Magic man works to teach, entertain
Magician Star Alexander uses close-up magic as both a motivational tool and an educational experience in his work as an “edu-tainer.” (Photo by DAVID GUNTER)
SANDPOINT — At the tender age of 8, Star Alexander made a solemn announcement in the presence of his family.
“When I grow up,” he told them, “I’m going to be a magician.”
The seed had been planted some time earlier, when his father took him to see a magic show. From there, the boy discovered an advertisement for a magic kit on the back of a Batman comic book and checked the mailbox several times a day over the painfully slow six weeks it took the package to arrive.
With his first illusion ready for show time and a corner of the living room set up as his performance space, he adopted the stage name “Alexander the Great” and began practicing his routine on the family every Sunday after church.
“I was the kid who was always like, ‘Hey, watch this!’” Alexander said.
After more than 30 years as a professional magician, he and his wife, Star Savoy, have landed in Sandpoint, where Alexander performs close-up magic every Wednesday and Friday evening at Ivano’s Ristorante. Before their move to the area last year, the couple spent 15 years in Las Vegas, with Alexander performing at the Paris Hotel and as the royal court magician for the Excalibur Hotel & Casino.
It was during those years that he perfected his art in a style he calls “close-up magic.”
“I’m more interested in interactive magic than giant illusions,” Alexander said. “I like the impact that being up close has on people.”
At which point he reached into his pocket, pulled out a coin purse and shook three silver dollars into his palm. Under his hands, they migrated from here to there, as two coins appeared on one side and then mysteriously popped up on the other. All the while, the magician kept up a steady banter about the power of magic and how things are not always as they seem.
“Magic is improvisational theatre — it’s the power of pretense,” Alexander intoned as he held a silver dollar between thumb and forefinger and then tapped its edge sharply on the table. With a click, the coin disappeared before being retrieved from the underside of the tabletop.
“The illusion is that the coin is going through the table,” the magician said. “The philosophy is that the coin really is going through the table.”
According to Alexander, these mystifying bits of entertainment are not mere tricks — a word that makes most magicians cringe.
“I usually correct people when they call them ‘tricks,’ ” he said. “In fact, I’m working on a guide to performance magic called ‘I Don’t Do Tricks.’
“For me, magic is more than that,” he added. “It’s something special that’s occurring in the moment, where apparently impossible things are happening. That’s the art of magic — the wow factor.”
This magician takes enormous pleasure in delivering wows in close proximity as he works the tables in Ivano’s main dining room and the adjoining wine bar. He wears another hat when he performs at schools and seminars, where his message is all about the importance of focus and hard work as “the way to do things that, at first, look impossible.”
Alexander illustrated his point by grabbing a deck of cards and accomplishing a textbook cut, shuffle and bridge maneuver with one hand.
“Can you do that the first time you try it?” he asked. “No — it takes practice and patience.”
In Las Vegas, he carried that message to schools to teach teamwork, self-awareness, goal setting and the importance of trust and kindness. For those performances, the magicians calls himself an “edu-tainer” whose job is to turn the word magic into an acronym that kids will remember.
“I tell them that it stands for Mastering Attitude Generates Increased Confidence,” Alexander said. “Life is a lot like stepping onto the stage. How you carry yourself affects how you feel.”
Alexander’s first introduction to Bonner County came when he was hired to emcee and perform at one of Sandpoint High School’s all-night grad parties in 2003 — an appearance that resulted in return bookings for the event. The magician now looks forward to taking his act to schools in his new North Idaho home, though, in the meantime, many youngsters seem to be traveling to catch his act at the restaurant as families make return visits and couples double back with friends to share their unusual find. Alexander knows that he is there to make their night out even more memorable. Magical, even.
“Magic elicits smiles from everybody, from young children to grandparents,” he said. “It’s the wonder of ‘How did you do that?’ that makes everybody feel like a kid.
“My job is to create a setting where magical things occur.”
For more biographical information, performance photos and videos, visit: www.magicbystar.com