Revisiting the Craft of Magic--Society of American Magicians and International Brotherhood of Magicians

REVISITING THE CRAFT OF MAGIC

I was a small boy when 12 of my local compeers successfully started and endured founding THE MAGIC CASTLE magic club that held a place in our basement theater in South Orange, New Jersey during the early seventies in Essex County, New Jersey.  Our club comprised of young talent performed magic shows for .25 cents a head on Thornden Street in South Orange and later donated some of our proceeds to the local South Orange Rescue Squad while we all attended Junior High School and then Columbia HS later on.  It was an enchanting time and many of us learned and mastered the craft with such ease it astounded local neighborhood parents in believing that our band of misfits could accomplish such wonderment for the locals.
Magic shows were also available to local birthday parties and we all performed for the neighborhood when the need arrived.  What great days.  Our magic theater would later evolve into a puppet theater that my father helped construct and build for admission and shows to all who came by to admire.

Magic has had a long legacy in my life and the craft has help build a mind set that trains you to discover and figure out what is real and what might be charade.  It also builds great presentational sales skills for all who are involved.  THE MAGIC CASTLE that we constructed in our basement home mimicked the acclaimed house of magic MAGIC CASTLE in California and through the help of such wonderful people that were all local, we built a name for ourselves and the club.  Magic was our entry into social circles and a vast array of friends from all over New Jersey.  I was once offered over $100.00 to disclose how my brother and I performed the trunk illusion Metamorphosis for local onlookers.  Of course we never gave in to temptation and the secrets long lived our club for decades.

Today magic has reemerged in my life and I'm again drawn back to the craft that has set us apart from all the rest of the local kids from our neighborhood.  We charmed the neighborhood and made magic a staple and social skill builder for all of the shy and introverted kids that came through our doors.  The tradition continues today and with the help of good friends we carry on the craft for generations to come.

Let there me mysticism and magic for all who come to know the gift of the Magi....