Local magician believes people 'need' the wonder of magic

Fillers performs with Esmerelda, the magic bunny.
Fillers performs with Esmerelda, the magic bunny.

Looking for a way to pry your child away from the computer or TV?

Try a little hocus-pocus.

Local magician Scott Fillers says many parents today are concerned that their children are becoming addicted to technology. That's why he's starting his first child-oriented "Discover Magic" class this month. It helps, he says, that people are interested in magic now more than ever before.

"Magic has had an up-and-down roller-coaster ride through history as far as entertainment goes," says Fillers, who's 55. "When movies came out, vaudeville and magic took a nosedive, but magic survived. Today, there has never been more magic presented on television in the history of television."

Reality TV shows such as "America's Got Talent" are showcasing magicians, he says.

"It's a great time to get into magic. There's so much available for people to learn. I wanted to be a part of this in some way and thought that it would be a perfect fit with what I want to do in my studio.

"Magic is something best experienced and learned through live interaction. It's a real hands-on experience and I worry that more and more people are staying in and 'streaming' their entertainment, making a future generation of people not having personal communication skills," Fillers says.

Children are fascinated by magic, he says, noting that he was in elementary school when the book "Spooky Tricks" sparked his interest.

More info

For more information on Scott Fillers’ “Discover Magic” program, visit chattamagicworkshop.com.

"I remember as a child seeing a magician walk down a staircase on a stage while he was making two canes float and dance around his body," Fillers says. "I met him many years later at the Magic Castle in Hollywood. We became very good friends until his passing several years ago."

Michael Frisbee, 45, president of the Chattanooga Magic Club, became fascinated with magic when he was 8 years old after a magician performed at his school. In his "quest" for anything about magic, "I would look for books at the school library and the city library on the subject of magic," he recalls.

"I came from a family of mill workers, so the finances to buy magic tricks were on special occasions. Most of the time I had to take what I learned in a book and do my best to make the props at home and learn to perform the effects.

"In those days for me, I did not know of others who performed magic, so books was what I had. Many of those books didn't go into depth on how to build or perform the effect and it was left up to me on interpreting what I had learned."

A fan of magicians Doug Henning and David Copperfield, he would show magic tricks to his friends and family, a trend that continued until he was about 30 years old.

"It was then my family suggested I should perform for birthday parties. So I did," he says. "Within a year's time, I was booking at least one birthday party, family reunions, corporate functions or political parties every weekend in the surrounding area."

Fillers, who has been performing for 42 years, is a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. He has performed his magic show at Opryland USA in Nashville, and co-founded The Magic of Scott Fillers and Co., a show that won the 1987 International Brotherhood of Magicians stage competition. He's also performed in New York City and Las Vegas.

According to discovermagic.com, the program Fillers will be teaching was designed to build self-confidence, teach respect, inspire creativity, improve social skills and more. Magicians must develop numerous interpersonal skills if they're going to be successful, he says.

"As a magician, you have to read your audience, whether it is one person or 100," he says. "many interpersonal skills are involved and that's what these classes are about - not just the tricks but teaching life lessons such as confidence, communication, etc."

Each child participating in the class will receive a magic kit that includes eight tricks.

"Each trick will have a top secret file that they will take with them," Fillers says. "Each file will contain more information about the trick and a secret code that they will use on the Internet at the Discover Magic website which will open up more information about each trick."

Yes, despite Fillers' concern about streaming technology and how that takes away from one-on-one relationships, his class heads back to the Internet. But students will be furthering their knowledge of magic that they will take back to live performances, he says. All of it is simply homework, he says.

"Of course, each child will, also follow the magicians code to never reveal the secret which is very important to keep the air of mystery," Fillers says.

Keeping those secrets close to the vest is key to the continuation of the "magic" of magic, Frisbee says.

"In today's world, people are more knowledgeable of the 'how to' of magic. With the Internet and YouTube, a person can see how to mechanically do a trick," he says. "Way back when, to learn magic could only be learned by apprenticing with other magicians. The next phase was to read books written by other magicians and/or share thoughts with other magicians."

And Fillers says people need the wonder of magic in their lives.

"People always have a need for escape," he says. "People go to see horror, science fiction and fantasy films for the same reason, but with a magic show it's live and interactive - something a film can't deliver. To escape the problems of the world for a couple of hours is something everyone wants."

Contact Karen Nazor Hill at khill@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.

Upcoming Events