Magifest 2022 Performer Spotlight | Jason England
By Vanishing Inc. - Wednesday, December 1, 2021
Jason England plans to share some of his closely-guarded secrets at Magifest 2022. We truly cannot wait to see what this legendary sleight of hand artist and close-up magician has in store.
Until then, we’ll pass it over to Jason to share a bit more about himself.
What Is your favorite convention memory?
Arnold Snyder playing one of the best pranks I've ever seen on Dave Buck at the old A-1 convention.
What legacy do you hope to leave on the magic world?
Sleight-of-hand teaching products (both text and video) that hold up over time and inspire others.
What excites you most about the future of magic?
I don’t know if excitement is the right word, but I’m very interested in how technology will change how we create, experience and learn magic in the decades to come.
What’s one mistake in your career you encourage others not to repeat?
That I allowed my focus to remain too long on a single area of interest (playing cards). The truth is, I enjoy many different types of magic (and always have) but I held off on studying anything but card technique for much longer than I should have. Don’t take this to mean that you should study everything, but I missed some obvious items (like the three-shell game and Fast and Loose/Endless chain) that were perfectly suited for my performing character, but that I kept putting off learning since they weren’t card-related. I eventually fixed that problem, but now wish I’d addressed it much earlier.
What do you consider to be “real magic”?
There are many things that are “magical” that I don’t think fit the definition of actual (theatrical) magic. A great film that you can lose yourself into for a few hours comes very close.
Probably one of Richard Garriott’s game release parties in Austin, TX in 2007. A helicopter landed in the middle of the party to thwart an alien invasion. Doesn’t get much wilder than that.
What’s your favorite fun fact?
Since I love dogs, I’ll give a dog-related one: Most people have heard or read that dogs are color blind. That’s somewhat true (they don’t see reds and greens all that well), but they are not monochromatic (completely color blind). In other words, their world doesn’t look like a black-and-white movie to them. They can actually see various shades of blues and yellows.
What are some other fun things or interesting facts about you?
- I got interested in magic later than most (I was 19)
- The first two really good card tricks I ever saw were Bro. John Hamman’s “The Twins” and Dai Vernon’s “Triumph.”
- I once did a magic show 900 miles inside the Arctic Circle (For reference, that’s only about 400 miles from the North Pole.)
- I was once arrested in a case of mistaken identity. Fortunately, the police officer realized his mistake and uncuffed me before we even got to the police car!
- I rescue dogs in my spare time. I’ve had over 30 dogs in my house in the past 3 years, mostly golden retrievers.
- Perhaps the hardest I’ve ever laughed in my life was at Derek Delgaudio’s 16th birthday party. You’ll have to ask him for the details.
If you had Josh and Andi over for dinner, what would you cook?
I’m not a great cook, but probably a steak or burgers. Those are things I can do well.
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