Iowa State students who stopped by the Memorial Union’s Recreation Center last Friday were treated to the antics and talents of Jack White, billiards trick shot artist.

When asked why he has spent so much of his life on the road, White said: “I’m into people, and students are so cool. I want them all to have fun. … They’re all so nice to me.”

White said that he has been touring for 25 years, playing between 150 and 200 shows every year. Before that, he played competitively and hustled for 20 years.

“In 1962, I won the World’s Championship. I beat Willie Mosconi and got $2,000 and a trophy,” White said.

White mentioned several other highlights of his career, including a performance for Queen Elizabeth II.

He showed the crowd her majesty’s favorite shot, in which he shot the cue ball into a small paper bag, hitting another ball, tipping the bag 180 degrees and holing the second ball.

“This is a shot I got paid $3,500 for doing on the ‘Ed Sullivan Show’ a couple years ago,” White said, as he knocked a ball out from under a handkerchief and into a side pocket.

White joked with his audience throughout the afternoon. “What I was doing wrong before was missing,” he said after making six shots in a row. “What’s the best way to psych out your opponent? Don’t miss.”

Kari Johnson, a rec center employee, said the crowd was as large as 80 people. Many of the onlookers stayed until the end of the show to talk with White and purchase a personally autographed copy of his book.

“He’s a lot of fun” and “very charismatic,” Johnson said. She said that his friendly personality was the reason for “when he beat the pants off of me.”

She was just one of many in the audience who enjoyed the exhibition.

“It was fun to watch the trick shots,” said Matt Hagge, a junior who first played billiards at a pool hall four years ago.

The show “cleared up a lot of misconceptions about pool,” said Scott Patten, a junior who said that he has played pool since he learned the game six years ago from his uncle.