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Meet Derek Ostovani

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Meet Derek Ostovani

August 9, 2022
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We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Derek Ostovani. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Derek below.

Hi Derek, thanks for joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I have been a Magician for nearly 2 decades now, but I haven’t always been full-time. When I first discovered Magic, I was studying to become a Structural engineer and was attending Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. But my passion for Magic was so strong and out-did anything else at the time, I immediately knew it would be part of my life forever. So I practiced and performed my craft all through college and after graduating, I worked as an engineer but eventually I weened it off and I am proud to say I have become a successful full-time performer.

But it would’ve have always been like that; had I gone full-time right out of college, I think I would’ve been pretty discouraged and don’t know if I would’ve had the knowledge and been business savvy enough to make it. You see, over the years while doing Magic on the side, I was able to not only hone my skills as a Magician and a performer, but I was able to built up my clientele throughout the years. On top of that, working for a corporate company as I did as an engineer, I was able to learn the business side of things and really understand the corporate world and the people. Since corporate markets and tradeshows are my primary clientele, unbeknownst to me, this would serve great purpose.

I definitely have learned a lot over the years, and if I knew what I know now, could I have gone full-time much sooner? The answer is yes! But would I have? No. The reason is, not only did I thoroughly enjoy being an engineer, but I made some lifetime friends that I wouldn’t give up!

Derek, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve LOVED Magic from the moment I saw it. For a moment, it suspends reality and nothing else matters but the impossibility in front of you! I believed this as a child, and I believe it now. As a child, I loved Magic, but so did every other kid. But I had a fiery desire, passion, and excitement that other kids just didn’t have. So much so, I decided to do it for a living. I first learned HOW to get into Magic at the spry age of 21 when I popped into a Magic shop in Las Vegas. And before me was a card that the Magician floated from hand to hand and not only that, but he was SELLING the secret!! That meant, if I paid the money and put in the practice, I too could do that. And that’s exactly what I did. That day was iconic for me and changed my life forever.

Today, I work for corporate clients and fortune 500 companies entertaining them both on stage as well as right under their noses, or what we call, Close-up Magic. You could say that what I do, is make memories. I will spice up ANY event by engaging with the audience with my wit, charm, and humor, and then blow their minds with things that defy everything we know in life! Anytime there is a gathering of people, it’s the perfect opportunity to have a Magician mingle in. Not everyone knows each other, and not everyone drinks. I come in and break the ice and make it one of the most memorable events they would ever attend. In fact, I often help companies deliver messages for an event. Often times companies will hire me for their tradeshow booth to represent them, their brand, and their products, all while gathering a crowd, bringing them into the booth, and explaining everything about the company and product using the medium of Magic! It really helps solve the problem for the client of pulling in people into their booth.

Here’s something that makes me different, since I have the corporate background, I know how to relate to people in the corporate world and talk to them on their level. I can’t tell you how important it is to be able to look a person in the eye and have a normal conversation with them. Many people don’t have those social skills these days, and I thrive on my interaction with people! In fact, many times as I’m performing, people say, “I didn’t know you were a comedian too!”

One of my biggest dreams was to perform at The World Famous Magic Castle. Not only have I accomplished that goal this year, but I have already performed there twice! There is a venue in Chicago, called the Chicago Magic Lounge, and they got wind of my performance and since had me out there to do my act. I worked rigorous hours to hone my close-up act that I’ve created to have meaning, intention, and my act comes around full circle. Many notable Magicians came to experience my show and left with high praises. I am very proud of the efforts I’ve put into it and the results and look forward to sharing my act more and more. This year alone, I have performed at The Magic Castle, The Chicago Magic Lounge, The Prestige Magic Showroom & Lounge, and lastly, Mystique Dinning. Both The Prestige and Mystique have multiple locations, two of which are right here in San Diego. One is in the Gaslamp and the other is located in La Jolla.

Have you ever had to pivot?

During the height of Covid, like many others I thought it would be over in a few weeks. But after all my shows were being cancelled and there seemed to be no end to this; I had to make a change. After just a few weeks of down time, I decided I would offer my services virtually. At first I thought this would never translate and people won’t believe what I’m doing, (they barely believe it in person) but I had no choice and owed it to myself to at least try. I quickly thought about what Magic would be like over camera, what effects I would do, (some old, some new) how I would interact with the audience, and what new methods I would need to do in order to accomplish them. After I came up with an initial show, I posted about it on social media. A group of friends took me up on it and viola; I did my very first virtual Magic show!

From there, they all thoroughly enjoyed the show and saw the power of it. They asked me if I could do this for their team events, corporate events, happy hours, even for a friend’s birthday. Before you knew it, the amount of virtual shows I was doing snow balled! Ultimately nothing was different; I was still solving a problem by entertaining people and making their event unforgettable. By customizing my show, I was still able to work with those clients to help promote a brand or company name. It’s hard to really know a person’s reaction when you’re staring at a square inch window with their face in it. But as more and more inquiries came in, I realized I was referred by those who attended my show, and companies would reach out and say things like, “Brad over at Twitter said we HAVE to see this guy” and that’s how I know what I was doing was working! But I didn’t stop there. I was constantly improving my show in this new medium. Learning how to build a studio, learning lighting, multiple camera angles, streaming software, even painting and decorating my back wall as the background. I wanted to do as much as I could to increase production value and so the client had the best experience possible. I ended up doing virtual shows for the next year and a half.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

There are multiple rewarding aspects of my career. When I first got into Magic, it was self satisfying, it was fun, unique, and different; I loved everything about it! I would spend hours upon hours practicing by myself and in front of a mirror to perfection. When you are so passionate about something, innately; you want to share that with people. That’s when I realized two things; one, you can only practice so much in front of a mirror and that you would HAVE to do it in real time for real people to try and experience as many possible situation that would occur. This leads to further perfecting the art. The second thing I learned, is that I have a passion for creating joy, smiles, and wonderment in others. When I see how much fun people are having, it really reminds me why I do what I do, and it has become an underlying aspect of passion for the art of Magic. You see, many things can suspend a moment in time and take you somewhere else, a movie, a song, even a scent. But nothing is like Magic. Something right in front of you that defies everything you know. It’s the one art that brings you back to childhood where everything was Magic and creates that wonderment of an innocent child that only knows how to explain things with the word, “Magic”.

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