Believe it or not, magician and mentalist Jared DuBois, 59, was the shyest kid in his class growing up.

“I literally would faint if the teacher called my name – that’s how bad it was,” said DuBois.

His interest in magic, however, transposed his personality and by the time he graduated high school, DuBois was voted most talkative in his class. He will now return to Cranston’s Governor Sprague Mansion for the fifth time for Cranston Historical Society’s Charlie the Butler Ghost Party on Oct. 28 at 7 p.m.

DuBois’ interest in magic started around age 10 or 11 after watching a TV special on magician, illusionist and escape artist Doug Henning.

“I begged my parents to take me to a magic shop to get professional magic,” DuBois said.

The next Christmas, DuBois received props and started practicing magic – saying at first he was terrible. He kept his magic to himself but, when he was at his aunt’s house during Christmas, his family asked DuBois to show them one of his new tricks. He said his hands were shaking but when he finished, everyone was excited.

“All of a sudden I felt alive like I had never felt in my life,” DuBois said.

Two years later, DuBois hired himself out for performances with his dad driving him and his props around in his station wagon. DuBois had his own business cards printed and would charge $75 an hour for performances; this was in the mid-70s.

DuBois stopped performing magic for more than a decade when he was around 17 or 18 years old and pursued other interests such as bartending and DJing. After having an engagement that went sour, DuBois looked for a reboot in life and found his way back to magic. Within a year, he was on WPRO 99.7FM, the life beat section of a newspaper and performing tableside magic in three Rhode Island restaurants.

The structure of DuBois’ shows go from the believable to the unbelievable. Audience members can expect sleight-of-hand magic with cards, predictions – such as names and numbers – and DuBouis event has an act predicting people’s actions when they go to the movies.

His routines are based on everyday life – experiences we all have. He said sometimes kids will say funny things and that can be the seed of an idea. For instance, what color underwear everyone’s wearing is an idea for a routine he’s doing this year.

“When we’re children, we’re open to everything and everything is interesting to us. And then we become adults and turn that part of our bodies off,” said DuBois, adding that it takes a lot more to impress individuals.

People react emotionally to his work and the objective is to peak the crowd to the moment where they’re almost speechless.

“Whatever generates the biggest reaction is what we’re going for,” DuBois said.

Like comedy writing, DuBois creates a script for his performance, though he tends to go off-script. He also works on staging and figuring out how much space he has on stage and where he will have guests stand for tricks; sometimes he’ll have individuals come to the front of the room and other times he’ll go into the audience.

DuBois creates a new show each year for the Historical Society’s event each year.

“The feeling of creating is unbelievable,” DuBois said,

While he started his career covering tricks that others have done, each year DuBois adds more original routines to his shows. He said this year is almost entirely all his work aside from two pieces that are common in the magic arts.

DuBois said the upcoming event is appropriate for ages 12 plus and the show is tasteful with no swearing. He has a personable and confident performing style and – while this isn’t a comedy show – DuBois said there are funny moments in there. 

DuBois grew up in Warwick, lived in Cranston briefly and currently resides to Warwick. One goal he strives for is to having guests write something on a piece of paper and then predicting what they’ve written and giving rapid fire answers.

The Cranston Historical Society has hosted the Charlie the Butler Ghost Party for close to two decades and this will be DuBois’s fifth time performing. The money raised goes toward the Governor Sprague Mansion.

Now, where does Charlie the Ghost come into play?

According to Cranston Historical Society, since the 1920s, there have been mysterious souls residing at the Governor Sprague Mansion. The history behind Charlie the Butler goes back to the 1880s at the mansion. On a rainy event in the early 1950s, visitors spelled out “Charles tell my story” on the Ouija Board. Charles had been a butler at the mansion and had two daughters. Rumor has it that he roams the mansion saddened that his eldest daughter could not marry the wealthy mansion owner’s son.

Costumes are optional, however Halloween masks are not allowed. Guests can have their Tarot or Psychic future read by foretellers for a separate fee. Light refreshments will be included and Covid masks recommended.

Tickets are $17 for Cranston Historical Society members and $20 for non-members. There is limited seating, so RSVP at 401-944-9226. Checks can be sent to Cranston Historical Society (1351 Cranston St., Cranston, RI 02920) by Oct. 24. After Oct. 24, call the Historical Society to inquire about available seating. There is a handicap entrance and parking in the rear of the building. To learn more about DuBois, visit jaredmagic.com/.