My First Few Years on This Planet

I am unsure exactly when I decided magic was going to be a permanent part of my life. It is just something I have always had a wonder towards. I wish I had a clean origin story here, some single moment where it all clicked, but I don't. What I do know is I was the kid who loved taking things apart to understand how they worked. It was the putting them back together that was the part I struggled with. Magic was the one place where the answer was hidden on purpose. To me that was basically a dare.

My School Years: My First Tough Crowds

Elementary School: Where It All Started

My earliest encounter with magic in this life was when I was a child in elementary. Our school brought in a magician. I distinctly remember the magician's final act was to produce an albino python, a snake; now, snakes were something I was always warned to stay away from. Living in Texas we always had to be cautious of rattlesnakes and cottonmouth snakes, especially when down on the river. I remember touching the snake after the show and thinking "Yeah, I am not telling my mom about this."

In our elementary school we used to have a book fair where for a day or two we would have basically a book store in our library. I would always look for the magic books. So much so that one of my aunts got me a book on magic, "The Big Book of Magic Fun" by Ian Keable. I didn't know it at the time but that book would help build the foundation of who I am today. When I was in third grade I convinced my teacher to let me do magic from a magic kit my mom had gotten me on a trip from my small hometown to a larger city in Texas. After much convincing I finally got to do a magic show for my peers; I think I've gotten better since then.

Middle School Magic

Somewhere in middle school my math teacher demonstrated a card trick for the class and then revealed how it was done. Coincidentally, around this time I discovered YouTube and the magicians on there who would post card tutorials and teach you how to do card tricks. So being the jobless 13 year old I was, I used to watch and practice card tricks and learn other sleight of hand techniques. This is evident if you have ever seen me do card magic. Card magic was one of the first types of magic I got into, so when I was learning how to handle a deck of cards I would do my best to match exactly what the video was doing. What I failed to account for was the mirroring that happens on video. Consequently, I now handle a deck of cards as if I am left handed. This is something I am still working on correcting, but it very much feels like finding out the way you walk has been wrong all along. You can try and correct it yourself, but you will almost always default to what you already know. It's not impossible. It just takes work.

I would say, when I performed card tricks for my classmates there was always about a 30% chance the cards would be slapped out of my hands before I could even finish the trick. It really was a rough training ground. I guess I can attribute my crowd management skills to performing magic when I was in middle school. It was here that I learned the importance of drawing boundaries, of learning when to perform magic and who to perform it for, and I would argue more importantly, when not to and who not to. While an important lesson, it was one that came at a cost. While I still practiced magic, performing now came with hesitation and became very daunting. I kept learning new tricks; I just wasn't as open about it.

My High School Years

It wasn't until I was a freshman in high school in another city that this started to change. I found myself in an introductory theater class, and in there was a student doing a coin trick using a specific coin vanish technique. I was at the time, and still am now, a fan before a critic. I watched, and afterward I commented on how good his handling was on the vanish. I showed him my favorite vanishing techniques, and when I was pressed on how I knew so much about magic, like a nightmare, the wave of ridicule I used to endure in middle school hit. I managed to stammer out "I ah, I do magic." and I waited for the names and taunts to return. Instead it was met with "oh, that is super cool. How did you learn?" and other comments to that degree. It was met with support and positivity. Knowing only the opposite, this rejuvenated my willingness to be open about magic and to perform more. Now I am not saying that it was all sunshine and rainbows from this moment onward, but it did give me the motivation to take what I learned in my middle school years and apply it to when I performed magic and who I performed it for.

I also found a local magic shop that I ended up working at. That shop is where I met Valdino. He was my mentor, and the one who took the time to help me grow as an entertainer and as a magician. Working there led to my first paying gig my sophomore year, at a comedy club I could not legally get into. The club was strictly 18 and up, and while they were willing to make an exception for their 15 year old performer, they would not make one for my 17 year old brother. It was funny to hear my mother arguing, "So you're gonna let my 15 year old son in but not my 17 year old son?"

Aiming High

After high school I kept performing, and in 2016 I enlisted in the United States Air Force. This is where I finally learned to put things back together. I had a teacher in high school tell me to never be afraid to reach out, because the worst someone can say is no. So when I found myself stationed in small communities, I would reach out to non-profits and local businesses to help build and grow the magic scene, often doing magic camps for children's theaters and hosting variety shows to support local artists. One of my favorite routines to perform was my straitjacket escape. In my duties I worked on equipment that had to come apart and go back together exactly right. That kind of equipment came with additional security clearances, which meant my command had to review my entire medical record and personally sign off on me. So I made it a personal goal that at every unit I was assigned to, at the first chance I got, I had my command be the ones who strapped me into my straitjacket. I always got out.

The Leap of Faith

My family always supported me through magic. I often performed at family get togethers and holiday parties. Within my family I would say my most avid supporter was my younger brother, Corey. Before I was old enough to work, right around when I found my local magic shop, I remember Val, before he was my mentor, performing a magic effect. The price of the effect was about $35. We had only been given $20 each to spend on ourselves. Without asking, when we learned the price, my brother handed over his $20 and said tell him to keep the change as a tip. He always pushed me to work on magic. He was also my biggest critic. During my family shows he would joke and say that he was selling how I did the trick for $5 after the show.

The Darkest Hour

In October of 2019, three months after returning from a deployment, I got the call telling me that my little brother had passed away. I was devastated. While down on emergency leave for his funeral I connected with Valdino, my mentor, and we discussed magic and the future going forward. He talked about a gig in a big city and asked if I wanted to attend, but the day of the event I was expected to be back on duty, and I had exhausted all of my usable leave for my brother's funeral. My first night back, while I was on duty, I got a call from my wife asking if I had been on Facebook to see what happened with Val. I replied no, I had been working. I figured a video or something he posted had gone viral, since he was quirky and always posting quirky bits and jokes. "No. He died in an accident." She always had a way with words. It was the same event he had invited me to. In less than a month, two men who helped build me to where I am now, torn from this world. That was November of 2019. A few months later, COVID would change how I could even operate as a performer.

The Final Polish

For a while it felt like magic might end there for me. But one thing about Valdino is that I was not the only magician he took the time to build. In the years that followed I reconnected with others he had mentored, and that led me to joining the Society of American Magicians, where I now serve as Vice President of our local assembly. SAM is also where I met and networked with magicians who worked at the Magic Saloon, a magic theater in San Antonio just steps from the Alamo with a rotating cast of professional magicians. That is how I got the job there, where I now help host magic shows.

Valdino used to compare magic to an old coin. Before you show anyone the coin, you want to make sure it is polished. A trick works the same way. You polish it until it is perfectly executed. I am still polishing.