Never Too Late to Live Your Dream

Greetings all,

I am back in Las Vegas after a long tour. Many of my days are spent working with students on Skype. One of my students who has a very interesting story is The Great Lorenzo! He often performs in the secret downstairs rooms at Hollywood’s famed Magic Castle.

Many magicians have a passion for magic early in their lives, but don’t commit fully to the path of mastery until later in life. The first Dean of the Magic & Mystery School, Eugene Burger, did not become a full time professional until his late 30’s.

Some students of magic have dreams of performing for their friends and families, and some even aspire to work at Hollywood’s famed Magic Castle. Our student, Lorenzo, is one of those magicians who came back to magic late in life and is achieving his dreams.   

Student of the Month
The Great Lorenzo…in his words…

My passion for magic started in 1982. I trained very hard, but had to let it go because of other life commitments. Nearly 40 years later, I came back!

In August of 2018, eight months after retiring, I attended my first Master Class. I had spent the prior three months selecting, conceptualizing, scripting, constructing, and rehearsing a 10-minute performance piece. I had no idea what to expect from the class. I had hopes, and I had fears. Who was I to take a Master Class? I was so short of mastery of anything magical anymore. However, the Master Class best fit my schedule, and was within my budget, so I enrolled.

That class was a truly inspiring experience. Jeff and Abigail have opened their home and hearts, and, with all the Mystery School staff, they have created an amazing place to learn magic. Most importantly they have created a safe space to try and fail. Negative anticipation of failure is destructive. It is destructive of self, and it is destructive of art. However, constructive failure is essential for growth and learning. The Mystery School’s greatest strength may be that it provides for safe failure.

Don’t get me wrong – the lessons themselves are intense, packed with magical knowledge, both hands-on and theoretical. The instructors are all amazing, knowledgeable professionals, and each lesson is layered with such depth of material that magicians at all levels can come away with valuable new insights into our art and new skills to practice and perfect.

At the end of that class, I was emotionally wrung out. It had caused me to reach inside myself for magic connections beyond expectation. I was exhausted and bulging with magic. It was like a Thanksgiving dinner spent with people you truly enjoyed being with, at which you had eaten all you could, but even so, barely sampled the feast laid out before you.

My strongest feeling coming away from the class was gratitude. You see, I came to the class doubting if I could be a magician again, and left it knowing that I could.

Two years after returning to magic, with Jeff’s guidance, and through the Mystery School experience, I now perform regularly at the Magic Castle. I’ve got a solid 20-minute set, and am working on another to showcase more of my close-up magic. That’s so much more than I could imagine two years ago.

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You can read Lorenzo’s full article in the Secret Arts Journal  
http://secretartjournal.com/

Wonderground News – Join Us for The Biggest Magic Party In Las Vegas!

February 20, 2020

7:30           Strolling and Close-up Magic

8:00pm      Comedy & Variety Show with your host, Tim Wise
     Jeff McBride – Always Something New!
     Will Bradshaw – Animated Illusions
     Charly D’Carlo – Star of The Magic Factor
     Dyno Staats – Magic or Science?
     David Groves – Direct from Hollywood
     TAPEFACE – star of America’s Got Talent

9:00pm       Parlor, Close-Up and Bar Magic!
     Jeff McBride – King of Cards
     Lyra Zoller – Conjuring with Coins
     Dyno Staats – Experimental Magic
     David Groves – Original Illusions
     Charly D’Carlo – The Magic Factor
     Tim Wise – At the WonderBar
     Plus special guests, TBA.

1000pm    Stage Extravaganza with your host, Jeff McBride
     Charly D’Carlo & Co. – Grand Illusions
     Lyra Zoller – Scintillating Sorcery
     Dyno Staats – Magic or Science?
     Will Bradshaw – Valentine’s Magic
     TAPEFACE – Star of the Las Vegas Strip

ALL THE ABOVE PLUS: 
Photography by Sheryl Garrett, Bar Magic-Brian Apollo, Scott Steelfyre & Maggie, Corey Rubino,  New World Rythmatism Belly Dancers, Psychic Sideshow with tarot reading, and many more surprises and special celebrity guests!

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