The Firsts: My Magic act

It was February 5th 2015, the day of my first ever magic performance at my school’s annual variety show.

I have always been fascinated by magicians and how tactfully they handle the tricks, make people laugh at times, and leave them in awe other times. I asked my dad if he can teach me magic. That weekend, I noticed a delivery packet at my door step. To my surprise, I found it was a magic kit by Chris Angel. Hooray!

Over the next few weeks, I practiced a few tricks. I finally decided to use my magic to print some money and double it, poke holes in the bills and fix the holes.

The day had arrived. As soon as we reached, I was taken to the green room, and I was feeling quite excited. I couldn't wait for the show to begin, and chatted with my friends to pass the time.

In what I thought was a second, it was my turn. I confidently walked up on stage and began performing my act. The spotlight was in my eyes and I could not see anything except my props. As slowly as I possibly could, I went through my act, causing roars of laughter from the audience as I interacted with them and delivered my tricks. As time went by, I began to feel shy during the performance. Though, when I saw the video of my act later on, I didn’t appear to be shy; I was relieved.

Not long after, I went to sit with my parents in the audience. I was amazed by the acts that followed mine. A second grader with a really hard piano song, a group of people with glow in the dark costumes playing soccer and other varieties.

After the show was over, the fifth graders did a finale and passed out candy, gloves and feathery scarfs. The variety show had been better than anything I did this year (the ski trip was pretty close too). As I drove back home, I thought about my different feelings at different times; excited and impatient before the show, confident and shy during the show, relieved and satisfied after the show.   

If you didn’t know about Chris Angel, he grew up on Long Island just a few miles from where I lived for three years! He developed an interest for magic at the age of seven and performed his first show at twelve. He got paid ten dollars for that show. His main role model was Harry Houdini. Angel's first major illusion was making his mother float in the family den! He has said that, "I stayed away from magicians when I was younger because I didn't want to think like them and wanted to create my own style." Learn more about Chris Angel here.

You can see the video of my act here: Riya’s Magic show

Writing Girl (WG)

The magician in action!