My Story
I grew up on Maui a place that has its own special magic to it. It is a paradise a great place to grow up and call home. Unfortunately it isn’t a hot spot for magic. I’ve been studying magic since I was 11 years old, I’m 25 now and worked at The Kupanaha Magic Theater as their close-up magician for 6 years, where I performed 1,248 shows. I’ve always dreamed of opening a magic shop and having a place to host conventions and make magic bigger on Maui. I want to make it easier for local people to get into magic and perpetuate the future of magic on Maui.
My magic was started by chance and continues with luck and coincidence. It all started when I saw my first magic show. It was my friend’s birthday party and by chance his dad was friends with Kenn Serrano a local magician. When he arrived we helped him unload his equipment and he asked us if we wanted a show or a lesson, we asked for both. In the show he had chosen me to help with a card effect where he was supposed to switch his signed card with my signed card from under my foot. He placed the card under my foot and did the magic gesture saying it was done. I lifted my foot to see what had happened and to both of our surprise the card was gone. It was actually stuck to my foot but it got us all a little freaked out. When I peeled the card off of my foot I realized the cards had not switched places instead they had merged together, my signature on the front and his on the back. I was amazed and knew my friends were blown away as well.
This feeling of amazement and joy felt by both me and the people around me that is the reason I do magic. When it came down to the lesson afterwards I realized that it was a lot tougher than he made it seem. My friends were picking it up but I wasn’t. I asked Kenn how we could learn more. He said he was doing shows at the Lahaina Cannery Mall on Saturday’s and could give us lessons there. I was the only one that showed up. I went every week for about three months and sat in the front row totally spellbound by everything Kenn did on stage.
That same summer my dad won a trip for being manager of the year. We went to California and I had about $500 from my family and selling mangoes at the park. I spent it all at the magic shops in Knott’s Berry Farm and Disneyland. I came home ready to show Kenn what I had been working on but unfortunately he was no longer doing the shows. With no one around to teach me I turned to the books and tapes I had bought and was on my own for about four years.
Then I got my next break, it was career day in one of my classes and Lauro Castillo another local magician came in to present. He asked if anyone had a $20 bill and I did thanks to me selling candy in school. He had me sign it then he folded it up and made it vanish. Later in the show he brought out a lemon and had me cut it open and there it was, my signed bill in the middle of a lemon.
I stayed in after class and talked with him for a bit. I showed him a trick and I did it really horribly even got the card wrong. Then he showed me a better way to do it and started telling me about how he got his start and the books he used to read. He started describing this book by Mark Wilson I recognized the name and reached into my backpack and pulled out the very book he was talking about. It was a huge coincidence that we both started with the same book. I think that was my ticket to letting him know I was serious about this stuff. He invited me to come and see him at Kupanaha. I did and he became my mentor for the next three years.
I learned a lot from him. We would have lessons on Sundays at Barnes and Nobles. I paid him $40 a week and it was worth every cent. He began molding me into a professional and taking me along with him to his shows. Eventually we began performing at the Cannery together and he stopped charging for lessons. I started going to Kupanaha with him learning magic and moving props around backstage. Eventually they gave me a job there doing hula and backstage work. The whole time Lauro was showing me the ins and outs of the show and having me do close-up on tables introducing me as a guest magician from Oahu. He was secretly preparing me to take his spot here on Maui. He was planning on going to California and I was lucky enough to be his protégé.
Five days after my 18th birthday Lauro was gone and I scored the job as the Kupanaha close-up magician. I also took over the show at the Cannery. It is a free community show and there is a boy named Gage that comes to see the show every week. He sits in the front row and always wants to help. He’s too young to teach but someday maybe he’ll be my protégé and I’ll have somewhere grand for him to hone his magic.
I grew up on Maui a place that has its own special magic to it. It is a paradise a great place to grow up and call home. Unfortunately it isn’t a hot spot for magic. I’ve been studying magic since I was 11 years old, I’m 25 now and worked at The Kupanaha Magic Theater as their close-up magician for 6 years, where I performed 1,248 shows. I’ve always dreamed of opening a magic shop and having a place to host conventions and make magic bigger on Maui. I want to make it easier for local people to get into magic and perpetuate the future of magic on Maui.
My magic was started by chance and continues with luck and coincidence. It all started when I saw my first magic show. It was my friend’s birthday party and by chance his dad was friends with Kenn Serrano a local magician. When he arrived we helped him unload his equipment and he asked us if we wanted a show or a lesson, we asked for both. In the show he had chosen me to help with a card effect where he was supposed to switch his signed card with my signed card from under my foot. He placed the card under my foot and did the magic gesture saying it was done. I lifted my foot to see what had happened and to both of our surprise the card was gone. It was actually stuck to my foot but it got us all a little freaked out. When I peeled the card off of my foot I realized the cards had not switched places instead they had merged together, my signature on the front and his on the back. I was amazed and knew my friends were blown away as well.
This feeling of amazement and joy felt by both me and the people around me that is the reason I do magic. When it came down to the lesson afterwards I realized that it was a lot tougher than he made it seem. My friends were picking it up but I wasn’t. I asked Kenn how we could learn more. He said he was doing shows at the Lahaina Cannery Mall on Saturday’s and could give us lessons there. I was the only one that showed up. I went every week for about three months and sat in the front row totally spellbound by everything Kenn did on stage.
That same summer my dad won a trip for being manager of the year. We went to California and I had about $500 from my family and selling mangoes at the park. I spent it all at the magic shops in Knott’s Berry Farm and Disneyland. I came home ready to show Kenn what I had been working on but unfortunately he was no longer doing the shows. With no one around to teach me I turned to the books and tapes I had bought and was on my own for about four years.
Then I got my next break, it was career day in one of my classes and Lauro Castillo another local magician came in to present. He asked if anyone had a $20 bill and I did thanks to me selling candy in school. He had me sign it then he folded it up and made it vanish. Later in the show he brought out a lemon and had me cut it open and there it was, my signed bill in the middle of a lemon.
I stayed in after class and talked with him for a bit. I showed him a trick and I did it really horribly even got the card wrong. Then he showed me a better way to do it and started telling me about how he got his start and the books he used to read. He started describing this book by Mark Wilson I recognized the name and reached into my backpack and pulled out the very book he was talking about. It was a huge coincidence that we both started with the same book. I think that was my ticket to letting him know I was serious about this stuff. He invited me to come and see him at Kupanaha. I did and he became my mentor for the next three years.
I learned a lot from him. We would have lessons on Sundays at Barnes and Nobles. I paid him $40 a week and it was worth every cent. He began molding me into a professional and taking me along with him to his shows. Eventually we began performing at the Cannery together and he stopped charging for lessons. I started going to Kupanaha with him learning magic and moving props around backstage. Eventually they gave me a job there doing hula and backstage work. The whole time Lauro was showing me the ins and outs of the show and having me do close-up on tables introducing me as a guest magician from Oahu. He was secretly preparing me to take his spot here on Maui. He was planning on going to California and I was lucky enough to be his protégé.
Five days after my 18th birthday Lauro was gone and I scored the job as the Kupanaha close-up magician. I also took over the show at the Cannery. It is a free community show and there is a boy named Gage that comes to see the show every week. He sits in the front row and always wants to help. He’s too young to teach but someday maybe he’ll be my protégé and I’ll have somewhere grand for him to hone his magic.
