A story about 18 year old close-up magician,
Nathan Hickey, from Apalachin, New York.
Nathan Hickey, from Apalachin, New York.
by Cliff Bumgardner
_______ . _________
Nathan Hickey - first bitten by the magic bug by watching the World’s Greatest Magic TV specials when he was younger. He said that he taped them all and I would watch them over and over trying to figure them out and being amazed at all the big illusions. Nathan then took an interest in card and close-up magic after attending his first I.B.M. meeting at Ring 79. He was blown away watching Gary Freed perform. Since that day, the I.B.M. and Ring 79 in Binghamton, New York, have continued to have profound effects on Nathan’s magic career. He says, “The people in my Ring were extremely helpful in teaching me the right way to approach magic and helping me advance in the art... ”
Nathan credits his family and friends for helping him on his path in magic.
Nathan Hickey - first bitten by the magic bug by watching the World’s Greatest Magic TV specials when he was younger. He said that he taped them all and I would watch them over and over trying to figure them out and being amazed at all the big illusions. Nathan then took an interest in card and close-up magic after attending his first I.B.M. meeting at Ring 79. He was blown away watching Gary Freed perform. Since that day, the I.B.M. and Ring 79 in Binghamton, New York, have continued to have profound effects on Nathan’s magic career. He says, “The people in my Ring were extremely helpful in teaching me the right way to approach magic and helping me advance in the art... ”
Nathan credits his family and friends for helping him on his path in magic.
“My family and friends have been a huge support. My parents have driven me to numerous conventions and competitions and meetings. [They also] put up with all the new tricks I have to show them and give me feedback on my effects and performances, as well as how I could improve them. My friends are always willing to see a new effect, and I can rely on them to give me honest feedback as well,” he says.
Nathan stays busy performing both inside the magic community and abroad. He performs locally in New York at the Earth Fair and a few other summer festivals and has competed at the Ohio MagiFest for the past three years, placing third in Junior Close-Up his very first time out. Sorcerers Safari magic camp has been another great source of knowledge for Nathan. He has attended the camp for the past two years and plans to go back again this year. He says,”[Sorcerers Safari] has got to be one of my favorite places to be. I look forward to it all year, and when I’m there I learn how to perform... [and also] learn some of the best magic from some of the best magicians.”
I am always amazed as to how magic can affect not only the people who witness it but the lives of the very people who perform it. Magic can help with self-confidence and give direction and purpose to someone. For Nathan, magic had a great affect on a very difficult part of anyone’s life, high school. When Nathan had to transfer to a new school, magic was the tool that allowed him to connect with his peers and settle in to his new surroundings.
He says, “Magic helped me tremendously when transitioning into a new high school. I had no idea who anybody was, but magic definitely helped out. Within the first month, I already had the nickname ‘Magic Man.’I tried out for the school talent show, not expecting very good results, and I was very surprised. Not only did I get into the show, but I got second place. After that, almost everyone knew me, but I didn’t know them. But magic got passed the cliques and groups in the school, so it made it easy for me to talk to people and become friends with them without being labeled.”
What makes something art? A card trick on its own is not art, just like a painting by itself is not art, either. Art has the important characteristic of impact. Whether the art is magic, painting, music, dance, film, or any other form, it affects those who experience it and has an impact on their lives and our culture as a whole. This impact allows it to transcend barriers that we all face, be it language, culture, or the cliques Nathan experienced in his school. As artists it is our job to understand, and perhaps most importantly, appreciate the impact that our art form carries with it, whether it is simply making a child smile, or helping us in our own lives. Magic has already impacted Nathan Hickey’s life in a great way, and I believe that it will only continue to do so throughout his sure-to-be great magic career. If you’d like to get in touch with Nathan you can email him here: imaginathan08 at gmail.com.
[The winding path to this article began when I asked the fantastic magician (and now also filmmaker) Chase Goforth for a recommendation. Chase is a great guy who has been nothing but friendly and supportive to me for some time now. He said that I should contact a young man by the name of Josh Farley. Chase gave him an extremely high recommendation, which means quite a lot. Upon contacting Josh, I found out that Dakota Rose, had written an article about him a little while back. However, this was not a dead end. Josh then gave me the name of this month’s featured magician and told me that he was an incredible talent. You can see that I am not kidding when I say that this young man comes very highly recommended. - Cliff]
Nathan stays busy performing both inside the magic community and abroad. He performs locally in New York at the Earth Fair and a few other summer festivals and has competed at the Ohio MagiFest for the past three years, placing third in Junior Close-Up his very first time out. Sorcerers Safari magic camp has been another great source of knowledge for Nathan. He has attended the camp for the past two years and plans to go back again this year. He says,”[Sorcerers Safari] has got to be one of my favorite places to be. I look forward to it all year, and when I’m there I learn how to perform... [and also] learn some of the best magic from some of the best magicians.”
I am always amazed as to how magic can affect not only the people who witness it but the lives of the very people who perform it. Magic can help with self-confidence and give direction and purpose to someone. For Nathan, magic had a great affect on a very difficult part of anyone’s life, high school. When Nathan had to transfer to a new school, magic was the tool that allowed him to connect with his peers and settle in to his new surroundings.
He says, “Magic helped me tremendously when transitioning into a new high school. I had no idea who anybody was, but magic definitely helped out. Within the first month, I already had the nickname ‘Magic Man.’I tried out for the school talent show, not expecting very good results, and I was very surprised. Not only did I get into the show, but I got second place. After that, almost everyone knew me, but I didn’t know them. But magic got passed the cliques and groups in the school, so it made it easy for me to talk to people and become friends with them without being labeled.”
What makes something art? A card trick on its own is not art, just like a painting by itself is not art, either. Art has the important characteristic of impact. Whether the art is magic, painting, music, dance, film, or any other form, it affects those who experience it and has an impact on their lives and our culture as a whole. This impact allows it to transcend barriers that we all face, be it language, culture, or the cliques Nathan experienced in his school. As artists it is our job to understand, and perhaps most importantly, appreciate the impact that our art form carries with it, whether it is simply making a child smile, or helping us in our own lives. Magic has already impacted Nathan Hickey’s life in a great way, and I believe that it will only continue to do so throughout his sure-to-be great magic career. If you’d like to get in touch with Nathan you can email him here: imaginathan08 at gmail.com.
[The winding path to this article began when I asked the fantastic magician (and now also filmmaker) Chase Goforth for a recommendation. Chase is a great guy who has been nothing but friendly and supportive to me for some time now. He said that I should contact a young man by the name of Josh Farley. Chase gave him an extremely high recommendation, which means quite a lot. Upon contacting Josh, I found out that Dakota Rose, had written an article about him a little while back. However, this was not a dead end. Josh then gave me the name of this month’s featured magician and told me that he was an incredible talent. You can see that I am not kidding when I say that this young man comes very highly recommended. - Cliff]
As always, if you’d like to recommend someone for my regular Linking Ring Column you can email Cliff here: cliff at amazenyou.com.
-mk
