Greetings to all my fellow magicians and entertainers!

I'm excited to say that after a 20+ year hiatus I have gotten the itch and have gotten back into magic. I started when I was 14 years old and did my first show when I was 15. It was horrible, aweful, dreadful . . . I can't think of enough adjectives to describe it . . . but it was my first paid performance for a local Lion's Club. Since that I've performed for churches, birthday parties, chamber of commerce, fire departments and so on.

My journey began when I found out I only lived about 30 minutes away from Colon, Michigan and made my first magical trip to Abbott's Magic. I was immediately hooked and as soon as I had a job I went there every weekend after I cashed my check. I started attending the Abbott's Magic Get-together in 1985/86 and was delighted to see the antics of Abb Dickson, Karl Fox, Hank Moorehouse and all the other regulars. I saw Tony Clark, Jay Scott Berry, Blackstone Jr, Mr. Electric, Pavel, Tom Mullica and many many more.

Well in 1989 I went off to college and still performed here and there. After college though I drifted away from magic. I met my wife in 1996, got married in 1997, had twins in 2002 and a daughter n 2006. Unfortunately with life getting busier something had to be put on the backburner and that something was Magic.

Sure I've always done a card or coin trick here and there. I still had most of my props and would use the TT from time to time. I still enjoyed magic but the emphasis wasn't the same. I used to watch every performance with an eagle eye trying to figure out how it was done. Now I watch for the pure enjoyment and "if" I know or figure out how it's done great, but if not I still enjoy the show.

Well things changed this year. My daughter saw a magic show and expressed her interest in magic so I showed her a couple simple things. To my delight she wanted to learn more and I started teaching her and pulling out all my old books and props. We made the trek back up to Colon (still only about 30 minutes away) and picked up a couple easy to do tricks for her. Well, through out this I started getting the bug again and have begun relearning what I forgot and exploring new avenues of magic. My daughter is working on putting together her show to do for family and friends and I have been working on putting together routines so I can start performing again too.

I still have a lot to learn and enjoy reading through this forum.

Glad to hear you are back in the saddle again. It's great that you and your daughter can learn and share together.
Maybe you both can do a show together. Have fun!!

Welcome Back! I'm much the same... started going to the Get-Togethers in 1970, but then moved to Georgia in 1974. Performed into my 20's and then became a single parent of 2 girls. I got back to magic about 3 years ago and rejoined the IBM. Joined the local ring last month and have started putting my act back together after doing a fundraiser benefit New Years Eve.

Glad to hear your daughter has got the bug!

Gary

I honestly think that you can never put it down completely, if the bug really bit you once. You can have breaks or interruptions from the art of magic, some of them lasting a couple of years, where other things turn out to be more important and both of you seem like you´ve had busy lives, but the passion will eventually come back. Enjoy the "second spring"!