We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Landon Stark a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Landon, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I got my first Magic kit when I was about five years old. Like every little kid, we play with magic tricks and then move on to more exciting things like sports or literally anything else, but magic really stuck with me. I continued to practice magic as a hobby and performed the vanishing silk handkerchief at my school talent show. At the age of 10, I begged my parents to send me to a prestigious summer magic camp called Tannens. My parents agreed and shipped me off to Philadelphia for a week of wizarding fun. Tannen’s magic camp is still going strong today and is home to the oldest magic shop in the United States. During my time there I met lifelong friends and met my mentor Derek Hughes (as seen on America’s Got Talent). I got home from my trip and knew exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. From there I read every magic book I could get my hands on and practiced every sleight until my fingers cramped. Fast forward to my senior year in highschool, I got an apprenticeship with the Virginia Beach Circus Company to perform my solo magic act. From there I traveled the world performing in exotic places like Australia, Paris and Arkansas.
Now I am currently based in Dallas Texas and run StarkMagic Entertainment. StarkMagic is Dallas Fort Worth’s #1 Magic Show company. We have performed for the prime minister of Trinidad, opened up for Smashmouth and dazzled the cast of The Real Housewives of Dallas.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Stark magic prides itself on offering unique entertainment. We want to take you on a magical journey. From Fortune 500 companies to birthday parties, we want to make sure every moment is unforgettable. There is a great moment during our show when we ask a spectator for a personal object of theirs. It could be a watch, ring, cellphone, anything and we magically make it appear inside an empty glass water bottle. We have had clients send us photos years later of their personal belongings still encased in the glass. This shows you that sometimes memories are more valuable than physical things.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I wish I had the Internet as a kid. I grew up pre-world wide web and had to go to this weird thing called… a library. They say if you want to keep a secret, put it in a book. Most people these days don’t really know what a library is and very few still check out books. I would have to search endlessly for magic literature. I studied every single book that I could get my hands on. I would often drive to a different county to check out their magic books. If I lived in a different time, in this YouTube Internet era, I could have had more information quicker. However, I think sometimes it’s not the destination, it’s more of the journey. By struggling to find the information in physical form instead of electronically, I think it’s made me a better performer and respected the artform more.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Social media is such a strong tool. My advice for you is to post every day and make sure people know you exist. You can’t get recognized if you aren’t putting out content. Content seems like a labor intensive word but it can be as simple as posting a picture or even commenting on someone else’s post. Make content that you think your followers and as well as yourself would enjoy. On my instagram, I live stream my setup for stage shows and give them a backstage pass before every performance. Pulling back the curtain and letting them into your profession is easy and gives them insight on your craft.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.StarkMagic.com
- Instagram: @lstarkmagic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/landon.stark.3/
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/landon-stark-a9340044
- Twitter: @LandonStark
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNcFZhQVfUTPlbfvN4iBUvg
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/stark-magic-mckinney
Image Credits
Landon Stark