Watauga High School student teaches magic to Boone community
Watauga High School student Jackson Martin is looking to teach his community about the art of magic. Martin supposedly knows how to perform over 100 different magic tricks.
August 27, 2019
Though most magicians never reveal their secrets, one local teen is starting to teach others in the community how to perform magic themselves.
Jackson Martin, a Watauga High School sophomore, said he knows how to perform over 100 magic and card tricks.
“I’ve always had a fascination with magic and enjoyed being able to fool other people,” Martin said. “I like giving people that feeling of not knowing what’s next. It’s really cool seeing their expressions.”
Martin hosted a camp for children on Aug. 1 to teach the magic that leaves audiences asking, “How did he do that?”
The junior magicians who attended the camp learned 15 new tricks using cards and stage props.
“If magicians didn’t reveal their tricks, then magic would be dead after the first magician,” Martin said.
After visiting four different magic shops in Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland while on family vacation, Martin said he has many new tricks to learn.
His favorite trick to perform is the “cup and balls” trick, which is a magic trick that uses misdirection to trick the audience into thinking the ball went through three cups.
“It’s the oldest magic trick in the history of magic,” Martin said. “It gets the best reactions because of the simplicity of it.”
Martin said no trick scares him, but some tricks are scarier for the audience.
“There are five bags and there’s one with a nail sticking up in it. It’s the most nerve-wracking one because a nail could go through the back of my hand at any time,” Martin said.
Martin said he believes everybody cares about magic because of how intriguing it is, and he has never met anyone who said they did not like magic.
“People like getting fooled, especially when the impossible becomes possible,” Martin said. “I think magic really brings out the child in everybody.”
Martin will plans to continue his magical career into adulthood. He said anyone who wants to become a magician should talk to older magicians.
“They are so well knowledged and can tell me things about magic that I didn’t know,” Martin said.
Martin plans to perform at the fall festival at Blowing Rock School Sept. 6.
