I first got interested in magic
way back in grade school (I still have some of those books e.g.
Spooky Magic). During the summer between college and med
school, I got a great job as a teen tour counselor - taking 35
hormonal 16 year-olds camping across the United States and Canada
for $25/wk (paid for film, basically). During our travels
through California, we stopped by Disneyland and I discovered the
Magic Store on
 Main Street. I loaded up on books and tricks
and did pretty basic stuff after that for the
next 20+ years or so.
For example, I would pull colored silk handkerchiefs and coins from
children's' ears when I worked as an Emergency Room physician at a
local hospital and in my family practice back in New Jersey.
In 2005, my skills picked up considerably thanks
to the mentoring of Bob Elliott who - along with his wife, Happy -
retired to northern San Diego county and joined our local magic
clubs. An amateur magician himself ("Amateurs built the ark;
professionals built the Titanic.") Bob is best known as the
man who taught many of today's magicians. Amongst his numerous
pupils were names such as David Copperfield, David Blaine, and Criss
Angel. [You can read many tributes to Bob from his magical
friends at
http://magicianbobelliott.com.] Thanks to Bob's
training, I was accepted as a magician member of the
Academy of Magical Arts (Magic
Castle) in Los Angeles.
Many have been wowed by Bob during his weekly
trips to our office to perform magic for our patients and many a
child has come away with a silver dollar piece that Bob found inside
of their 'cash ear' (cashier)! |
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)