When I was thirteen, I went to the College of Magic, to learn all I could. It was kind of a Harry Potter school for stage magicians – there are rabbits coming out of hats, white doves flapping about and silk scarves that turned into ropes. I sat down eagerly to my first class, apprentice wizard that I was. I was told there is no magic. I was told it is all illusion, all trickery, all a sham. I couldn’t have been more disappointed.
What followed were three years of interesting sleight of hand techniques, visual effects and misdirection. They were right; there was no magic in it. They only used clever dyes, trick card decks and boxes with false bottoms. But I did not believe them that there was no magic at all. It was just that they had no magic to offer.
I believe in magic, and so I found a way to work with it, or rather, it found me.
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