Society of American Magicians Magazine
I’m flattered that the Society of American Magicians Magazine highlighted my work in their most recent issue of their magazine. It gives an in-depth look into my childhood in magic and how I transitioned from performing at birthday parties in middle school to traveling around the world performing at performing arts centers, corporate events, and private parties. After a thorough and fun series of interviews, the author put together an insightful look into what I do and how I do it.
Generosity in Magic
There are approximately one hundred people in the audience. They are sitting at their tables, enjoying polite conversation while a man is playing a piano in the back-ground. There is a small stage that has some minor illumination on it, but by no means is there a spotlight or accent lights indicating that something special is about to happen. There is no voice that comes over a speaker announcing that the "magic" is about to begin. Instead, while everyone is chatting and drinking their beverages, a young handsome man in a perfectly pressed blue suit calmly and quietly walks onto the stage.
He is not looking at the audience, nor are they looking at him. Instead, his focus is on a white silk that is extending from his hand. He flips the silk into the air a few times and then, without any fanfare, reaches into the center and pulls out a live dove. Those members of the audience who were peripherally watching all of a sudden snap to attention. Some of them react with a scream. Now, the entire audience is fixated on the stage to see what will happen next. In the five minutes that follow, the magician makes dove after dove appear in increasingly more unusual ways. Even a paper airplane that is tossed out over the audience appears to change in mid-air to a live dove. With each appearance, the audience screams become louder and louder and by the end, the energy in the room reaches a fever pitch. The audience does not realize that Alex Boyce is just getting warmed up.
Born in 1996 in Endicott, New York (near Binghamton), Alex Boyce was consistently surrounded by a supportive and loving family. His father was an engineer who worked for a major corporation before quitting to start his own business. His mother also worked in the corporate world before quitting to become a teacher.
Both had the "stable" job but wanted to pursue something that they felt more enthusiastic about - running your own business and becoming a teacher, respec-tively. They consistently stressed the importance of following your dreams to Alex and his younger sister (who enjoyed being in the spotlight, as she was a dancer and a cheerleader throughout school).
When Alex was just four years old, he watched a World's Greatest Magic special on TV and was hooked. The idea that anyone can learn how to become a real magician was incredible to Alex and he begged his parents for a magic set that Christmas. You can only imagine his disappointment when he opened the box and discovered that magic was - hold onto your seats - not real.
What?
Yes, the magic was just a series of gimmicks and trickery to make it look like you had real magic powers. This disappointment made him pull back slightly from his interest in magic, but he still was destined for the stage.
There is some fantastic footage - which Alex will not allow me to link to in this article - of a young Alex Boyce driving an electric toy jeep onto a stage while singing
"Greased Lightning. (Maybe if enough people send emails to M-U-M asking for it, Alex will be persuaded to upload it.) Alex would even share his singing talents at local little league games and other events. He acted in a local production of the musical Tommy. When he was seven years old, his school art teacher, an amateur magician named Mary Cicco-Kuper, showed him a Color-Changing Silk trick and told Alex that it was a "professional" magic trick - not like those ones from the magic kit.
Somehow this clicked with Alex and made him feel as though he was on the "inside" of magic. His teacher taught him a few more tricks and helped him put together a magic act for his third grade talent show. Of course, given his multiple talents, he performed the act while also singing "Do You Believe in Magic?" After that, he was truly bit by the magic bug and would head to Tannen's Magic in New York City once a year with his parents to check out all the newest tricks.
When Alex was eleven years old, he attended Tannen's Magic Camp. He planned to do his act from school during the competition portion of camp. Given the fact that every time Alex had performed the act up until this point in his life, it was on smaller stages and decidedly different environments, he thought his act had little to no room for improvement. But onstage at Tannen's, he had decades and decades of experience from magic legends watching him and giving notes. Actually, they gave him a lot of notes. He called home crying and was not sure that he could take the criticism. He almost gave up. But his parents stressed the importance of being open to feedback to make yourself
better.
Alex pushed through and by the end of his first week at Magic Camp, he knew he would come back year after year. What drove that feeling in Alex was the level of generosity that came from the camp. He noticed that he was not "made fun of" due to the amount of notes his act received, but rather he felt supported by every single person there and their willingness to help him think through each aspect of his act. It was also during this week that someone brought a bunch of old magic magazines to camp and was giving them away. Alex began reading more about the magic scene from the 1980s and '90s and discovered an avenue within magic that would drive his passion even further.
Alex would perform throughout his teenage years at a variety of different venues. One week he would do close-up magic at a local fundraiser. The next week he would perform for a kid's birthday party. The next week he would do his silent stage act at an Elks Club. He also continued to refine his competition act from the notes he received at the Tannen's Camp and perform it at conventions such as SAM, IBM, Kutztown, and MAES. He was also extremely aggressive in the marketing for his magic. There was a PGA golf tournament that was being held in the area and Alex called the organizer and explained the concept of strolling magic for the golfers and guests. This started a reoccurring gig that he has done for a decade.
At the same time, Alex was auditioning for school plays and planning for life after high school. After his graduation, Alex wanted to apply to New York University to study drama, but to do that, you must apply for and be accepted to both the school itself (based on your academics) and the drama department (based on an audition). When he was deciding what to do for his audition, he called his Tannen's camp counselor, some guy named Michael Carbonaro, and asked for his advice.
