FOR THE KIDS : Like Magic : Eight star magicians will entertain Oct. 26 at the Dorill B. Wright Cultural Center.

Do you believe in magic? You will after you see magician Christopher Broughton transform himself into Michael Jackson doing his famous Pepsi commercial--complete with flaming hair.

Broughton, who can go from tuxedo-clad gent to street rapper in a flash, is one of the headliners in an Oct. 26 magic show that will knock your socks off.

Broughton and seven other magicians will show their stuff at Port Hueneme’s Dorill B. Wright Cultural Center in two performances, 2 and 7 p.m.

Don’t expect any ho-hum sleight of hand. All eight of the show’s stars--several from Ventura County--are veterans of Magic Castle in Los Angeles, a private club where only the most dazzling perform.

It will be the seventh annual show put on by Merlin’s Mystical Emporium, a Camarillo magic shop operated by pharmacist-magician Paul Dwork and Spencer/Lorraine, Ventura husband-wife magicians Jim Spencer and Shirley Lorraine.

“The show has been a sensation every year,” said Dwork, who watched it grow from a little fund-raiser for a preschool to a full-blown production. This year’s proceeds will buy a specially designed wheelchair for magic fan Victor Dubrazka, a 12-year-old Newport Beach boy stricken with a degenerative muscle disorder.

Broughton, who has done the show twice, was last year’s showstopper. “He’s world class,” Dwork said. In fact, the 27-year-old North Hollywood entertainer took first place in a 1989 International Brotherhood of Magicians competition. Not only that, he’s a singer, songwriter, actor and comedian.

“I’m not your normal magician,” Broughton said last week during an interview. His specialty is spoofing characters, and he can change from one to another in a split second. He works with a crew of four.

When he was growing up in Detroit, his father turned him on to magic, amazing him with simple tricks.

But as a kid, he had problems in school. Reading was a mystery to him. So his parents bought him books on magic to strengthen his reading skills. Then he met a magician who gave him his diary on magic tricks.

He moved to Los Angeles eight years ago, and has since appeared in countless commercials, movies, television shows and nightclubs.

In the Port Hueneme show, the third he’s done, he’ll be performing a new illusion, never seen by audiences. And no, he wasn’t about to drop any hints.

Broughton is astonishing, but others in the Port Hueneme show will leave you bewildered. Each has a unique style, according to Dwork, whose own magic has a scientific bent.

“It’s technical magic--there is some reason why it happens,” said Dwork, who bills himself as Merlin, King Arthur’s legendary magician. He can pierce an object through a plate of solid glass, or make a small truck roll across the stage to the edge and back on its own.

Ventura attorney Jim Spencer and his wife, Shirley Lorraine, are both award-winning magicians. They perform separately with vastly different styles.

Spencer, who worked his way through college performing magic, plays the role of an Old West gambler in his act, doing card tricks with over-sized cards. For three years, he performed magic at the Encore Dinner Theatre.

His wife is one of only 50 female magicians among the Magic Castle’s 3,000 members. To become a member is akin to earning a graduate degree in magic, Spencer said.

In Lorraine’s act, she’s an elegantly gowned jewel thief at a classy party who deftly plies her skills, all to music.

Shawn McMaster, another Ventura County magician, loves to spoof magicians. So when he does classical magic, you can bet he won’t pull a dove out from under that scarf. He humorously performs tricks in slow motion to show audiences how it’s done, but instead baffles them even more.

Chris DePalma, whose style is also rib-tickling, will be performing, as will Bob Wagner, who authored a book on magic. He does the old Chinese ring trick with a new twist--he links the three rings in midair while juggling them. The duo Goldfinger and Dove have performed magic around the world. They do illusions and sleight of hand, all with a comical twist.

* WHERE AND WHEN

Magical Montage, featuring eight magicians, is scheduled for two performances on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 2 and 7 p.m. at the Dorill B. Wright Cultural Center, 575 E. Surfside Drive, Port Hueneme. Tickets are $8. For advance tickets, call 388-7669.