Leslie McKinney

I started out as a ventriloquist. As a kid I was doing shows in churches and banquets and schools. When I was in grade school, our bus got stalled in this snow storm in Nashville and my bus driver knew I did magic tricks. And she asked me if I would get up and entertain the kids on the bus while we were stuck. And so I did. And she was so impressed that she hired me to entertain at her church when I was like 12 years old. And I got paid $15. I wasn’t even expecting to get paid. And I thought, this is something I really enjoy doing and you can make money. So I signed up for it.

Erica: We also asked him what skills you need to be a great magician.

You have to have, I think, a knowledge and a love of the craft of magic. But magic is something that you don’t have to have a particular look or any particular talent. Magicians come in all different shapes and sizes. And there are so many different facets of magic. I like the big illusion shows. I like pretty showgirls and tigers and boxes and all that. But some magicians work as a mentalist or they do hypnosis. I mean, you can be any archetype and still be a successful magician.

It was the French magician Robert Houdin – where Harry Houdini, whose real name was Eric Weis, borrowed his name – he said that we’re not magicians. We’re actors playing the part of a magician. So if you are tall and slender like David Copperfield, you can be, kind of, the romantic lead kind of person and you’re playing that character on stage. Me, I’m more like Bill Murray so I’m a little bit goofy. You kind of have to look in the mirror and say, what am I? What do I look like? And then you portray that on stage.

Erica: Ah, and I’ve got a few magic tricks of my own up my sleeve for learning English. Turn to Business Spotlight magazine. Our audio is available as a CD or subscription download, and offers more than 70 minutes of texts and exercises. Or visit us online at www.business-spotlight.de. We hope you’ve enjoyed our podcast. Join us again next Tuesday. And now it’s time for me to disappear!