Close-Up Magician Ed Kwon

There are many magician who perform street magic.  That is how Ed Kwon
started his career.Ed Kwon is an accomplished  23-year-old Korean magician who has a home base in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Despite his young age, he regular healine  performer at The Magic Castle in Los Angeles.  The Magic Castle is a  world-famous private club for magicians.  To perform at
the Castle is like playing football in the NFL.

As a  young student, Kwon did magic on the streets with a group of friends. He was passionate enough to do a magic show for eight hours without repeating a trick or pausing, but didn’t have the opportunity to perform at official events or paid gigs.

Kwon’s love and passion for magic started when he was six years old. His parents took him to a magic show where a magician floated in the air like a bird. It turned out, the magician was David Copperfield, one of the most renowned magicians in the world. He was in so much awe with Copperfield’s performance, he was move to a point of tears.“I was blessed but cursed,” Kwon said. “From then, other magic shows were not as great. They all looked so dull after experiencing the David Copperfield  event. So I started to learn read, and practice magic myself Kwon says.

Since then, Kwon started to study all kinds of magic by himself through books. As there weren’t many books in Korean, he had to read foreign ones. That’s how he ultimately learned English from reading magic books.

While reading a book in 2011 written by Chicago-based magician Edward Marlo — whom he respects so much that he named himself after him — his personal magic world was turned upside down.

“I learned the beauty of cards. Cards are easy to carry around, can be used at any setting regardless of the language and can hold an incredible depth of meanings,” Kwon says.

From then on, Kwon became a “Cardician,” a magician who mainly plays cards. Citing another well-known magician, he quoted, “Playing cards is the poetry of conjuring.”  I do other close-up magic, but card magic is my true love.

Surprisingly, Kwon the magician is also a college student.“At a certain point, I felt a limitation as a magician. People have this prejudice, usually thinking of magicians as undereducated,” he said. “Also, I did a case study on the differences between successful magicians and those who are not so successful. I learned that the successful ones are very cultured, sophisticated. So I went to college, majoring in philosophy.”  I know this statement doesn’t set well with some magicians, but it was the conclusion I came to.

While in college Kwon changed his major to hospitality, thinking that “understanding humans” is the most essential part of magic. “The stage for magic may be decreasing, as other various forms of entertainment are emerging, However because of shows like America’s Got Talent, the popularity of magic is growing and trending.

In the end, however, it’s all about humans. Magic is done by humans and for humans. No matter how technology develops, people want to interact with others,” he said.  I believe
magician have a higher level of emotional intelligence EQ than most people.

Kwon claimed that many highly-educated people are into the art of magic, saying there are a lot of lawyers and doctors who practice magic. He added, they are also the ones who give out the greatest reactions at magic shows.  The smarter the person the more they appreciate the performance of magic, and less educated seem to view a magician is someone who can do tricks.  They seem to get satisfaction about understanding the secret, but have now understanding of the actual performance.

“It goes against what they know, the logical and critical thinking,” he said. “It’s like riding a roller coaster. We know that it’s safe, but it’s still scary. The gap thrills us,” the aspiring magician said. “It’s the same for magic. Magic can’t be understood from what we know in our heads. But the excitement can still be felt through the heart.”  I love and am fascinated by people and there a few people that can understand others at the level a performing magician can, that is why I think magic  is the best hobby a child can have.