A local teenage Shuswap magician with more than a few tricks up his sleeve is turning some heads and setting his sights high.
Jeremy Stevens won a major talent show in Lethbridge on Thursday February 20th, using a magic trick involving some two-by-fours, a bag and a nail. For him, the win is just another step towards a career as a professional magician.
“Vegas is the ultimate destination,” said Jeremy, adding he’d like to go to a professional magic school there. It’s also the home base of his role models Sean Watson and Jeff McBride.
“I’ve loved doing magic ever since my grandpa showed me my first trick (his grandfather cut a rope in half and then restored it) when I was just five years old,” said Jeremy, adding his family continues to help him in his budding magic career.
“It means a lot to me. I could do it on my own, but it would be hard to manage without my family supporting me,” he said.
Jeremy did a magic course five or six years ago and has been performing at birthday and office parties ever since, as well as performing magic shows in B.C., Alberta and across the border.
In a year’s time he’s hoping his magic skills will see him land across the Atlantic in London, as part of the prestigious, high-stakes International Federation of Magic Sciences World Championships in 2015.
The competition is only held every four years and of the many applicants, only 100 are selected. The competitors are pared down until the final magicians have a face-off. The winner comes home with $500,000.
The magic tricks take a lot of practice and a lot of props — Jeremy estimated that since half his tricks involved ripping cards, he goes through about 20 or 30 decks of cards a week.
For Jeremy there’s more to magic than just the physical skill involved.
“It’s about doing tricks in front of people,” he said. “Their response, their emotions inspire me.”
Jeremy is currently working on a much bigger trick than he’s ever attempted before. He won’t reveal all the details, but said it’s one in which a person goes inside box, spikes are put through the box and the person inside disappears.