 Magician Brian Curry of Alexandria, Virginia received some great press in this morning's Gazette.
The story features Mr. Curry's Wizard's Workshop at the BlockRock Center for the Arts in Germantown, Maryland last week.
The workshop gave about 20 third- through fifth-grade students a chance to learn the secrets of coin, card, rubber band, and even rope magic. More importantly, says Mr. Curry, the students gained confidence and became more self-assured in public speaking.
Mr. Curry told the reporter he was a shy kid who used magic to overcome the language barrier growing up in Japan and France.
The BlackRock staff shared the students' enthusiasm for Mr. Curry's methods.
"It's been a great program, very well received," said Rene Schecker, director of education at BlackRock. "We have lots of young wizards."
Mr. Curry ended the multi-day training with a unique twist. The students created a DVD of what they've learned throughout the program instead of performing in a show at the end of the week. Shows often cause competition over who gets to perform what feats, and some tricks are hard to translate to the stage. That is a great idea.
"A couple of these kids are really shy and in a show they clam up, but with a camera they can do it until they get it right," Curry said shortly before pulling two decks of cards from his mouth. "...Parents want to see what their kids are doing, and I understand that, so this is a solution." - Provided by InsideMagic |
