Maybe you’ve seen them flipping cards in class or rallying up volunteers at football games. They enchant their audiences and thrive on the applause. Magicians Max Galarce and Danny Scigalski, seniors, have taken it upon themselves to entertain students.
“Really it’s the fans that keep me going,” Scigalski said. “I feel guilty that I can’t impress even more than I do now. I have recently decided to double the amount of time I devote to practicing and performing magic so I can blow people’s minds twice as much.”
Scigalski now has his own Facebook fan page—“Daniel the Mystical”—with 228 likes.
Galarce spends twenty hours practicing his magic each week. For him, magic is not only a creative outlet, but also a way to relax.
“If I’ve had a long day at school, I’ll sit at home and try to practice a little bit, play some music—it’s almost a little form of meditation. It’s just a cool way to create things and see what people think of them, and perfect things and see how you change something to make it better,” Galarce said.
The two magicians sat down with Bear Facts to reveal their stories.
What type(s) of magic do you do?
Max Galarce: I do mostly card tricks. I also like to do the moves with the cards on a separate basis; it’s called cardistry [nonmagical flouration of playing cards as a performance art.]
Danny Scigalski: There are two types of magic: real magic and magic tricks. The type I do is real magic, although I sometimes call it ‘magic tricks’ so people don’t get dangerously excited. The magic I usually do is with cards, but I also do other kinds of magic tricks, including rubber band magic, or I can sometimes channel spirits for psychic magic.
Where do you perform?
MG: Back in sophomore year, sometimes I’d do it during class. But I’ve kind of gotten a little bit better with that because it is a little bit distracting. I did a lot of volunteer work where I’d show magic to little kids at camps and therapy clinics. I performed a lot there, and I did a lot of teaching kids how to do magic tricks. And I’ll do it at every family party and that sort of thing.
DS: On the weekends I’m usually performing magic around public places like Deer Park Mall. I always carry at least two decks of cards wherever I go, and I wear rubber bands on both arms, so I usually just perform magic to anything with a heartbeat. In any class, I perform magic tricks whenever I feel that it’s appropriate. I usually like to go out during my opens to a place where I can perform. Every game I go to, I try my best to do as much magic as I can until there’s a reason that I have to stop, so at that point I usually perform more post-game at Wendy’s or anywhere with lots of people. I love doing magic, so if anyone wants to see my magic they should let me know and I will be glad to amaze them.
What do you love most about magic?
MG: It allows me to express myself. I’ve been doing it for about two and a half years now and it’s almost become a form of mediation. If I’ve had a long day at school I’ll sit at home and try to practice a little bit, play some music—it’s almost a little form of meditation. It’s just a cool way to create things and see what people think of them, and perfect things and see how you can change something to make it better. It’s a really cool creative output.
DS: Really it’s the fans that keep me going. I call them ‘Dannettes.’ [‘Daniel the Mystical’ is his Facebook fan page.] I’m not quite sure if they like being called that, but there’s no changing it now.
Would you ever consider going professional or performing magic as a side job?
MG: Yeah, I would definitely consider it. When I go off to college I think it’d be cool to have a job at a restaurant or something and perform for people. It would give me good experience, [and it would be] good for people skills and learning how the real world works.
DS: Not only do I want to go professional with it, I know that I will go professional with it. In fact, I’ve already made $1 in my career so far, so I’m already halfway there. Although I’m basically a professional already, it’s not really about the money, it’s about getting everyone to see the greatness of magic at its best.
How did you become interested in magic?
MG: When I was in seventh grade … one of my friends showed me a magic trick that just blew me away and I said “I need to be able to do this for other people.”
DS: Over the summer, my mentor … let’s just call him ‘Jhomas Zetrovic’ … came to my house and said, ‘Dude, wanna see something awesome?’ and that something was magic. Ever since then, I was taught how to use these magic powers for the good of our school and for the good of America.
Do you have any words for the nonbelievers?
MG: I’d say, just take it for what you think it is. There are a lot of people who don’t think it’s cool or say, ‘Oh it’s lame; it’s just a trick.’ I really think people should just take it for face value. If it’s a cool visual little flip trick or something that just looks cool, just take it as it is really magic.
DS: If anyone doubts my magic abilities, I would be more than happy to prove them wrong.
Do you come up with your own magic?
MG: I come up with a few magic tricks, nothing too special, but I do come up with my own cardistry moves—the cuts—I make those up myself.
DS: Yes, I do come up with a few of my magic tricks. Another thing is that I often do the same tricks in different ways. A lot of people have probably seen the same tricks multiple times, so every time I perform it, I usually try to add something new or say something different to entertain the ‘Dannettes’ [fans].
Is there a code of conduct or ethics among magicians?
MG: Yeah, I mean you have that classic ‘never real your secret.’ Even though sometimes we aren’t very good about that because we’re showing some friends a magic trick on a Friday night and we just want to tell them how it’s done. So that’s a little different. But when you’re performing on the street or performing for somebody you don’t know, it’s really important to not give away that secret on how it’s done.
DS: Yes, a lot of the code is a secret that is only told telepathically between magicians, but the most important rule is that a magician never reveals his secret. The only time a magician can reveal his secret is if he is recruiting a new magician, for example, some of my ‘apprentices’ are Dom Fava, Anthony Dote, and Briana Harris.