talkmagic.co.uk

As a fairly new member of TM, I'm interested to hear any tales you guys (and girls) might have about how you first got into magic.

My story goes like this:

As a kid I was fascinated by sci-fi, horror and super-hero comics. So as I grew up this fascination developed into an interest in ghosts, the "paranormal", and all things weird & wonderful from UFO's to Nessie. In my mid-20's I started to dabble in the world of psychic phenomena - I led seances and learned the tarot. But as I grew older my interest wained, and I got bogged down in the day-to-day world of work, mortgages, etc.

Then one day I saw Blaine on TV and the penny just dropped. All those years of messing around with the occult, and what I had been looking for all along had not been magik but honest to goodness magic!

Up until Blaine, magic (in the UK at least) had been all about Paul Daniels and the old 1970's style of conjuring. Suddenly Blaine arrived and turned it all upside down. Blaine showed how it was possible to use magic to really amaze people and touch them on an emotional level. It was like a breath of fresh air.

So I started to learn a few tricks. Then I saw Derren Brown's Seance and my fate was sealed. That programme just blew me away (I really wish they'd release it on DVD - I've only seen it the once!), and I knew that somehow I had to do that for a living.

So here I am now. One professional magician! Yay! I may not be the best conjuror in the world but I put on a good show, and I really, really believe in the magic!

I got into magic by watching Paul Daniels, i liked him and thought it would be great fun to learn. So i got a Paul Daniels magic set (i still have it ) and learned some tricks. I carried on throughtout school and University just as a hobby.

One day i watched Wayne Dobson and thought "I really want to make a living in magic". I began working and did magic part time, Then a few years later i had some money saved and thought "I will take a risk and go professional" and here i am

My interest started in the magicians and the history of magic; What type of magic they do/did, show dates, times, locations, dates of birth (and deat) Also how people through the ages reacted to magic, and this slowley progressed in to learning tricks and hay presto I was hocked. Went on a shopping spree and got DVDs and books (plus a few packet tricks, spong balls...). This was about 5 years ago and I have not looked back. I am by no means good at magic but hay, I love it and to me thats all that matters.
Alex

It kind of found me, I think.
I too had the Paul Daniels magic set (hows about a Poll to see how many othe people did!) and the Paul daniels book.

Juggled for a while as a teenager. Than when I was first married (15 yrs ago) me n the misses found mark wilsons magic course going for a fiver in John Lewis'. I love books so I bought it. And used the best out of there.

Couple of years later I started clowning and added some of the tricks into the mix, plus a couple of others. Started working in schools and added more tricks.

Its kinda grown really. And recently had more money to get much more into it and buy some stronger effects. Whether i make it a side line or more professional I haven't quite decided yet! Depends on what happens ...

I've loved magic all my life. My parents were magicians (my mom was my dads assistant). So up untill i was 3 or 4 years old i would sit backstage or up in the lightbox and stay there until the show was over. I met a lot of entertainers like Don Rickles, Alan Thicke, and some magicians as well. So ever since then i've fallen in love with magic. Thats my story.

my timeline-

paul daniels and ali bongo
david berglas
jerry sadowitz on bbc2 Pallbearer's Funeral
David Blaine
Derren Brown

ive been actively exploring it now for 3 and a bit years...love language, live victoriana, love story-telling so i enjoy the bizzare, aswell as the Brown and Kenton Knepper...

i cant actually say why i first did some searches on the net for magic, i do remember buying 13 steps as my first purchase, then swiftly putting it down realising how out of my depth i was...bought a butter coin the very next day...

I started when i was about 8 years old, i used to buy Marvin magic stuff i had it all, then one christmas when i was about 10-11ish, my dad brought me a folding 10p coin, royal road to card magic and a few other things so then my interest in it grew.