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Local magician a world-class entertainer
BY JONATHAN YOUNG • SUN NEWSPAPERS
Seven-year-old Adia Hicks wrote her name on a playing card and put it back in the deck in Suzanne the Magician's hand. Suzanne put a rubber band around the deck, then threw it at the ceiling of Mad Jacks Sports Cafe in Brooklyn Park. Adia's card stuck to the ceiling.
Adia seemed to take it in stride, but couldn't conceal her smile when her mom asked how it happened.
"I don't know," she said.
This dinner at Mad Jacks was Adia's end-of-the-school-year celebration, and she specifically requested coming to Mad Jacks to see Suzanne the Magician.
"We fell upon Suzanne about a year ago," Adia's mother, Bridget, said.
Usually the family would come to Mad Jacks at the end of the week, but once they happened to be there on a Tuesday between 6:30-8:30 p.m. when Suzanne usually works.
They were all impressed. Adia wanted to come back and see Suzanne again, but during the school year, Adia had dance lessons on Tuesday evenings.
"We've been waiting to come so Adia could see Suzanne," Bridget said.
It's not surprising the Hicks family would remember Suzanne. She's been working at Mad Jacks since it opened about six years ago and, according to restaurant manager Greg Haldorson, she's in high demand at the restaurant. Customers often ask for her.
What many of her audiences may not realize is that this affable illusionist from Brooklyn Center is a world-class magician and entertainer.
Twice a year, Suzanne packs up and heads to California to perform at the Magic Castle, an internationally renowned magic club in a Victorian mansion in Hollywood. In April she was voted by her peers as the 2010 Close Up Magician of the Year. She was the first female ever to be nominated for the award since the Academy of Magical Arts started giving it in the 1960s.
Each year members of the Magic Castle nominate and vote for their favorite magicians in several categories of magic. The top five favorites in a category are chosen by the entire membership of the international club, but the final winners are selected only by magician members. That means winners must not only be entertaining but also excel in technique.
Suzanne, who doesn't reveal her last name and goes only by Suzanne the Magician, grew up in Battle Creek, Mich. Her interest in magic surfaced at age 10 after she saw the son of a family friend perform a card trick. He taught her the trick, and she was eager to learn more.
Suzanne had always been fascinated by how shifting perception could change the way things appeared, and she loved brain teasers and puzzles. That drove her interest in magic, and she would perform for family and friends.
For a long time Suzanne didn't think she could make a career of magic, and she tried to be "normal." After graduating with a degree in computer science, she moved to Minneapolis and got a job as a computer programmer. But she still liked to "play" with magic.
Not long after moving to Minneapolis, she met a magician named Al Schneider who became her teacher.
He mostly did coin magic and did it well. With Schneider's instruction, Suzanne landed her first professional gig in 1985. In 1986 she quit her job as a programmer and became a full-time magician the same year she married her husband, Ian. She worked at restaurants, parties and corporate events.
On their honeymoon, Suzanne and Louis visited the Magic Castle with passes given them by Schneider. She fell in love with the place.
"Oh, if I could work there even once," she remembers wishing.
In 1988 that dream came true when she got her first job performing at the castle. Now she works at the Magic Castle twice a year and has become a favorite of club members.
Suzanne prefers "close-up" magic because she enjoys more intimate interaction with the audience. And interacting with the audience is one of her strong suits.
"The best part is how she interacts with families," Haldorson said.
Suzanne's brand of magic engages audiences in a friendly, non-threatening way.
Catherine Wilson is a close friend of Suzanne's who has gone to Hollywood with Suzanne several times to watch her perform at the Magic Castle.
"Usually you hear the word 'magician' and you think of a creepy guy in a cape and a top hat," Wilson said.
But Suzanne isn't like that.
"It's really fun to watch her," Wilson said. "She's not doing magic at you. She does magic with you and helps you feel like you're part of the magic."
Wilson says Suzanne is really good with kids, but is really a magician for adults. Her performances at the Magic Castle are for a crowd 21 and older.
One of Suzanne's favorite parts of performing is watching the puzzled look of wonder on people's faces.
As a magician who knows the secrets of how tricks are done, Suzanne says she can no longer experience the wonder of magic in the same way she used to. Watching others allows her to experience that feeling vicariously.
"I can relive magic by watching," she said. "Until you lose that puzzled feeling, you don't realize that you'll miss it."
When Suzanne flew to Hollywood for the April 10 award ceremony at the Magic Castle, she was amazed at the extravagance.
"I didn't expect it to be that cool," she said. "It was like the Oscars."
Suzanne was one of five magicians who made the final round. She had become friends with the other four magicians during her years working at the Magic Castle and knew they were all talented.
When Suzanne arrived at the Magic Castle, several people told her she had the award cinched, but she kept telling herself not to get her hopes up and that it was an honor simply to be nominated. She knew it's uncommon for magicians to win the award the first time they're nominated. She also knew it's difficult for out-of-town magicians to win, because they're less visible to the club's membership.
When the awards were finally announced, the emcee noted the five names of the Close Up Magician of the Year finalists. The audience applauded after each name, but it applauded loudest for Suzanne.
Then the emcee opened the envelope containing the name of the winner and said, "The award goes to the first wom - " The noise from the audience drowned out the rest of the announcement.
"When she won, people leapt out of their seats," Wilson said. "The applause was tumultuous."
Shocked, Suzanne stood still for a second, then walked slowly and deliberately down the red carpet, being careful not to trip.
"It was very surreal for me," she said.
Suzanne performs at Mad Jacks Sports Cafe, 8078 Brooklyn Blvd., Brooklyn Park. She also performs at Birch's Restaurant and Bar, 1935 W. Wayzata Blvd., Long Lake.
Info: 763-458-9591 or suzmagic.com.
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