Math is a subject a lot of kids either dread or hate. Magician Bradley Fields is doing everything he can to show kids that math is fun.

“People think of math as so ‘dry’ and not visual, but the first magicians were really mathematicians,” Fields said on a call while on tour in West Virginia. Fields is the creator and star of “Mathemagic!” a show that uses illusions to make math entertaining and accessible. “The early, early mathematicians believed in number magic and that the entire universe was connected through a magic web of numbers. Pythagoras said, ‘If you can understand the numbers, you can understand the universe.’”

Fields will be in Honolulu this weekend to share the magic of math in three shows at the Hawaii Theatre. He uses magic, comedy, mime, characterization and audience participation to show kids – and perhaps some parents – how much fun addition, subtraction, multiplication and division can be.

In between the number tricks and magic show staples, like dividing his assistant, Stacey Maltin, into three parts, Fields explores the relevance of all the facts and figures in his show.

“I go into vocabulary, history, all kinds of things, so it’s not just math divorced from everything else. I talk about ancient civilizations and different cultures. We go through the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans — how they built the pyramids — but it’s all interwritten with a lot of magic.”

A lot of children’s entertainment can be deadly dull for parents (purple dinosaur, anyone?), but Fields promises parents will enjoy “Mathemagic!” too.

“The parents really enjoy watching their kids get involved and engaged in something that is ‘good for them.’ It’s something (kids) never forget.”

He pointed out that while it’s true few kids grow up to become mathematicians, “everybody uses math.”

Fields has been enjoying the magician’s art for most of his life. He started working professionally at 14 and continued studying magic in Paris after he graduated from college with degrees in philosophy and theater. His career took an unusual turn when he spent a year teaching in New York.

“I took a year off when I had my first son, and I taught school. I always had an interest in education, and there I saw that you could really engage kids with magic and get their undivided attention. ”

The result of the experience was the touring show “Mathemagic!” In addition to performing for the public and for school classes, Fields conducts seminars for teachers.

“Kids retain more when something is taught in a context, and so when math is taught in a context with music or history or historical characters, it sticks more. Kids who come to the show may be inspired by the magic, they may be inspired by the storytelling, but they’re going to have a great time.”