Michael helped him craft a "magician in trouble" plot that would allow Alex to hopefully impress the school with magic while at the same time showcase his acting abilities. Well, during the audition, Alex was so convincing that he was messing up trick, that the board started to feel bad for him. When at the end it was obvious that it was all acting and the trick worked, the judges flipped out.
While studying at NYU, Alex noticed the plentiful opportunities that living in New York City has to offer. He was realizing that all he needed to do was take hold of all the advantages that were being presented to him and there was no limit to how far he could go.
From his freshman to junior years of college, he would spend three days studying drama (acting, speech, and voice lessons and two days studying academics. He would also volunteer at Monday Night Magic whenever he could, to get as much experience as possible. When helearned that Kostya Kimlat was running a magic restaurant business in Florida, Alex asked if he could volunteer as an intern. Kostya would later say, "Alex is a true student of magic, who was extraordinary at making the most of his time to learn from as many people as possible. Combine that authentic passion with his diligent work ethic, and the results will continue to propel his career for decades. It has been a pleasure to watch him develop his path." Alex would also go on to volunteer with Darren Romeo and learn from his show. All of this while performing private gigs and honing his craft.
In 2018, he graduated from NYU with a degree in theater, TV, and film. Alex began getting recommended to consult on different magic themed projects.
Matthew Holtzclaw recommended him for a show at Lincoln Center with Marisa Tomei. He consulted on a Netflix movie with Adam Sandler that featured a magician.
While everything was lining up perfectly, Alex did not take anything for granted. He took his life savings and crafted a two-year plan. He would take all the connections he made during college and magic camp and outline a way to a make steady money, b) continue to improve his magic. and c) build his business. He called Adam Blumenthal (owner of Tannen's) and got a job behind the magic counter. He performed at Monday Night Magic (both close-up and stage) as often as he could.
And when Todd Robbins was selecting magicians for a new show called Speakeasy Magick, Alex brought both his close-up and bird talents to that venue.
In 2019, Alex's calendar was jammed packed, as he had over three hundred performances booked. With that level of momentum, I am sure that is nothing that could happen - say, in early 2020 - to derail it.
COVID. When COVID first hit, Alex thought, I have enough saved to take a short break and wait this out. Well, we all know how that turned out. So, Alex began performing virtually, mostly to keep his current client list happy and stay on their radar. When The New York Times wanted to write a piece on magicians who have taken their act to the virtual arena, a friend of the writer recommended they talk to Alex. This opened a whole new set of doors so that Alex could keep performing while the world was shut down.
In early 2021, another Tannen's Magic camp alumni (and friend of Alex), Adam Rubin, had the idea to do a non-Zoom, yet safe, in-person show in Brooklyn, New York. Adam crafted a show that would take place outside and tour around unique areas of Brooklyn where he could talk about the history of the city and showcase magic. Alex had the idea of doing a Rising Card trick outside the real home of Samuel Hooker, from Hooker's Rising Card. But beyond the magic, Alex and Adam worked out the logistics of an outside, touring magic show. How long would people be willing to walk in between stops or tricks? How can they frame the show not as "magic" but "magical"?
After three months of work-shop-ping it together, Bizarre Brooklyn was born. It sold out for every single performance they put tickets out for. The New York Times would include it in their "best theater of the year" section. Adam would go on to say, "Alex Boyce offers a rare combination of youthful exuberance and hard-won performance experience.
His enthusiasm is infectious, and he is wise beyond his years. A deeply studious magician, a classically trained actor, and a surprisingly good dancer - I would jump at any opportunity to collaborate with him again." The show was put on hold during the colder months and then, when regular live theater started to come back, they decided to pause the show indef-initely. But keep your eyes open because if they bring it back, it is not to be missed.
So now we are in 2023. Alex is performing constantly at Speakeasy Magick and Monday Night Magic. He is working with Bill Herz for corporate events all over the country. He has been with his girlfriend, Talia, for nine years and she has been just as supportive of Alex and his vision as his parents have been. He lectured at Magifest last year and put his magic philosophy and thoughts into a booklet that sold like hotcakes. He appeared this season on Penn & Teller: Fool Us with a beautifully structured piece of magic.
As I was reflecting on my time interviewing Alex and his friends for this article, one word kept coming back to me repeatedly. The word is "generosity." The generosity of his family that helped him go for his dreams. The generosity of the students at Tannen's Magic Camp that helped Alex develop his persona on stage. The generosity of the teachers at Tannen's Magic Camp that helped Alex get steady work in New York and refine his college audition.
And if you spend any time at all with Alex, feel free to show him a trick and ask for feedback. Because the generosity of his knowledge and expertise in magic that he will give back to you is what Alex Boyce is all about.
Alexander Boyce is a sleight of hand artist and magician whose performances have been seen at The Magic Castle, The McKittrick Hotel, The Rainbow Room, Lincoln Center and many private corporate events around the world. He’s performed at company holiday parties, staff parties, employee events, meetings, and theatrical shows in New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut, Brooklyn, Long Island, and all over the United States.