Why we can't shut people out of magic

[Brad Christian]

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Read the below story that was submitted via one of our online forms. This is partly for those of you to tend to want to keep magic all to yourself. You never know what people will be able to do with magic and who they will be able to help, including themselves. We've received SO many of these stories but this one is exceptional..... he expresses himself very openly.

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ok, so where to start? My name is Nicolas Gaston Valerga, i'm from Argentina and i am 20 years old. The 4th of March,2008 i will be 21, and since i first met Ellusionist.com, my life has changed....

First of all, i'm trully sorry for my following english spelling mistakes...=) Hope you understand that here in Argentina, we speak spanish and in schools they teach "English from england" not "American English"...

I have been performing here around the streets more or less 1 year from now, as many of your magicians i admire.

I still can't buy directly your tricks due to several problems in my daily life and for problems of costs.

But still, with much effort, i have manage to get some of your tricks like Hovercard, Tricked decks, Playing cards and the self-tying shoelace, among others, that can be bought here.

I really love everything you have on the web page, and as i have told you before, since i first met Ellusionist.com, my life changed and i will tell you why...

In March the 2nd, 2007 my father was diagnosed cancer in his "rectum"( i don't know if it is right spelled), and exposed himself to a 6 hour medical intervention, he almost died. 2 days after that, i was supposed to celebrate my 20th birthday,

Since then, i had to spent most of my days in the hospital taking care of my father and mother, for more or less 2 months, where my father suffered 2 more interventions. Unfortunatelly, the cancer was so big, his natural rectum was replaced by an artificial one for the rest of his life.

My girlfriend left me, and i have never felt more alone, sad, and frightened in my entire life.

One day, while i was searching on the internet on something to entertain my father and also me, i found ellusionist.com.

From that day in ahead, every day i went to the hospital or stayed with him to take care of him, i took the cards with me, and i practiced many tricks in order to entertain him, although he disliked magic.

Every day i performed for him in the hospital, my mother, grandparents, and the rest of my family, felt better, as it was the only thing that made him smile although everything. That was what encouraged me to learn magic.

After almost 8 months of chemotherapy and many analisis he is recovering pretty well.

Today, almost 1 year have passed from that days, and my father goes with me to several magic shows,(and enjoys them!!) i still perform for my family in Christmas, Easter, Birthdays, etc. But my family will never forget how magic was so useful to help my father.

So, what can i say? Thank you! is the only posible thing i can do, as you have given me so much happyness to me and to my family...

As i said at the beginning, almost one month from now, i will be 21 years old, and i was planning to fullfill my dream on going on a trip to California and hopefully meet personally the people who made possible to have my dad happy with me today and made me decide to dedicate my life to magic, but the business he owns has suffered many money issues as he wasn't capable of being there, and unfortunately i can't go.

So, instead, i wanted to tell you my story this way on how Brad, Daniel, Nathan, Jay (one of my favorites for his dance in the colour changes DVD), Devo, Justin and Wayne entered my life and helped me and my family.

I really don't think i will have the possibillity to meet all of you personally, but from the bottom of my heart i wanted to thank you guys for all you have done for me and my family...

So, that's my story, and as i can't go, i must say good bye to you all from here! and hopefully see you in a future...or God knows when...=)

All i can say is that I will continue to persuit my dream of going on a trip to California, know you personally or do just anything with you guys!..

So, that's all from here in Argentina, and i really hope the best for you and all the staff that makes Ellusionist.com posible.

See you soon! and please if you can, answer this message, just for knowing that all the staff of Ellusionist.com has recieved my thanks! and best wishes...

Best wishes!!

Nicolas Gaston Valerga

[Bijlogg]

That's an amazing story, thanks for sharing it Brad.

It's amazing how much good magic can do.

Tom

[Pauldela]

That's a really nice story!

I think E should fly him to cali!!!!

[Brakkiss]

WoW.

That's incredible. That must make you chaps feel right good about the work you do.

Can't E afford a couple of plane tickets and a hotel room for a few nights? =P

Would anybody be willing to start a donation-fund towards sending this guy on a California trip to meet the Magic Masters at E?

[palaceguard]

Very touching story. Thank you for sharing.

[Urban_Magi]

This is an excellent story. Realy moving. Im with everyone else. We gotta do something to get this kid out to cali.

[fubintien]

I loved reading this. . . Thanks for posting it, Brad!

This is good evidence that magic isn't just tricks and sleight of hand: it has real power.

[AllanLuu]

I love this art for this exact reason.

Anyone that askes me where I learn it because they want to become a magician (you can tell by the people that are interested and the people that just want to know how it is done).

This is the exact reason I became a magician, to make people happy and forget about daily problems.

[Wolvy]

Not really magic, but more or less Patch Adams with a deck of cards. nice story tho.

[urban entropy]

I agree that it's a very touching story. Definitely does show why it is important to keep magic alive and accessible for those willing to put the work in. Fantastic story.

I guess I'm going to be the Devil's advocate though in regards to the idea of getting this gentleman out to California. I have never understood selective charity of that kind. Not that the guy didn't share a very touching story involving magic - and it is unfortunate that he can't afford a flight out.

However what makes him more deserving of a trip out to California free of charge to meet all the people he looks up to than say a car accident victim? An HIV victim? Someone who is currently stuck out East fighting the war? How about a 9 or 10 year old magician who studies magic hard and works his fingers to the bone? Is he less deserving because he doesn't have a heart wrenching story to share?

I mean this as a genuine question and not as a sarcastic form of attack on the user's generosity. Personally I am not a charity giving person. I save what I am able to afford to give for those I care about and I feel can directly benefit from my help. Although that is a whole nother discussion.

In any case my main point is that it's very great that magic helped him and his family. It's truly a gift to the art to see and hear of someone being touched that much by the work that many put into magic. However that doesn't mean that all of us should jump at the chance to fly someone out to California for such reasons. Again I don't mean to sound like a scrooge - I'm just pointing out my logical feelings on the subject at hand. Definitely not wanting to insult anyone so hopefully it doesn't come across that way.

To those of you out there who are that charitable, continue to do so. :)

Regards,

urban

[Wolvy]

If he really wanted to fly down he could make the money by busking and doing birthday parties.

[Nicholas17]

It's always cool to read stuff like this.

[rajitha]

Hey,

I think it's mostly people who start out in magic that tend to keep things to themselves. I was one of them too. I thought that if theres too many people in magic then magic would become too "normal" and wouldn't be enjoyable anymore. As I got more experience in magic I changed my mind.

I could go on about how you shouldn't shut people out of magic but I won't. Just like with any other hobby/profession, not everyone is going to like it. Not everyone likes to play soccer, not everyone wants to be a doctor and definitely not everyone wants to me a magician (and there are probably people who don't like watching magic either). So you shouldn't worry about if every person at your school is going to start being a magician (they won't!).

Nice thread Brad and a great story.

Thanks,
Rajitha

[Dante90]

I'm glad his Dad is better and I feel as if he kept his family's spirits up by performing magic for them. Very touching story and thanks for sharing. It gives you a good feeling inside.

-Dan

[RJohnson]

Urban,

I understand where you are coming from, but here is how I would explain why that person would be more deserving...he shared his story with us, it dealt with magic and it dealt with how Ellusionist affected his life. Why would we spend money on someone we don't know, no matter how unfortunate when we have someone like the gentleman from Argentina?

However, I can't see us doing that because...where would you draw the line? It is like Brad said, we get alot of those sorts of stories. Many people choose "no" when the form asks them if we can share the story. How could we properly choose who to help out with their dreams and who not? I do, however, really hope he gets to California sometime.

RJ