When I was young, I was very shy and so desperately wanted to believe that magic was real. I remember the first time I was taken into the magic shop, the man behind the counter could do amazing things with ropes and blades and colored sticks and strings. I looked up at him as he hovered high above the glass case filled with colorful cards, feathers, wands and coins - and politely asked in a small voice "Is magic real?" To which he quickly quipped "Yes, and you can learn how to do it too for $7.95." I instantly pulled out my wallet and several weeks of savings only to find that... it was... a trick. I had been fooled. This finger chopper wasn't real magic, it was merely a trick blade. Yet something from within compelled me to practice and memorize the story that came printed in the red and green plastic package. Some great force drove me to go up to one of my peers on the playground and perform it for them. At that moment, when I saw the amazement in their eyes, I realized that it wasn't just a trick. Instead, I found in that singular moment, in the sharing of the experience and wonder - in that moment, it was real magic.

I bought more effects and practiced. I read more books and learned. Slowly but surely my shyness faded away and my confidence and ability to work a room blossomed - giving me a life long desire to use magic to amuse, educate and entertain in every appropriate instance. It gave me the confidence to carry magic where ever I went and use it to leave places and people a smile happier then they were when I found them.

While attending university for degrees in anthropology, musical theater and radio broadcasting, I was encouraged by my friend Michael Fraughton to attend Master Class and later Mysterium. At these events, I was able to soak in concepts poured from the minds of magical and performance greats like Jeff McBride, Tobias Beckwith, Eugene Burger, Scott Hitchcock, Don Drake, Dan Harlan, Earl Chaney, and Jonathan and Charlotte Pendragon. With these professional magical thinkers guiding me along with the many students who came together to pool their years of combined experience, energy and enthusiasm for our esoteric art, I was able to glean more effects, nuances and performance skills in a single day than I otherwise could have in months of personal magical journeying.

Soon after participating in Master Class and Mysterium, I signed up for my first magic competition (P.C.A.M) Pacific Coast Association of Magicians in 2002. I was 23 and entered my work in the categories of Mentalism, Stage Magic and the Bag "O" Tricks creativity contest. On the final day when the awards ceremony was held I was proud to have had the opportunity to present my performance pieces to my magical peers and honestly surprised and overjoyed when I was called on stage to be awarded First Place in Mentalism, Second Place in Stage Magic as well as second place in the Bag "O" Tricks creativity competition.

Wholeheartedly, I credit a great deal of my success at P.C.A.M to the help, advice and friendship that I received within the Master Class / Mysterium programs. As an anthropologist, I am proud to have been a part of the Master Class program within which Jeff McBride, Eugene Burger and Tobias Beckwith have revised mentorship in the ancient traditions that have existed for thousands of years. With their emphasis on ritual, meaning, clarity of thought, showmanship and theater, Master Class understands like no other forum I have been to, before or since, how integral to society the art of magical performance is. Or how fulfilling a life of a magical performer can be.

My magical mentors include: Jeff McBride, Eugene Burger and Michael J. Fraughton.

I am a student of the works of: Max Maven, Michael Skinner, T.A. Waters, Steve Shaw/Banachek , Doug Henning, Harry Blackstone Jr., Kreskin, Dunninger, Darwin Ortiz, S.H. Sharpe, Harlan Tarbell, Eugene Burger, Maskelyne and Devant, Tommy Wonder, Robert E. Neal, Henning Nelms, Milbourne Christopher, Corinda, Ted Anneman, Harry Anderson, Punx, Andrew Mayne, and Ricky Jay.

Currently I am acting in equity theater houses in musical theater productions, performing stage and corporate magic shows, lecturing on the history of magic and pursuing graduate research in 1) Modern day psychics, seers and their methods, 2) Performance magic apparatus in the archeological record. And 3) The impact of modern media and television on the livelihood of the east Indian fakir.

"I see Magic as a mystical ideal, a place where we can live in childlike joy, confidence and wonder. I use magic to empower and share the joy, the excitement I feel with the coming of each day."

For more information on Paul, visit his website at RealMagic.org