Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 13, 1995 TAG: 9504200030
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: SOUTH S-14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NANCY GLEINER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
His bag of tricks entertains and amazes passers-by and intent onlookers alike. Many beg for more. That's when he can take an item off the shelf and offer to show anyone in the crowd how they, too, can create the same aura of mystery - and magic.
It began as a way for Fuller to be able to buy his own illusions and props more cheaply and conveniently. It has evolved into The Magic Connection at Towers Shopping Center in Roanoke.
Fuller started with a weekend outlet at the Melrose Avenue Flea Market, while maintaining his full-time house-painting and free-lance magician-for-hire businesses. He opened a retail store ``mainly so I could afford to buy the things I needed,'' he said.
Almost three years ago, with his move to Towers, he was able to trade in his paint brush for a wand and devote himself to making the impossible seem possible. For him, it is a way to transform avocation into full-time vocation.
Sales at the shop have increased steadily each year.
With the closest magic shop to the north in Charlottesville, to the south in Greensboro, N.C., and none between here and Norfolk, there is virtually no competition for the illusions, props, books and videos on magic that jam-pack the shelves and showcases in his cramped quarters.
There are pranks - hand-buzzers, disappearing ink and the like - hanging from racks on the counter, but those are kept to a minimum.
``I have those because they're expected. Most magic stores are usually costume stores, too. I've tried to break the mold and sell just magic [and juggling apparatus],'' Fuller said.
His inventory ranges from inexpensive, immediately performable sleight-of-hand illusions in the stocking-stuffer price range, to larger - and more expensive - props requiring more practice for successful trickery.
``Children might buy one or two tricks,'' Fuller said, ``and I'll never see them again, because they don't take the time to practice. They want to immediately show the trick to people, but when they get caught, they get discouraged with it.
``Adults know they need to get the trick down before they can show it to someone.''
``There's more to magic than just the trick,'' Fuller said. ``Most people aren't interested in being fooled. You have to get people interested in what you're doing - create a situation, tell a story - so the focus is not on the trick, but on the presentation.''
Fuller's customers come from all walks of life: doctors who use magic to help their patients feel more comfortable, pastors who use magic to illustrate the gospel, salesmen who use tricks as a way to interest clients or to pitch their products, as well as children and adults who enjoy the illusions solely for entertainment.
The retail shop is just one link in The Magic Connection. Fuller also performs at birthday parties, banquets, churches, civic groups and schools.
Kids are a tough audience because ``they live in a make-believe world, so if something disappears in your hand, that's something that happens in their imagination all the time, anyway.'' Adults know there was something that made the magic happen.
Seeing a performance will often spark someone's interest in magic, and he or she will stop by the shop. But ``I don't expect everyone to buy something,'' Fuller said. ``It's just fun being here. I have a lot of people here who stop by and see a trick and go on. They say it makes their day.''
Fuller also teaches classes in magic to children 9 and up. For a child, magic can make reading fun, enhance manual dexterity, help with memorization and develop social skills.
Fuller has seen both shy adults and shy children blossom and gain self-confidence under the influence of magic.
What's the attraction of magic?
``Even though people know it's not real, for a few moments, they're in a fantasy world,'' he said.
The Magic Connection is at Towers Shopping Center, Colonial Avenue, Roanoke. 344-1828 (retail shop); 345-5995 (to book shows).
by CNB