Hey there. I'm Daniel Goldman from Syracuse, NY – 23 year old college student and a (former) lurker of the Café. I finally decided to come around and introduce myself. The first thing I feel obligated to mention is that I'm quite incapable of writing anything brief and to the point. Feel free to skim this as opposed to actually reading it word for word.

Anyway – here's a little about me and how I wound up here.

I've been interested in magic since I was quite young. I remember seeing magicians on TV and going - “how did they do that?” - this interest never quite died. When I was in 5th grade they offered an after-school magic class that I took... I can't remember much of that class other than trying very hard to do a rope trick – and I could never get my knots right. It was sort of a depressing experience... but I've always been horrible with knots and to this day – I don't even like tying my shoe... but that's neither here nor there. Anyway – after that I didn't think too much about magic for a long time.

Then when I was about 16 or so my mom and I went to Orlando – she had some business to attend to and let me come along for the trip. She also decided to go shopping in area called downtown Disney. I'm still not 100% sure what downtown Disney is. And I didn't have much interest in shopping. However one store caught my eye – it was a magic store (the name escapes me) – so while my mom went shopping – I stood for hours in the magic store watching the demonstrators do their thing. Though my memory is a bit cloudy – the demonstrators seemed quite good. And they were very entertaining and amazing salespeople. They instantly rekindled my interest in magic and I sold me a Svengali, stripper and invisible deck. One demonstrator was actually kind enough to take me into a little room off to the side and show me how to handle cards a little bit better.

Anyway. I returned home and proceeded to show my family and friend my new found tricks... I actually got a lot of mileage out of the stripper and Svengali deck – but eventually – I think everyone was getting bored... and I had no access to a magic shop back home in Syracuse (at least not to my knowledge). So once again I hung up my magic hat...

Then a few years later I was in Myrtle Beach with my family – (my dad now owns a house there – so I'm there once or twice a year at least) and discovered another magic shop. Again – my interest was sparked and I gobbled up any trick I was shown. Again – I ran into a similar – I'd show my tricks – and then have nothing else to show. I decided that in the future I would resist the urge to simply by a trick – instead I would invest in a book – I picked up Expert Card Technique on one of my trips to Myrtle Beach... and was quickly overwhelmed and confused. I learned a few sleights – but ran into some trouble learning from writing – and didn't understand some of the concepts. I played around with a few tricks from the book – but I mostly ended up feeling inadequate – and again; the hat was hung up.

And so it would stay there until a little less than a year ago. When I was on a trip to New York and decided to find a magic shop... like I said – it's a rather persistent interest. I found Tannen's magic and ended up buying R. Paul Wilson's Royal Road DVD. And suddenly – I began to take magic seriously. I could see what things were supposed to look like – and I could pause – rewind... etc. And realized there was no way I would ever really hang up my magic hat... It would be impossible... Since then I've gone on to buy a few more books... focus mainly on cards – but I truly fell in love with magic as an art from – something I never thought of it as before – (and something I'll probably be doing for the rest of my life)... I also found the Café – which I decided to join... which is how I got here.

You all seem wonderfully helpful and supportive. And I hope you don't mind my ridiculously long introduction. I'll probably be posting some questions over at the beginner's table soon. So – that's my introduction. Like I said – I tend to just ramble... I apologize.


--Dan

That's pretty neat.

Great to meet yo here on the Café.
I hope this is the place where all the real 'magic' begins to work.

Good luck and welcome.

Rambling Dan,

I actually read your introduction post... sounds pretty much like my life story, too (without all the travel.)

Anyway, WELCOME ABOARD! Enjoy the Café and all it has to offer!

Dave

Wow you do have something to say! Welcome to the Café!