I Am ... A Magician | News | Fox 61 WTIC-TV Connecticut

From the Hartford Courant

I Am ... A Magician

"I Am ...," appearing every other Monday, explores the life experiences of teenagers and young adults in their own words.

By ROSS TAYLOR, The Hartford Courant

April 4, 2008

Zach Ivins, 15, is a home-schooled high school freshman from Waterford who has been performing as a magician since he was 5. He performs four to six times a month during the school year and as frequently as 20 times a month during the summer. His next performance is April 17 at the Stonington Community Center in Stonington.

I got interested in magic when I was 4 years old -- I saw a magician. When I was 5, I got a (magic) kit for Christmas. When I was 12, I performed my first show for a preschool -- it was great.

I loved performing ... I love magic. There is an adrenaline rush, especially the first time you perform. As you perform you start getting less nervous and you get more excited. The more you perform, the more you love it. It's almost like an addiction.

I would describe my act as -- it's a lot of fun -- because it's all about the audience. I feed off the audience so much in my act -- the laughter, the smiling and just the amazement.

One of my strongest tricks is the Chinese linking rings. It's been done by all of the masters of magic. (The trick uses what appear to be solid rings that are linked and unlinked by the magician.)

I couldn't do this without my mom, my parents. My mom drives me to most of my shows. She's great moral support. She helps me lug all my stuff around. She's actually my manager. She answers the phone and makes sure I know when I have a show on the calendar.

[Magic] forces me to interact with people because, unlike other art forms, it's me standing there for 45 minutes, just me. I think my favorite part of magic is stage magic -- performing in a large theater. I see myself doing this as an adult. I'm planning on getting a theater degree, and I'm looking at using theater in my magic to make it better.

You can create anything on stage that you want. There's no limits on what you can do and [you're] just reminding people that it is possible to do the impossible.