Chicago Magician, Corporate Magician, Magician Chicago

I grew up with magic. It’s in my family. My late grandfather and teacher, Ed Watkins, was a phenomenal close-up magician and performer who ran one of this country’s earliest mail-order magic shops for many, many years.

I fell in love with magic watching him perform at various events. Somewhere around the age of 8, I started performing magic at birthday parties, street fairs and other family events around Texas. By the time I reached high school, I was competing in stage magic competitions on the state, national and international levels.

In middle school, I told my mother I thought it would be a good idea to take a theater class to “improve my performance skills.” The acting bug bit hard and I went on to study acting at the Meadows School of the Arts at SMU and the British American Drama Academy in London.

After returning to the states and graduating from SMU, I moved to Chicago to start The House Theatre of Chicago with several of my cohorts from school. The House gave me a chance to marry my love of magic with my love of theater with the company's inaugural production of Death and Harry Houdini.

In the following years I worked as an actor, writer and director for The House. Additionally, I worked as the company's resident magic designer, working magic and illusion into almost all of The House's original plays.

My grandfather passed away just a couple years ago. Shortly after his death, my uncle and I went to a convention for the Texas Association of Magicians, where they were honoring my grandfather. At the convention, we spent an awful lot of time in the hotel room reconstructing some of my grandfather’s favorite routines. That weekend, I fell in love with magic all over again.

Now I have the greatest job in the world. Every day I have the chance to share the wonder and mystery my grandfather gave me as a child.