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Not every teenage boy is a wizard.
But give Jay Temaat, 13, Pittsburg, a chance, and he’ll mystify you by shaking loose a knotted rope, offering to chop off your finger with a miniature guillotine and, for the grand finale, appearing to shove knives into a box containing his little sister’s head.
“We have a really close family friend, Skip Foley, Wichita, and when I was 4 or 5, he started me off on doing little magic tricks for family and friends,” Temaat said.
He’s the son of Stacy and Brad Temaat, who are supportive of his interest in magic and take him to monthly meetings of the Wizards of Wichita.
“But he hasn’t got Mom’s head in that box yet,” Mrs. Temaat said.
However, Temaat’s lovely assistant, sister Grace, 8, is perfectly calm about participating in the rather alarming illusion. “I love that trick,” she said.
Her brother recently had the opportunity to attend a teen weekend at the World Magic Seminar in Las Vegas, where he hung out with numerous nationally known magicians, including Criss Angel, Jeff McBride, Lance Burton and Kirby VanBurch, who has a show in Branson, Mo.
“The 25 teens attending the weekend spent an afternoon at Lance Burton’s home and Criss Angel was there,” Mrs. Temaat said. “Jay talked with him quite a bit.”
He also spent some time with McBride, who invented the famous “floating cane” trick.
“Jay saved up his money to buy one of those canes, which cost around $300, and Jeff worked with him on the trick,” Mrs. Temaat said.
“I learned a lot about stage magic, and all kinds of magic, that weekend,” her son said. “There were teens there from all over the world, including South Africa and Japan, and I want to learn Japanese. I made a lot of cool friends who’ll come back next year.”
“All the kids can bring a magic show to the weekend and perform them during three morning sessions, then judges pick five from each morning to compete at another show,” Mrs. Temaat said. “Jay didn’t take a show this time, but he plans to take one next year.”
Temaat, a student at Frontenac Junior High, said he wasn’t sure whether magic would be a career for him, or just a fun hobby. However, he has performed locally for pre-schools and a couple of Boy Scout events, and a performance is being planned at a senior center. “I’m also available to perform at parties,” the young wizard said.
Not every teenage boy is a wizard.
But give Jay Temaat, 13, Pittsburg, a chance, and he’ll mystify you by shaking loose a knotted rope, offering to chop off your finger with a miniature guillotine and, for the grand finale, appearing to shove knives into a box containing his little sister’s head.
“We have a really close family friend, Skip Foley, Wichita, and when I was 4 or 5, he started me off on doing little magic tricks for family and friends,” Temaat said.
He’s the son of Stacy and Brad Temaat, who are supportive of his interest in magic and take him to monthly meetings of the Wizards of Wichita.
“But he hasn’t got Mom’s head in that box yet,” Mrs. Temaat said.
However, Temaat’s lovely assistant, sister Grace, 8, is perfectly calm about participating in the rather alarming illusion. “I love that trick,” she said.
Her brother recently had the opportunity to attend a teen weekend at the World Magic Seminar in Las Vegas, where he hung out with numerous nationally known magicians, including Criss Angel, Jeff McBride, Lance Burton and Kirby VanBurch, who has a show in Branson, Mo.
“The 25 teens attending the weekend spent an afternoon at Lance Burton’s home and Criss Angel was there,” Mrs. Temaat said. “Jay talked with him quite a bit.”
He also spent some time with McBride, who invented the famous “floating cane” trick.
“Jay saved up his money to buy one of those canes, which cost around $300, and Jeff worked with him on the trick,” Mrs. Temaat said.
“I learned a lot about stage magic, and all kinds of magic, that weekend,” her son said. “There were teens there from all over the world, including South Africa and Japan, and I want to learn Japanese. I made a lot of cool friends who’ll come back next year.”
“All the kids can bring a magic show to the weekend and perform them during three morning sessions, then judges pick five from each morning to compete at another show,” Mrs. Temaat said. “Jay didn’t take a show this time, but he plans to take one next year.”
Temaat, a student at Frontenac Junior High, said he wasn’t sure whether magic would be a career for him, or just a fun hobby. However, he has performed locally for pre-schools and a couple of Boy Scout events, and a performance is being planned at a senior center. “I’m also available to perform at parties,” the young wizard said.
He has filled out forms and is looking forward to eventually being part of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.
“We’re looking at magic camps Jay could attend this summer, and we’ll go to Branson so he can meet with Kirby VanBurch,” Mrs. Temaat said.
Her son is working now on two new areas of magic — tricks using fire and those involving animals.
“I’ve just bought my first dove, Houdini, and he can already do a couple of tricks,” said Temaat, displaying a brown and white dove.
On his command, Houdini lifted a wing and waved.
He’s also got ambitious plans for the youngest family member, Josh, 5. “I’m working on making him disappear,” Temaat said.
