In the magic community, there are a few resources, magic clubs and organizations that most
magicians are part of. The
International Brotherhood of Magicians (
I.B.M.)
Linking Ring is our monthly magazine for full time entertainers and hobbyists which is packed with club information, products, articles and much more.
This month, yours truly was featured in an article pertaining to a unique perspective of the magical arts. Enjoy!
Thanks to Cliff Bumgardner for taking the time to put together this story.
Here's a rough transcript of the article if viewing the pictures is problematic:
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The Power of Observation
An Interview with Rich Ferguson
Rich Ferguson is a full-time professional magician who is in constant demand by high-profile clients across the country. His magic has been featured on multiple television shows and specials, including The Ellen Degeneres Show and NBC’s Phenomenon. Inside the magic community he’s known as the very clever creator of effects such as “Serial Biller” and “Tagged,” which was named the iTricks.com Trick of the Year in 2008.
What’s the secret to Rich’s creativity? Much of it is due to his unique and unorthodox approach to magic – a style he developed as a result of his difficult, at times even tumultuous childhood.
“I was born in Salinas, California to a family involved with heavy drug trafficking,” Rich says. “My dad went to jail when I was one year old and is still serving multiple life sentences in Texas. My mom was killed when I was about five years old. My grandparents were then given custody of me, and my daily observations were drug abuse, physical abuse, and police raids – among many other things a child should not have to see.”
Rich’s troublesome surroundings as forced him to develop keen observational skills – skills that would later define his entire approach to magic. He now says, “I was a kid that that was wired from day one to be on his toes and keep a step ahead of people. Adding to that, I didn’t know how to read, so my skills for survival had to be highly enhanced. Observation was all I had to get by on. I learned to live off my wits and common sense.”
When he was eleven years old, Rich was removed from his family and put into child protective services. He was adopted a short time later, allowing him to begin his life anew. And though many things changed dramatically, he never left behind one gift given to him by his past: “I always seemed to be the person who could answer common sense problems. I was always the guy who could remember details such as where someone else left their keys. I never thought I was special, I just felt like others lacked the concentration to remember what they saw or experienced. It was–and still is–a little frustrating to have the distraction of knowing details that really should be someone else's responsibility. It took me until college to really understand that most people don't see everything and don't take on the brain-taxing responsibility to analyze everything around them and calculate the repercussions.”
As a young man, Rich began using his observational skills to create experiments in human behavior. He would do things such as attempt to take an object from someone just to see if he could get away with it, or move something to see if anyone would notice. Rich didn’t realize it at the time, but he was actually dabbling in some of the foundational techniques of magic – something that would not become clear to him for several more years.
These experiments led to Rich creating little tricks and pieces simply for his own interest and amusement. But it wasn’t until Rich was asked to perform at a friend’s party that it became evident he could use what he had created as a vehicle for entertainment. “I realized that night I had discovered something very special,” he says. “This way of connecting with people was amazing, and within a year I quit my job and became a full-time entertainer.”
It still took several years of being a professional performer for Rich to associate his style of entertainment with magic. Having never even read a magic book or watched a video, Rich nervously joined The Magic Castle, where he first saw how magicians were using skills very much like his own to create magical experiences for their audience. That was all it took; he had been bitten by the magic bug.
Rich then started studying more traditional magic concepts, always looking for ways to make them his own using observational techniques and knowledge of humor behavior. He says this has become not only his approach to magic, but the very essence of the experience he tries to share with his audience. “It not only carries my show from a method or approach standpoint, but it helps me reveal techniques about human behavior that keep sophisticated crowds interested in me. The premise and execution of even the most gimmicky effect I do is altered by some form of human behavior when I'm done with it. Without a keen sense of observation, my act would be reduced to simple tricks and I would likely not be an entertainer at all.
“In addition to the magic, human behavior also helps in the relationships and business of what I do. It's no secret that I'm having a great time performing at parties all over the globe. My client relationships are wonderful and my business is doing very well. I believe that besides hard work, there is certainly a tie to reading folks and adjusting accordingly.”
As difficult as it was, Rich credits his childhood as the backbone for who he is and all that he has accomplished. “I've come to realize that the survival instincts I developed very early on give me an advantage in life and business. When you master something from trial and error and survival, you really understand it. As far as where I'd be in my non-magical life, if I had a ‘normal’ childhood, I imagine I'd be a different person. What would you be like today if you were raised the way I was? You just don't know. I do know that most kids do not make it out of the world I came from, and I just have to be grateful to have what I now have.”
But even with Rich’s great success, he has never forgotten his roots, or the importance of giving back. His work as a spokesperson for Dream for Kids led to him be the subject of the Telly Award-winning documentary, Rags to Riches. He also works with organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, Adoption Council, and Social Services. He says he loves the opportunity to influence children’s lives in a positive way and teach them that anything is possible.
Rich believes that all magicians can use behavioral techniques to take their magic to the next level. “For those who want to try to take magic beyond the steps of the tricks and be more flexible and improvisational,” he says, “the sky is the limit. But for those who avoid it, they are missing out on a deep psychological connection with their spectators.”
Like the documentary bearing his name, Rich’s life is a true rags-to-riches story that is nothing short of inspirational. His is a lesson in using every skill you have at your disposal, and reveals what can be accomplished when we as magicians stop worrying about our tricks and instead focus on the people we are trying to entertain. So please, put this magazine down, and take the time to simply look around your world. You may find it is a far more magical place than you ever thought possible.
For more information on Rich, go to:
www.RichFerguson.com
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