My interest in magic began when I was about
7 years old. Looking back, I realize that I have always wanted
to share and create "magical experiences" for people. Early on
in my days of becoming a magician, I became aware of the
powerful impact "close-up" magic had on people. This had a
tremendous influence on my choosing to perfect the art of
"interactive" performance and along the way I also discovered
that magic is a wonderful "tool" for sharing insights. Encouraging people of all ages to look more
closely at their belief systems, perceptions and
the things we as a society "take
for
granted" became increasingly important for me.
During the fall of my
sophomore year in college, my uncle (a psychology professor)
called and asked me if I could come and perform for his class as
they were studying the chapter on Perception. He wanted me to
use my magic to illustrate the fact that "things aren’t always as they appear". I was both excited
and nervous, but the experience gave me the incentive I needed
to begin to really implement the ideas that are now in the "
I
AM MAGIC" Program.
Not long after moving to Colorado (having left OKC to pursue my
magic career,) I began getting interesting reactions to my attempts to blend the concepts of
psychology, perception and magical entertainment. One
day, I was performing for
a family at a restaurant when the father insisted that my
work was "of the devil". This really freaked his kids out, and
took me quite by surprise! He entirely missed the point of the
wonderful experience I was trying to share with his family! This
caused me to rethink the way in which the general public viewed
my work, and in the process assisted me in more fully raising my
awareness of the power my magic had on people’s perceptions
about reality.
Following that unnerving but deeply helpful experience, I began to make sure families understood how much work goes into creating
the "magic" and that what I was doing was purely "physical", not
supernatural! I also began to tell kids how important it is to
remember that "things aren’t always as they seem", and "you can
do
almost anything
you put your mind to". These "words of wisdom" became a recurring theme in all my
shows, whether at someone’s table in a restaurant, or on stage in front of a large audience. Parents began telling me how much they appreciated a
"professional" person like me telling their kids the same stuff
they told them every day! It wasn’t long before I felt a very
important need to make the "perception" talk a part of all my
magic performances.
1990 - The
"I AM MAGIC" program is ‘born’...
Up to this time, as previously stated, I was just sort of
"including" these concepts as part of the "patter" that
accompanied the magic I was performing. One day, while
performing at a restaurant in
Oregon, a woman introduced herself as a "Special Ed" teacher for
a local school. She wanted to know if I could perform and
present these concepts for her "special needs" kids. I did, and
it gave me the incentive to finally begin to put the "program"
together in some sort of
"scholastic" fashion. The program was such a success that
another teacher convinced the principles of two elementary
schools to have me work with a rather large group of their "at
risk" kids . I worked with a few teachers and some 80 or so
children who basically just needed some special attention of
their own, and who were eager to
spend time with a "real" magician.
Eventually, it became known as the "I AM MAGIC" program, with a large
emphasis on developing a strong sense of character and positive
self image.
Over the course of the
next 10 years, I presented the program in schools, YMCA day
camps, spring breaks, youth retreats and Parks and Rec
development programs. I also worked with a Psychotherapist in
Oregon (see Article 1)
and in Arizona. I have outlined the basic principles
discussed in the program, along with
how I go about incorporating "magical" illustrations and why I
feel this is such an important way to assist children (and
adults!) in improving their self-esteem.
