So I'm a little late introducing myself. Over the years I've visited the Magic Café off and on, to satisfy my curiosity regarding certain effects. I finally joined a few years ago.

After joining, I made a few posts but mostly lingered here and there.

I was a magician in my early teens. I performed at birthday parties, church events, fairs, retirement homes, etc.

Unfortunately, around the age of 16, we moved. I lost all my clients and all the great referrals. I remember doing 2 shows after we moved. I did a birthday party and a community event. I just never got back into the swing of things. After I graduated, my props had already collected a lot of dust.

Fast forward 18 years, and I really want to get started again. Things are more difficult time-wise, as I have two kids and a wife to attend to. However, impressing my 4-year-old son is so much fun. Although he is quite the intelligent little rascal and loves to search all around me when a coin disappears.

Wish I would have had a mentor way back when, who would have encouraged me to keep going, to rebuild my client base.

Hope it isn't too late to start doing shows again. I've recently invested in a couple props that needed replacing. I purchased a metal Lota Vase (huge upgrade from the cheap one I used back then). My favorite running gag was that my magic props had a mind of their own. The Chinese Sticks refused to cooperate with my instructions (Step 1: Make sure both cords are of equal length). I needed a dry, empty vase for an illusion, but every time I reached for it, it had more water in it.

Well, this was longer than I originally intended. Hope someone out there finds my story.

Welcome servant,

The Café can help inspire you and answer some of your questions.
I assume you've found "The Little Darlings" forum.
Don't forget, you can research a topic to see if it' s been covered before.

Best of luck (and hard work).

Mary Mowder

Happy to have you here servant! I think you'll find a lot of people in your shoes who came into magic after an absence. Myself included. I'm a collector and hobbyist now, but like you, performed when I was a teen. Gave it all up in college, and then one day while having some time to kill on a business trip, walked into a magic shop.

Boom. That was 15 years ago and I haven't looked back.

Thanks for sharing! I'm glad I'm not alone.

Servant...congratulations! You made it to 50 posts. You can now access the "Let's make a deal!" section, and "The Banquet Room" at the very bottom of the site. Both are two of my favorite areas to hang, and you'll find a ton of bargains from trusted sellers in "Let's make a deal!"

Well, that's sweet! I didn't realize there was an area to buy/sell illusions. Very nice.