode where Lucy and Ethel get work in a chocolate factory.

Newman got started early in the world of magic. She first played Las Vegas when she was 15. She was chosen to be a youth magician performing at a magic convention based on the movie “Forrest Gump.” 

She’s been honing her skills and the Forrest Gump act ever since. Newman borrows Gump’s iconic bench and becomes a female version of the iconic everyman. She even invokes Gump’s mother (played by Sally Field), who told her son, “Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get.”

Despite her Vegas debut, Newman decided early on that she didn’t want to be a glitzy kind of magician. “I don’t want to be a glittery, look-what-I-can do performer,” she says. “I want to create a sense of surprise.”

People do seem surprised by Newman’s talents. “That was actually really good,” is the backhanded compliment she hears a lot. 

Newman recently returned from a convention of female magicians in Las Vegas, where she learned about branding and other tricks of the trade. After her years in the business, she is able to share her wisdom with performers just starting out.

She also enjoys learning from her fellow magicians in Ring 81 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians in Sarasota, where she serves as president. 

With people glued to their screens all day, Newman says live entertainment is more powerful than ever. “I’m grateful to TikTok for introducing a new generation to magic, but video is never going to be as amazing as seeing a trick in real life,” she says.