I started learning magic tricks when I was seven years old. We went to Disney World and all I wanted to do there was go to the magic shop. My mom bought me some tricks and I showed them to everyone before I practiced. I did my first professional show at age 11. I loved it. No other kids my age were doing it and it was so fascinating to see how the tricks worked and get a reaction.
I grew a fascination with juggling, unicycling, and a bunch of other stuff that gave me the same feeling.
To the outside world, magic and juggling might seem like the same thing but they generally attract different kinds of people. In trying to determine why I liked both of them, I came to think about professional athletes. I’ve been inspired and motivated by professional athletes. I don’t watch a lot of games, but I love highlight reels and biographies, and sports movies.
I love seeing someone great.
Seeing someone achieve amazing things in a specialty is beautiful to me. It’s powerful. It gives me more self-love. In magic, I realize, gave people the feeling that more is possible beyond what they see. In juggling, I gave them the feeling that a normal person could do more with their body. I love gifting hope. That has been my drive in so many of the things that I do. That has been the thing that makes me feel like I’m improving the world.