April 24, 2017

Meet Derek Irwin of HUBB Magic in Orange County and Hollywood

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Derek Irwin.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was always a fan of magic when I was little but I didn’t get into magic seriously until I was in my twenties when I visited an old magic shop I grew up around called Best Magic. I came home and showed it to my roommates and it blew their minds. For weeks, it was a fun little gag and so next time I was in the area, I stopped by again and I was sold a book and that book led me down a rabbit hole. Just over a year ago that rabbit hole led me to becoming a member of The Academy of Magical Arts aka The Magic Castle in a Hollywood. I remember the first time I visited The Castle I was so intimidated to even have a deck of cards and today I’ve performed in the Historic Close-Up Gallery and won 1st place in their Strolling Magic Showdown, a competition of Close Up Magic judged by other members. This past year it’s a goal of mine to perform more in places all over from bars, to stage, to someone’s private house but I’m still a regular at one of the impromptu areas inside The Magic Castle. I love performing magic wherever I go and it’s one of the greatest things I’ve ever done.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
When I became a member at The Magic Castle I had no experience with performing a show for people. There are so many things that go into performing a show. You don’t just go up and do 3 or 4 little effects and walk away. Yes, you can easily do that and that will be great but when you stand in front of a group of 20-30 people you want to express yourself and give the effects meaning. It’s a story from the first effect until the end. When they walk away what do you want the audience to leave with other than “oh those are cool tricks”. I always try to fit in some sort of personality or purpose into my show because the best magic is when you can make a connection with your audience and have fun. I never try to make what I do cheesy and over the top because at the end of the day they are just tricks but if I can give the audience to care than I’ve done something more than a trick. That was probably the hardest thing I had to learn when I first started.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about HUBB Magic – what should we know?
HUBB was the nickname my roommates gave me and it’s what they call me day to day so instead of it being another persona it’s who I am.

I’m starting to be known for always having a Rubik’s cube with me and doing Rubik’s cube magic. That’s always fun.

I’m pretty proud of performing in The Close-Up Gallery and winning the last Strolling Showdown. I get my name engraved on a trophy that’s forever in The Castle. It’s like the Stanley Cup of Strolling Magic. That will be pretty cool to show off.

I think one thing that makes me unique is that I believe the foundation to good magic is being social. Performing magic for people is a social activity and if you don’t know how to talk to people without magic then you will have a hard time approaching people and talking to them with Magic. Can’t run before you can walk.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Like I said, being social and knowing how to hold a conversation. So many times, I see people who are so talented and by far more amazing and skilled than me but as soon as they are in front of people what they say and what they are doing don’t sync up and they are all over the place. I rarely if ever go up and use Magic to break the ice. I usually go up and talk to people and then work in that I’m a magician especially the basic question people ask is what do you do? As soon as someone hears you are a magician they want to see something so when I pull a deck of cards out of my back pocket it changes everything. Next thing you know an hour later people are having a great time.

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