Junior and magician Travis Eichner makes the impossible look effortless.
Eichner has been practicing magic since the age of nine. He has transitioned from humble beginnings, practicing magic with friends in elementary school, to an impressive professional career, performing at venues all across Los Angeles, including The Magic Castle, one of LA’s most prestigious magic venues.
“[My magic] was mostly self-taught,” Eichner said. “YouTube is where I started to get all of my stuff from. I remember one of the guy’s [I watched] was named A Million Card Tricks. I have no idea if there were actually a million card tricks, but he would do a lot. I would just look those up, watch a trick, learn it, and repeat that process. When I was applying to the Magic Castle I did one of those tricks, and it got me in.”
According to Eichner, he now focuses on creating his own tricks and collaborating with other magicians when he sees something he wants to incorporate into an act. Over the past couple of years, he has streamlined the development of new performances.
“The creating-your-own-magic-trick process is sort of complicated. There’s two ways that I like to do it,” Eichner explained. “The first is thinking about something I haven’t done, like a certain prop, and thinking about different ways I can use that. The other one is probably the one that I use the most. I take an idea for a trick and I create the most perfect version, starting with this impossible situation and moving it down to a more reasonable and achievable place.”
Eichner credits his consistent practice as essential to honing his skills in magic. He’s constantly writing down ideas, fiddling with cards, or revisiting old tricks. According to Eichner, he dedicates up to 20% of each day to practicing magic.
“Lots and lots and lots of practice goes into everything,” Eichner said. “[People] think that magic is just sleight of hand and that’s what you sit there practicing for hours on end. That’s partially true, but there’s so much more to it. There’s a lot of practice that goes into staging, choreographing.”
Eichner also emphasizes the importance of confidence while performing. According to him, it’s important to never lose your stride while performing. He was able to demonstrate this skill live during his recent performance at TedxManhattanBeach, after [host of TEDx] accidentally broke a prop during a trick.
“It was easily one of the most nerve-racking things that could have possibly happened,” Eichner said. “I somehow managed to stay calm and sort of played it off as a joke. I had a bunch of people ask me if the cube breaking was an accident or on purpose, so that means I recovered well.”
The cube incident was overshadowed by the rest of Eichner’s performance. His act had a focus on audience engagement. Eichner closed with a clever twist on a classic trick, inviting a volunteer to draw a random card. After scattering the deck face-down across the floor, Eichner confidently picked up the 7 of Spades, the exact card chosen. Smiling, he asked everyone in the audience to reach under their seats, where they found a dark red envelope carrying the signature card.
“It’s kind of like my lucky card,” Eichner said, reflecting on the seven of spades. “One time, I was performing for some people and I dropped the cards, which is a big no. The trick was kind of ruined, but I picked a card up from the floor, the seven of spades, and it happened to be right. Every once in a while something special like that will happen and it’s usually the seven of spades.”
In his almost decade-long magic career, Eichner has grown to love every aspect of being a magician. Eichner cites one thing above all else as the source of his love for magic.
“It is 100% the reactions,” Eichner said. “It’s the best part of it. It’s so fun to show someone a trick, when they’re not expecting to be fooled.”
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