Ep. 29: Captivating Audiences with Eric Giliam
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This week’s guest is someone that we are genuinely so amazed by each time we get the opportunity to see him. He has accomplished a lot in his industry but still manages to have even bigger goals to strive for. He loves a good magic movie and has no problem captivating an audience. Welcome magician, Eric Giliam!
Eric grew up in Anchorage, Alaska. In 2004, David Copperfield was visiting his hometown and he finally got to experience his first magic show. He knew immediately it was something that he wanted to do. He got home, found an online magic shop, and purchased his first magic tricks to practice. Throughout middle school and high school, Eric would constantly practice tricks with his friends. Although it might have annoyed his teachers, the repetitive practice paved the road for his success in the industry today. He now aspires to include technology into his acts to bring him even further with hopes to get on America’s Got Talent or even hav his own show.
MAKING MAGIC COOL
Eric began wowing people with his talent at the age of 13 when he made four nickels turn into dimes. When he first started working on his magic tricks, there was a local magic kids group in his town. There were ten of them that would put on a show every December. He credits a lot of his success to this group and his “apprentices,” because they helped him not only learn
“There’s this saying that a magician is kind of like an actor playing the part of a magician.”
Eric was 17 when he won his first talent at his show, he says that was probably the moment he thought magic could be something he did for his future. He moved to Phoenix in 2013, because he felt it was time to move to a larger populated city with more opportunity.
A TREND: MONEY AND MAGIC
Like the movie Now You See Me, Eric loves doing tricks with money. He even laughs that if he never moved forward with magic, we just might have found him in the financial world. He likes to play with money in close up audiences because it tends to draw people in and get guest interested. We know this from first-hand experience when during the episode, he ripped Anna’s Dollar right down the center!
You guys, I am still in shock over this trick. We all sat directly next to Eric during this podcast and watched him closely as he neatly folded Anna’s dollar in half, fourths and then rip it in half. Yes, in half. We saw the frayed edges of the dollar but as he grabbed both corners and tugged, magically restoring the ripped bill, the same neat bill was flat in his fingers and no longer destroyed, mind-blown.
SO, IS IT REALLY LIKE THE MOVIES?
Long answer short, yes, just look up The Magic Castle. The Magic Castle is a private place where magicians dressed in coat and tie, gather, dine, and watch magic acts throughout the night. One must even say “open sesame” to open the front doors. He has been to the Magic Castle and aspires to perform there one day in the near future.
In addition to making an appearance at the Magic Castle, Eric was also asked to audition for America’s Got Talent. He says that while he was grateful for the experience, not much happened with it. He is hoping to send in an audition tape this year that included new never before seen tricks that he hopes to pull off!
He continues to drive inspiration from his own work, learning how to get the audience more involved or using a dry sense of humor, but he also loves learning from the greats. He says when he sees magicians doing other tricks he doesn’t sit and enjoy it like the average audience member would, instead he is enjoying the process of watching each trick and trying to figure out how they accomplished it.
REWARDING HIMSELF
When Eric thinks about living a celebrated life, he mentioned something that I don’t think we hear a lot of; rewards. He says that when he learns a new trick he’s been trying to complete forever or when he finishes a big show, he rewards himself. He likes to reward himself with nice dinners with friends or a “magic shopping spree” for new tricks. It gives him time to sit and appreciate everything that he has accomplished!
“Being at so many gigs, and seeing so many great days and celebrations, it just makes me appreciate everything more.”
We hope you keep an eye out for the goals he is trying to accomplish in the near future. From America’s Got Talent to performing for the members of LA’s Magic Castle, we are excited to see where he will be next. He lives by under-promise and over-deliver, he loves to be casual about what he is doing to make that outcome that much greater. It completely shows in the work he does and we are constantly shocked with each trick we see. We hope you had a great time tuning into this episode and we encourage you to experience his magic tricks on his Youtube page to see just how great he is!
SOCIAL MEDIA
Website: magiceric.com
Instagram: @ericgiliammagic
Youtube: MagicEricGiliam
