Magic Man: Higaki masters his tricks at the magic castle

Watching professional magicians perform tricks on YouTube sparked an interest in magic for sophomore Akira Higaki at the age of six, who then used the site to learn tricks. After discovering that his friends enjoyed his tricks, he began to take his hobby more seriously and spent several years practicing and teaching himself more tricks. He then joined the Magic Castle, an exclusive magic club in Hollywood in September 2015. The club offers membership to professional and amateur magicians, but requires an audition prior to making an offer. Higaki auditioned both in March and September before being accepted into the club. During his audition, he performed a trick in which he used a small plunger to find a person’s card. He is in a junior section of the club that includes magicians that range from the ages of 12 to 20. He is one of only 50 magicians from California and Las Vegas in that section of the club.
“I joined the club because I wanted to work on my magic as well as learn and develop with people like me,” Higaki said. “I also wanted to be with the people that saw the world through my eyes. Being in the club surrounds me with people that I relate to.”

Joining the club offers many benefits and resources to club members, including a library that contains many instructional magic books that help magicians perfect their acts and the guidance of professional magicians at the club that advise and lecture magicians. Although Higaki has not done a public show, the club also offers the opportunity to perform paid magic shows.
Higaki feels that some of his greatest experiences in magic have taken place in the club.
“We had this world-renowned speaker, [Bodine Balasco], come and talk to us about achieving our goals,” Higaki said. “His speech was truly inspiring and that is when I truly realized that the magic community is more than just people doing tricks but a network of people from all backgrounds brought together and striving to achieve this one goal of wonder and inspiration.”
Higaki felt that Balasco explained what he himself feels about magic. Higaki believes that there is more to magic than just tricks, as it has taught him life lessons as well.
“I think it is very powerful to know that you can do anything,” Higaki said. “As a magician, you have that mentality [that you] can do anything. [You] can make things float, [you] can change things, [you] can make things appear and disappear [and you can] hypnotize people.”
Higaki does not have a show planned in the near future, but he plans to continue to perfect his act during the upcoming summer. He currently practices when he has spare time.
“When I do [my act], I want to make it the best that I can be, and I have this idea that is really great, but it takes a lot of time and effort to achieve that,” Higaki said. Higaki specializes in card tricks and the only main prop that he requires is a deck of cards. His favorite trick is one when a car appears in his mouth.
“The immediate reaction [of others] is ‘show me a trick.’ I do not usually do it because the tricks are not what define me,” Higaki said. “Magic is simply a tool for me to convey my message of wonder to people.”
Higaki said that joining the Magic Castle is the correct direction for him to take in his life right now and he looks forward to expanding his skills and knowledge using the extra resources at the club.
“[In magic], you do not know how it works, but it works,” Higaki said. “I really love the fact that magicians can inspire more people to go out and find the secrets of the world. It does not have to be magical, but anywhere in life.”