We recently connected with Maritess Zurbano and have shared our conversation below.

Maritess, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. 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 learned magic after I was conned out of $300 on the streets of Chicago where these two women pulled a classic bait and switch scam on me called, “The Pigeon Drop” I felt so foolish, that I eventually found a magic shop in Chicago where I took magic lessons so I wouldn’t get swindled again. After seeing a show in Vegas, I thought, “This does not look hard, and I can become famous and someday people will listen to my opinions and I will never be ignored again.” I found a mentor in Las Vegas who owned a multi-million dollar magic collection and I read all his books. He taught me sleight-of-hand. I met lots of magicians in Vegas who became my friends and we all showed each other card tricks in various casino coffeeshops at all hours of the night and day. It was glorious learning magic in Vegas, where every famous magician came through, or lived there. I learned illusions, mentalism, hypnosis, psychic entertainment from the top practitioners of the craft.

Maritess, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started performing professionally as a close-up magician In Las Vegas, performing at Vegas corporate events, trade shows, conventions, and exclusive events. It was the 1990’s when tech companies had so much money, they started hiring magicians for every event. When I was beginning in magic, I supported myself by dealing blackjack at the Dunes Hotel, which was incredibly glamorous. I quit the casino industry after less than a year, as there were a ton of magic gigs available. After a few years of performing around the country, I became an illusionist. I had my own show in Japan, with actual showgirls, for six months. When I returned to the states, I was nominated to perform at the World Championship of Magic at Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques. I am best known for my knuckle-busting sleight-of-hand magic, my humor, and wry performance style. Most of my magic and comedy hypnosis shows are at corporate and college events. I didn’t start doing kid shows until I moved to New York City in 2001, where I was the official magician of the New York Public Library system, I performed at every branch at least twice. I’m most proud of my plays, where I perform magic that correlate to stories about how I became a professional magician in a white-male-dominated field. Some of my biggest fans are magicians. I’ve lectured to magic communities around the USA and Berlin, Stockholm, in Vienna at the Magischer Cercle Wien, and at London’s beloved Magic Circle. Commenting about the world through magic is one of my joys, which is also expressed in my op-eds for Ms. Magazine, The Seattle Times, and in my books, poetry, plays, and in the co-creation of the influential book and deck, “Decolonized Tarot.”

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

It was a very hard journey to become a full-time magician, but I was inspired by the magic stories in history. The Great Kellar lost his magic show several times due to various disasters, and he always re-emerged. I love survivor stories.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn that proximity to whiteness was essential to success. I also want to tell my younger self that being Filipino-American is a gift, and that my brown skin, black hair, and wide nose, all of me, is beautiful.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://MagicIsAwesome.com
• Instagram: [email protected]
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maritess-zurbano-35b1785/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/QueenOfMagic

Image Credits

Steve Frøysland
Kiani Pineiro-Hall
Olli Tumelius