Though it may have taken freshman Eric Shadoan some time to gain his reputation as the school’s resident magician, dance teacher Kristin Oakes said he quickly gained a reputation with her in a different way.
“One of his first times in my Plus One class, he took his schedule and wrote his name on it and his number and put it up on the mirrors in the dance room, then said he wanted some girls to ‘hit him up,’” Oakes said. “I was like, ‘Sir, you cannot do that,’ and then he was like, ‘No, I’m a magician; I can show some magic tricks.’”
This joke may be how she got to know him, but some time after that, Oakes got to see his magic, and when she did, she was impressed.
“I was in awe,” Oakes said. “He busted out these cards, and I was like, ‘What is going on?’”
Shadoan said that kind of reaction is what motivates him to keep doing magic.
“I just like seeing the smiles on people’s faces—just to watch the ‘Holy crap, how did he do that’ look,” Shadoan said. “That’s why I do it.”
Shadoan has been doing magic for a year, after the movie Now You See Me inspired him to try it out. Shadoan says he practices doing tricks for people during Plus One, walking around after school, or on the bus to away games for his three sports, and his tricks often get very positive reactions.
“People go around screaming and yelling, and they’re like, ‘Oh, do another one, do another one!’” Shadoan said.
Sophomore Ryan Parker had a similar reaction when Shadoan first showed him his tricks.
“I was shocked at first,” Parker said. “I was kind of questioning how he did it.”
Parker, who has known Shadoan since fifth grade, believes that his tricks have definitely improved since he first saw them.
“He’s been getting a lot better and cleaner with them, and it’s harder to tell what he’s doing with the tricks,” Parker said. “He’s really good at it; he should keep it up.”
Shadoan said one of the most important things about making magic believable and enjoyable is keeping the magic of the tricks alive.
“I never teach people my tricks; that’s the magician’s code,” Shadoan said. “You never tell them your secret, because then it’s not magic anymore, and they lose all interest, whereas if you amaze somebody, then they’re like, ‘Woah, there’s no way, show me again.’”
Oakes agrees with Shadoan, and doesn’t want to ruin the magic of it, but said she still finds herself trying to figure it out.
“I have watched him do some of the same tricks, and I’m thinking that every time I watch him do some of the same tricks I’m going to catch something, even though I don’t want to catch it, because I want to believe in the magic,” Oakes said. “But he’s very quick; I have yet to catch on. Some students are like, ‘Oh, I see how you do that,’ and I’m like, ‘You’re lying. I was staring.’”
Shadoan plans to keep doing magic as a hobby, so he can continue making people happy.
“I like the reaction that people get, the amazement in their eyes and the smile on their faces,” Shadoan said. “It just brings joy to people whenever I do a good trick.”
– By Meera Butalia
