So, you are a magician?

When people find out that I am a magician, there are several questions that I am usually asked:

How did you do that?
Do you practice alot?
What is your real job?
Have you always wanted to be a magician?
When did you start?
Can you make my wife disappear?

First things first - you really don't want to know how I did that, do you? Isn't it better to keep the mystery and surmise that it could only be magic? Once you know the secret, the magic is gone. There are two ways to view a magic trick: as entertainment or a puzzle. If you look at someone solving a puzzle you will see a wrinkled face, usually with a frown. If you look at someone being entertained, they are relaxed and usually smiling! So sit back and let me worry about how it's done and you can see it as entertainment. Besides, if I told you I would have to kill you...

Do I practice alot? Not really. Most people haven't practiced anything for 30 minutes a day for a week. If you do, you will find that you can really learn a lot. Magicians practice and rehearse - there is a difference, and I rehearse as much as I practice.

What is my real job? I am a magician and I own a magic shop.

I have wanted to be able to do magic since I was very young. There was a man named Smitty that used to come to our house and he could play the guitar. He wore a fedora hat and could make a quarter appear from behind my ear. I wanted to just like him. Today, I play an OK guitar, favor fedoras when I wear a hat, and can pull a quarter from behind your ear, so I guess I got what I wanted.

793.8

That is the dewey decimal system number of magic books in the library. I learned this in the second grade. By that time I had seen Mark Wilson's Magic Circus on tv and I knew that I had to learn magic. The books on magic in the library at Francis Asbury Elementary found my hands two at a time. I learned all that I could from them. My parents gave me a magic kit for my 8th Christmas. It had the Cups & Balls and the Chinese Linking Rings inside. These are two tricks that I still perform today. From the back of a Boy's Life magazine I learned of the Johnson Smith Catalog. That is where I bought my first trick - the Chinese Egg Bag. I now have two sons that can perform magic. Christian works at Magic Beyond Belief Theater in Pigeon Forge selling magic and running the spotlight during the show. Charlie runs the magic shop for me on Tuesdays until he heads up to Arlington to start law school.

Magic has been good to me. I have met some of the greatest magicians of all time and made many friends in the magic community. I have performed for thousands of people throughout my travels. I am hoping that in each crowd there is a child that is inspired to learn magic.

Why magic? The number one fear in America is not dying. It is public speaking - the ability to stand up in front of a crowd and deliver a message. Magic helps us overcome this fear. When you walk onstage fully prepared and possessing knowledge that others don't have, you gain confidence. The more you perform - the better you get. Magic inspires creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, sound work ethics, dedication and theater, in addition to breeding confidence in public speaking. Give this gift to a child and it will be with them for a lifetime. What greater gift could you possibly give?

Now for the last question - Can you make my wife disappear? Gentlemen, let me give you some advice. Don't ever use that line. I have personally heard it 1000 times. It is extremely rude and insulting. If you make requests like that, she will probably be disappearing on her own real soon. I personally have two lines that I use when that situation comes up. If they appear to be a playful couple, I will look her up and down and say, "No problem! I get off at 8. You can leave her here with me!" Usually I just say, "Sure, but you wouldn't believe what she asked me to do to you." There is a much more clever way to ask that question. You missed your opportunity at the end of the first answer. Remember? If I told you how I did it, I would have to kill you?...ahem..."Can you tell my wife?"

So spread the magic. Buy a kid a magic trick, take them to a magic show, hire a magician for a party, or take them to the library - change someone's life.

Until next time...