The Magicanada Project

Michael Kras

Scenario: You're at a huge magic convention (IBM perhaps?) with a who's who of magic parading around. You look out of the corner of your eye and... GASP... your magical idol is standing no more than 6 feet away! Nervously, you approach this modern master, open your mouth for a polite introduction, and- CHOKE- nothing. You can't get a single word out. You quietly shimmy away before the magical monster even noticed you were there.

Maybe it wouldn't be this extreme, but what magicians have you met in this person that you were EXTREMELY intimidated by, people you could barely talk to let alone show a card trick to? Any magicians you haven't met that you think would bring out something similar if you DID meet them?

I've got 4 Smile

....

1. Juan Tamariz: This is the biggun. I spent 4 days at the monumental CAMraderie 2007 Convention, at which the one and only Juan Tamariz was present. I couldn't even talk to him, literally, I even stayed a comfortable distance away. I never got within 5 feet. I am proud to say though, I was one of a couple of guys (Ben was there, for sure) who sat around the hotel pool at 4am while Juan WOWED us up close and personally in a small, intimate session of sorts. I sat a few feet away, but never once touched my cards or spoke (unless I was verbalizing awe-struck exclamations of amazement. He fried me and all the others endlessly, I've never felt so small Smile

). Imagine how I felt in the Close Up Competition, looking into my audience and seeing Juan sitting there and watching me intently. I'm lucky I didn't pass out.

2. Jamy Ian Swiss: 'Nuff said. I must admire, though, the guts of Mark Lewis. He has a very funny and very interesting story about talking to Jamy Ian Swiss at the lecture we both attended. Then again, it's Mark Lewis, who is equally as intimidating to me. But I digress.

3. Ricky Smith: I actually really wish I would have snapped out of it and just gone to talk to the man... we just exchanged smiles across the room at one point, but I never directly met him.

4. Ben Train: I can't get one straight card trick out when I'm around you, I still don't know why that is. Damn you Smile

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Michael Kras
Forum Administrator

Ben Train · Joined: 03 Jul 2008 Posts: 268

Shit, I'm in good company.

I have a funny story- I was in OKC, meeting some guys I had only spoken to over the interweb, when one of the guys, Brett (I'll post clips to his youtube page later), asked me to do a trick.

I picked up the deck and pretended to shake, and he stopped me to make some jokes about nervous magicians. We both laughed, then I decided to do a trick.

Here's the thing- suddenly I ACTUALLY started shaking! I didn't FEEL nervous, but I was shaking like a leaf. I had actually managed to rattle MYSELF!

Luckily I managed to show some material later without shaking, but man, what a weird way to start the convention!

Ben
p.s.
Bill Malone heard me talking about a Marlo trick and asked me to do it. I point blankly told him "nope" because I was nervous about doing it. It happens.

Liam · Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 424

when i went with a group to the mac king show, then went backstage to meet him we all kind of froze.
He must have one of the biggest shows in magic, and it was epic. When he walked in to a room with less then 15 people in it to discuss magic with us, everyone just stopped talking and started listening intently before he even said anything. There was about five seconds of slightly awkward silence before Mac realized we were nervous and went into an entertaining anecdote to break the ice. What a guy.