Beginner's Corner - July 1997

October, 1998

HERE'S WHAT LANCE HAD TO SAY ABOUT HIS BEGINNINGS IN MAGIC

Q: Are there any trade schools or universities you can go to become a magician. How did you learn?

Lance: Frequently you can find information on magic classes in universities through the magic shop in your local city. Looy Simonoff teaches a magic class at UNLV.

There is the Chevez College of Magic in Los Angeles. They offer a professional course for magicians. And there's also a chapter of the Chevez College in Michigan.

I always wanted to go to the Chevez school but I could never afford it when I was growing up so a lot of my learning came from magic books and watching other magicians. I was also very lucky that I had a couple of really good magic teachers.

When I started out back in Louisville, there was Harry Collins. He was my first teacher. He saw that I was so obsessed with magic and he taught me out of the love of magic. It's very common for an older magician to help the young guys starting out like I was. Then when I moved out to the coast, I spent a lot of time with Johnny Thompson. I learned a lot of magic from him. In fact I still learn magic from Johnny. Just the other night I spent the evening at Johnny's house working on close-up magic.

So my advice would be to find a magician in your area who has been around a while. The best way to learn is from a live person.

Q: When you did you first know you wanted to be a magician and what was the first trick learned?

Lance: Harry Collins was the first magician I ever saw back in 1965 when I was five years old. He was doing a magic show and I was the volunteer from the audience. When he pulled the silver dollar from behind my ear and I heard the audience laugh and applaud, I was amazed. That was the moment I realized I wanted to be a magician.

My first tricks came in a magic set I got for Christmas with ten or fifteen small tricks in it.

Q: How can you get started with magic when you or your parents can't afford all the expensive tricks?

Lance: We didn't have a whole lot of money when I was growing up either. I would always ask for magic books or magic tricks for my birthday or for Christmas and the rest of the year I either had to mow lawns or find part time jobs to help supplement the cost of doing magic. When I started doing birthday parties, I would reinvest the money I made into buying more tricks.

So you really don't have to spend a lot of money when you're starting out. I think the best investment is magic books like the Tarbell Course in Magic or the Mark Wilson Course in Magic. It can be inexpensive if you read and practice.